Evan Goldberg and Nicky Tozer spoke to media at a press conference during Oracle NetSuite’s user conference
EVP and founder of NetSuite, Evan Goldberg, and Nicky Tozer, NetSuite’s EMEA Senior Vice President, spoke at a media and analyst session at SuiteConnect, addressing some of the key challenges businesses are facing, and how NetSuite is dedicated to helping SMEs adapt and grow.
Last year, Chancellor Jeremy Hunt vowed to turn Britain into “the world’s next Silicon Valley”. Asked about the UK’s ranking as a booming tech hub, Goldberg insisted on the high levels of “talent” in the country – and that fast-growing tech-savvy start-ups are not limited to geographical location. “There are a lot of opportunities to start your company wherever you want to do it, you don’t need to go all the way to California to do it,” Goldberg said. “There is a lot of great talent in the UK and a lot of creativity.”
Tozer added: “We see a lot of tech startups in our markets base and customer base. There is an evolution of Silicon Valley in the UK… People are starting tech companies wherever they are.”
NetSuite is focused on expanding into international territories, and its products are used in 217 different countries worldwide. Its integrated cloud business software suite is used across the globe and is particularly beneficial to companies that work across borders and have their teams located in other countries.
“Oracle itself is very heavily international and there is no reason we shouldn’t be,” Goldberg said. “Some of these economies are almost entirely made up of small and medium-sized businesses, so we should be even more present in them than in the more advanced economies. We do take a very methodical approach, certainly, the UK is the first place that we expand everything into, and it really is next on the rise. We’re methodically penetrating a lot of international markets.
Goldberg confirmed NetSuite was focused on the business user experience. “Customers can’t afford expensive training and especially when users are doing so many different things. Oracle is investing heavily in the business user experience.”
With the cost-of-living crisis, inflation and rising interest rates, many businesses in the UK are doubling down on efficiency and productivity. However, Goldberg said there is ‘increased optimism’ among UK SMEs despite the hurdles ahead, based on a survey conducted by NetSuite. Many businesses are using this as an opportunity to dive into the deep end and grow their companies, he said. “We surveyed this; it shows there is increased optimism here in the UK”, he said during the press conference. “These times NetSuite has gone through two crises, which include the financial crisis of 2008 and 2009.
“Besides seeing the resilience our customers have, we also saw from the survey that there is a lot of excitement right now for people to make the leap and start a business. What we saw in 2010 to 2012 we saw a lot of companies adopting NetSuite because either they were laid off or what they were doing was stagnating and they decided to make a leap, and a few years later they grew rapidly. This is an inflexion point where you’ll see a thousand flowers bloom, it’s an exciting time.
Tozer added: “Research actually shows most people in their current business believe things are improving, and then either they’re going to make that leap to set up their own business or have a side hustle. So, they’ll set up something they’re working on alongside their job. I think there is overall optimism.”
