EDS snags Oracle executive
Database software giant Oracle loses another executive, this time to computer services firm EDS.
EDS today said it hired Philip Crawford, a senior vice president at Oracle, to serve as president of EDS International, the company's international business arm.
Crawford, 48, will help expand EDS's focus on business growth and development in Europe, Africa, the Middle East, and Asia-Pacific regions, the Plano, Texas-based firm said.
At Oracle, Crawford was senior vice president for the United Kingdom and Ireland. EDS said under Crawford's leadership, Oracle pushed its U.K. business from $270 million to almost $1 billion. Prior to working at Oracle, Crawford held a series of senior management positions with international technology firm Bull, starting as project groups director for Bull U.K. and eventually becoming chief executive officer at Bull U.K. and Ireland.
Crawford is the latest in a string of top level executives to leave Redwood Shores, California-based Oracle.
Last Friday, front office software maker Clarify, which was recently acquired by Nortel Networks, snagged former Oracle executive Dennis Cunningham to lead its global alliances organization.
Baan, which competes against Oracle in the enterprise resource planning (ERP) software market, hired Mike Shinya to head its Europe, Middle East, and Africa (EMEA) region operations. Shinya left Oracle in September, where he was sales operations director for the company's EMEA region also.
In an effort to ward off raids, Oracle earlier this year gave healthy compensation packages to president Ray Lane and other top executives. In a recent Securities and Exchange Commission proxy filing, Oracle board members wrote, "In fiscal year 1999...the Compensation Committee's purview was expanded, in part, to help the company attract, develop, and retain talented executive personnel in an extremely competitive market."
In his new role at EDS, Crawford will be responsible for supporting and assisting the growth of EDS's business in international markets across all service categories, such as management consulting and electronic business, the company said.