Published on the 13/02/2015 | Written by Hayden McCall
ERP vendor Infor is pushing for more adoption of its cloud suite, announcing a major sponsorship of the Crusaders rugby team to boost brand recognition…
In what must be a world first, a US-based global software company with 73,000 customers around the world has announced a partnership with a provincial New Zealand rugby team, albeit one with a fearsome reputation and a global following amongst rugby fans: the Crusaders.
Jo-Anne Ruhl, managing director of Infor’s Pacific operation, explains why the “substantial” sponsorship makes sense. “The partnership with the Crusaders reflects our commitment to being actively involved in the future of Christchurch,” she says. “Infor shares the values that make the Crusaders a success – teamwork and constantly striving for excellence.”
The partnership, which will run over the next four years, will see the Crusaders bearing the Infor logo below the player number on the back of their jerseys, as well as signage at AMI stadium, game day tickets to share among clients and other brand visibility.
Local Infor partner EMDA has been a long-time supporter of Canterbury rugby and the partnership had not gone unnoticed, particularly by rugby supporters inside the company. Tim Moylan, the Aussie who runs the APJ operation for Infor, is a Warratahs fan, but was drawn into the deal after seeing the Infor logo on Canterbury players. This eventually led to a meeting with Crusaders commercial manager Warren Goddard. The fact that company president Stefan Scholl was also a keen ex-player and Crusaders fan helped seal the deal.
The sponsorship is an interesting move in bringing regional relevance for Infor, where A/NZ numbers are typically seen as little more than a rounding error in the books of global IT vendors. But Ruhl explains: “This region is leading the uptake of our cloud suite, accounting for 90 percent of the growth in cloud across the APJ region.” Getting more cloud wins is a key metric for the company as it engages in a race to the cloud among ERP vendors. It is a race that Ruhl says the company is confident about competing in.
“Infor has spent US$2.5 billion on R&D since ex-Oracle 2IC Charles Phillips joined as CEO in 2010. There has been a relentless focus on making Infor products cloud ready, meaning 100 percent browser-based and accessible on any device, while still retaining the depth of functionality needed to compete in key verticals,” she says.
Crusaders CEO Hamish Riach was at the launch event along with his star players. “This is a major new partnership for the Crusaders and one we are very excited about,” he said. “While Infor is a global brand, it has a strong presence locally and this partnership is evidence of its dedication to this region and its understanding of the challenges that the business community here continues to face.”
Sports sponsorship is not new to Infor, the other foray being into the mega bucks world of Formula One (“because Ferrari was a client”), but that was a partnership that made sense on the global stage. The leap into Super 15 rugby is a move that Infor is pegging hopes on to help get the company on the shopping list of more enterprise software buyers, even if initially the average rugby punter might not recognise the new brand on the sidelines.
Local Infor users include ANZCO Foods, AW Fraser and Synlait Milk.
