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Data Intensity has been recognized by CIO Applications Magazine as the exclusive recipient of “Top 10 Oracle Solution Companies - 2021,” based on our proprietary methodology, reflecting its position in the industry, and is also named among “,” reflecting its broader leadership. This profile has been developed by the CIO Applications research and editorial team based on insights from an interview with Philip LaForge, President and CEO.
Philip LaForge, President and CEOTake the instance of Global Payments—a fintech services firm with over 20,000 staff and $3.9 billion in annual revenue. To support millions of businesses around the world, Global Payments relies on a diverse set of Oracle applications and systems, including Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), Supply Chain Management (SCM), and Enterprise Performance Management (EPM). Alongside, the company also utilized other critical software, services, and cloud systems, including Salesforce, SAP Ariba, and Workday. However, since these applications were not efficiently integrated with the Oracle portfolio, it severely affected the data flow and visibility, among other business processes. What the company needed was an Oracle specialist to facilitate a seamless integration and enhance its operational workflow.
"Today, Data Intensity serves as a one-stop-shop for purpose-built technologies and platforms designed to power business transformations in the cloud-dominated world, whether it is on Oracle or other similar cloud infrastructures"
Global Payments found its answer with Data Intensity—a Platinum Oracle Partner with extensive Oracle knowledge, design, and integration capabilities. Equipped with industry-leading experience in machine learning, process automation, and best practices, Data Intensity was able to quickly identify the gaps in Global Payments’ infrastructure. The company leveraged Oracle Integration Cloud (OIC) to bridge these gaps by seamlessly integrating the clients’ existing Oracle products with their other cloud applications. The result? Data Intensity’s quick integration process not only enhanced data accessibility, visibility, and coordination among Global Payment’s teams, but also bolstered its position in the evolving fintech space.
A testament to Data Intensity’s contribution to Global Payments’ digital transformation is in the words of Shelley Plomske, SVP Monetary Systems, Global Payments: “Data Intensity, with their immense Oracle implementation experience, has been our strategic partner since 2011, bringing in both value and quality for laying our future application roadmap.”
The Roots of Excellence
Established in 2001 by two Oracle specialists, Data Intensity was formed to assist enterprises in the implementation and operation of Oracle’s ERP solutions. Over the years, the company evolved into a trusted managed services provider (MSP) and expanded its specialization to the broader Oracle portfolio. “Today, Data Intensity serves as a one-stop-shop for purpose-built technologies and platforms designed to power business transformations in the cloud-dominated world, whether it is on Oracle or other similar cloud infrastructures,” says Philip LaForge, president and CEO of Data Intensity. Put simply, the company is 100 percent Oracle-focused and at the same time cloud-agnostic, able to deliver the best outcomes for Oracle customers without being bound to a specific cloud vendor.
Even with a diverse talent base spread across the U.S., UK, India, and Australia, the underlying framework of trust makes these various branches function as one cohesive unit in monitoring and managing client workloads
To simplify the clients’ workflow further, Data Intensity complements its impeccable infrastructure integration and technical management capabilities with industry-leading functional support to ensure applications perform and evolve. Clients, as a result, can achieve complete control over their deployments and pave the way for greater business outcomes.
Overcoming Obstacles in the Path of Digital Transformation
Today, the business landscape is changing rapidly, especially when it comes to remote workflows. “Organizations are trying to move their application and data workloads to the cloud and achieve greater scalability, resiliency, agility, and faster timeto- value,” mentions Rich Froble, VP of product development at Data Intensity. However, moving ‘high-voltage’ applications from legacy, on-premise environments can be a daunting task for organizations, mainly owing to the shortage of specialized cloud platform expertise or the skill required for precise, seamless cloud migrations.
But, with Data Intensity, client organizations have access to almost two decades’ worth of specialized skills and resources. Add to the equation engineering and support staff with over 2,800 certifications, clients can rest easy knowing that their cloud deployment project is in the most capable hands. Whether it is the implementation of Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), AWS, Microsoft Azure, or a purpose-built, customized cloud platform, Data Intensity ensures seamless and timely delivery of services. Also, being an objective third-party provider, the company focuses on designing, implementing, and supporting workloads of critical business processes on the best-fit cloud platforms through IaaS, PaaS, and SaaS.
Leading the Way to Successful Migration
Judging by Data Intensity’s track record in Oracle implementations, one might wonder: what is their secret sauce? According to Justin Derrick, CTO of Data Intensity, the company relies on its robust and innovative Safe-Switch methodology. “As a process based on proven architectures and best practices, Safe-Switch ensures secure migrations, each tailored to the requirements of specific clients,” notes Derrick. Based on the four crucial steps (discover and assess, design and re-architect, deliver and optimize, and manage), the Safe-Switch methodology focuses on pinpointing the exact objectives, requirements, and constraints in the workflow before assessing the different options and choosing the best cloud migration roadmap. The roadmap is further validated with pilot migrations before transitioning to a completely managed cloud service. Since Safe-Switch ensures that the right workload is matched to the right cloud, customers benefit from increased technical capabilities, minimized downtimes, modernized applications, total operations management, license optimizations, and maximized flexibility, which are unrivaled in the industry. The company is peerless in its global licensing audit abilities with VP Paul Buckley at the licensing helm and employs one of the unique class of global Oracle Ace Directors, Biju Thomas, to oversee the processes.
Adding to its portfolio of robust offerings, Data Intensity also delivers 24x7 full-stack and remotely-managed IT services to support the most demanding application and database workloads.
Even if client organizations are seeking to enhance their own skill sets and team capabilities, Data Intensity makes it happen. As an extension of clients’ IT teams, service offerings are tailored to meet clients’ functional and technical requirements. And, since all service comes with additional expertise and even high-security features, clients can rest assured that their IT environments are always protected from unforeseen incidents.
A Boutique Approach with a Personalized Touch
Building on its unparalleled capabilities, the company takes it a step further with a carefully designed client onboarding approach. “We meet the clients wherever they may be on their Oracle cloud journey,” notes Louis Faustini, COO of Data Intensity. As a boutique company, Data Intensity can identify the nuanced business needs of each client rather than going for the all-too-common ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach. In addition, the company’s comprehensive discovery workshops, total cost of ownership transformation assessments, and strategic-planning sessions with key stakeholders help in further tailoring the onboarding process to specific client organizations as well as minimize unnecessary licensing and support spend. Thus, Data Intensity’s experts ensure the best-fit, flawless workload migrations, providing clients long-term manageability of mission-critical applications and data platforms and driving better performance, availability, and service levels at optimized costs.
“All of this is made possible through a culture of mutual trust and team engagement within Data Intensity, which serves as an anchor for the company to operate seamlessly globally,” mentions James White, chief solutions officer at Data Intensity. Even with a diverse talent base spread across the U.S., UK, India, and Australia, the underlying framework of trust makes these various branches function as one cohesive unit in monitoring and managing client workloads. Moreover, Data Intensity organizes its teams into customer-centric ‘pods’ concentrated on specific customer environments. These pods create a deeper level of intimacy with customers, delivering consistent, reliable, and knowledge-backed services. Thus, Data Intensity is able to deliver a personalized touch, while also maintaining a wholesome front at a global level.
Illuminating the Way to the Future of IT
Propelled by such technological prowess and a skilled workforce, Data Intensity is quickly evolving to dominate the Oracle install base in the U.S. and beyond. Besides, it is one of the very few companies providing both technical and functional expertise for cloud migration. Primarily serving the middle market with revenue between $50 million to $2 billion, Data Intensity is also preferred by multiple Fortune 500 firms with Oracle ERP and databases.
On this journey, Data Intensity is always focusing on its core principle of chasing the best return on every Oracle investment and helping clients unfold and manage the complexity of their Oracle installs. As a result, the company’s innovation pipeline is always churning, empowering clients to streamline their cloud-migration projects and pave the path for greater success. By further enhancing its recruitment, training, and leadership strategies, the company will align itself to meet even greater challenges and client requirements. With over 70 percent of the Oracle ERP install base migrating to the cloud in the next five to ten years, Data Intensity will focus on helping them seamlessly move their applications to the cloud and bolstering their work processes with its industry-leading functional support. “With such tailwinds of progress on our sails, Data Intensity is ready to onboard new clients and set their course for successful migrations,” concludes the CEO.
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