• Home
  • Latest
  • Fortune 500
  • Finance
  • Tech
  • Leadership
  • Lifestyle
  • Rankings
  • Multimedia

Trendingnow

1

New LA Angels owner Stan Kroenke is quietly America's largest private landowner, boasting 2.7 million acres and besting Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos

2

The heiress of $10 billion Perdue Farms and the $12 billion Sheraton Hotels empire wore hand-me-downs, still rides the subway, and flies economy

3

One of MacKenzie Scott's latest donations takes her HBCU giving to well over $1 billion

1

New LA Angels owner Stan Kroenke is quietly America's largest private landowner, boasting 2.7 million acres and besting Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos

2

The heiress of $10 billion Perdue Farms and the $12 billion Sheraton Hotels empire wore hand-me-downs, still rides the subway, and flies economy

3

One of MacKenzie Scott's latest donations takes her HBCU giving to well over $1 billion
LeadershipCommentary

The Art of Technology

Alan Murray
By
Alan Murray
Alan Murray
Down Arrow Button Icon
Alan Murray
By
Alan Murray
Alan Murray
Down Arrow Button Icon
March 16, 2017, 8:21 AM ET
Photograph by Robyn Twomey for Fortune
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Good morning.

President Trump submits his budget plan to Congress today, but details are in the press this morning. The plan, which just covers so-called “discretionary” spending—not the big entitlement programs—calls for deep cuts in most domestic programs and foreign aid in order to pay for big increases in defense spending and homeland security. You can read more details here.

Meanwhile, Oracle CEO Larry Ellison yesterday engaged in Trump-like bravado, telling analysts in a phone call that his company has “a huge technology lead” over the Cloud businesses of Amazon and Microsoft. That’s despite the fact that both still have much larger Cloud businesses than Oracle, in terms of revenue.

 

I spent time yesterday afternoon with Charles Phillips, who left Oracle in 2010 to run Infor, a rapidly growing enterprise software business that closed a deal raising $2.4 billion from Koch Industries last month, valuing the company at $10 billion. Infor earlier this week also announced a deal with another enterprise software startup, Marketo, to combine their sales and marketing software in an effort to take on incumbents Oracle and Salesforce. Infor is based in Manhattan and develops software for specific industries.

What is striking about Infor headquarters is that it isn’t populated with the lawyers, accountants or other corporate suits, but rather with creative designers. Phillips has separated the user interface team from the rest of his software developers and put them into an agency-like organization called “Hook and Loop” which is housed at headquarters and works with customers in the office “garage” to envision creative new uses of digital technology for business. A sign hanging on the wall reads: “Technology is a science, but getting people used to it was an art.” It’s not hard to see why Charles Koch was attracted to the Infor approach. Fortune’s Ellen McGirt recently interviewed Charles Phillips about his interesting life and leadership journey in the video above.

Also, some news at Fortune yesterday. Clifton Leaf is taking over as editor-in-chief, and Adam Lashinsky will become executive editor. I’ll serve as president of Fortune, in addition to my role as chief content officer of Time Inc.

About the Author
Alan Murray
By Alan Murray
LinkedIn iconTwitter icon
See full bioRight Arrow Button Icon
Add Fortune on Google for similar content.

Latest in Leadership


Most Popular

Fortune Secondary Logo
Rankings
  • 100 Best Companies
  • Fortune 500
  • Global 500
  • Fortune 500 Europe
  • Most Powerful Women
  • World's Most Admired Companies
  • See All Rankings
  • Lists Calendar
Sections
  • Finance
  • Fortune Crypto
  • Features
  • Leadership
  • Health
  • Commentary
  • Success
  • Retail
  • Mpw
  • Tech
  • Lifestyle
  • CEO Initiative
  • Asia
  • Politics
  • Conferences
  • Europe
  • Newsletters
  • Personal Finance
  • Environment
  • Magazine
  • Education
Customer Support
  • Frequently Asked Questions
  • Customer Service Portal
  • Privacy Policy
  • Terms Of Use
  • Single Issues For Purchase
  • International Print
Commercial Services
  • Advertising
  • Fortune Brand Studio
  • Fortune Analytics
  • Fortune Conferences
  • Business Development
  • Group Subscriptions
About Us
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • About Us
  • Press Center
  • Work At Fortune
  • Terms And Conditions
  • Site Map
  • Facebook icon
  • Twitter icon
  • LinkedIn icon
  • Instagram icon
  • TikTok icon
  • YouTube icon

    Latest in Leadership


    Most Popular

    © 2026 Fortune Media IP Limited. All Rights Reserved. Use of this site constitutes acceptance of our Terms of Use and Privacy Policy | CA Notice at Collection and Privacy Notice | Do Not Sell/Share My Personal Information
    FORTUNE is a trademark of Fortune Media IP Limited, registered in the U.S. and other countries. FORTUNE may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice.