Avnet will build a business unit to authorize a network of SMB solution providers to sell, implement and support Oracle E-Business Suite Special Editions and JD Edwards applications, extending Oracle’s reach into this growth market. The program will kick off in North America on October 1, 2005 and in Europe and Asia later.
Dell, which already bundles Oracle’s database, real application clusters and middleware with its hardware, will now offer Oracle applications too, reselling the Oracle E-Business Suite and JD Edwards software. The extended agreement is significant because it has the potential to be a major channel to market for Oracle.
Ingram will resell Oracle’s complete line of technology products, including the Fusion middleware suite, into the SMB market.
Oracle president Charles Phillips said the partnerships represent phase two in its SMB strategy. Two to three years ago no one distributed Oracle products for the SMB market, he said, because they were too complex and too expensive.
But with the arrival of the 10g database they became more manageable and business started picking up at the low end, he said: Now we are in the second phase, of not just the database but middleware and applications too. There is lots of uncovered opportunity. We see it as a big opportunity.
In a further partner-related move Oracle is also launching the Applications Integration Initiative through which Certified and Certified Advantage partners in the Oracle Partner Network are aided in delivering validated solutions that integrate with Oracle applications. The idea is to provide a one-stop shop for support for Oracle based solutions and Mr Phillips describes it as bringing partners into the support network.
