Oracle’s Fusion product line brings together Oracle Application Server 10g, related Oracle Application Server products and options, Oracle Data Hubs and Oracle Collaboration Suite in much the same way that IBM and BEA have grown out their appserver offerings.
Claiming support of nearly 5,000 partners (a figure that could not be verified), it listed over 50 integrators and third party ISVs that support at least one of the Fusion middleware platforms.
Among the partners listed included providers of vertical applications such as 360Commerce for retail, Agile software for product life cycle management, and Sungard SCT for e-learning and education.
Others included IT infrastructure and systems management players including Attachmate/WRQ, BMC, Netmanage Inc, RSA Security, NEON Systems, and nCipher Systems; business intelligence providers Business Objects, Cognos, and Hyperion; tools providers Telelogic AB, ILOG, Proforma Corp, and Mercury; document and content management system providers Documentum (now part of EMC), FileNet, and Interwoven; legacy system adapters provider iWay Software; and web service management providers Forum Systems, SOA Software, and Systinet.
Oracle’s announcement is part of a strategy to reverse its long-time reputation as a difficult company to partner with, and to promote its middleware platform.
Having played catch-up in the application server platform space, an area that company head Larry Ellison conceded the company didn’t get right until version 9, Oracle now claims that it offers parity with IBM when it comes to middleware partner ecosystems.
