Oracle customers set to benefit from OPN Specialized

A transformation of Oracle’s partner program will enable Oracle customers to achieve even greater operational efficiencies and competitive advantage. We spoke to Paul Muller, Senior Director, Alliances and Channels at Oracle, to learn more.

Before we find out about Oracle Partner Network (OPN) Specialized, let’s get your take on Oracle OpenWorld 2009. What excited you the most?

It was definitely one of the best I’ve seen. There was a lot of buzz around new products and acquisitions, and a couple really grabbed my attention.

The first was Exadata V2; the 2nd generation of Oracle’s optimised hardware and software processor that was originally brought to market a year ago. Exadata V2 enables high performance business intelligence as well as the fastest transaction processing speeds on the market. Since Exadata V2’s formal release at OpenWorld, there has been really impressive uptake of this groundbreaking solution.

The second was Fusion Applications. This is a hybrid of all Oracle acquisitions, bringing together a complete, open, integrated and best of breed solution that guarantees customers are getting the best of the best. It’s Oracle’s “super set of apps”, delivering an incredibly rich set of business applications built on the industry leading middleware and database technologies from Oracle. Customers can now pick from some of the CRM and E-Business Suite, with more being added every day.

Clearly, Oracle has been busy. With all these acquisitions and new products, how do you ensure that customers are able to access the best technologies?

That’s where our partner network becomes so important. With many customers in Australia, there is no way that Oracle could adequately service each of them individually. We depend upon our channel of business partners, who understand our intellectual property and can translate that into business success for customers.

It is important to us that customers know they are getting the best service – whether it be from Oracle or our partners – and we invest heavily in our partners to ensure that customers get the best out of our solutions.

Take Exadata V2, for example. By partnering with Frontline, an Oracle Partner and a Certified Sun partner, we are assured that Frontline’s customers are getting the most effective and business-ready implementation that is tuned to meet their specific needs. The technology is guaranteed to perform at its peak – satisfying the customer’s need for strongest return on their technology investment.

So how does the Oracle Partner Network Specialized change the way Oracle customers get access to technology?

OPN Specialised is Oracle’s new worldwide Partner Program. Launched this week, it will allow partners to specialise in particular product and industry solutions built on Oracle’s technologies, capitalising on partners’ unique capabilities to offer a true point of difference in the market.

From the customer’s perspective, it provides the reassurance that they are getting the best sales, implementation and support services for a particular technology or solution. Customers will be able to search, via the Oracle website, for the leading specialists in a particular field, for example business intelligence; or for a particular industry solution, for example Banking and Finance.

It’s a win-win-win – for Oracle, partners and ultimately the customer.

It is indeed. Given the recent economic turmoil, it has become pretty clear that organisations cannot afford to cease their investment in software and infrastructure. To maintain operational efficiency and competitive advantage, technological growth is paramount.

The key to delivering the best efficiency and advantage to customers is through partners. Working with the likes of Frontline, an Oracle Partner, customers are assured of getting the best technologies available to meet business goals.

Call 1300 362 610 to speak to Frontline about more information about Oracle solutions.