Channel Executive Of The Year: Rauline Ochs

"In the past, we often found ourselves competing with the direct sales force and that competition pushed prices down," said Ron Zapar, CEO of Re-Quest, a Naperville, Ill.-based solution provider.

Year after year, those problems were reflected in Oracle's scores in the VARBusiness Annual Report Card survey, particularly in the vendor's grades for partnership and reseller support. Last year's scores were especially dismal in the categories of Data and Information Management Software and Infrastructure and Integration Software, where Oracle came in dead last to competitors IBM, Microsoft, BEA and Sybase.

"It was not our preferred performance," said Rauline Ochs, senior vice president for Oracle's North America Alliance and Channels organization, in an understatement.

The 2006 VARBusiness ARC showing prompted Ochs to call a meeting of managers from the company's product development, channel, and product and corporate marketing organizations to devise a plan to change course. Ochs, who joined Oracle in 2003, had already instituted major changes in Oracle's channel efforts, such as developing guidelines for how the company's salesforce should work with its channel partners.

All one has to do is check out this year's grades to see that Ochs' strategy is paying off. Oracle comes out on top in the Data and Information Management Software category and ties for first with Sage Software in Business Software/Management, largely on the strength of its much-improved partnership and support scores.

In recognition of her efforts to put Oracle's channel back on track, Ochs was named Channel Executive of the Year at the XChange '07 conference in Orlando, Fla., in August. The award was presented on behalf of VARBusiness, CRN, the Institute for Partner Education & Development and the XChange Group--all part of CMP Technology's Channel Group. CMP Channel president Robert Faletra and vice president/editorial director Robert DeMarzo presented Ochs with the coveted award.

"She's a sincere advocate for the partners," said Rich Niemiec, CEO of TUSC, a Chicago-area solution provider that's been an Oracle business partner for nearly 20 years. "I think the support is spectacular."

"She's hearing us and she's been able to get senior management to support the channel," said Re-Quest's Zapar, adding that he's seen the most pronounced changes in the last 18 to 24 months. "All the stuff that was lip service for a long time isn't lip service anymore," he said, referring to earlier promises from Oracle executives to make nice with its channel partners.

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