Oracle Makes First Hardware Products Available To The Channel
Oracle said it's seeking solution providers that can build implementation services around the Exadata systems and develop business intelligence and data warehousing practices, as well as expertise in such vertical industries as financial services, communications, health care and the public sector.
The new reseller program provides partners with resources to help build such value-added services around the systems, the company said. Partners must belong to the Oracle PartnerNetwork and hold a valid full use distribution agreement to resell the Exadata products, the company said.
"This is not only a commitment to our partners, but also we believe the channel has the capability to drive this product into new markets for us," said Judson Althoff, senior vice president of worldwide channels and alliances, in a press briefing at the Oracle OpenWorld conference in San Francisco.
Oracle plans to roll out the program over the next several months. Oracle also is recruiting ISVs to develop applications that run on the Exadata platform.
The systems, which debuted last year as Oracle's first foray into IT hardware, are assembled using Sun hardware and Oracle software. The two companies have touted the systems as the kind of combined hardware/software products that customers can expect once Oracle completes its $7.4 billion acquisition of Sun. "First and foremost, this says we're committed to Sun and the Sun product portfolio," Althoff said of the new reseller program.
A pair of the systems stood onstage at the Moscone Convention Center Sunday evening as Oracle CEO Larry Ellison and Sun Chairman Scott McNealy delivered keynote speeches to open Oracle OpenWorld.
The Exadata and Database Machine systems aren't commodity products. While prices for the Exadata system start as low as $110,000, the price of a complete system is $1.1 million. Last month, Oracle debuted the second generation of the Exadata system.