HP Partners Follow Hurd To Oracle

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Oracle's hiring of former HP President and CEO Mark Hurd is causing several of HP's long-term solution providers to consider signing up to offer Oracle-Sun hardware, a move many of them would have considered inconceivable only a week ago.

The combination of Hurd's channel and customer savvy and his penchant for sparking new life into old companies is causing HP's solution providers to look past what they earlier criticized as Oracle's direct sales focus and Sun's inability to market its technology.

Hurd last month departed HP after an investigation into what the company called improperly filed expenses and an improper relationship with a sub-contractor.

Hurd late Monday was announced as a new co-president at Oracle.

Bob Venero, the president and CEO of Future Tech Enterprise, a Holbrook, N.Y. VAR 500 company, said he is planning to put more sales and technical resources into an Oracle-focused practice to capitalize on the channel changes that Hurd is likely to make at the company.

"Look at what Mark accomplished at HP," Venero said. "When an individual like Mark Hurd goes to a new company and is going to make changes, we want to be on the forefront of those changes versus being on the tail end of it. We want to be there with Oracle at the start of the new Mark Hurd era versus at the tail end when it has already been established, built and baked."

Oracle's channel strategy until now has been convoluted, but Hurd will bring vision and direction to that strategy, Venero said. "The channel is in Mark's DNA. I see Oracle moving from a convoluted channel to a highly focused channel machine that leverages the channel to grow in both the channel and in customer penetration."

Venero said Hurd's appointment also signals Oracle's intent to dramatically grow its business with additional big-bang acquisitions similar to those Hurd oversaw during his tenure at HP.

Next: Hurd Could Revamp Oracle's Channel Focus

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