Oracle is assembling partner training and enablement resources for a new Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) "specialization" that will certify channel partners to work with the vendor's next-generation Oracle Fusion Applications.
The move comes as Oracle ramps up its sales and marketing efforts around the Oracle Fusion CRM, Oracle Human Capital Management and Oracle Financials applications the company began shipping late last year.
Under development for more than six years, the Fusion applications are designed as the follow-on to the company's own E-Business Suite applications and its acquired PeopleSoft, Siebel and JD Edwards products.
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"We really see our partners as a key part of our strategy to get Fusion out into the market," said Joel Borellis, Oracle group vice president, partner enablement, in an interview.
Oracle is marketing the applications to current customers as add-ons to its older products, as next-generation replacements for those applications, and to potential new customers. Oracle Fusion Applications can run as cloud applications or be implemented on premise.
The new specializations will help partners sell, implement and support the Fusion applications, Borellis said. "We're counting on the channel from an implementation perspective. We see a service opportunity there. And we see new customers as an opportunity."
The new resources include online Fusion Learning Centers, which provide technical documents and executive briefings; online implementation-focused training courses through the OPN Knowledge Zone; and 23 instructor-led training courses offered through Oracle University.
Partners must complete the training sessions to be certified or "specialized" in working with the Fusion applications. The vendor is now offering specialization exams for sales and pre-sales personnel in Oracle Fusion CRM, Oracle Fusion Human Capital Management and Oracle Fusion Financials applications. Specialization exams for solution provider technical staff members who install the Fusion applications are currently under development, Borellis said.
Oracle expects many of its global system integration partners -- 10 of whom are designated "diamond" partners -- to take on the Oracle Fusion Applications specializations. But Borellis said Oracle is also counting on many regional systems integrators who are gold and platinum partners to likewise seek specialization status.
