Oracle claims success

Channel programme maintains growth and recruits 300 Vars in its first year

Oracle's channel programme has had a successful first year of operation, the firm has claimed.

Trudy Norris-Grey, Oracle's vice president of multichannel sales in the UK, said that, after almost a year, the firm had recruited more than 300 Vars and maintained growth and turnover.

"In recent months we have made a few tweaks to the model, but the recipe is working," she said. "We have invested in guaranteeing demand for partners."

Norris-Grey said marketing and lead-generation would be aimed at the mid-market.

Var Sysao is one of the first firms to sell Oracle's eBusiness Suite Special Edition, a reseller-only, standardised version of the vendor's enterprise software.

Ritchie Malin, managing director of Sysao, said: "We helped with the development of Special Edition, so we are probably a bit biased, but we have found it hits a good price.

"We are hoping to get half of our deals - about 20 per cent of our revenue - through Special Edition. Those figures represent SMEs, but we expect to keep getting business from these firms as they grow and change."