Oracle preps partners for server refresh

Vendor confident that T5 and M5 servers will spark recovery in hardware business

Oracle is pinning its hopes on a SPARC server refresh to revive its flatlining hardware business and has unveiled a range of perks to get partners onside.

The vendor giant this week lifted the veil on its new SPARC T5 and M5 systems, which it claims "leapfrog" the competition with up to 10 times the performance of the previous generation.

Oracle's hardware business has contracted every quarter since the vendor closed its $7.4bn (£5bn) acquisition of Sun Microsystems in January 2010.

In its most recent quarter [Q3], Oracle's hardware revenue belly-flopped 23 per cent, which chief executive Larry Ellison blamed on the fact that customers were aware of Oracle's imminent mid-range and high-end server refresh.

Based on the SPARC T5 – which Oracle claims is the world's fastest microprocessor – the new T5 mid-range servers have set 17 world records. Ellison (pictured) said the T5 is more than twice as fast as the T4 systems it replaces, adding that the M5 server can run Oracle's database more than 10 times faster than the M9000 server it supersedes.

The refresh means Oracle has finished upgrading every server in the SPARC product line since it acquired Sun.

Oracle yesterday announced a range of enablement resources to get partners up and running on both new products. This includes a T5 demo equipment programme offering "significant" discounts on select T5 servers to use in demos and customer use-cases. T4 authorised resellers can begin selling the T5 immediately.

Oracle also promised it would ply partners with demand generation resources to help them create marketing campaigns for both the T5 and M5, plus the usual margin benefits and accreditation opportunities.

"With SPARC T5 and M5, and the vast array of OPN resources, partners have a great opportunity to transform customer environments with higher performance and a lower total cost of ownership," said Judson Althoff, senior vice president of worldwide alliances and channels at Oracle.

Ellison, who unveiled the new tin at Oracle's headquarters on Tuesday, estimated it would take customers a couple of months to evaluate the systems before they verify the veracity of Oracle's claims. This means its hardware business is only likely to start growing again in its fiscal Q1 2014, rather than its current fiscal Q4, he said.