Oracle-Sun: Four Remaining Questions

Oracle spent most of January 27 describing its vision for Sun Microsystems. Channel Chief Judson Althoff participated in multiple Oracle briefings and a media Q&A. The VAR Guy heard plenty of answers... but he still has four questions about Oracle's Sun strategy. Here they are.

The VAR Guy

January 28, 2010

2 Min Read
Oracle-Sun: Four Remaining Questions

Oracle Sun Channel Partners

Oracle Sun Channel Partners

Oracle spent most of January 27 describing its vision for Sun Microsystems. Channel Chief Judson Althoff participated in multiple Oracle briefings and a media Q&A. The VAR Guy heard plenty of answers… but he still has four questions about Oracle’s Sun strategy. Here they are.

First, let’s get the obvious question out of the way: Oracle plans to hire 2,000 direct sales pros to drive Oracle-Sun solutions into the enterprise. Will the move trigger channel conflict? Frankly, The VAR Guy thinks Oracle (like Cisco, IBM and HP…) will maintain a delicate balancing act between direct and indirect sales.

Now, for The VAR Guy’s four questions about Oracle’s buyout of Sun…

1. MySQL Partners: Oracle says it remains committed to MySQL. But can we expect the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized partner program to have a specific focus on MySQL? Hmmm… The VAR Guy thinks it’s too soon to say.

2. Unbreakable MySQL: Sure, you’re familiar with Unbreakable Linux. The VAR Guy wonders… will Oracle go up the open source stack and introduce an Unbreakable MySQL guarantee? Hmmm… The VAR Guy’s best guess is a solid maybe.

3. Solaris and Sparc Partner Specializations: Will OPN Specialized have Solaris- and Sparc-centric offerings? The VAR Guy’s best guess… Absolutely yes.

4. Java Partner Specialization: Regulators closely reviewed how Oracle’s ownership of MySQL would impact the open source database. But some observers are more worried about Oracle’s ownership of Java. Will OPN Specialized have a special focus on Java? The VAR Guy’s best guess… without a doubt.

A spokeswoman for Oracle says “stay tuned” … indicating that Oracle’s channel team will offer further comments about Sun’s assets in the weeks ahead. The VAR Guy will be listening.

Skeptics Remain

During a late-day Q&A with the media, Oracle faced some tough questions from reporters representing The New York Times, InformationWeek, InfoWorld and eWeek. The VAR Guy would have injected a question, too… if only he stopped blogging long enough to do so.

Most of the questions had a familiar theme: Why does Oracle think it can make Sun’s assets so darn profitable when Sun was imploding on its own?

Oracle remained on message, describing high-end synergies that will drive competition with HP and IBM.

Instead of getting caught up in an enterprise hardware debate, The VAR Guy continues to focus on software — and potential opportunities ahead for OPN Specialized partners.

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