Oracle, Avnet Pitch OPN Specialized to Sun Partners

Oracle and Avnet Technology Solutions, as expected, are making channel partner moves this week. At Avnet Technology Solutions Partner Summit in Colorado, the key theme is “new products, new customers, new markets” — and much the conference focuses on Oracle’s OPN specialized partner program. Here’s the scoop.

Oracle’s loudest cheerleader here is Mike Hurst, VP and global supplier business executive at Avnet Technology Solutions. During a keynote this morning, Hurst stated:

“A handful of dominant players are emerging … Hardware, software and online services are converging … It’s fair to say Oracle will be among the Big 3, 4 or 5” in IT as markets converge.

Avnet has a longstanding relationship with Sun Microsystems. And the Oracle-Sun business combo provides the opportunity for Sun partners to reach 10 times more customers, Hurst says.

Toward that end, Avnet has launched:

• Under Our Wing, an Avnet-exclusive program that guides partners through the Oracle Partner Network specialization process, and also provides specialized partners with demand-generation tools.
• Value Master, a program designed to educate legacy Sun partners on Oracle solutions, while helping the Sun partners to further develop sales territories.

No doubt, Sun partners face plenty of market competition. Rivals like IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Red Hat each have launched competitive programs to recruit Sun customers onto third-party solutions.

Still, Sun returned to profitability during Oracle’s most recent quarter. And the Oracle-Sun pitch continues here during the Avnet partner conference. Will Avnet convince more Sun partners to upsell and specialize across the Oracle software portfolio? The VAR Guy is listening for answers.

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