IBM Global Financing: $500 Million Awaits Sun Partners
IBM is looking to entice Sun Microsystems partners into the Big Blue camp. Specifically, IBM Global Financing is offering up to $500 million in financing to help credit-qualified Sun Business Partners migrate towards the resale of IBM systems. Is this a gimmick or a successful initiative? Let’s take a look.
IBM outlined its strategy in a press release, and it’s a bit lengthy. The highlights include:
- IBM boasts that their “Global Financing” can help partners looking for capital while maintaining healthy balance sheets and minimize risk.
- IBM says there’s already more than 100 Sun Business Partners who’ve joined up or re-established themselves as an IBM reseller.
- IBM is ‘generously’ offering their “profit optimizer tool” completely free of charge to Sun Business Partners, even though it was “originally designed for IBM Business Partners” only.
Reality Check
Still, let’s keep IBM’s claims in perspective. When Oracle officially acquired Sun Microsystems earlier this year, Sun had thousands of channel partners. Our best guess: IBM’s recruitment of 100 Sun partners into the Big Blue camp likely represents less than 1 percent of Sun’s partner base.
Meanwhile, Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff has been working overtime to educate Sun partners and recruit them into the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized partner program. Also, Oracle has held Oracle+Sun welcome events around the world. And Oracle President Safra Catz recently said the “Sun integration is going even better than we expected.”
So, will more Sun partners embrace IBM Global Financing’s offer? No doubt, some VARs always adjust their loyalties during a merger or acquisition. But it sounds like the majority of Sun folks remain in Oracle’s camp. And it’s a safe bet many solutions providers are hanging out in both camps…
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