Inside the Channel

Oracle-Sun deal: VARs Positive

Some early reports are coming in that VARs are on board with the Oracle-Sun deal. to date though, neither Sun nor Oracle has said much of anything about how the deal will affect the sales channel, but it seems to be welcome.

But time will only tell--and what's good for one partner may not be so good for another. I would suspect that Sun hardware partners may be a little nervous. Nonetheless, there are obvious synergies, the question is, who will those synergies benefit most in the long run? Sun partners will gain access to the very strong Oracle database, and the deal will undoubtedly make the combined company much more powerful and competitive.

At one time or another, both Sun and Oracle have had channel difficulties, but both do have very large channel programs. Oracle has 21,000 channel partners around the world, with half of its business coming from the "indirect" channel." North America is a bit different for Oracle though, with more money coming from direct sales. From an industry point of view, it's all good. But there's going to be a few unhappy campers in the reseller world. As a VAR, do you think the deal will affect you positively or negatively? Let's hear from you.

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