Oracle Picks Up Steam With Reseller Pilot
By Shawn Willett Redwood Shores, Calif.
5:51 PM EST Fri., Mar. 19, 1999
- crn.com
An uptick in indirect sales has many in the channel hopeful that Oracle Corp. finally has put its channel house in order.
The No. 2 software maker is fine-tuning its indirect-only pilot programs and giving partners more flexibility in licensing and picking up leads.
The Redwood Shores-based company said all signs point toward a full rollout of a new program modeled after its pilot, but when and how have not yet been decided.
Oracle, which has had a checkered history with the channel, must be doing something right. For the second month in a row its technology beat Microsoft Corp.'s SQL Server as the best-selling client/server database, according to CRN's monthly software poll (see story, p. 6). Surprisingly, the company is seeing a pickup in sales not just through its elite Oracle Authorized Resellers (OARs), but also through distributors and Oracle Partners (OPs) that purchase through them. That is an area where Microsoft traditionally has held sway.
"The order volume is up over 75 percent through distributors," said Gamiel Gran, senior director of channel operations and market development at Oracle. "They have taken on things like credit management, which for us has always been a struggle."
Distributors confirm an uptick in sales. "We've seen a 100 percent increase in the last quarter," said Camberly Bates, director of strategic marketing at Access Graphics, Boulder, Colo. "Oracle thought that the majority of their sales would be through the OARs, but it is flip-flopped: A higher percentage of the revenues is through the non-OARs," said Bates.
"They've really turned the corner. In the last three months especially, we've seen a substantial improvement," said Larry Balboni, director of business development for the Computer Marketing Group at Avnet Inc., Tempe, Ariz.
"They have a new system that streamlines ordering and tracking orders, and that's important for us," he said.
A tiered partner program for VARs that purchase through distribution also has helped, said distribution executives.
The situation is a total turnaround from a year ago when distributors were feuding with Oracle over sales to OARs and other matters. Oracle has mended fences under a new team headed by George Roberts, Oracle's vice president of sales, said Bob Bailey, senior vice president of KeyLink Systems, a division of Pioneer-Standard, Cleveland.
"Oracle had distanced themselves from the channel for a year," he said. "Once you've engaged the channel, there is a lot we can do."
The Internet explosion has helped Oracle, which has a strong Internet message with its database and other products, Bailey said.
Distributors hope Oracle's indirect-only pilots will be a success. Last fall, Oracle revealed plans to refer all sales in the general market space,companies with revenue of less than $500 million,to partners in four geographic areas as part of a pilot program (CRN, Oct. 2).
The pilot is forcing Oracle to make some changes in the way it does business with partners, said Oracle's Gran.
For example, partners now have more flexibility in crafting custom license agreements with customers, something direct reps have been doing for a while.
"Before, we were giving only the most simple terms and conditions to the channel," said Gran. "Now we've given the channel the authority not just of a direct rep but of a regional manager."
Also, the company has put in place a Web-based lead distribution system online that tracks leads over time.
"The pilot has really forced us to change our infrastructure as well as go through some cultural hurdles," said Gran.
The big surprise is the sales going through distributors to OPs as well as OARs, he said. Oracle has 45 OARs nationwide, but thousands of OPs, said Gran. |
