Oracle Partners Rapidly Adopt Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialized Program

Just one year following its inception, Oracle today announced that a record number of partners have embraced the Oracle PartnerNetwork (www.oracle.com/partners/032191.htm) (OPN) Specialized program to differentiate themselves and gain a competitive edge.

Today, nearly 1,000 partners have demonstrated expertise in close to 60 specialization areas spanning Oracle’s extensive applications-to-disk product portfolio.

Continuing to invest in new enablement resources and opportunities for partner growth, Oracle also announced the OPN Specialized Partner Premier site (www.oracle.com/specialized) , a new interactive directory geared to connect customers with a partner that has the right expertise to meet their distinct business needs.

In the program’s first year, close to 1,000 partners have achieved specialization and are using the specialized distinction to further drive customer growth and success with Oracle technologies.

Today, the OPN Specialized program includes:

To support partner education and training, Oracle has offered more than 650 Boot Camp training programs and over 35,600 Boot Camp days in the past year, helping partners achieve specialization in close to 60 different Oracle application, middleware, database, systems or industry solution areas.

Built on the foundation of Oracle Enablement 2.0 (www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/017508_ESA?rssid=rss_ocom_pr) training and support, the OPN Specialized program enables partners to establish industry recognition by following a formal process to become specialized in key Oracle solution areas. This gives customers a system of preference and allows partners to differentiate themselves and the solutions and services they offer.

The new Specialized Partner Premier site allows partners to highlight their differentiated Oracle-based solutions and services and connect with customers looking for a unique business expertise.

Once in the OPN Specialized Partner Premier site, customers can review partner success stories, product backgrounds, news items, videos and more and directly connect with partners on additional questions or potential business opportunities.

“We have received a tremendous response to the OPN Specialized program and already have nearly 1,000 partners delivering unique and differentiated solutions to our joint customers around the globe,” said Judson Althoff, senior vice president of Worldwide Alliances and Channels and Embedded Sales, Oracle. “Today’s customers are not simply looking for technology; they are looking for complete solutions and domain knowledge that can help solve their distinct business challenges. Together with our partners, Oracle is helping customers leverage technology to transform their businesses and bottom line results. As the program progresses, we are dedicated to finding new and innovative ways to enable our partners to grow, succeed and profit with Oracle.”

“OPN Specialized is a solid program that recognizes strong business partners,” said Darren Bibby, program vice-president of IDC Software Channels and Alliances Research. “Telling the customer community about those strong partners is important, yet few other programs do a good job of it. These are great initiatives from Oracle towards letting the world know what it means to be a Specialized partner.”