During a fiscal year 2011 kick-off event for partners today, Oracle Channel Chief Judson Althoff (pictured) once again conceded that Oracle is taking Sun Microsystems’ top 4,000 accounts direct. But Althoff also mentioned that partners can target roughly 300,000 Oracle software customers that currently lack Sun solutions. Translation: Partner opportunities outnumber Oracle’s Sun direct sales opportunities by a margin of 75 to one. But will the math hold up over time? Here are some perspectives from The VAR Guy.

Generally speaking, The VAR Guy didn’t hear any “shocking” news or developments during today’s online Oracle briefing. Althoff remained on message, reinforcing the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) Specialized program and urging partners to get specialized.

By the Numbers

Althoff also mentioned these rough stats:

  • Sun had 35,000 customers prior to Oracle acquiring Sun;
  • Oracle had 350,000 software customers prior to Sun deal;
  • Oracle, as previously announced, is taking 4,000 Sun accounts direct; and
  • Althoff believes partners have the opportunity to sell Sun hardware/offerings to roughly 300,000 established Oracle software customers that currently lack Sun solutions.

Lingering Questions

Of course The VAR Guy is over-simplifying today’s Oracle briefings (that is, after all, what bloggers do…). But many of the briefings remain online for partners to inspect.

Among the lingering questions and answers The VAR Guy hopes to pursue:

  • Will Oracle ever formalize specializations for the MySQL open source database?
  • Does Oracle see OpenOffice as a competitive weapon vs. Microsoft or a zero-sum opportunity that doesn’t warrant Oracle’s channel resources?
  • Side note: From a pure financial standpoint, does it even make sense for Oracle to promote MySQL and OpenOffice to partners, or should Oracle continue to emphasize higher revenue opportunities involving Sun servers, storage and so forth?
  • How are Sun partners really (truly) feeling these days? Sure, Oracle recently announced Sun’s return to profitability but are Sun’s partners also benefiting?

Some answers may emerge during today’s briefings. But The VAR Guy will go hunting for more information during the Avnet Technology Solutions Partner Summit (July 26-28, Broomfield, Colo.). Oracle is expected to have a major presence at the event.

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