The VAR Guy

At Oracle OpenWorld, Channel Chief Judson Althoff said he wants to boost Oracle’s partner ranks to 25,000 companies, up from 20,000 today. To do so, Oracle will likely raid the Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft partner channels. Althoff didn’t exactly mention those rivals by name, but he said enough to put both companies in Oracle’s crosshairs. Here are nine highlights from Althoff and Oracle Partner Forum, part of Oracle OpenWorld (Oct. 2-6, San Francisc0).

Former Autotask CEO Bob Godgart has launched ChannelEyes, positioned as a FaceBook-type social network for channel partners. Godgart is attending the SMB Nation conference to evangelize ChannelEyes, which claims to be “the first free and secure social network to aggregate Channel Program information.” The goal is to enhance communications between channel partners, integrators, dealers and agents. The big question: Do channel partners have time for yet another social network?