Oracle recently revealed plans for a channel partnership makeover. The US-based technology giant is preparing to eliminate the current Oracle Partner Network (OPN) program and has built a new one from the ground-up to help partners meet their ever-evolving customer demands in the cloud era.
Chek Yang Ang, Head of Alliances & Channels, Technology & Cloud Platform, Asia, Oracle told Channel Times that the new program is slated to go live on December 1, 2019.
“Oracle has always been a partner-centric company, with partner business continuing to be one of the key elements of Oracle’s cloud growth strategy. In fact, partners account for almost 40% of Oracle’s overall revenue and for nearly 80% of the company’s transactions globally,” he said.
“The newly announced OPN 2020 is a significant step in Oracle’s next cloud growth journey and is a huge step to deeper engagement with our partner ecosystem globally as well as in India,” Yang Ang said.
Oracle’s current OPN program follows the traditional nomenclature, with Silver, Gold and Platinum levels for partners. This cloud-first approach to channel engagement eliminates the vendor’s traditional tiered structure, which Oracle believes should no longer be relevant in the market.
Yang Ang said that channel partners are crucial for oracle’s next big growth leap across APAC, especially in India. The revamped program makes it simpler to evaluate a partner’s ability to deliver business outcomes through domain expertise, geographic reach, relevant experience and industry alignment.
On Oracle’s elimination multi-tiering from its new program, he explained, “Once you become an OPN member, instead of those hierarchies, you can focus on aligning their skills and capabilities with customer requirements, and that is more important.
Oracle encourages partners to jump to the new portal as early as possible. “We are giving them a year to transition to the new requirements. Those who have just subscribed to the existing platform can gradually make the transition,” he said.
Oracle is reorganizing its program across four partner tracks—three of which are designed for cloud-focused business models. The first one, a Cloud Build Track is for ISVs and technology partners that develop services on top of Oracle’s cloud infrastructure. There’s a Cloud Sell Track for Oracle resellers and a Cloud Service Track for implementation and ongoing managed services partners. Legacy partners are dedicated to on-premises business, there’s a Hardware Track that supports reselling, architecting and offering services around Oracle’s software licenses and hardware.
Each track offers unique enablement opportunities, certifications, and incentives. Partners can engage with Oracle by entering either of the build, sell, service, or license and hardware tracks or even multiple categories. Training and enablement will continue to be the most vital part of the partner program,” said Yang Ang.
Recently, at the Oracle OpenWorld 2019 in San Francisco, Oracle has revamped its identity, toning down to a grayer version from its earlier vibrant red hue on its logo, theme and all marketing campaign.
According to Yang Ang, “Oracle has changed its look and feel to the modern Redwood UX theme. This is transformational; a more matured look and feel of Oracle, which going forward will not only get reflected in the products, but in every event, in the communications and everywhere that Oracle touches our employees, customers, and channel partners and speaks of a new mission surrounding it.