Oracle Activates Cloud Partner Program Updates -

Oracle today activated a range of cloud partner program updates, making good on recent promises at Oracle CloudWorld in New York and a vision statement from late 2015.

Among the key updates activated today: Four tiers in the new Oracle PartnerNetwork cloud designations, which include:

Cloud Standard: Here, partners typically focused on a specific or specialized solution within one of Oracle’s key product pillars, the company says.

Cloud Select: These partners have achieved a Cloud specialization and/or are developing and selling Oracle Cloud technologies or services, and have proven success working with customers to launch their Oracle Cloud Services solutions, Oracle asserts.

Cloud Premier: At this level, partner benefits include enablement, go-to-market and engagement resources within their regions.

Cloud Elite: The highest program designation, companies here are priority go-to-market partners that will benefit from the highest engagement and commitment from Oracle for joint focused Cloud business growth, the company said.

Oracle did not publicly disclose potential revenue targets, margins or specific partner refunds at each level. But it's a safe bet deeper details are flowing directly to Oracle's cloud partners. Also, the company has previously shared some details about cloud partner refunds that flow through distributor engagements.

Oracle vs Amazon, Azure

Oracle certainly wants partners to drive Infrastructure as a Service (IaaS) business, but the company sees some key opportunities to compete in the cloud without necessarily facing Amazon Web Services and Microsoft Azure head-on in the IaaS sector.

Indeed, CEO Mark Hurd predicts the SaaS market will consolidate around two major enterprise software suite providers. He believes Oracle will be one of those two players, but he declines to publicly predict the other potential player.

With that prediction in mind, Oracle has been calling on partners to rally around each of its SaaS offerings across a range of applications -- including Human Capital Management (HCM), CRM, finance and more.