Oracle Cloud Partner Program Updates Set for February

At Oracle’s recent CloudWorld event, Oracle CEO Mark Hurd and SVP Shawn Price both made references to coming changes (scheduled to be announced on February 1) in Oracle’s partner program as it relates to cloud, including its highest-level Diamond partners.

Although there were not many specifics, both said there would be new or enhanced requirements on Oracle Cloud certifications and skills, new partner metrics related to the amount of Oracle Cloud revenue generated, and vertical-specific cloud offerings. It is unclear whether there will be new partner program branding or new partner tiers associated with these coming changes.

It is tough to judge the full impact on partners, particularly for its IT services and SI partners, until more details of any changes are announced. However, it is not altogether surprising that Oracle would make significant changes because the company is now moving full throttle down its path to cloud services.

Aligning Oracle Cloud and Partners

As Oracle Cloud offerings continue to expand, particularly into enterprise resource planning (ERP), where the vendor says it has roughly 1,600 customers so far, it needs to ensure that its partners are fully aligned with its cloud agenda. In reality, its global Diamond SI partners are already aligned, and report active Oracle Cloud pipelines across the board.

Depending on what changes are coming (if any) in terms of how much Oracle Cloud revenue these partners will be expected to generate, it may be relatively easier for the global partners to adjust to any program changes than other partner types.

We are curious to see exactly what is announced next month. Overall, Oracle has made great strides in improving its partner interactions and programs in the past several years. The trick for Oracle is to ensure that any necessary alterations, based on its all-cloud strategy, does not mean going backward in its partner relations.

Read more updates from Oracle CloudWorld and OpenWorld here.

John Madden is practice leader for IT services at Ovum. Read more Ovum blogs here.