Oracle's acquisition of Sun Microsystems is complete, and Oracle SA assures there will be no retrenchments locally.
“We will, in fact, be looking to hire more people to integrate Oracle and Sun's offerings, and ensure customers benefit from the joint value proposition we have to offer,” says Nicky Sheridan, country manager at Oracle SA.
Globally, he notes, no retrenchments are planned, but there will be “natural movement” in the industry and Oracle hopes to retain the high level of skills it has acquired along with Sun.
He adds that, although Oracle plans to continue Sun's roadmap practically unchanged, it will move towards a direct channel model. This will improve service to customers and take away part of the "less value-added perspective of the business" from channel partners, Sheridan explains.
The company will also alter Sun's supply chain from a build-to-stock model that keeps inventory on hand, to a build-to-order model that requires no distribution centres and will reduce freight and other logistics expenses.
When asked if moving to a direct model would mean getting rid of channel partners, Sheridan says: “Definitely not. Sun and Oracle have been partners for over 25 years and have focused on joint development of customer solutions. A number of solutions were, in fact, developed in collaboration by Oracle and Sun through their existing partnership.
“Oracle's business model is to empower the partners,” he continues. “Oracle wants to continue strengthening its already complete solutions offerings and this is why [CEO] Larry Ellison bought Sun Microsystems in the first place. Partners are critical to Oracle's strategy and to delivering the highest levels of customer satisfaction.
“We work with partners to preserve and enhance investments, provide customers with choice, and drive open enterprise systems. Customers are expected to benefit from the expertise and innovation of Sun and Oracle's 20 000-plus partners around the world.”
Nick Cock, senior director of product strategy for Sun/Oracle, says the combined companies will spend $4.3 billion a year as Oracle invests to modernise some of Sun's product lines.
The Sun acquisition will move Oracle into hardware for the first time. The company says it no longer makes sense for companies to focus on a single aspect of technology, because as the industry has matured, the rate of innovation taking place in these areas has slowed. It makes business sense to engineer the various pieces to work better together, it notes.
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