Continuing its channel commitment in the Western Cape market, Oracle South Africa has appointed Idion Consulting Cape Town, a subsidiary of Idion Technology Holdings, as an Oracle Certified Partner.
Idion Consulting will concentrate on the Discoverer product set, developing Web applications and newly released Oracle 8i.
Oracle`s move forms part of its worldwide adherence to a channel strategy, one that has seen an investment of $500 million to be spent on marketing campaigns to co-sell and co-finance Oracle offerings.
Idion Consulting relies on an Internet-centric model and tends to link to thin client applications, according to the company`s director, Peter Bauer.
"We see Oracle as a leader in business intelligence and, through the complementary partnerships with Oracle partners, we can put together comprehensive marketing plans to improve the profiles in the industry of all concerned."
Says Bauer: "Our appointment means we have closer access to the technology and, through Oracle, also a greater understanding of the impacts of this technology to our clients` business.
"Our clients range from people in the financial services, manufacturing, retailing and shipping. The Oracle tools allows for easy access to intelligent information which then allows for CEOs to make strategic business decisions," Bauer explains.
As the sixth biggest ISP in South Africa, Idion has, since 1996, been responsible for introducing into the local market a number of international trends in sales force automation, workflow, document imaging, call centre technology, data warehouse decision support tools and helpdesk software.
The company believes its areas of expertise in data warehousing and decision support will get Oracle products into new markets.
"By partnering with us, Oracle will also be improving its services on national accounts," says Bauer.
"Our consulting and hands-on training approach to Oracle products has been very successful in getting the Oracle products into the various markets. We are extremely strong in sales and technical support, expertise which appealed to Oracle."
Idion is already involved with Oracle in a number of deals with both multinational and local companies.
Oracle SA is now completely focused on its partner programme. The software vendor has put together a list of criteria for companies wanting to become channel partners. Partners need to have been trained on Oracle applications and must have the sales resources required to sell Oracle products. They will also be required to go on Oracle sales training courses. The channel programme covers all of Oracle`s products although certain channel partners will cover particular products depending on their resources.
The benefits of the new channel partnership are that it is scalable, flexible and open in as much as Oracle will supply the product while implementation by the partner and business consultant ensures the products are understood by the client.
Oracle Corporation is the world`s leading supplier of software for information management, and the world`s second largest independent software company. With annual revenues of more than $8.0 billion, the company offers its database, tools and application products, along with related consulting, education, and support services, in more than 145 countries around the world.
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