Oracle South Africa has announced that it will form strategic alliances with major IT players to increase the uptake of Linux in business and government. The first of such alliances was announced today when Oracle SA and Novell South Africa agreed to team up to bring Oracle database and business applications running on SUSE Enterprise Linux to the local market.
The two companies will conduct a series of executive engagements around the country to present the business case for Linux, and to give executives the information and tools they need to make strategic software decisions on Linux.
"Linux has been identified as a foundational Open Source product for the delivery of core business systems in government, and large businesses have recognised Linux as a high performance, low-cost and secure option," says Oracle SA managing director Kelvin Reynolds. "However, the majority of these organisations are hesitating to commit their systems to Linux, as they do not have a "big picture" of how they will benefit from Linux in their extended corporate environment. By forming strategic alliances with the major players in the South Africa market, Oracle intends making it easier for organisations to not only understand the benefits of Linux itself, but also realise the benefits of running enterprise applications, networks and Internet servers on Linux."
In partnership with Novell South Africa, Oracle intends focusing particular attention on Government, where both companies have a significant install base at national, local and municipal levels.
Stafford Masie, Novell South Africa managing director, says he is looking forward to more vendors joining the alliance. "There has been a great deal of activity among vendors to spread the message of Linux, but the very nature of the product demands a more unified approach to marketing it. Customers don`t only want to hear each vendor`s Linux approach, they want to know that there is a cohesive ecosystem in the country able to minimise their percieved business risks. This local Oracle and Novell partnership is one of the steps towards addressing these enquiries by presenting a unified technological and business assurance solution set.
"Companies involved in all aspects of IT provision - hardware, database, applications, and network and information management - need to assure the customer that a commitment to Linux is an investment that will deliver returns. Everyone understands that the Linux technologies are best of breed, what they now want to see is the formation of partnerships to address their consulting, support, integration and deployment needs. Through a unified voice we can inform the non-IT decision maker of the choices and flexibility that Linux presents, and enable them to make a low-risk decision that will certainly deliver returns. We are extremely excited about Oracle`s commitment to Linux and the passion to ensure incremental value to their customers. We have several more vendors interested in joining this alliance so the next few months will be a very interesting period."
Reynolds envisages a number of such alliances to strengthen the Linux value proposition in the South African market. "Business and government will soon have access to information and the assurance that, although Linux is marketed by many software and hardware companies, the message will be consistent - Linux is affordable, scalable and very flexible. Most importantly, support for a Linux environment is assured.
"Oracle`s commitment to the Linux platform is such that it provides code-level support for SUSE Linux and Red Hat. From a security perspective, Oracle has taken the lead in gaining security certifications on Linux. Manageability and scalability are two more important areas where Oracle has been particularly effective."
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