Oracle to host first PartnerNetwork Day in Africa

Oracle SA will host the Africa leg of Oracle`s Europe, Middle East and Africa-wide PartnerNetwork Day roadshow at the Sandton Convention Centre on Tuesday, 31 August.

This is the first time Oracle Corporation is holding this event in Africa, modelled on a programme that has toured through six cities in Europe and the Middle East this year, attended by more than 3 600 Oracle partners. Oracle hopes the event will support its bid to form closer ties with its partners and to recruit new resellers.

"It will be the biggest single event we have ever held on African shores and we expect to attract more than 500 delegates who will hear from 15 senior Oracle executives how they can benefit by working with us," says Deon Els, country director, alliances and channels at Oracle SA.

These include former Durbanite Bronwyn Hastings, vice-president worldwide alliances and channels; Stein Surlien, vice-president alliances and channels EMEA region; Andrew Sutherland, vice-president technology, EMEA region; and Francis Veldeman, vice-president business development, EMEA region.

"Oracle`s partner base helps generate 40% of the corporation`s licence revenue ranging from small IT shops supporting Web site content through to large system implementation and integration enterprises, hardware vendors and software developers," says Els.

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"Anybody who is in IT will want to hear and find out what Oracle is about, how we can assist in growing their business and how they can join the Oracle partner programme."

Co-sponsored by HP, Intel, Red Hat and AMD, the Oracle Partner Network Day will also see the official launch in SA of Oracle E-Business Suite Special Edition, a software package aimed at smaller companies and subsidiaries of larger enterprises, sold exclusively through partners.

"With this increased focus on providing software to smaller businesses, we will be looking at recruiting new partners and informing delegates about our strategies and future direction, with tracks on sales, marketing and technical development," adds Els. Invitations have also been extended to Oracle SA`s counterparts and channel partners in other African countries, including Husam Dajani, managing director, Oracle Middle East and Africa.

The partner day will culminate in a cocktail reception where Oracle will be recognising and awarding its high performance partners for their efforts and achievements during the year.