Unihold Database Solutions (UDBS), the Unihold subsidiary that specialises in database sales, services and support for Oracle Relational Database Management Systems, has become one of Oracle`s top-selling database partners in South Africa.
Over the past 12 months the company, which was only established two years ago, grossed database sales in excess of R20-million, according to Johan Lamberts, a director of UDBS.
"That`s not bad going considering database sales are not our core business," he says, referring to the fact that the company was established to provide outsourced database maintenance and support services.
The database sales have been a by-product of UDBS` specialisation in the provision of practical alternatives to in-house database management, administration and consulting services.
"When we became an Oracle partner, we saw a huge gap in the market for added value database services. Where other resellers were content to sell the database as part of a systems sale, we aggressively promoted our value-added services. It`s a strategy that paid off," he says.
The company has become an Oracle Premier Partner and has attained formal certification to provide full sales, service and support on Oracle systems enabling it to provide an end-to-end solution for a wide range of organisations. These currently span some of SA`s leading financial and medical aid operations to medium-sized companies across the industrial spectrum.
"When we researched this market we found that in the present climate, companies are finding it increasingly difficult and costly to develop and retain in-house database services to a required skills level.
"Outsourcing the management and maintenance of their mission critical databases has proved to be the most professional and least risky alternative," adds Lamberts.
Commenting on UDBS` success, Paolo Gomes, senior account manager, Oracle SA, expects that, with Oracle`s new pricing structure for its resellers, database sales will continue to rise significantly.
"Oracle partners can be far more flexible with their pricing these days and can be as much as 25% lower than was previously possible," he says.
"Oracle`s leadership role in the move to e-business, with all our products and solutions now e-business enabled, will also be a major driver towards future sales successes," he adds.
UDBS is currently exploring market needs in the Dot.Com arena. It is also looking at how best to leverage its skills strengths to support the e-business movement.
"It`s the next logical step for us to take,` says Lamberts. "We plan to become very involved in the Dot.Com market, and there will be similar needs for expert project management and ongoing support and maintenance services."
UDBS is planning to market other Oracle-based solutions such as Human Resource packages in the near future.
Share
