The low down from IDC on Oracle’s PartnerNetwork program. Structure, numbers, benefits, requirements.

1. EXCERPT
Channel and ISV Partner Program Review: Oracle
PartnerNetwork
Darren Bibby Christine Dover
IN THIS EXCERPT
The content for this excerpt was taken directly from the IDC Vendor Profile Report,
Channel and ISV Partner Program Review: Oracle Partner Network, by Darren Bibby
www.idc.com
and Christine Dover (Doc # 226493). All or part of the following sections are included
in this excerpt: IDC Opinion, In This Study, Situation Overview, Future Outlook,
Vendor Profile, and Essential Guidance. Also included are Table 1,2 and 3
F.508.935.4015
IDC OPINION
Oracle Corp., from its beginnings in 1977 as a four-person start-up with an idea
based on research done by IBM, has grown into the "world's most complete, open,
P.508.872.8200
and integrated business software and hardware systems company" by its own
description. Oracle's reputation for being an overly direct, partner-unfriendly vendor
continues to slowly fade away. It has made definite strides forward in the past five
years to become a vendor that partners would want to do business with. Many of the
most significant changes to the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN) have come in the past
Global Headquarters: 5 Speen Street Framingham, MA 01701 USA
two years with the launches of Enablement 2.0 in 2008 and OPN Specialized in 2009
and the consolidation of regional call centers and other resources into a centrally
managed team. These changes have brought alignment and consistency to partners
whose own businesses span the globe as well as cross multiple Oracle technology
and application solutions. A few highlights of OPN include:
 OPN has a worldwide community of more than 20,000 partners.
 Membership is open to all companies seeking to do business through and with
Oracle. Depending on how they choose to work with Oracle, partners may
choose to work as a Remarketer through a Remarketer Authorized Value-Added
Distributor (VAD) or join OPN at the Silver or Gold level. Partners may move up
to the Platinum level by achieving a minimum of five Specializations in areas
such as Oracle Database 11g or Sun SPARC Enterprise High-End Servers..
Specialization criteria are based on staff competency plus achievement of
business criteria such as revenue, customer references, and/or validated
integrations of partner products. In September 2010, Oracle announced the
Diamond level, which is intended for the top-tier global partners.
 Highlights of partner benefits for OPN members are Enablement 2.0 boot camps,
offering partners a jump start to educating staff on Oracle technologies and
applications; OPN Competency Center, offering role-based learning and
assessments to guide the partner to the appropriate education; Partner Business
Filing Information: May 2011, IDC #226493E
: Excerpt

2. Center, providing partner support at all hours, around the globe, and in up to 24
languages; and free Service Requests for partners that achieve Specialization.
IN THIS VENDOR PROFILE
This IDC Vendor Profile presents a review of the Oracle PartnerNetwork (OPN), the
overall program for all Oracle partner activities across all Oracle geographic divisions
and business units.
SITUATION OVERVIEW
Company Overview
Oracle has been a leader in the software industry since 1977 when Larry Ellison,
along with cofounders Bob Miner and Ed Oates of the company then known as
Software Development Laboratories, realized the business potential of the relational
database model. The team released Oracle version 2, the first commercial SQL
relational database management system in 1979 (version 1 was never released). In
1982, the company got a new name — Oracle Systems. Over the years, Oracle
continued to innovate database and application technology through its own efforts
and occasional acquisitions.
In 2004, Oracle launched an aggressive cycle of acquisitions beginning with rival
PeopleSoft, which launched an era of consolidation in the software industry. Since
2005, Oracle has completed more than 60 acquisitions and successfully merged the
acquired company products, processes, and employees into Oracle. Now in 2011,
and with the acquisition of Sun Microsystems in 2009, Oracle describes itself as the
"world's most complete, open, and integrated business software and hardware
systems company." Oracle's reach extends to 145 countries with approximately
105,000 employees on record as of May 31, 2010.
Table 1 provides a brief company snapshot.
TABLE 1
Oracle Company Snapshot
Category Details
Company name Oracle Corp.
Head office Redwood Shores, California
Total company revenue US$26.8 billion
Total software revenue US$20.6 billion
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3. TABLE 1
Oracle Company Snapshot
Category Details
Web site www.oracle.com
Source: Oracle, 2010
Partner Program History
Oracle's programmatic partner management began as the Oracle Partner Program
(OPP) in 1998. The original program brought together disparate partner programs in
existence across the company into a single program with a consistent framework,
agreements, and processes. OPP was originally focused on partner companies that
were reselling Oracle technology products (i.e., database and application server); on
independent software vendors (ISVs) that were building their own packaged
solutions, which ran on the Oracle technology stack; and on systems integrators (SIs)
that were building custom technology solutions for their clients.
In 2003, the name of the program changed to the Oracle PartnerNetwork and the
Oracle E-Business Suite was made available to qualified partners for resale. In 2005,
as part of Oracle's acquisition strategy, OPN continued to grow and expand as the
acquired company products (e.g., PeopleSoft, Siebel, Hyperion, BEA, Retek, and
Sun) were made available to OPN members. Benefits and services were also
expanded particularly in the areas of partner enablement and competency. During
this time, Oracle continued to grow the size of the partner community from 13,000
companies in 2004 to more than 20,000 companies in 2010.
Partner Program Overview
OPN is Oracle's partner community, with membership of over 20,000 companies. The
program is global and supports Oracle's partners throughout their business life cycle.
The program is open to all types of companies, but the most common are
independent software vendors, value-added resellers (VARs), and systems
integrators.Table 2 offers quick access to some Oracle Partner Program data points.
TABLE 2
Oracle Partner Program Snapshot
Category Details
Official name of the partner program Oracle PartnerNetwork
Main partner program Web site www.oracle.com/partners
Worldwide percentage of software revenue sold through partners 40.0%
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4. TABLE 2
Oracle Partner Program Snapshot
Category Details
Worldwide percentage of software transactions sold through partners 80.0%
Source: Oracle, 2010
Oracle PartnerNetwork Program Membership
The OPN program is global, with regional operations in North America; Latin America;
Europe, Middle East, and Africa; Asia/Pacific; and Japan. Alliance and channel teams
also report into the industry-based global business units such as retail, tax and
utilities, and communications. All partners join the global OPN program.
The OPN program marketing materials generally describe five levels at which
companies may engage with Oracle:
 Remarketer. The Remarketer level is often described as the entry level to OPN,
although it is not actually an OPN membership level. Remarketers must be
registered through a Remarketer Authorized VAD, may resell only from a specific
list of selected Oracle technology products, and have no access to the secure
OPN portal for tools and resources (although Remarketers can access some
public information on the OPN portal). A Remarketer has no membership fees or
partner agreement with Oracle.
 Silver. A partner may join OPN at the Silver level. This is a cost-effective and
scalable way to get started with the Oracle product set. The Silver level also
opens up the OPN Portal to partners and allows them to start taking advantage
of software licenses and enablement resources.
 Gold. A partner may also join OPN at the Gold level. Actually, a partner that
wants to work with more than just the 1-Click products must start at the Gold
level. At the Gold level, partners start to develop their Specializations, which
enable them to identify and increase their expertise and create differentiation in
the marketplace. Gold partners are limited to earning four Specializations.
 Platinum. Partners earn the right to move up to the Platinum level by achieving
five or more OPN Specializations. The Platinum-level partners receive the
highest level of engagement, commitment, and benefits available in OPN
Specialized. A Platinum partner must have at least five Specializations.
 Diamond. Announced in September 2010, the Diamond level is intended for the
top-tier global alliance partners. The criteria are significant, but reflect what the
target partners are already doing, and provide a clear road map for the partners
that want to attain the Diamond status. Diamond-level partners must have at
least 20 Specializations, and five of those Specializations must be Advanced
Specializations (described in the sections that follow). The criteria also include
annual cosell and resell revenue goals across three or more regions, have 15
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5. qualified solution offerings, and have dedicated business development
representatives in each region.
There are two types of OPN membership — Standard and Worldwide with
Associates. Standard membership is very straightforward. It is one company
operating in a single country, although the partner's products may be sold globally.
Companies that operate in multiple countries could have their subsidiaries working as
associates of their worldwide partner.
Table 3 offers an at-a-glance breakdown of the worldwide reseller/SI, ISV, and other
memberships by program level. As of January 2011, there are over 1,000 partners
that have earned at least one Specialization. This number is growing rapidly with the
adoption of OPN Specialized.
TABLE 3
Oracle PartnerNetwork Worldwide Membership Breakdown
Category Reseller + SI ISV Other Total
Diamond New NA NA NA
Platinum 700 800 500 2,000
Gold 5,600 6,400 4,000 16,000
Silver 700 800 500 2,000
Remarketer 1,000 NA NA 1,000
Source: Oracle, 2011
Oracle PartnerNetwork Program Fees
The OPN program offers opportunities to engage with Oracle with and without
membership fees:
 Remarketer. There are no fees to begin reselling select Oracle software as a
Remarketer..
 Silver. The annual fee for the Silver-level membership is US$500.
 Gold. The annual fee for the Gold-level membership is US$2,500. Additionally,
Gold-level members can have their associate members join OPN for a 50%
discount on the annual membership fee.
 Platinum. The annual fee for the Platinum-level membership is US$9,995, but
there are a number of annual program benefits that offset that annual fee.
Additionally, Platinum-level partners can have their associate members join OPN
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6. for free, which may represent a tremendous savings for partners with
subsidiaries in multiple countries.
 Diamond. The annual fee for the Diamond level is US$9,995.
There are also some optional OPN offerings that may also have a fee or other cost for
participation.:
Oracle's acquisition strategy has been a key ingredient to Oracle's tremendous
growth since 2005. While not explicitly a benefit of OPN membership, Oracle partners
have and continue to benefit from this strategy. The strength of the larger and broader
OPN program often brings additional benefits than were available in the acquired
company program. Finally the partners, both organic OPN members and those new
from acquisition, have an opportunity to expand their business and explore the new
technology solutions acquired by Oracle (see
www.oracle.com/us/corporate/Acquisitions/index.html).
Oracle PartnerNetwork Program Entry Requirements
OPN membership is open to all companies that choose to do business through
Oracle. Generally, companies apply for membership in OPN by creating an
oracle.com account, creating a company profile, completing an online application,
agreeing to the terms and conditions of the OPN Agreement, agreeing to adhere to
the Partner Code of Conduct and Business Ethics, and paying an annual fee.
To move up in the OPN program, primarily to earn Specializations and move to the
Platinum level, the partner needs to meet the Specialization criteria, which may vary
by Specialization. The Specialization criteria generally include staff competency,
customer references, and revenue. Finally, depending on the Specialization being
sought, the partner may need only one or as many as three Sales Specialists who
have passed the applicable exams.
With OPN Specialized, partners can differentiate themselves in more ways than just
by the OPN program levels of Silver, Gold, and Platinum. Now the partners can
distinguish themselves by spotlighting their strengths and special skills in 55
Specialization areas (as of December 2010, with many more scheduled through May
31, 2012). The following lists examples of available Specializations from each of the
five knowledge zone groupings:
 Database - Oracle Database release 11g
 Middleware – Service-Oriented Architecture release 11g
 Applications – Oracle E-Business Suite Financial Management release 12.1:
 Industries - Healthcare
 Server and storage systems – Oracle Sun SPARC Enterprise Entry Level and
Midrange Servers:
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7. Each of the Specializations requires individuals at the company to pass the following
types of exams (number of individuals varies by Specialization):
 Sales Specialist
 Presales Specialist
 Support Specialist
 Certified Implementation Specialist
 Industry Specialist (available only for industry-based Specializations)
In September 2010, Oracle announced Advanced Specializations that are intended to
recognize the depth of resources and bench strength. An Advanced Specialization,
which can be earned for any of the available Specializations, requires that the partner
has 50 or more Certified Implementation Specialists. This means that to earn an
Advanced Specialization in Oracle Database 11g, the partner must meet the usual
Specialization criteria, plus have sufficient qualified individuals who have passed at
least 50 applicable Certified Implementation Specialist exams.
Oracle counts the number of passed assessments and certifications, not the number
of individuals. It is possible that an individual pass more than one assessment in a
single Specialization area.. Finally, there are no country-based boundaries to meeting
the criteria. If the partner's resources are spread across the United States, India,
Belgium, and the Netherlands, they all count toward meeting the Specialization
criteria. What Oracle is looking at is the overall capability and knowledge base within
the partner company, not the number of people in a specific country.
An overview of Specialization, including the Specialization Competency Readiness
Guide (with a complete list of available and planned Specializations through May
2012) is available at www.oracle.com/partners/en/opn-
program/specialize/index.html.
Company Strategy
Partner Program Benefits
The sections that follow describe some of the the main benefits and resources for
partners in the OPN program. Note that the benefits described are core benefits of
the partner program that certain partner tiers, or even all partners, may access.
Benefits for very small subsegments of the partner community and other ad hoc
benefits for partners may not be listed here. The benefits fall into five key categories:
sales, marketing, technical, and partner development and relationship.
Partner Program Benefits — Sales
Distribution Rights and Resale
 Description: Partners earn top-line revenue by reselling Oracle products and
services and profit from the margin between the sale price to the customer and
©2011 IDC #226493E 7

8. the royalty to Oracle. Specific information about discount amounts is not publicly
available. Additionally, Oracle may provide rebates or incentives for a limited time
and for a select set of products. The following distribution opportunities are
available to partners:
 Full Use Distribution Agreement (FUDA). The Full Use license is Oracle's
least restrictive license type and grants the end user full rights to develop
custom applications with the Oracle software and hardware. The FUDA is,
generally speaking, the most appropriate distribution agreement for systems
integrators and value-added resellers.
 Application Specific Full Use (ASFU) Program Distribution Agreement.
The ASFU Distribution Agreement entitles partners to resell Oracle software
as part of their named application package. An ASFU license may be used
only with a single-named partner application package. The ASFU is the most
appropriate license level for an independent software vendor.
 Embedded Software License (ESL) Distribution Agreement. An ESL is a
restricted type of license sold primarily by an independent software vendor
where Oracle technology is embedded in its application package. The
Oracle products must not be apparent to the end user and may only be used
by the end user to execute the solution provider's designated application
package.
 Reselling Support. With each Oracle license distributed, partners may also
distribute the end user's right to receive first-year technical support from
Oracle. The partner may decide how to price the first-year support but must
also communicate Oracle's price for second-year support. Partners are not
allowed to resell support for second and subsequent years.
 Reselling Oracle Support for ASFU and ESL. Partners must provide first-
line end-user support on the Oracle programs contained in their application
package to those end users that want technical support and may contact
Oracle for assistance with a customer query that is related to an Oracle
program using the CSI for the applicable OPN-supported development
licenses. Fees for support are due to Oracle when partners provide support
to their end users.
 Reselling Oracle Enterprise Linux and VM Support. Oracle allows its
partners to resell Oracle Enterprise Linux and Oracle VM Support.
 Reselling Oracle Education. The Oracle University Reseller program
enables qualified organizations to offer Oracle education products and
training for resale.
 Requirements: OPN members at the Silver level have the ability to resell only
the 1-Click products. Gold, Platinum, and Diamond OPN members may resell
any of the products included in the knowledge zones to which their company is
accepted, has achieved the reseller criteria, and has completed the appropriate
distribution agreements. To resell Oracle University products and services, the
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9. partner needs to submit an application and complete an OPN Education
Distribution Agreement.
Open Market Model
 Description: In an effort to optimize its distribution channel, Oracle instituted the
Open Market Model (OMM) that offers three distinct initiatives, which
acknowledge and reward partners for registering transactions with Oracle:
 Resale initiative. The resale initiative is open to all eligible OPN members
to register net-new opportunities for any Oracle program, service, and/or
license levels for which the partner has a valid Oracle distribution
agreement. If Oracle closes the deal that was registered and accepted under
the resale initiative, the registered partner will qualify for a fee from Oracle.
The fee varies by product and/or geography but is generally 10% of the
value of the opportunity with a cap at US$100,000.
 Referral initiative. The referral initiative is open to all OPN members that
have knowledge of a net-new opportunity to license any Oracle programs
and/or services. Upon successful closure of the transaction, Oracle will pay
a fee to the approved referring partner. The fee varies by product and/or
geography but is generally 5% or 10% with caps at US$25,000, US$50,000,
or US$100,000.
 Non-commission cosell initiative. Sometimes it is necessary or
appropriate for a partner to register a potential opportunity, but not be
eligible for a fee or commission as is available in the resale and referral
initiatives. The non-commission cosell initiative allows partners to register
net-new opportunities, existing and active sales opportunities, or single large
transactions that encompass a partner deal or supersede it. Registering
these deals gains the partner important recognition within the OPN program
and the Oracle sales teams.
OMM offers an alternative to the Oracle partners to earn recognition and
compensation for deals they found but did not have the opportunity to resell as
described in the Distribution Rights and Resale section.
 Requirements: The Open Market Model is available to all OPN members. More
complete details of the OMM program are found at
www.oracle.com/partners/how-to-do-business/.
Partner Program Benefits — Marketing
Logos and Branding
 Description: Oracle provides a variety of logos to the OPN membership.
Specific criteria must be met before the partner can download and use the logo:
 Oracle Partner is available to partners in the Silver level of membership in
OPN or partners that choose only to work with the 1-Click products. This is
the membership entry level.
©2011 IDC #226493E 9

10.  Oracle Gold Partner is available to partners that have achieved the Gold
level of membership in OPN and have begun on the path to Specialization.
 Oracle Platinum Partner is available to partners that have achieved the
Platinum level of membership in OPN.
 Oracle Diamond Partner is available to partners that have achieved the
Diamond level of membership in OPN. This is the most prestigious OPN
logo.
 Oracle Validated Integration is available to partners that have had Oracle
validate their solution with one of the Oracle applications.
 Oracle Accelerate Solution is available to partners that have their
prepackaged bundle that pairs with Oracle E-Business Suite and JD
Edwards EnterpriseOne applications reviewed and approved by Oracle.
 Oracle Certified Professional is available from Oracle University to those
individuals who have passed the necessary OCP exams.
 Value-Added Distributor is available to partners that are authorized as
Oracle's value-added distributors.
 Oracle PartnerNetwork Specialized Global Awards logos recognize
partner excellence in a number of categories including technology,
applications, industry, and midsize.
The OPN logos provide recognized market credibility of the partner's relationship
with Oracle. Partners use the logos on their own Web sites, presentations,
marketing collaterals, business cards, and trade show booths.
 Requirements: OPN logos are available to all OPN members, although the logo
varies based on partnership level. Additional logos for Specialization are
available once the partner has met the specific Specialization criteria.
Market Development Funds
 Description: The OPN Market Development Funds (MDF) is a marketing budget
allocated to fund partner marketing programs. MDF may be used toward Oracle-
related revenue activities such as advertising, collateral, demand generation,
events, and telemarketing. Platinum-level OPN members may apply for funding
marketing activities that highlight the Oracle partnership and extend the Oracle
message. Through MDF, Oracle will fund up to 50% of eligible costs for a joint
partner/OPN activity and up to 30% of eligible costs if two partners are involved.
 Requirements: Only Platinum-level partners are eligible to apply for MDF
benefits. Diamond-level partners receive an annual MDF allocation.
Joint Customer Success Stories
 Description: Gold- and Platinum-level partners can nominate their customer
success story (having first obtained the customer's permission to do so). Once
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11. accepted, partners receive professional services to write and publish their
customer success story. The story is made available on Oracle.com and linked to
the partner Web site. The partner's market credibility is increased because the
partner, Oracle, and the customer are publically validating the positive joint
success.
 Requirements: Customer success stories are available only to Gold-, Platinum-,
and Diamond-level members of OPN, although it is not clear that all of the
partners listed on the Partner Success Stories have actually achieved this status.
Including the OPN partner logos on this page would be a nice addition to
continue the branding of OPN Specialized (see
www.oracle.com/customers/partners/index.html).
Partner Program Benefits — Technical
Enablement 2.0 Boot Camps
 Description: To complement the training available from Oracle University, in
2008, OPN developed the Enablement 2.0 Boot Camp series. The boot camp
classes are role specific for sales, presales, and implementation, with
implementation boot camps being the most commonly scheduled events. Most of
the classes are in-person, but there are also live virtual events. Course
descriptions generally state that the class provides an in-depth understanding of
the architectural, technical, and functional content while providing an
understanding of the installation, implementation, configuration, and/or extension
of the product. Sample topics are:
 Database Security Options Implementation — 2 days
 Service-Oriented Architecture Implementation — 3 days
 E-Business Suite Financial Management 11i to 12i Delta Implementation —
5 days

 Oracle VM Overview and Implementation — 2 days
Oracle also has an innovative program that allows partners to improve the
curriculum. Oracle uses "delivery partners" to develop and teach some of the
boot camps. These partners have access to a delivery dashboard to access
content and improve it. Also, partner staff members who attend OPN classes can
provide feedback on courses or assessments through the OPN Competency
Center.
 Requirements: Silver-level partners are eligible only for boot camps specific to
the 1-Click products. Gold, Platinum, and Diamond partners may attend any of
the boot camp offerings. Fees, ranging from free to US$2,250 for a five-day
virtual class, vary based on boot camp topic and geographic region. See the
current Boot Camp Schedule on the "Most Popular Resources" at
www.oracle.com/partners.
©2011 IDC #226493E 11

12. OPN Competency Center
 Description: The OPN Competency Center is an intuitive, easy-to-use tool that
guides partner employees through a role-based path in order to learn how to sell,
demo, implement, develop on, and support Oracle products. The model for the
user interface is the London Underground map, with students choosing a "track"
(Oracle calls them Guided Learning Paths [GLPs]) and stopping at courses on
their journey. Preassessments are available so students can test their existing
knowledge and determine where they should actually spend their time learning
new subjects. Students can track their progress through the GLPs and then
begin to earn "Specialization" by successfully completing an OPN Specialist
assessment.
The OPN Competency Center also includes a dashboard that the partner's OPN
administrator can use to track overall progress toward achieving Specialization.
The administrator may also create workgroups and assign training to employees
to fulfill the education requirements for Specialization using a feature called
Training Manager.
 Requirements: The OPN Competency Center is available to all OPN members.
Development and Integration Licenses
 Description: OPN provides an unlimited number of development and integration
licenses to OPN members to enable partners to lower their development costs
for building products that run on the Oracle stack or integrate to Oracle
applications. These development and integration licenses also include software
updates and patches, ensuring that the partner always has access to the most
current Oracle software. The development licenses are limited to technology
products (please note that development licenses are not available for application
programs). Integration licenses are limited to the application programs identified
in the knowledge zone(s) for which the partner has applied and been accepted.
 Requirements: Silver-level OPN members have access to development licenses
for 1-Click products. Development licenses for technology products are available
to all OPN members at Gold, Platinum, and Diamond levels. Availability of
application integration licenses are limited to Gold-, Platinum-, and Diamond-
level partners and to acceptance in applicable knowledge zones.
Support Discounts
 Description: There are times when access to self-service support tools and
knowledge bases are not enough and the partner really needs to log a service
request. Support resources are expensive, so this type of benefit is rarely offered
at no cost. In detail:
 100 free Service Requests to use with development, demonstration,
and integration licenses on any Oracle technology or application
product. 100 free SRs are available to Platinum- and Diamond-level
partners. Additionally, Specialized partners receive 50 free SRs per
Specialization for use with development, demonstration, and integration
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13. licenses for Oracle technology and application programs in addition to any
free SRs received as part of the Support benefits discussed previously (up to
a maximum of 250 free SRs per membership year). The free SRs are
renewed each year.
 Purchase Service Request Packs at a discount. Gold-level partners that
have not yet earned a Specialization, as well as partners that have used up
their free SRs, may purchase packs of Service Requests for Oracle's
application and technology products. SRs are sold in packs of 10 for
US$650 and 25 for US$1,400 and may be purchased through the Partner
Business Center.
 Free Service Requests for Oracle's Enterprise Linux Support. 100 free
SRs are available to Gold Specialized partners, and 200 free SRs are
available to Platinum- and Diamond-level partners. The free SRs are
renewed each year.
 Discount on Oracle's Enterprise Linux Support. Gold-level partners that
have not yet earned a Specialization, as well as partners that have used up
their free SRs, may purchase packs of Service Requests for Enterprise
Linux Support. SRs are sold in packs of 10 for US$650 and 25 for US$1,400
and may be purchased through the Partner Business Center.
At the Platinum and Diamond levels, the annual renewal of free SRs is a terrific
benefit. Plus, Oracle provides some number of free SRs to the Gold-level
partners that have achieved at least one Specialization. Most large software
vendors require partners to pay for this generous level of support.
 Requirements: Free service requests are provided to Gold Specialized,
Platinum, and Diamond partners only. All other service requests may be
purchased at a discount. These service requests are only for use with the
partner's demonstration, development, and integration licenses. They are not to
be used for customer projects or Oracle products that may be used internally by
the partner.
Oracle University Discounts
 Description:
 Discounts on products and services. Through its partnership with Oracle
University, OPN offers discounts of 20% to Silver partners and 25% to Gold,
Platinum, and Diamond partners on all Oracle University products and
services including classroom training and self-study CDs.
 Learning Credit discounts. If a company can plan ahead for its training
requirements, it often makes sense to prepurchase Learning Credits. If
purchased within 30 days of signing up or renewing an OPN membership,
OPN members can purchase Learning Credits at a 35% discount. However,
these Learning Credits must be purchased within the first 30 days of OPN
membership or renewal and must be used by the next renewal date or within
12 months, whichever is earlier.
©2011 IDC #226493E 13

14.  Live virtual discounts. Platinum- and Diamond-level OPN members are
offered an additional 5% discount, over the regular 25% discount, for these
live virtual events.
 Oracle University Knowledge Center Passport. Typically accessed via
the OPN Competency Center, the OUKCP is the library of online courses
and assessments. The courses are developed by Oracle University, Oracle's
product development and support organizations, Oracle Consulting, Oracle
Sales, and the OPN Enablement team.
 Requirements: The OUKCP is available to all OPN members, as are the
additional discounts for purchasing learning credits. Discounts on Oracle
University products and services vary by partner level. It is important to note that
these training discounts are for use with the development of the partners' own
skills in developing and deliver solutions to their customers, not as a pass
through to customers.
Oracle Certified Professional Assessments/Exam Vouchers
 Description: The Oracle Certified Professional is one of the most established
badges of credibility for an individual in the information technology industry.
Oracle provides a wide variety of OCP programs through Oracle University.
Exams, for which there is a fee ranging from US$125 to US$300, may be taken
at testing centers worldwide. Complete details are available at
education.oracle.com.
 Requirements: The OCP voucher is available only to Gold- (two vouchers per
year) and Platinum/Diamond-level (six vouchers per year) OPN members.
Partners receive two additional vouchers once they achieve their first
Specialization.
Partner Program Benefits — Relationship and
Development
Partner Business Center
 Description: Stationed in four business centers (Bangalore, India; Beijing,
China; Bucharest, Romania; and Buenos Aries, Argentina), the Partner Business
Centers provide around-the-clock partner support in up to 24 languages, via
phone, email, and Twitter. The team provides a variety of services including
business and administrative support, site navigation, membership updates, order
placement, and technical support assistance:
 Silver. Free inbound call and email assistance including assistance logging
Service Requests
 Gold. Proactive outbound engagement including business and
administrative support functions and priority renewal
 Platinum. Dedicated virtual account management and channels to optimize
the Oracle PartnerNetwork and Specialized benefits, development of joint
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15. business plans, and top priority renewal (The most senior members of the
team staff use these dedicated phone lines.)
The Partner Business Center uses a methodology titled Programmatic Partner
Enablement (PPE) to work proactively with new OPN partners to help them get
started using their OPN membership benefits, meeting resale criteria, developing
business plans, and so on. It's a very structured process that moves the partners
toward their first and subsequent sale of Oracle technology. This PPE process
has been in place since 2007 and has proved to be a very effective way to get
the partners to grow their business and become self-sufficient while also growing
Oracle's business.
 Requirements: The Partner Business Center is available to OPN members at all
levels, but the specific benefits vary by level as described previously. Partners
are nominated by the field to participate in the Programmatic Partner Enablement
process.
Assigned Oracle Global Alliance Manager and Global Oracle Executive
Sponsor
 Description: The assigned Global Alliance Manager is often the most valued
benefit of any partner program. The addition of the Global Oracle Executive
Sponsor provides direct access to Oracle's executive management team.
 Requirements: Assigned Oracle Global Alliance Managers and Global Oracle
Executive Sponsors are available only to Diamond-level partners.
Social Media
 Description: The OPN team has been very active in using social media as a
method of communication with the OPN membership. OPNhasbecome a leader
among the software vendors in using these types of tools. OPN primarily uses
the following resources — Oracle wiki, Facebook, Twitter, LinkedIn, and
YouTube:
 Oracle wiki. The Oracle wiki has an active section for OPN Specialized
program (see wiki.oracle.com/page/Oracle+PartnerNetwork).
 Facebook. The OPN group on Facebook is named "Oracle
PartnerNetwork". The postings include lots of event announcements, links to
blogs, and media announcements.
 Twitter. Oracle has two Twitter groups for OPN. @oraclepartners is the
official Twitter group for OPN. The Oracle Partner Business Center manages
the Twitter group @ORCLPartnerBiz. Many of the postings are event
announcements, but issues and queries are also posted by OPN members.
 LinkedIn. The OPN team manages a corporate group named "Oracle
Partner Network". The LinkedIn group is primarily used for event
announcements and training offers from Oracle, but there is some good
©2011 IDC #226493E 15

16. participation on discussions for OPN benefit utilization and improvements,
meeting agendas, and so on.
 YouTube. OPN is an active user of YouTube, with many video blogs,
interviews, and tutorials, on a specific Oracle PartnerNetwork YouTube
channel.
 Requirements: The Oracle wiki, Oracle PartnerNetwork on Facebook,
ORCLPartnerBiz on Twitter, Oracle Partner Network on LinkedIn, and Oracle
Partner Network on YouTube are public groups.
FUTURE OUTLOOK
As announced at the OPN PartnerForum during Oracle OpenWorld in September
2010, Oracle is continuing to follow through on the commitment to Specialization. The
announcements of the Diamond-level and Advanced Specializations emphasize this
commitment. Oracle has also made public commitments to adding and maintaining
the number of available Specializations through May 2012 and, it is expected,
beyond. Oracle will continue to fold regional initiatives (e.g., the Pillar program) into
Specializations. IDC applauds this decision as it makes the overall partner program
consistent and easier for the partners to decide how best to work with Oracle.
In October 2010, the Sun PartnerAdvantage program ceased to exist and the Sun
partners needed to decide if they were going to join OPN if they want to continue to
work with the Sun products. It is expected that Oracle will continue with its acquisition
strategy and its practice of absorbing the acquired partners into the OPN program.
The OPN team has developed a smooth and effective process for managing these
acquisitions and is very efficient at it.
Oracle has long had a broad number of products available for partners to work with.
The acquisitions have and will continue to increase the number of products. A major
focus in the future will be getting the partners to cross-sell more of these products to
their customers. For example, if the partner is only selling Sun hardware solutions
today, they will be encouraged to add higher-margin database products to the mix. All
of this helps the partners and Oracle to continue to grow their mutual businesses.
ESSENTIAL GUIDANCE
Recommendations for Oracle
The OPN Specialized launch in October 2009 was long needed for Oracle's partner
community. Oracle has created a strong program with clear guidelines and criteria for
moving up in the membership levels and differentiated benefits for the partners that
do the work to achieve the Specializations. Achievement of a Specialized status
allows partners to be recognized for the breadth of knowledge, while the addition of
Advanced Specializations in September 2010 provides a way for partners to clearly
demonstrate their depth of resource. The move from Partner, Certified Partner, and
Certified Advantage Partner to Silver, Gold, and Platinum is much easier to
understand by the Oracle sales teams, the partner community and, most importantly,
16 #226493E ©2011 IDC

17. the customer base. The September 2010 announcement of the Diamond level is also
extremely welcome. For too long, the criteria to be one of the truly top-tier global
partners was unpublished and unclear. Oracle's openness about the criteria will
strengthen these partners and provide clear direction for those emerging partners that
aspire to these levels.
However, as it launched OPN Specialized, Oracle initially relabeled its existing
Certified Advantage Partners as Platinum and the Certified Partners and many of the
partners as Gold. Oracle gave the partners until December 2010 to actually achieve
the Specialization criteria required by the updated program (although some partners
have longer depending on their membership agreement dates). It is important that
Oracle stick to its guns and demand that the criteria be met to maintain the coveted
Platinum status. Other software vendors have caved in the past in this situation and
slipstreamed partners into top levels based on long-ago achievements.
Additionally, Oracle needs to maintain the differentiation of benefits by partner levels.
It is tempting for the regional teams, let alone the marketing and development
organizations, to make exceptions and grant Platinum-level benefits to lower-level
partners.
Recommendations for Partners
Oracle is a huge and complex organization, so it's easy to feel lost. But the OPN
Specialized program has a lot to offer to the partners that really want to drive their
business forward and not just have another vendor plaque on the wall of their lobby.
What's important at Oracle is revenue and transactions. This is what gets you noticed.
Beginning as a Remarketer and at the Silver level, you have the opportunity to do lots
of transactions and a growing amount of revenue. Transactions are important as they
create volume and an opportunity to develop customer relationships that grow
revenue.
Gold-level partners should also seriously look at the Specializations and focus on
earning those that make sense for their business. The Oracle field sales organization
has been very receptive to the concept of Specialization, and its trust in the channel is
growing.
Current and potential OPN members at the Gold and Platinum levels today should
ensure that they meet the criteria to earn and retain the Platinum status. The annual
fee at the Platinum level seems high, but the benefits really provide an excellent
return on investment.
Contact Us
If you have any feedback on this document, contact Christine Dover at
cdover@idc.com or Darren Bibby at dbibby@idc.com.
©2011 IDC #226493E 17

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