Oracle Corp. said it plans to leverage independent software vendors and system integrators to sell its latest middleware offering to small and medium-sized businesses.
“”We’re targeting ISVs who build small and medium business applications and local integrators who install programs or build custom
applications,”” said Rauline Ochs, vice-president, channels and strategic initiatives at Oracle, adding that Oracle Application Standard Edition (SE) One, which was released last month, and Database Standard Edition One can be used for small applications run in dental, medical and legal office environments.
Oracle Application SE One, which is comprised of the Oracle Application Server middleware platform that includes Oracle Web server and portal technology, and previously released Database Standard Edition One, gives partners and their customers the full 10g platform.
“”We want to give (partners) and their customers the benefit of the entire platform, both database and application server so that they’ve got a pure development base,”” said Ochs.
Oracle now has three versions of its application server running on 10g: Enterprise, Standard and Standard Edition One.
With a complete platform, partners and customers can build corporate portals, J2EE-based Internet applications and Web sites starting at US$500 in licence fees. Purchasing options include US$4,995 per processor for up to two processors or Named User Plus licensing at US$149 per user with a minimum of five users.
For example, Ochs said the per processor licensing model would apply to a company that can support 20 to 30 users on two CPUs whereas the latter would work in a small enterprise with five users on one CPU.
Marketing activities include Web casts to educate partners on how to sell the solution as a way to solve the customer’s business problem and question and answer sessions between Oracle developers and partners.
Both the app server and database are available through Dell Computer Inc. and Oracle’s North American distributors Avnet Inc. and Agilysys Inc.
Ramy Sedra, president of Oracle partner Biond, said the release bodes well for his business. “”We’re really glad they’re doing this. This is our marketspace,”” said Sedra, a former Oracle consultant.
“”It’s a lot more realistic for us to do now because Oracle’s brought its price point down.””
