“It is pleasing they are still committed to the x86 platform,” Peach said. “What the channel looks like in a year’s time is up in the air.” He was confi dent Oracle would see value in Sun’s solid Australian partner ecosystem and that its strengths would feed into the integrated local structure.
Both Alphawest and Dimension Data declined to comment on the Oracle/Sun acquisition or channel strategy, while an Oracle spokesperson said it was not yet in a position to comment on local policy.
Brisbane-based integrator, Server Central, has been a Sun shop since launching in 2003. Managing director, Andrew George, was also waiting to gain clarifi cation around channel commitment, but dismissed Oracle’s direct tendencies as a major threat. The reseller focuses on infrastructure and datacentre solutions for organisations with 50-1000 seats.
“We’ll see how the local guys work together and how effective it is. I’m just glad Sun is still there – whether it’s Oracle/Sun, or Sun is a division, it doesn’t worry me as long as we have access to the technology,” George said.
Both George and Peach applauded Oracle’s decision to leave Sun’s x86 server and storage offerings mostly intact and claimed it would help accelerate customer spending this year.
“Given the certainty at an end-user level around Sun’s x86 platform now, customers can have more confi dence in continuing to invest in the Sun platform – during past months, there was some consternation but now Oracle has taken that away,” Peach claimed.
“I would have been disappointed if any Sun products disappeared from the [combined] product set,” George said. “As it stands, just about everything is still there.”
