Sunday, October 11, 2009

Oracle OpenWorld – Partner Specialization



I'm here in San Francisco at Oracle's OpenWorld event (Sunday 1th to Thursday 1th October).

The big message at the today’s Partner sessions was 'Specialized. Recognized by Oracle. Preferred by Customers.'
This means that under the new Partner program the value of more specialized partners will be more highly valued by Oracle, specialized both in terms of technology and industry.

This is reflecting a broader industry trend in IT as customers and software vendors alike start to really understand the value of specialists in terms of delivering business value, but in the Life Sciences industry the value of suppliers who understand the industry and the specific sector - pharmaceutical, medical device, biotech etc - has largely always been valued.

Oracle, like other major software vendors, is realizing that they can no longer maintain the breadth of technology and industry skills themselves and that they need more specialized Partners to get the best out of their software and deliver successful solutions.

For niche or 'boutique' players like Business & Decision this is good news - with just under 3,000 consultants we cannot compete with the biggest System Integrators - but with our focus on specific solutions within the Life Sciences sector a broader recognition of the value of Specialization is good news.

It should also be good news for prospective clients looking for confirmation that they are selecting the right supplier. When Oracle and other software vendors are really ready to recommend and stand behind specialized Partners (recommending the best and not just the biggest) it should make the job of supplier assessment so much easier.

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