Integration of Oracle and Sun’s Australian businesses is believed to have begun following Oracle’s official takeover of the Sun Australia subsidiary on March 1.
While details remain scarce on how the two organisations will be combined locally, it is understood Sun Australia managing director, Andrew Goodlace, left the company last week.
Goodlace took over as local chief in early 2008 after stints as sales director and ACT sales manager.
According to a post on LinkedIn, Sun channel manager, Sam Srinivasan, has also appointed northern region sales director for the Systems Line of Business unit, which encompasses Sun’s hardware portfolio.
He was unable to comment officially on the new position.
Sources close to the company claim Sun’s former software practice director, Peter Fuller, has also been given broader general manager’s responsibilities across the former Sun hardware business.
Oracle’s director of application channels for Asia-Pacific, Paul Muller, is expected to gain additional channel responsibilities and oversee the company’s integrated partner business in Australia in the long-term.
An Oracle spokesperson declined to comment on local staffing changes or progress around bringing the two channel businesses together, and referred back to US commentary from senior vice-president of channels and alliances, Judson Althoff. However, a partner roadshow is being planned in Australia over the next month to deliver further details around the integrated channel strategy.
While most agree the dust is still settling on Oracle and Sun, several channel partners have begun adjusting their businesses for a post-Sun landscape. The largest is storage vendor, Hitachi Data Systems, which announced its hardware reseller relationship with Sun would end this month.
As reported in ARN last week, local networking integrator, NSC Group, also announced it was shutting down its Sun practice after less than 18 months in operation, citing disappointing sales and conflicts with other parts of its business.
General manager of Sun and Oracle distributor, itX, Greg Newham, was confident of the Sun channel’s role in the integrated business long-term. Although Oracle globally has flagged plans to consolidate its distribution business, itX wasn’t concerned about its role going forward and Newham said it was working even more closely with the vendor.
Managing director of Server Central, Andrew George, said it continued to be business as usual for Sun partners day-to-day and found the process and pricing the same in the short-term.
