More than 100 Oracle ISV partners - and their customers - are enjoying the benefits of the revamped Oracle Applications Integration Initiative.

Re-launched earlier this year, the Oracle Application Integration Initiative, an evolution of Oracle's prior offering combined with PeopleSoft's software certification program, provides tools, resources and services that enable qualifying partners to integrate their own applications with any or all of Oracle's applications suites - including Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle E-Business Suite Special Edition, PeopleSoft Enterprise, JD Edwards Enterprise One and JD Edwards World.

Navin Chugh, vice president of applications initiatives, Oracle Alliances & Channels

Open to Oracle Certified and Certified Advantage Partners who demonstrate a high level of Oracle technical expertise and commitment, the initiative is designed to make life easier for end-users by ensuring out-of-the-box integration between Oracle Applications and participating ISVs' solutions. Member level partners can also participate, as long as they demonstrate the expertise and commitment to integration.

"If an ISV can offer its customers out-of-the-box integration with Oracle, PeopleSoft or JD Edwards, it makes their own solutions much easier to sell, and it means the customer can get up and running more quickly with a truly integrated set of applications," says Navin Chugh, vice president of Oracle Applications initiatives in Oracle's global Alliances & Channels division. "Participating in this initiative also opens up significant commercial potential for ISV partners who wish to resell Oracle Applications alongside their own."

For an annual fee of $10,000, participating ISVs benefit from a wide range of tools and technical resources to enable them to complete the integration, from demonstration licences, integration development guides and templates, to expert advice and assistance with the entire integration process from design and planning to integration and testing, and ongoing upgrades with new application releases.

Through this initiative, integration efforts undertaken by Oracle partners will be validated to help ensure standards compliance and standard integration methodology such as BPEL, Web Services, XML/EDI and other published and approved application program interfaces (APIs), a process that results in a superior ownership experience for customers throughout the lifecycle, from implementation to upgrades and support. This is designed to decrease a customer's total cost of ownership. The Applications Integration Initiative gives customers the ability to focus on business solutions rather than on the integration of products.

Once the integration is validated by Oracle, ISVs can take advantage of special "Integrated with Oracle" branding to publicise the fact that the solution is integrated with Oracle. Branding includes logo, validation document and marketing datasheet outlining the benefits of the integrated solution. ISVs who complete the integration are also invited to participate in high profile Oracle marketing events and campaigns, thus generating publicity and leads for their solutions.

The initiative is open to ISVs of all sizes and with all types of solution, including SMB applications. "Integrating with Oracle E-Business Suite Special Edition or JD Edwards can really help with the sales process to SMBs, as these customers often lack the time, money and technical skill to undertake the integration work themselves," said Chugh.

For more information about the Oracle Applications Integration Initiatives, please visit the Oracle PartnerNetwork site.