Brian Walker is the director of UK ISV partner and long established provider of business software and services, the Sapphire Group. Here he explains how the organisation has worked in tandem with Oracle to address the UK marketplace.

Established in 1979, the Sapphire Group has worked with customers throughout the world, offerings a range of products and services ranging from proprietary software for specific industry sectors, to value-added services built around industry standard technologies.

In 2005 the company had an estimated net income of EUR 4.5 - 6m in the UK, and around of EUR 7.5m in the rest of the world. The Sapphire Group currently employs 60 people, with its headquarters based in Romford, Essex, and further offices in Stratford, Connecticut and St Petersburg, Russia.

The Sapphire Group is able to provide a blend of out-of-the-box software with bespoke developments to meet customers' exact requirements. Core target vertical markets include construction, manufacturing, engineering, disaster management and many more. Much of the company's focus is now concentrated on two main products: the DataEase relational database, and EasyBuild, a flagship suite of financial, compliance and operational applications for the construction industry. It also publishes a number of other successful software applications including the NetPlus client server development tool, biometric security tool MatchLogon, and a range of industry specific software management suites.

Sapphire joined the Oracle Partner Network in 2005. It chose Oracle Database as the ideal technology to underpin its own software, preferring Oracle technology to the obvious alternative, namely Microsoft SQL server, primarily for its flexibility and ability to handle any size of installation, from just a handful of end users to thousands. After also considering platforms from SAP and long-standing bespoke construction software developers as alternatives, Sapphire's board became convinced that a partnership with Oracle was the best route forward.

Considerable experience within the construction industry has led to Sapphire's EasyBuild software being installed in a large number of sites worldwide. In the past Sapphire worked with major construction players including Balfour Beatty, Taylor Woodrow and Morrison Construction, providing it with invaluable experience and an enviable profile within the sector. As the construction industry technology market has evolved however, Sapphire decided it was best positioned to concentrate on developing software for the burgeoning SME market. The Sapphire Group particularly prides itself in providing complete solutions for this growing community, including website development and hosting as well as office productivity solutions.

Oracle strongly believed that the answer was for Sapphire to work in conjunction with existing ISV partners more nimble and adept at dealing with SMEs with turnovers of £25m (€37m) or less. In particular, Sapphire has been working with Durkan Group, a specialist collection of companies offering construction, development and regeneration services in the South East of England, as well as Ireland

Brian Walker explains: "Now we are going to market not only with the support of Oracle but also with Durkan. Because of Oracle's ISV management framework, I think we get as much recognition and assistance as much larger consultancies, and this has been reflected in a number of successful go to market initiatives and our products being short-listed for several major IT industry awards for the construction industry."

He continues: "Oracle's long term commitment to the construction industry, building strong relationships with multi-billion turnover companies at the very top of the market undoubtedly reflected well on us as a partner targeting SME level organisations. Of course Oracle already has JD Edwards to address the needs of organisations with annual turnovers of £150m (€220m) and above, but it sees us as complementary, pushing determinedly into that SME space. This suits us perfectly."

Oracle technology plays a major role in daily software development and strategy at Sapphire. The company uses Oracle Database 10g to drive its applications, additionally linking into Oracle Financials and Oracle Business Intelligence as required. Sapphire works extremely closely with its ISV management team at Oracle UK, and makes the most of its relationship with the Oracle Direct sales support teams in Ireland, working on numerous go-to-market campaigns and other joint promotional initiatives on a scale it would otherwise be unable to carry out or follow up with its own internal team. Links with the wider Oracle EMEA and global teams are also starting to bear fruit, resulting in some major bids that could lead to significant deals in the future.

Brian Walker says: "Also, thanks to our relationship with Oracle, we are now pleased to be linking up with another ISV partner in Graphisoft, a developer of CAD-based virtual building applications for whom we provide a total back-office solution. We jointly present seminars for the construction industry with Graphisoft, taking advantage of our status as ISVs to use Oracle premises across the UK, which is a nice bonus."

"As an Oracle ISV, you're not on your own, and Oracle does actually care about the community, and about making partner introductions. Our partner involvement with Oracle UK has introduced us to some excellent business partners and resources, and we hope to make a major play in the SME construction industry as a result."