Letter from the Editor

Welcome to the latest issue of Oracle's bimonthly newsletter for independent software vendors (ISVs) operating in Europe, the Middle East and Africa.

In this issue we bring you a roundup of the news, views and buzz from the first ever Oracle ISV Forum event, held in London on 7th September. Seven hundred people attended on the day, of which 540 were ISVs and 62% were C-level executives. This was a fantastic turnout, and testament to the close working relationship that Oracle enjoys with its existing ISV partners, and to the keen interest in Oracle among ISVs who are not currently working with us.

Attendees at the event were able to learn at first hand about the importance of the ISV community to Oracle. It is no coincidence that Oracle offers such a special event for ISVs You are pivotal to our success, and this was a message that came through in every presentation throughout the day. From Oracle president Charles Phillips to Oracle VP alliances and channels Bronwyn Hastings to Oracle EMEA executive vice president Sergio Giacoletto and the host of other presenters, each session highlighted the commitment of Oracle to furthering the success of its ISV partners and to building successful joint business together.

One of the key themes of the event was the way Oracle works with the ISV community in the midsize market. In Oracle's fiscal year 2004, more than 40% of our EMEA revenue came from small to medium sized companies - and we know: these customers buy solutions - our ISV partners' solutions. This is why we introduced the special packaging and pricing for our Database (Oracle 10g Standard Edition One) earlier this year and now, just a few months later, more than 3,500 customers in the small to medium segment have bought this package - the majority of them through ISVs. This goes to show that with the introduction of the Oracle Database Standard Edition One we have not only beaten our competitors on list price, we have also created a packaging offer that makes the Oracle database a highly attractive platform for midsize customers.

We have now expanded this pricing and packaging strategy to apply to the Oracle 10g Application Server, making it easy and cost-effective for you and your SME customers to adopt one integrated database and middleware platform.

We were honoured at the ISV Forum to have a keynote speaker from respected global industry analyst house IDC. Martin Canning gave us food for thought in his presentation about the growing importance of vendor "ecosystems", as customers look to consolidate and simplify their IT systems, projects and purchasing processes.

Many ISVs have chosen to work with Oracle because the Oracle PartnerNetwork is the largest multi-vendor eco-system in the world. Choosing to partner with us gives you access not just to Oracle but also to our wide range of hardware vendor partners, enabling you to create solutions on a range of platforms and operating systems. In addition to the strength of our ecosystem, we also believe that we offer the most advantageous opportunities in terms of our installed base, product quality and scalability and customer preference.

The benefits to EMEA ISVs of partnering with Oracle were further outlined by Sergio Giacoletto, executive vice president of Oracle EMEA. Sergio reiterated that Oracle respects the ISV's own business model, with the partner free to choose between reselling, embedding or simply influencing the sale of Oracle licences. He encouraged ISVs to learn about Oracle's Go-to-Market initiatives, to adopt the integrated Oracle Database and Application Server and to use partnership with Oracle to drive future growth.

My thanks go out once again to all of you who attended the Forum. For those who missed it, we have included a recap of the keynote sessions here. You can also access all of the slide presentations from the event at this page. As always, if you have any questions about any of the content raised at the event or in this newsletter, please don't hesitate to get in touch.

Bertram Mandel
Senior Director, Alliances & Channels, Oracle Europe, Middle East and Africa