Promising to make life easier and more affordable for smaller businesses buying a database, Oracle and Dell have expanded their existing partnership. The companies will offer a low-end version of Oracle's database software on Dell's servers.
Dell will sell PowerEdge 2600 and 2650 servers running Windows or Red Hat Linux, along with a copy of Oracle's 10g Standard Edition One database, starting from a little over $4100, the companies say. Standard Edition One is a version of Oracle's database for use on one- and two-processor servers only.
The companies also announced that they have expanded their existing reseller agreement to include China. Oracle is in the process of certifying Dell servers loaded with the Red Flag DC 4.0 version of Linux to run Dell's database software, the companies say.
"The latest version of Oracle's database and the latest Dell servers will be bundled together in a low-cost package that is very easy for customers to buy," Larry Ellison, Oracle's chairman and chief executive, said in a conference call Tuesday.
Small Biz Software
Oracle launched Standard Edition One in October to help it snare more business from smaller organizations and to compete more effectively with Microsoft's SQL Server database, which is enjoying the fastest growth in the database market, according to analyst estimates.
Also with an eye on Microsoft, Oracle worked hard to make the 10g version of its database easier to install and manage. Standard Edition One is well suited for smaller businesses because it simplifies adding new database servers as their business grows, through a process called clustering, Ellison said.
Dell will initially offer a shrink-wrapped copy of Oracle's database software, which customers will have to install on its servers themselves. By June, Dell will start preinstalling Oracle Standard Edition One on Linux servers at its factories, with Windows servers to follow soon after, said Linda York, Dell's vice president for global alliances.
Bundle Up
The bundle includes a PowerEdge Server running Red Hat Linux, Oracle's Standard Edition One database, services, and support, York said. The Windows bundle won't be available until mid-year, and the companies aren't ready to release pricing yet for the Windows package, she said.
Terms of the deal are exclusive, Ellison said, meaning only Dell can offer the Oracle software preinstalled on its servers. That period of exclusivity lasts for nine months, York said, after which Oracle could offer its Standard Edition One database preinstalled on servers from other vendors.
Dell will act as a single contact point for joint customers, according to the companies. Under a partnership stretching back about three years, Dell already preinstalls higher-end versions of Oracle's database on its servers, so it has technicians who are trained in Oracle software, York said.
Oracle hopes the partnership with Dell, known for its industry-standard servers based on Intel processors, will help it reach more small and medium-sized businesses. Dell, meanwhile, hopes that its close ties to Oracle will help it sell more of its servers to large enterprises.
There are currently about 30,000 Oracle installations on Dell servers, up from about 22,000 in April last year, Michael Dell, Dell's chief executive, said during the call-in.
Dell has about 22 percent of the hardware market for database servers selling for under $10,000, generating slightly less than half a billion dollars a year, Michael Dell said. "We think that over the next couple of years that will grow to a billion-dollar business for us," he predicted.
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