Oracle turns the screws on the Sun channel

Oracle welcomed Sun Microsystems staff to its folds this week, as it simultaneously shifted resources out of Sun's channel program and into its direct sales arm.

Resellers in contact with CRN this week have reported that Sun's channel staff have either been laid off (in the case of account managers) or reallocated into a direct sales effort.

Sun's partner sales director Sam Srinivasan has been shifted into a direct sales role as Northern Region Sales Director for the Oracle/Sun Systems business.

Srinivasan left the partner sales role on Tuesday, reporting on his LinkedIn profile that he had "accepted a new role at Oracle" and was "really looking forward to the new challenge."

Oracle was unable to confirm whether the partner sales role would be replaced.

The vendor has officially welcomed new staff at a low key function earlier in the week, according to a picture posted on Twitter by Oracle systems engineering manager Sean Boiling.

 Representatives from the company are being gagged from discussing the integration of the two companies, with all inquiries from the press directed to a U.S. video FAQ .

Channel partners lose their annuity income

Former Sun channel partners have meanwhile been stripped of annuity income under the new Oracle regime, as the vendor moves to take more of its top 4000 customers direct.

Sun had a maintenance program in place such that equipment sold with three-year maintenance agreements gave resellers a three-year rolling commission.

Under Oracle, a reseller that sells a system only gets a commission for the first year.

"There is no annuity in the Oracle/Sun business," reported one disgruntled reseller, who asked not to be named. "So much of your business as a reseller relies on annuity. Oracle has taken that from the partners, but is keeping on Sun professional services."

CRN understands that Sun's direct professional services arm amounted to some 200 people prior to the merger.

One reseller has already dropped off the books, according to ZDnet.com, which reports that NSC has abandoned Oracle/Sun in order to focus on its unified communications business.

Other Sun resellers, such as Frontline Systems, have expressed confidence that their relationships will endure even as Oracle tries to take their customers direct.