Cisco CEO: We Want to Partner With Oracle

Sure, Cisco Systems and Oracle both offer servers and storage. But Cisco CEO John Chambers (pictured) is downplaying potential competition with Oracle. Instead, Chambers is re-directing the competitive heat onto IBM, Hewlett-Packard and Microsoft. Here are the details, and potential implications for channel partners.

During a meeting with financial analysts earlier this week, Chambers said he wants to cooperate with Oracle rather than compete with them. According to Barron’s, Chambers stated:

No doubt, Oracle and Cisco do partner on a number of fronts. And Cisco has discussed its Unified Computing System (UCS) strategy at previous Oracle OpenWorld conferences. But is competition between Cisco and Oracle unavoidable? After all, Cisco’s UCS combines storage, networking and servers into a single data center solution. Meanwhile, Oracle’s Sun business depends heavily on storage and servers. Plus, Oracle is working closely with EMC and VMware on vBlock — a strategy that Oracle-Sun must be watching very closely.

We’ve Got Common Enemies

Still, it’s clear that Chambers wants to downplay potential competition between Cisco and Oracle. Instead, Chambers is indirectly stating that Cisco and Oracle have common enemies in IBM, Hewlett-Packard and perhaps even Microsoft — where Microsoft’s unified communications ambitions conflict with Cisco’s UC efforts.

The VAR Guy wonders: Can we expect some Oracle-Cisco surprises during this year’s Oracle OpenWorld (Sept. 19-23, San Francisco). The VAR Guy’s best guess: Yes. Stay tuned.

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