In the game of Survivor, alliances are everything.
So it comes as no surprise that a host of companies are announcing this week at this year’s OpenWorld conference that they are running the same race as Oracle .
Network Appliance (NetApp) is no exception.
The Sunnyvale, Calif.-based company, which specializes in network-attached data access and content delivery, Tuesday says it has inked a deal Redwood Shores, Calif.-based software giant to develop the Oracle on NetApp Accelerator Service. The service agreement means that Oracle will highly recommend NetApp solutions to its customers and NetApp clients will be shown the Oracle Consulting brochures first.
“On a scale of one to ten, this rates as a high nine as far as the positive impact it will have on Network Appliance,” says NetApp VP of Commercial Solutions Rich Clifton. “This service agreement enhances our commitment to provide enterprise customers with one of the industry’s best storage solutions for Oracle.”
The Oracle on NetApp Accelerator Service is approximately U.S.$22,000 at a fixed price in the U.S. for a seven-day consulting package. The companies say the service fee can be included with the price of the NetApp storage appliance, and Oracle Consulting will deliver all services as a sub-contractor.
The service is currently available in North America with International customers being serviced on a case-by-case basis in the short-term, with global rollout expected in early 2002.
The news comes on the heels of a new independent total cost of ownership (TCO) survey from Web-based IT market research and marketing services firm INPUT, which found that NetApp offers over 70 percent lower TCO than competing storage solutions from Compaq, EMC, and Hitachi.
The survey marks the second year in a row that NetApp has topped the list.