Oracle Database 11g: Oracle execs address the press

You've been developing a differentiated channel strategy with respect to your Oracle Database Standard Edition (SE) and Oracle Database Standard Edition One (SE1) with regard to what the channel is going to be carrying to small and medium-sized companies. Can you tell me a little bit about how Database 11g now plays into all this?

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Charles Phillips: We'll build on the channel strategy we have in place. It's just extended to 11g. The way it works is today the channel, at least for the [high-volume] distributors, [is] mainly focused on SE1 and SE. Because of the packaging and the pricing for that market, that's appropriate. Now, today, they do have the right to sell Enterprise Edition, but in reality given the focus of their market, they don't do a lot of that. So, 90% of SE1 today goes through the channels. I would expect the same thing to happen with 11g. SE and SE1 will largely go through the channels and then the Enterprise Edition will probably be for high-end customers and go direct. But there's nothing prohibiting them from selling the high-end product, it's just not their natural space.

What are the features that will be sold as separate options as opposed to being part of the regular database itself?

Chuck Rozwat: Our intention is to do a pricing and packaging announcement as we get closer to the release date. So, what we wanted to focus on today was the functionality. We'll be putting out all the information about what is an option and what isn't an option and what the exact pricing will be, but the intention is to keep the same pricing model going forward as we had with 10g. It will just be a matter of weeks before we make that announcement.