Oracle Hardware Channel Chief Breen Exits Amid Sales 'Civil War'

Oracle's hardware channel chief Mitch Breen has left the company amid reports from the channel that Oracle's direct sales teams are bitterly fighting each other and its channel partners for customers' hardware and software budgets.

Breen, who only less than eight months ago quietly left EMC to join Oracle as senior vice president of North American sales, this month left Oracle to join converged infrastructure developer SimpliVity, where he now serves as senior vice president of global sales.

Channel sources said Scott Genereux, Oracle's senior vice president of global hardware strategy and product marketing, is taking over Breen's position. Genereux joined Oracle a year ago after stints at Hitachi Data Systems, DataDirect Networks, QLogic and Nirvanix, which late last year filed for bankruptcy.

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Oracle declined to discuss Breen or Genereux, as well and any issues related to turmoil within Oracle's direct and indirect sales business.

Breen himself stayed above reports of infighting between Oracle's sales teams, telling CRN he joined SimpliVity because of the growth opportunity there.

"I have a lot of respect for Oracle and for [former Hewlett-Packard CEO and current Oracle Co-president] Mark Hurd," he said. "I believe the technology SimpliVity has developed has made it a leader. I'm seeing real growth in this business."

However, solution providers that work closely with Oracle describe an environment within that company that, in the words of one, approach a "civil war, although not so civil."

That solution provider, who requested anonymity, said there's an internal war going on between Oracle's various hardware and software teams that extends beyond the usual direct vs. indirect sales battles.

"The Oracle vs. Oracle thing is really complicated," the solution provider said. "I think it's these internal battles that have really [messed] up the channel."

Breen, who was highly regarded as one of the keys to building a very successful channel program at EMC, was also held in high regard by people in both Oracle's direct and indirect organizations, said Rhos Dyke, executive vice president of Cloud Creek Systems, a Westlake Village, Calif.-based solution provider and longtime Oracle partner.

"Oracle people thought Mitch would coalesce all of Oracle's hardware business under his leadership," Dyke said.

NEXT: Oracle's Product Teams Fighting Each Other For Customer Budget

Unfortunately, that was not the case.

Cloud Creek Systems' Dyke said Oracle's different product- and service-aligned direct sales teams often fight with each other, competing for customers' budget while trying to keep channel partners out of their accounts.

For example, the sales reps who sell M- and T-series servers are distinct from those who sell Oracle's ZFS/Z3 NAS storage devices who are different from those who sell tape storage. "Three basic infrastructure offerings, sold by three different sales people -- really?" he said.

And on the technology side, the core technology sales reps are different from the business intelligence reps who are different from the security sales reps who are different from the middleware (SOA) reps, making it possible that an additional four Oracle sales reps could call on the same customer visited by three different Oracle hardware reps, Dyke said.

"You can have five, six, seven Oracle sales reps calling on your customer," he said. "And it's disquieting for partners standing behind so many Oracle sales people trying to squeeze through the customer’s door. A company like Cloud Creek can say to customers, 'We have the Red Stack competency needed to look at your IT challenges holistically, with a strategic, integrated perspective.' My sales people tell me they visit many customers who would much rather deal with one supplier or partner than four or five Oracle reps."

Furthermore, Dyke said, individual Oracle sales reps fight for as much of the customer's IT budget as they can for what they’re selling. "For the rep selling a hammer, every problem is a nail," he said. “For the rep selling a screwdriver, every problem is a screw. You have Oracle people fighting for mind share in the same account. Few of them are interested in having a third-party channel partner in the fray!”

Another Oracle solution provider who requested anonymity said that Breen came to Oracle with very ambitious ideas about helping the vendor become partner friendly, but was unable to do so.

"Mitch initiated a program to engage with partners in opportunities with net-new customers," that solution provider said. "But Oracle people came forward with [bad] accounts that had no channel opportunities."

NEXT: Breen Leaves Oracle With Channel Cred Intact

Oracle brought partners leads to potential customers with a lot of software opportunities but no hardware, the solution provider said. "Mitch's job was to get software customers to buy hardware," the VAR said. "But the software people at Oracle don't want to work with hardware people at Oracle. Oracle software people always take control."

Oracle partners were excited that someone with Breen's channel pedigree joined Oracle's channel team, and they expected him to make a real difference, the solution provider said.

"His leaving tells us either his personal interest is better served elsewhere, or else Oracle just got hopeless," the VAR said. "Institutionally, not matter how good he was, it wasn't going to work. It's disappointing from the channel perspective."

Seth Feeley, vice president of sales at Cintra, a New York-based solution provider and longtime Oracle partner, said his company was impressed with Breen's efforts to accelerate the channel for Oracle.

"The initiatives he put in place will result in a more effective teamwork between Oracle's direct sales and channel partners," Feeley said. "We're sorry to see that Mitch left Oracle. We've seen some progress in those efforts, and we hope to see the momentum continue."

PUBLISHED JAN. 29, 2014