A vast ecosystem can look like many, many roads to revenue, but partners don’t assist each other by offering 1,000 versions of the same thing, according to Doug Kennedy (pictured), vice president of business development and partner strategy at Oracle’s Marketing Cloud Division.

“You’ll fail if you’re spread too thin and trying to be everything to everyone,” Kennedy said. Oracle Corp. has a little more than 1,000 partners focused on OMC right now, including service integrators, agencies and others.

Kennedy spoke to John Furrier (@furrier) and Peter Burris (@plburris), co-hosts of of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE Media’s mobile live streaming studio, during Oracle’s Modern Marketing Experience in Las Vegas, Nevada. (* Disclosure below.) 

Crafting market identities

Mutual success for Oracle and its partners depends on each of them crafting unique market identities, Kennedy said. In the past few years, he has battled the illusion among partners that their value proposition must cover everything but the kitchen sink. “Partners would say, ‘I play in every industry and every vertical.’ And I’d bring data back and say, ‘Actually, no you don’t.'”

From there, he would determine where the bulk of revenue for the company came in and suggest a strategy for multiplying it. Consolidating scattered resources into one strong area where its references and proofs of concept are helps establish a company in the market.

“Don’t get too thin, don’t get too wide, but look at what you’re successful at doing as a partner, and for us to then figure out how to work together in that partnership” Kennedy explained.

Oracle tiers its partners in a pyramid depending on how likely they are to turn profits, which is tied directly to how tightly they fit a particular vertical or specialty, Kennedy said. It also trains and educates companies that want to rise in the hierarchy.

“We’re going to be transparent about where the bar is. You want to get there? Here are the things you’ve got to be able to do it,” he said.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s independent editorial coverage of Oracle’s Modern Marketing Experience. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner at Oracle’s Modern Marketing Experience. The conference sponsor, Oracle, does not have editorial oversight of content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE