BEA has inked a deal with distie Magirus which will see its tentacles reach further into EMEA channels under a new two-tier partner programme.

The firm, which just last week signed a definitive $8,5bn agreement to be bought by Oracle, punts Service Orientated Architecture (SOA) and Business Process Management (BPM) software typically to large corporate organisations.

BEA said it hoped the new programme with Magirus would help raise its game in the upper mid-market biz space.

Valerie Singer, BEA senior EMEA channels director, reckoned the deal - terms of which were kept secret - offered "an exciting new joint sales initiative designed to generate new business and maximise sales in a previously unexploited market sector".

Under the agreement, Magirus will initially dish out BEA products in the UK, Italy and central Europe, with other regions expected to follow during 2008.

Singer said that 40 new partners would be added to the new scheme over the coming year.

Magirus said in a statement that the new two-tier deal, the first of its kind BEA has signed up to in Europe, would not conflict with the firm's existing direct sales strategy "owing to clearly defined sales territories and rules of engagement with BEA sales and services teams." ®