In Episode 4 of our Oracle video briefing series, we’ll take a look at Oracle third-party support. In particular, we’ll dig into what support is available, how it compares to Oracle’s own support, and key things to be considered.
Third-party support overview
In simple terms, third-party support for Oracle is designed for a specific set of products. Not all Oracle products are eligible for third-party support, and usually the most common Oracle products – Database, Middleware, Hyperion – are what are supported by third-party vendors. These vendors include the likes of Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support, with many other vendors that offer different levels and capabilities of support.
Typically, these vendors can save organizations between 50-60% on Oracle support costs – but whilst this is an appealing business case, there are some things that need to be considered before signing on the dotted line with a third party for you Oracle support needs.
What to consider
Security – Security is undoubtedly a top priority for any IT professional or CIO today. If you’re looking into moving away from Oracle to third-party support, the security of your Oracle deployments outside of Oracle’s scope is one of the most important things to consider. This means discussing with any potential third-party support vendors how they will go about providing the likes of security updates, patches and so on to ensure the security of your own organization and to meet Oracle’s compliance standards.
Version support – Not all third-party support vendors can support all versions for every Oracle product, so another key discussion to have with them before dropping Oracle and signing a contract is to determine whether they can support the versions of the Oracle products you require support for, now and in the future.
Support level – An important thing to note about third-party Oracle support is that you won’t be able to move only a part of a license set out of Oracle’s support stream – you must move the entire set. Oracle rules state that all licenses in a specific license set need to be on same level of support – everything is therefore either supported or un-supported – so when making a decision to move to third-party support, remember that you won’t be able to mix and match support within the license set of those products.
Relationship with Oracle – If you decide to move to third-party support, there is no denying that your relationship with Oracle will change, most likely for the worse, particularly when it comes to audits. Already rather aggressive when it comes to auditing clients, there is every change Oracle will ramp up its audit activity for any organization that is being supported elsewhere. So, before making the move to third-party support, it’s vital that you do a deep dive into your Oracle deployments and ensure you are 100% compliant, or potentially risk huge audit non-compliance fines.
What can I do?
Prioritize Compliance & Consumption – Before you even begin discussing third-party support with any vendor, ensuring compliance of the product sets you are planning on moving to third-party support is a must. Do a thorough compliance analysis and ensure you have the right number of licenses for your deployments. Not only will this future-proof you against the more likely future audits, but will also help you to mitigate costly non-compliance fines.
In the same vein, take the opportunity to also analyze your consumption and ensure you have the correct number of licenses for the products you’re planning on moving to third-party support now and in the future. Oracle will be likely unwilling to sell you extra licenses for products you are considering moving to third-party support, so look at your environment and establish what your requirements will be for the next two to three years and consider buying those licenses before moving to third-party support.
Negotiate with multiple third-party vendors – While the offerings of third-party support vendors may seem similar, it is important to understand the differences and do your due diligence to ensure the services you are signing up for are most suited to your requirements, and that the vendor can deliver on the best support for your organization. Speaking with multiple vendors will also provide leverage when it comes to negotiating price points, ensuring you get the best deal.
Approach Oracle – Our final word of advice would be to approach Oracle and see if it is able to match the offer presented by your third-party vendor of choice. Whilst the mega-vendor is unlikely to be able to shift away from its obligated fixed support fee, at Livingstone we have seen clients comes away with a lower price point from Oracle – but knowing your Oracle estate inside out and having the evidence to present Oracle why the support costs should be decreased is essential.
By controlling and optimizing your Oracle investments and deployments, you can gain valuable understanding of your compliance, consumption, costs and contract. To find out more about managing your Oracle estate, register for our full Oracle Briefing Series here.
Or for more information, visit our dedicated Oracle page, email us on info@livingstone-group.com or complete this form and one of our contract experts will be in touch.
Further reading & Oracle content...
Video series: Oracle Briefing Series.
Series of six short Oracle briefings helping you to prepare for 2022.
Or for more information, visit our dedicated Oracle page, email us on info@livingstone-group.com or complete this form and one of our contract experts will be in touch.
About the Author
Razvan Tarnovschi, Oracle Practice Lead
Razvan joined Livingstone Group in 2021 as Oracle Practice Lead and brings with him 13 years of Oracle experience. During this time, his responsibilities included negotiating high dollar value contracts with customers. Razvan has a deep understanding of the language of Oracle's complex contracts including policies and terms.