Whitepaper
Using Oracle software and cloud services means that you are always at risk of being audited by Oracle. Oracle, like all software vendors, has the right, and obligation, to ensure their IP is being used properly. However, unlike most other vendors, Oracle has created a huge internal audit infrastructure along with policies and procedures that put all the obligations and risks on their customers.
In this white paper, we will explore six hidden Oracle audits and threats:
- Stealth audits occur when Oracle offers “help” with licensing and contracting.
- Structural audits occur when a customer has a contractual obligation to report usage information back to Oracle, without guidance from the contract as to what that entails, and how Oracle may try to force use of their then-current policies.
- Customer initiated audits can happen with a simple license question posed to Oracle Sales or Oracle LMS.
- Partner/reseller audits are not what the name implies. Oracle’s relationship with their partners, coupled with their unclear licensing policies, dramatically increases the risks of a partner audit.
- Audit threats are very effective to get customers to move on a purchase or in a direction Oracle wants them to go.
- Cloud audits are the newest category of audits. In fact, so new that Oracle is only now setting up the infrastructure to aggressively conduct cloud audits.
The first step in protecting your company from the Oracle audit iceberg is knowing how to spot the risks. This whitepaper was designed to give guidance to not only spot the threats, but to set a course that can avoid many of the risks of these icebergs.