Your costly security blanket
The Oracle ULA (Unlimited License Agreement) is one of Oracle’s most profitable contracting vehicles. It is also a very expensive security blanket for companies, giving them some peace of mind and protection from immediate audits and non-compliance challenges. The biggest downside of the ULA is the cost. And the costs only increase.
There is no way to lower your costs and stay in an Oracle ULA. Ultimately the security of a ULA is simply outweighed by the price tag.
Eventually someone will ask, “Why are we spending all this money?” That’s when companies look at exiting, or certifying out of, their ULA. That decision to certify forces you to answer a lot of tough questions on how you keep control of Oracle licensing. It also forces you to deal with Oracle Sales and LMS who have no interest in you spending less with Oracle. They will try and scare the bejesus out of you and have you do another ULA.
The problem for most organizations is that they do not properly manage their active ULA, so exiting means they not only have to produce a ULA certification document for Oracle, but they must also figure out how to manage their Oracle licenses. Palisade Compliance helps companies do this all the time.
Two sides of the ULA coin
Companies may enter a ULA because they are out of compliance, or they don’t want to track their license usage, or they simply want Oracle Sales to go away. What happens after they sign that ULA is they are still out of compliance and they continue with not managing their licenses. The thinking is they are at an all-you-can-eat license buffet and they should use the heck out of the software. For these companies, life will be different after the ULA. They will need to track and measure and keep tabs on Oracle deployments. They will ultimately look for database work loads that can be moved off Oracle and on to alternative technologies. This will give them an opportunity to avoid more Oracle costs and even reduce existing support spend.
The other side of this scenario are companies that actively and effectively manage their existing ULAs. These companies will simply put in place the plan they have for life after the ULA. They will move, in an orderly fashion, from license expansion and ULA optimization, to license and cost optimization. Everyone in the organization will know what’s coming, and it will be the next step on their journey. There will be no fear of the unknown, no worrying about Oracle LMS audits, and no caving to Oracle sales pressure. Keep calm and carry on.
Don’t get trapped in an Oracle ULA!
There is one piece of advice that I can give to any Oracle customer that has a ULA. Here it is … CERTIFY AND GET OUT!!! That’s right. You need to get out of that ULA. Being trapped in a ULA is like one of those horror movies where the character has one chance to get out of the house but ignores that and stays in. Don’t be that guy. GET OUT!
Larry Ellison once said, “We’d much rather sit down with a customer and agree on a company license, use as much as you need. Unlimited License Agreement (ULA) is our preferred license agreement.” Oracle loves ULAs because they are wildly profitable for Oracle, which means wildly unprofitable for you. Let me be clear: a one time ULA may be a great thing for an Oracle customer. However, it’s the renewal or extension of that ULA that will kill your budget.
Why get out?
The chart below shows the cost difference of renewing/extending a ULA vs. certifying a ULA. The numbers are dramatic. Here is what a hypothetical Oracle ULA renewal can cost you. Assume 22% for support, three-year terms. Oh, and the amounts always go up … because it’s Oracle.
Here is what a Palisade Compliance optimized ULA spend can look like:
Look at the difference!! You go from spending $39m with Oracle to $13m. You can cut your costs by two-thirds. Think of all the things you could do with that extra money. You could invest in your business rather than investing in Oracle’s business.
Two keys for certifying your ULA
There are two keys to certifying a ULA, getting out, and saving this money. First, you have to optimize your Oracle deployment to take full advantage of Oracle’s licensing policies.
Second, you have to be compliant at the end of your ULA. If you are out of compliance, for any reason (contract terms or software compliance) then Oracle will use that as a lever to get you to renew that ULA. Oracle wants that $39m. Who can blame them?
There are several other reasons to certify and not proceed with ULA renewal. It’s not just spend. Oracle, as they do, are always putting more hooks and clauses to lock customers in and make it harder to certify. We call them “gotchas”. Recent Oracle contracts have more gotchas than previous ULAs. Like every software vendor, Oracle learns and adapts their contracts to produce maximum revenue.
Exiting your ULA takes planning and effort
Achieving the cost savings above is not easy. The easy thing to do is just sign a new ULA with Oracle and give them more money. That might be painful to your budget, but Oracle will gladly help with the ULA renewal and put a new contract in front of you. If you are okay with the terms, just sign the contract and write the check. It takes some planning and effort to get out of your ULA. Sometimes you are forced to sign an extension because of an acquisition you made, or a product you deployed, or some other reason. Even in those cases it’s important you negotiate your new ULA with better terms that facilitate an exit strategy.
We can help with your ULA renewal or certification
At Palisade Compliance we’ve helped many clients manage their ULAs, get in new (better) ULAs, and get out of ULAs through certification. With this track record, Palisade Compliance is certainly not anti-ULA. If fact, we’ve recently helped several clients get into new ULAs. Here’s why we’re the best option for helping you with either Oracle ULA renewal or certification:
- First, we are not an Oracle reseller. Palisade makes no money should you decide to buy more Oracle or spend less with Oracle.
- Second, our delivery team is all ex-Oracle contracts and LMS. No firm has the Oracle experience we have on both sides of the table.
- Third, we only help our clients solve their Oracle issues. Every day, all day, we focus on this one area. We’ve helped customers certify Oracle ULAs going back to 2012 and those clients have never looked back. They have not spent another penny on those Oracle products.
Wherever you are with your Oracle ULA – active, certified, thinking about it – we have the experience to help you make the best decision for your organization. Our team has drafted, reviewed, negotiated, certified, and audited thousands of ULAs, both in our time at Oracle, and for the last 14 years helping customers at Palisade Compliance. Put this experience to work for you today!
