Reducing Oracle License Liability in M&A Activity

Case study

The challenge

Understanding a company’s assets and liabilities is key to a successful merger or acquisition. Within IT, a key item to consider is Oracle license liability. If there’s a large Oracle footprint and the licenses haven’t been managed properly, the resulting liability can have a significant impact on the value of the company.

An outdoor furniture manufacturer learned this first-hand while growing through acquisitions. The manufacturer was looking to acquire a company that had a significant but older Oracle infrastructure.

Several other red flags also pointed to a potential license liability: The company was running Oracle on a VMware environment, and had a perpetual license for ERP and a limited-use Oracle database license.

The solution

As part of its due diligence process, the company brought us in. We audited the environment to determine the actual liability and provided recommendations on how the potential Oracle license liability could be mitigated.

The outcome

In less than three weeks, we analyzed the Oracle environment and provided recommendations for remediation.

“We received very good advice about all these intricacies,” the CIO said.

The manufacturing company followed our suggestions and rearchitected their Oracle environment into a configuration more in line with Oracle’s policies. The company also converted some Oracle licensing, again at our direction, and remediated what potential non-compliance risk remained.

“If I see Oracle, I would bring in someone like Palisade Compliance as part of the due diligence process,” the CIO said. “The sooner the better when it comes to finding out about Oracle.”

Are you unsure about your potential Oracle license non-compliance liability?