I recently described how Oracle’s annual June sales meetings are typically followed by a Christmas in July deluge of new product offerings and special deals. While Oracle’s mid-summer holiday spirit provides an excellent opportunity to take advantage of aggressive sales incentives, I cautioned that buyers should stay focused to ensure that what they’re buying aligns with their requirements rather than with Oracle’s business strategy regarding what they want to sell.
In addition to being attentive to what you’re buying, you as a customer should be mindful of terms and conditions surrounding how you’re buying software. At a high level, going on a buying spree can compromise your oversight of software assets. More specifically, Unlimited License Agreements (ULAs) can be a great way to add users in volume, but if not structured properly can become problematic if there are certification requirements, and/or any specific use or assignment language. Contractual terms around compliance, licensing certification and price holds also deserve special attention.
The point is, the terms you sign on to today could come back to haunt you at end of term, in the form of a comprehensive audit of your enterprise software portfolio. Oracle and other software vendors are becoming increasingly aggressive about launching audits of their customers, and those found in violation of licensing compliance terms can face millions of dollars in fines and penalties. Oracle account teams, moreover, are adept at sensing compliance vulnerability in a customer and won’t hesitate to push their advantage accordingly.
An effective software asset management strategy – one that includes annual rationalization and optimization of license portfolios – can prepare you for an audit and preclude a nasty case of post-summer buyer’s remorse.
