Our clients often feel overwhelmed trying to navigate the (intentional) complexity of certifying unlimited license agreements (ULA). If you can relate, you’re not alone. When you boil it down, there are 3 main areas you need to be aware of.
But, before we get into that, let’s clarify what ULA’s are.
In an unlimited license agreement (ULA), a company pays one up-front fee to get as many licenses as they want for a specific set of Oracle products, for a certain time frame (usually 3 years). So what happens when your Oracle ULA is up?
You’ve got 2 options:
Sounds easy right? Not always.
The challenge with the second option is that companies generally have no idea how to assess their footprint and come up with an accurate number. If you do manage to determine an accurate number and are found to be compliant, you won’t have to pay any additional licensing fees. But if you don’t, you’ll face heavy fines. Compliance requires a good understanding of the agreement – which is where most companies run into trouble.
If you decide to certify your Oracle ULA, there are 3 key things to keep in mind:
Most companies don’t have a good grasp of what they’re signing when it comes to usage rights, terms and conditions, and that’s really no surprise: complexity is the name of the game with Oracle ULA’s. Companies often have trouble fully interpreting or understanding the terms and usage rights, which can lead to costs and non-compliance fines down the road. This applies to any Oracle software you may have – from Java and database to all of your applications).
Calculating license requirements is complex with multiple variables to consider. Your hardware infrastructure, for one. Are you running virtual, cloud or other hardware infrastructures? Depending on what hardware environment you have architected, calculating license quantities can be difficult. The calculations and metrics differ based on the type of hardware you’re using, and there’s no easy way to figure out what applies to your situation. It’s kind of like Google’s algorithm…everyone knows there’s a formula, but nobody knows what it is.
And another thing: constantly evolving technologies lead to ongoing changes in licensing calculations. All the different formulas are enough to make anyone’s head spin. It’s best to have an Oracle ULA subject matter expert on hand when calculating license requirements.
Finally, when you install one Oracle software program, many other licensable options are often installed as well. Things you may not even realize are there! You could end up triggering a license for something you don’t even use without knowing it! Inadvertent usage of programs that you don’t own licenses for is commonplace. The associated non compliance risk is very costly. Detecting what you’re actually using vs. what you aren’t, and what needs a license vs. what doesn’t, is no easy task.
Yes, you read that right. This complexity is in place to ensure maximum profitability for Oracle. By making things hard to navigate, they make it easy for clients to overlook elements. When you don’t understand complicated conditions, you end up paying through the nose.
Certifying an Oracle ULA and preparing to manage the licenses post certification is complex and 3rd party expertise is a must. A subject matter expert can guide you through getting what you need, eliminating what you don’t, staying compliant – and only paying for the elements you actually want. Dark Horse’s global advisory network includes subject matter experts who can make sense of the complex Oracle ULA certification process.
