A Rimini Street White Paper. Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Independent Support

Transcription

1 A Rimii Street White Paper Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support

2 About Rimii Street, Ic. Rimii Street is the global leader i providig idepedet eterprise software support services. The compay has redefied eterprise support services sice 2005 with a iovative, award-wiig program that eables Oracle ad SAP licesees to save up to 90 percet o total support costs. Cliets ca remai o their curret software release without ay required upgrades for at least 15 years. Over 1000 global, Fortue 500, midmarket, ad public sector orgaizatios from a broad rage of idustries have selected Rimii Street as their trusted, idepedet support provider. Rimii Street ad the Rimii Street logo are trademarks of Rimii Street, Ic. All other compay ad product ames may be trademarks of their respective owers. Copyright All rights reserved. LT-US

3 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Cotets Executive Summary...3 Oracle Lifetime Support Policy...4 Oracle Database Release Aalysis...5 Key Advatages of Idepedet Support...7 The Software Vedor Support Model Is Expesive ad Outdated...8 Next Steps: You Have a Choice of Aual Support Providers...9 Recommedatios for Oracle Database Licesees...10 Rimii Street 2

4 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Executive Summary With more tha 320,000 istalls, Oracle Database is uiversally recogized as the leadig database eve amog SAP customers. It is mature ad stable ad more tha supports your busiess requiremets. There are typically few issues, ad so your support tickets with Oracle are most likely rare. However, there are several pai poits for may Oracle Database customers. First is total cost of owership (TCO) icludig the high cost of operatig, maitaiig ad upgradig the database. Secodly, Oracle Database customers are costatly cocered about performace, availability ad security. Ad fially, the limitatios of Oracle s support policies for Oracle Database i a virtualized eviromet have caused may compaies ot to virtualize their Oracle Database. This white paper summarizes the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy for Oracle Techology products (icludig its policy o supportig a virtualized Oracle Database), aalyzes the strategic roadmap ahead for customers usig specific releases of Oracle Database uder Oracle aual support, ad cocludes with actioable recommedatios for Oracle Database licesees. Major poits: There is limited ROI i upgradig from today s feature-rich database releases. You ca save sigificat fuds by leveragig idepedet support to reduce maiteace fees ad related costs. Your curret Oracle Database release ca ru your operatios for decades to come. Idepedet support ca help you reduce risk ad leave optios ope for ew techologies. Idepedet support from Rimii Street replaces Oracle aual support for your Oracle Database, eablig you to save 50 percet o aual support fees ad up to 1.5 times your total vedor support fees over a decade, icludig the avoidace of expesive forced upgrades. Oracle Database licesees are choosig idepedet support from Rimii Street for substatial cost savigs, guarateed ultra-resposive support, premium features, ad reduced risk ad because today, hudreds of world-class orgaizatios have already validated that idepedet support is a prove optio. Rimii Street 3

5 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Oracle Lifetime Support Policy Oracle has stadardized its support policies across its may differet orgaically developed ad acquired product lies. This policy is kow today as the Oracle Lifetime Support Policy 1, which sets cosistet support policies, prices ad timelies for most Oracle products. While stadardizatio has its beefits, Oracle is reluctat to egotiate ay exceptios to or deviatios from its stadard Lifetime Support Policy. Oracle s stadard Lifetime Support Policy has three phases: Premier Support Oracle s stadard support, typically lastig for five years from geeral availability (GA) at a cost of 22 percet of your licese fee, ofte with aual icreases with each reewal. Exteded Support Icreased pricig of a additioal 10 percet i Year 1, plus a additioal 20 percet i Years 2 ad 3; limited bug fixes, with less commitmet to iteroperability updates ad thirdparty platform certificatios; lasts for three years followig the ed of Premier Support. Exteded Support is ot always offered. Sustaiig Support Oly fixes, updates ad Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) created durig the Premium Support phase. Sustaiig Support specifically excludes ew updates, fixes, security alerts, data fixes, critical patch updates ad ew product certificatios. Cost is 22 percet of your origial licese fee ad lasts idefiitely. Oracle Virtualizatio Support Policy Although Oracle says it provides support for a virtualized database with thirdparty vedors, the reality is less covicig. Oracle states: Oracle will oly provide support for issues that either are kow to occur o the ative OS, or ca be demostrated ot to be as a result of ruig o VMWare. 2 This ca result i figer-poitig betwee vedors ad you the customer beig stuck i the middle, ot receivig the support you eed or simply refraiig from movig your database to a virtual machie. I fact, a direct result of Oracle s support policy is that a far lower percetage of customers have virtualized their Oracle Database compared to the percetage of customers who have virtualized o-oracle databases. 1 Oracle Corporatio, Oracle Lifetime Support Policy, Oracle Techology Products, February, Oracle Corporatio, Support Positio for Oracle Products Ruig o VMWare Virtualized Eviromets, ID , November, Rimii Street 4

6 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Oracle Database Release Aalysis GA Date Premier Support Eds Exteded Support Eds Sustaiig Support Eds Sept Dec Dec Idefiite 9.2 July 2002 July 2007 July 2010 Idefiite 10.1 Ja Ja Ja Idefiite 10.2 July 2005 Jul Jul. 2013* Idefiite 11.1 Aug Aug Aug Idefiite 11.2 Sept Ja Ja Idefiite 12.1 Jue 2013 July 2018 Jul Idefiite *Through July 2015, Exteded Support for 10.2 will be available but limited to Severity 1 fixes oly; Critical Patch Updates (CPUs) will ot be made available. 3 10g ad Earlier Releases If you are o Oracle Database 10.2 or a prior release, you re already o Sustaiig Support ad therefore receivig virtually o support. May customers commoly refer to this stage as de-support. Amazigly, Oracle customers are still payig 22 percet simply for old patches ad fixes. Importat poits for 10.2 ad earlier customers to cosider: You are limited to Sustaiig Support ad yet may be quite happy with the database itself. Twety-two percet of your origial licese fees goes to a support offerig that does t provide CPUs or eve attempt to fix your issues; this provides practically o value. Upgradig to 12c is very complicated, ad apart from offerig the questioable beefit of multi-teacy, 12c delivers little busiess value. Upgradig to 12c from release levels 8, 9 ad 10.1 is a complex two-step process, requirig the itermediate stage of a upgrade to 11g. Rimii Street recommeds postpoig a upgrade to 12c util you really eed the fuctioality. 11g: Releases 11.1 ad g is widely cosidered to be a very solid database, offerig robust fuctioality ad very few issues. However, 11.1 will be de-supported i August 2015, after which o ew CPUs will be available will eter Exteded Support i Jauary 2015, after which you will cotiue to receive support similar to Premier Support though at a icreased cost. 3 Oracle Corporatio, Oracle Software Techical Support Policies, May 2, Rimii Street 5

7 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Importat poits for 11g customers to cosider: For 11.1, as with 10.2, Sustaiig Support offers almost o value, cosiderig its high cost. With 11.2 you will be payig icreased aual fees for support you seldom use. Plus, accordig to Oracle, Exteded Support may or may ot iclude certificatio with some ew third-party products/versios. 4 While it may be easier to upgrade to 12c from 11g tha from earlier releases, it is still a complex process. Ad before you walk dow that path, you should idepedetly verify the retur o ivestmet (ROI) you aticipate by upgradig. Ca you provide your board a solid busiess case for upgradig that s based o data ad assumptios that do t come from Oracle? May customers will struggle to deliver this but it is a crucial aalysis that eeds to occur. Postpoig a upgrade ca eable you to focus o importat more strategic issues. 12c: Release c is Oracle s latest ad greatest. The multi-teacy feature is importat for those iterested i movig to the cloud. Importat poits for 12c customers to cosider: Check your tickets for Oracle Database support. How ofte do you actually eed support? You may cosider Oracle Support a isurace policy, but is the high cost of that policy really worth it? If you re already o 12c, the you should be very cotet for the ext five years or more. It is ulikely Oracle will release ay ew fuctioality that will be critical ad provide a ROI for your busiess. Broke Support Model The packaged software maiteace model is broke. Do t reward software vedors for it by stayig o their upgrade treadmill at their arbitrary 18 or 22 percet a year of software licese value. Viie Mirchadai, Deal Architect Optios to Cosider for Oracle Database Customers o All Releases 1. Cotiue to pay 22 percet or more for support that is seldom used ad is potetially of little value if you are o Sustaiig Support. 2. Switch to idepedet support As a Rimii Street cliet, you are assiged a amed Primary Support Egieer (PSE) who will respod to every critical support request i 30 miutes or less (actual average respose time is uder five miutes). Our PSEs work closely with a team of Oracle Database techical ad fuctioal experts. This ultraresposive service level is available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week, 365 days a year. With Rimii Street you also retai the optio of upgradig to Oracle Database 11.2 or 12.1 at a later date but you ll upgrade oly if ad whe it makes sese for your busiess, ot just because upgradig is high o Oracle s ageda for your strategic roadmap. 4 Oracle Corporatio, Oracle Software Techical Support Policies, May 2, Rimii Street 6

8 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Key Advatages of Idepedet Support Why Switch? Why switch to Rimii Street Support? It works. It s smooth. It s a huge oevet. Ad you get robust support. You take the driver s seat, ad you save moey. It s almost too good to be true. Mark Wikigstad, Chief Iformatio Officer, UCI Iteratioal Customers who switch to Rimii Street Support for Oracle Database ejoy the followig beefits: Cost savigs. Save 50 percet over Oracle aual support fees, ad remai o your curret database release for as log as you wish five, te, fiftee years or more. Deep expertise. Rimii Street s program for Oracle Database licesees icludes support for all aspects ad compoets of the Oracle Database product icludig: Active Data Guard Applicatio Express Data Maskig Database Diagostics & Cofiguratio Database Vault Eterprise Maager I-Memory Database Cache OLAP Partitioig Performace Tuig Real Applicatio Clusters (RAC) Warehouse Builder Expert database cosultig at o additioal charge. With idepedet support from Rimii Street you receive expert cosultatio from our Techology Support Services experts aroud best practices, cofiguratios ad hardware. This helps you esure iteroperability, security ad optimal system performace. Database virtualizatio support. Regardless of where the issue lies, Rimii Street will work with you to diagose the problem ad determie a solutio. No figer-poitig here. A tailored, holistic approach to security. 61 percet of Oracle Database users say they are at least two CPU cycles behid or simply do t kow how far behid they are. 5 Two CPU cycles is six moths to a year or more before a patch actually gets applied ad that s after Oracle fially comes out with the patch. Compaies relyig o Critical Patch Updates are vulerable. Rimii Street ca guide you i the applicatio of a holistic approach to security to keep your database secure without costat patchig. Optio of upgradig to Oracle Database 12.1 at a later date. Whe you switch to Rimii Support for Oracle Database, you ca upgrade oly if ad whe it makes sese for your busiess; you are o loger obligated to follow Oracle s ageda ad timelies. 5 Joseph McKedrick, Research Aalyst, Closig the Security Gap: 2012 IOUG Eterprise Data Security Survey, Uisphere Research, November, Rimii Street 7

9 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support The Software Vedor Support Model Is Expesive ad Outdated Fairess ad Relevace of Vedor Support Model Questioed Oracle Database Cliet Sapshot: The Valspar Corporatio Idustry: Chemical Maufacturig Reveue: $4 Billio Employees: 9,800 Databases: Oracle 10gR2 EE/SE + Partitioig, Essbase Plus Operatig Systems: Solaris 10, Red Hat Liux 6.3 App Servers: OAS 9i Applicatios: EBS , Oracle Trasportatio Maagemet Reportig: OBIEE, Discoverer, Hyperio Middleware: BPEL Process Maager, WebCeter Imagig Valspar selected Rimii Street to support its Oracle Techology ad applicatios ad reduce its support costs by 50 percet. The big software vedors have ejoyed a virtual moopoly o support services for their products, ad with today s 90 percet profit margis for the vedor o its support operatios, for every 10 support dollars you pay the vedor, the vedor speds oly oe dollar o actual support. Customers are comig to the coclusio that the vedor support model is at best dated ad at worst obsolete ad grossly ufair to the eterprise software licesee. Ad idustry aalysts agree: you may be spedig too much o eterprise software aual support ad receivig limited value i retur. Ogoig maiteace ad operatioal costs typically cosume the majority of the IT budgets, with oly 13 percet available for busiess trasformatio iitiatives. 6 High Cost, Low Value Maiteace Expeses Limit Iovatio 87% Ogoig Operatios ad Ehacemets IT Spedig Categories* 13% Busiess Trasformatio Iitiatives *Garter, Garter IT Key Metrics Data, 2014 IT Eterprise Summary Report Jauary 31, 2014 Expert diagosis of performace problem areas, root cause aalysis, ad actio plas to restore system performace at o extra charge are huge beefits for Valspar as its system usage grows. Rimii Street s value propositio becomes very strategic, almost ivaluable. I terms of value add, it s ot icremetal, it s ot additive. It s a multiplier effect. A order of magitude. Tom Grooms, CIO, Valspar 6 Garter, Garter IT Key Metrics Data, 2014 IT Eterprise Summary Report, Jauary 31, 2014 Rimii Street 8

10 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Next Steps: You Have a Choice of Aual Support Providers Uivera has relied o Rimii Street s support for Oracle EBS ad Oracle Techology sice We appreciate the sigificat ivestmets Rimii Street has made i order to deliver robust support for these complex Oracle products. By switchig to Rimii Street, Uivera has received more resposive service ad we have redirected the savigs to more strategic projects eeded by the busiess. Ro Billock, CIO, Uivera, Ic. A Better Optio: Oracle Database Licesees Realize Value with Rimii Street Hudreds of world-class orgaizatios are exercisig their right to select the aual support provider that best fits their eeds ad budget. Idepedet support from Rimii Street replaces your aual support program from the vedor. Rimii Street provides premium support so you ca cotiue to cost-effectively ru your Oracle Database for the ext decade or loger with o required upgrades. Oracle Database customers choose idepedet support from Rimii Street for: Substatial cost savigs Guarateed savigs of 50 percet over vedor aual support fees. Premium, relevat, cuttig-edge service model Guarateed ultraresposive support ad premium features such as support for security, iteroperability ad performace tuig all at o additioal cost. Greater strategic flexibility Rimii Street ca help you avoid costly upgrades, exted the life of your curret, stable database release, ad reduce risk as you positio yourself for the ext prove techology platform. May orgaizatios utilize idepedet support as a key aspect of their applicatio strategy, usig the savigs from idepedet support to address real busiess problems aroud their systems while evaluatig ew techologies at their ow measured, deliberate pace ot accordig to the vedor s release timelie ad ageda. Rimii Street 9

11 Why Oracle Database Customers Choose Idepedet Support Recommedatios for Oracle Database Licesees Move to idepedet support Save o your maiteace fees ad upgrade costs, ad ru your database with idepedet support from Rimii Street. Maximize the value of curret releases Exted the logevity of your established database ad do t do a upgrade that has zero busiess value. But kow that you ca upgrade to Oracle Database 12.1 uder Rimii Street Support if you wish. Use your savigs from idepedet support to address real busiess problems aroud your system such as ogoig iovatio ad ever-chagig busiess requiremets. Rimii Street 10

12