In Malcolm Gladwell’s book: Outliers: The Story of Success, he repeatedly mentions the“10,000-Hour Rule“, claiming that the key to success in any field is, to a large extent, a matter of practicing a specific task for a total of around 10,000 hours. This could not be more accurate when it comes to managing Oracle License compliance.
The difference between getting it right and getting it wrong in managing Oracle license compliance typically is millions of dollars. An example is Oracle’s continually changing rules when it comes to licensing their Software in a virtualised environment. In more than 500 Oracle license reviews that we have done, over 80% of customers were non-compliant. In the vast majority of these cases, these Oracle customers were unaware that they were non-compliant until they were audited by Oracle. This is because Oracle Software has no native way of letting a customer know when they have exceeded their license grant. In our experience, the average cost of Oracle non-compliance is approximately $1.8m per customer.
There is a tendency for Oracle customers to ask their Outsourced Service Provider or System Integrator to assist them with understanding their Oracle License compliance position. In some cases, they may even engage one of the big consultancies to do this. What typically happens is that the customer will then deal with a Software licensing ‘generalist’ or a bunch of graduates in one of the big consulting firms. This flawed approach leads to many customers over paying based on flawed results and no optimisation alternatives being considered.
The truth of Oracle Licensing is that not everything can be Googled. In fact, many of the rules and business practices that governs Oracle Licensing cannot be found on the web. The answer is not getting a big name consulting firm or a SAM generalist to navigate the complexities of Oracle licensing. The answer is getting appropriately experienced people and a specialised set of Oracle licensing skills to manage your Oracle License compliance proactively. The best, most intelligent solutions are not in the public domain when it comes to proactively managing Oracle License compliance.
Everyone that works at Navicle has at least 10 years of dedicated Oracle Licensing experience. We have seen the consequences of getting it wrong and believe that getting it right requires this level of experience.
Before you engage someone to assist with Oracle License Management quiz them on the 10,000-Hour Rule!
