Has your organisation received an Oracle audit letter? Are you currently being audited? If so, are you aware of the potential risks or exposure that may be found?

As per Oracle’s policies, if you are found to be non-compliant following your audit, you will be given 30 days to commercially resolve the non-compliance discovered.

In our experience, organisations sometimes avoid preparing as they fear what the software license audit may reveal and do not want to execute a new deal of any kind, however a sound negotiation strategy and expert approach will have significant leverage in negotiations with Oracle, preparing your organisation for the future and resolving issues with Oracle.

We believe it’s never too early to start preparing your organisation for a vendor audit, but it isn’t too late either if you are currently in audit, you may have time to leverage this opportunity to not only resolve issues, but also to prepare for the future and potentially negotiate new deals going forward with Oracle.

We regularly see enterprises receiving unexpected findings from Oracle audits, some common examples:

  • Misunderstanding Oracle’s VMware policy
  • Use of unlicensed database options
  • Incorrect licensing for Disaster Recovery
  • Missed house-keeping resulting in over-use of license

There is often no chance for you to fix any issues found and non-compliance bills may be based on list value plus back support (150% of usual support). An overview of a typical audit process is provided below. As you progress through this license audit process, the likelihood of losing control of the outcome increases: you should engage expert help to ensure you are defending your position properly and that you retain control.

You should not assume that because you were audited in the last few years that you won’t be audited again: Oracle aims to audit customers every 2-3 years: also remember that Oracle’s policies change and so what may previously have been accepted may no longer be.

Many enterprise organisations are challenged over how to tackle an audit, with unanswered questions such as:

  • What do I do when I receive an Oracle audit letter?
  • How do you license Oracle on VMware?
  • What is in Oracle’s final audit report?
  • How often do Oracle audit?
  • How do I negotiate with Oracle?
  • What about my Cloud Licensing?

Version 1 license optimisation expertise helps to deliver financial risk reduction of over 80% on average during audit scenarios. Regardless of where you are on the Oracle audit journey, Version 1 is here to help guide you through the process or prepare for audit.

Version 1 can help at all stages of an Oracle audit, but recommend early engagement to retain maximum control.

Take Control of your Software Assets

Version 1’s independent licensing experts have been advising customers on being optimally licensed since 2002 and have a large dedicated team with the very broad set of skills required to understand Oracle licensing inside-out. Version 1 manage the cost and risk associated with enterprise software and work independently from the software vendor to get the best deal for our customers. Our team’s heritage is Oracle, both technical AND commercial, with over 100 man years of experience. We get organisations out of trouble, and we keep them out of trouble.

Contact Version 1 today to speak to a Software Asset Management Expert.