Oracle Licensing Challenges
- Oracle’s software licensing rules are complex, nuanced, and change frequently due to technological and non-technical developments
- Conducting infrequent enterprise wide license review projects can be costly in both time and resources
- Organizations that use Oracle software can expect to be audited every few years, and penalties for non-compliance can range into the tens of millions of dollars
- Internal IT, Procurement and Executives have many responsibilities within the organization and limited ability to maintain their expertise in Oracle Licensing rules and policies
- Internal resources of an organization would not deal with Audits or contract renewals at the same frequency of external entities who work on it all the time
Managed Services Opportunities
- Managed Services is a comprehensive set of services and guidance for an organization to meet software asset management needs
- Engaging specialized outsourced experts to oversee the organization’s software assets greatly reduces the risk of non-compliance and associated unbudgeted expenditures
- Internal resources can make better and faster decisions with the help of trusted advisors who are subject matter experts in all aspects of software asset management
- Managed Services does not require the organization to purchase, install, integrate or train staff to use expensive new tools on their networks
1. Continuous Oracle Software & Cloud License Review
Miro will engage in a continuous review of an organization’s Oracle software licenses and subscriptions to ensure the organization maintains compliance, and does not need to engage in periodic ad hoc reviews which can be time and resource intensive.
How we support you
- Tracking changes to the organization’s environment as they are communicated to Miro, like upgrades, new deployments and new purchases
- Analyzing deployment changes, including moving to Cloud platforms, to determine licensing and cost impacts
- Reviewing the software licensing impact of proposed changes, to ensure any potential concerns or issues are addressed and mitigated in the planning stages
- Answering inquiries on how many licenses an organization has of a specific software product
2. Cost Containment Options
Miro will identify opportunities for cost containment which will be presented to the organization to ensure the optimal usage of resources and assets on new, existing and theoretical licensing and deployment scenarios.
How we support you
- Proactively searching and reviewing for ways to save on the cost of licensing, such as altering the plan for a new deployment so it represents the smallest possible licensing footprint
- Finding opportunities to drop unused licenses or migrate unused licenses to useful licenses
- Ensuring that new solutions do not require a special form of licensing and if they do, to identify the best way to obtain those licenses for proper software license compliance
- Staying aware of changes in Oracle policy that might be useful to the organization’s particular environment, or cause an out-of-compliance finding in an audit
- If necessary, confirming special software compliance requirements with Oracle LMS, without mention of the client’s name
3. Licensing Help Desk
Miro’s Help Desk is an on-demand live-person resource for licensing information, rules, costs, and requirements, which ensures that the organization’s leadership and front-line staff have the knowledge to stay in compliance and avoid audit failures.
How we support you
- Providing easy access to confidential Oracle licensing experts at Miro who can answer any questions the organization may have
- Helping the organization with planning the implementation of new solutions and with understanding the software licensing requirements
- Verifying licensing requirements of a particular Oracle software product that the organization has not used before
- Providing information on pricing for an Oracle software product
4. Oracle Audit Assurance
Miro will assist the organization if it is audited by Oracle License Management Services (LMS), including preparation, negotiating, managing communications, reviewing deliverables and guiding staff to optimize audit outcomes.
How we support you
- Keeping the organization “audit ready” by continually maintaining the organization’s software compliance as part of the Managed Services suite of products
- Being on call to support the organization through an Oracle Audit at any time
- Anonymously verifying any proposed configuration or use with Oracle LMS to ensure it would not become an issue in any future Oracle audit
- Providing guidance on how to navigate an Oracle audit from start to conclusion, including how to form an internal audit response team.
- Continuous OSLR is required for Audit Assurance – Miro’s involvement in the planning of changes to the environment enables them to review and verify the software licensing compliance status of any proposed changes
5. Managed License Transactions
Miro will manage all aspects of negotiations with Oracle for transactions, contracts, quotes, support and compliance issues to ensure the organization gets the best pricing, terms and conditions on any agreement.
How we support you
- Managing license transactions & negotiations
- Enabling the organization to negotiate the best deal for direct vendor purchases or purchases managed through Miro
- Providing customized quotes that best support chargebacks or allocation of internal costs
- Providing customized invoicing that enables the organization to alter billing timelines so that they best suit budget cycles
- Negotiating customized pricing, terms and conditions that best address the current and future needs of the organization
- Determining the best method and contract to facilitate a license purchase so that it properly addresses an organization’s current and future needs
- Miro is 100% independent of Oracle while maintaining membership in the Oracle Partner Network, which provides special access to critical intelligence, unpublished pricing, unique terms & conditions, license migration options, and cloud procurements.
6. Support Renewal Management
Miro will review and manage the organization’s support renewals, and offer specialized support options not offered directly from Oracle, including customization of invoicing on a departmental, divisional, project, product, application or CSI.
How we support you
- Handling the review & management of all Oracle entitlements, including perpetual, cloud, and new licenses
- Reviewing all support renewals to ensure any support uplifts are correct and align properly with the expectations of the contracts
- Ensuring that any migrated or expired term licenses were properly addressed
- Coordinating of support renewal delivery with Oracle support sales department to ensure timely review, validation and reconciliation
- Managing payment of support renewals to Oracle to avoid license termination due to lapse of support or accidental oversight
- Providing customized invoicing of support renewals on a departmental, divisional, project, product, application, or CSI basis
7. Proactive M&A Analysis
Miro will assist the organization’s planning for mergers, acquisitions and divestitures to ensure licensing compliance and to structure contracts to have the necessary terms and conditions to enable optimal business transfers and operations.
How we support you
- Assisting the organization in planning for any upcoming mergers, acquisitions and divestitures
- Reviewing the Oracle software license contracts of the other entities in the transaction, including subsidiaries, to see if there are any areas of concern
- Analyzing the organization’s contracts and situation to see how best to merge or divest the Oracle software licenses
8. Strategy Planning Sessions
Miro will Strategy Planning Sessions with the organization to stay current and review future changes to the organization. This positions the client to best understand how any changes may produce additional licensing requirements or complications and enables them to alter plans ahead of time and reduce the possibility of having to reengineer after changes are made.
How we support you
- Holding Quarterly Strategy Planning Sessions
- Sharing best practices to maximize software licensing assets
- Learning of recent changes with the organization’s deployment and business
- Planning for any upcoming environment or organizational changes
- Providing special reports on major changes
