Oracle licensing leaves customers 'hostile and filled with deep-rooted mistrust'

Campaign for Clear Licensing says some customers were fearful of speaking up in case of any audit repercussions

Oracle's approach to licensing and auditing has resulted in customer relationships that are predominantly "hostile and filled with deep-rooted mistrust", according to a review by the Campaign for Clear Licensing (CCL).

The report, dubbed Key Risks in Managing Oracle Licensing, looked into Oracle's licensing and auditing practices. As part of its research, the CCL surveyed over 100 Oracle customers worldwide, took part in a roundtable discussion between Oracle and its customers, and had an open discussion with Oracle License Management Services (LMS).

According to CCL, those surveyed were software asset managers, IT asset managers, software licensing specialists or IT procurement professionals, all experienced software buyers who were used to negotiating with many software vendors.

The vast majority of the customers surveyed (92 per cent) said that Oracle does not clearly communicate licensing changes. And many felt that their enquiries often result in a failure to secure accurate information from Oracle, as Oracle's own License Management Service is unaware of who is supposed to deal with the relevant query. Only 22 per cent of those surveyed agreed that LMS was helpful during an audit, contract renewal or negotiation process.

CCL suggested that customers are dependent on Oracle for decision making. It said that messages from Oracle are inconsistent, which undermines its customers' efforts to stay compliant and keeps them on the back foot when it comes to licensing negotiations. In turn, this plays into Oracle's hands and gives it the advantage.

Furthermore, Oracle "moves the goal posts" to suit its revenue goals rather than customer requirements.

"Based on our research and conversations over the last six months, we have found that customers' relationships with Oracle are hostile and filled with deep-rooted mistrust," said Martin Thompson, founder of the CCL, and author of the report.

"So entrenched is this feeling of mistrust that some organisations were fearful of speaking to us in case of any audit repercussions," he added.

Thompson said that there was "a disproportionate amount of risk and management overhead appeared to be placed on the customer by Oracle".

He added that many customers had not invested or are not capable of investing resources to manage their Oracle estate. Some aren't even aware of the investment in overhead that they will require prior to engaging with Oracle, he stated.

"On the whole, the customers we surveyed appear to have an arm's length, impoverished relationship with Oracle," Thompson said.