MY SERVICES
What can I do for you?
Audit Defense
If you received a notice regarding Oracle's license audit it is better for you to control it and be prepared for the result. Ideally you would better control the software use all the time and be prepared for collecting the data as soon as it is required.
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In order to do this,
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I will do for you the Internal audit of the Oracle software use.
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I will help you to collect information on current software use, assess license allocation, and determine license shortages or redundancy.
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You will get an assessment of the legality of software use in your company, as well as this is done by Oracle.
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It is good to have such an assessment in advance, but what to do in case you have already received the license audit report from Oracle?
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In this case i will help you
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Challenging the Vendor Audit Result
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I will analyze the vendor's audit report and provide recommendations to reduce the cost of claims.
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I will develop a scenario of actions and help build a negotiating position with the vendor.
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You'll get an independent audit, an optimized licensing strategy, and support in negotiations with the vendor. In practice, I had been able to significantly reduce and even nullify Oracle's claims.
Here you can read about the customer cases related to the audit defense
ULA Certification
ULA stands for Oracle’s Unlimited License Agreement. The Customer acquires the right to unlimited use of the products included in the agreement for a certain period (most often – 3 years). Such an agreement is concluded if intensive growth of the company's infrastructure is strategically planned.
ULA Pros:
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Allows to increase your usage volume without having to buy additional licenses all the time
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Convenient and profitable with an intensively growing infrastructure and a well-thought-out list of included products
ULA Cons:
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Requires a high level of control over installed software and ongoing use of products not included in the ULA
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High cost of technical support – from 18% to 22% of the contract price. In case of ULA renewal, the cost of technical support for Oracle products is summed up
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High probability of vendor audit after certification; risk of detection of products not included in ULA
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Pressure from the vendor to renegotiate the ULA, even if it is not necessary
ULA certification is the process of declaring the products used by the Customer at the end of the ULA agreement.
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In the absence of proper control over the volume of licenses used, there is a risk of certifying an insufficient or excessive number of products. Each of these cases is fraught with its own negative consequences:
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If the number of licenses declared is insufficient, there is a shortage of licenses, which leads to additional costs for the software
In the case of excessive license declarations, certification may be denied by the vendor and a license audit may be conducted.
Before deciding to undergo the ULA certification, it is always recommended to assess the additional need for licenses in the next 2-3 years. If there is no such need, it is recommended that the ULA be certified.
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In this case, be prepared that Oracle will insist on renewing the ULA when it expires, as it is beneficial for the vendor.
I will help you to achieve compliance status and pass ULA certification without additional costs for licenses and technical support.
This will include several basic stages:
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Conducting an internal software license audit similar to the vendor audit
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Preparation for ULA certification
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Developing the most advantageous strategy for the Customer's management of licensed assets
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Necessary legal support and assistance in negotiations with the vendor
The preparation for ULA certification includes:
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Assistance in data collection and conducting webinars to improve the quality of the collected data
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Assistance in correctly filling the list of servers on Oracle form (Oracle calls it Global Deployment Report or GDR)
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Landscape design to create a stockpile of licenses for possible future projects
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Bringing the list of servers to a format that minimizes the number of questions from the vendor
Java Licensing
January 23, 2023 Oracle altered the Java licensing, significantly changed pricing structure for Java.
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I will help you with an independent Java licensing assessment to determine business impact and create a strategy of further actions.
You will get a description of the current situation and potential target infrastructure in order to optimize your Java licensing model to reduce payments.
VMware Isolation
The control of software use in an isolated virtual environment allows to quickly manage the company's infrastructure to create the planned volume of licensed assets. This applies to both increasing this volume and decreasing it, depending on the project's goals. Working in isolated environments gives you the ability to manage licensing volumes in a wide range.
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And you definitely know that when you use virtualization technologies, i.e. VMware, Oracle requires you
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Or to license the whole virtual environment (all the VMware vCenters!)
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Or to isolate a part of your virtual environment dedicated to Oracle software according Oracle requirements and license it separately
The isolation process is complex and consists of many steps.
First, experts develop a virtual machine isolation methodology based on the software manufacturer's requirements and the Customer's needs. This process is quite time-consuming, since it is necessary to analyze the infrastructure and assess its capabilities.
After that, the process of coordination of the developed methodology with the software manufacturer begins. You need to prepare the documentation for submission to the software manufacturer and supervise the communication of the methodology approval. If necessary, adjustments are to be made to the developed methodology.
When the isolation methodology is approved by the vendor, the process of implementing it on the infrastructure begins. The solution is to be replicated and virtualization systems are to be configured under the supervision of Oracle.
The final stage of the work is the verification of the replicated solution and making the necessary adjustments based on the verification results.
Here you can read about the customer cases, including the isolation of virtual environments
Legal, Consulting and Contractual Support
Legal Support
My team will help you with competent protection of your position in negotiations with the software manufacturers to level out possible claims from the latter.
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You will get control over the risks of breach of contract terms, legal support for deals, audits and negotiations, and control over official communications.
Consulting Services
Advice on the use of licensed software, virtualization systems, and assistance in preparing responses to software manufacturer's inquiries.
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I will provide you with access to my knowledge and experience. I guarantee a deeper understanding of your licensed software use that will allow your technicians to configure and operate the software correctly, minimizing the likelihood of vendor’s complaints.
​Support in Contracting
With our comprehensive analysis of the terms and conditions of the software manufacturer's commercial offers and recommendations you will improve the terms of your software purchasing.
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You will get a cost reduction by eliminating “extra” products and “hidden” fees, as well as the most favorable commercial terms of the deal.
Compliance as a Service (CaaS)
Software Compliance Program
Software Compliance Program
I'm ready to provide comprehensive tools and methodology for digital asset management so that you may run your Software Compliance Program or Division with your own IT / governance team.
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Initial implementation of License Management Lifecycle (see my article)
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On-boarding for your IT environment
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Inventory of your Digital Assets
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Assessment of gaps and recommendations for Improvement
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Ongoing support and software use Monitoring
Compliance Stand-In
I can become your experienced Compliance Officer to quickly address the needs for software license and compliance review.
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I will perform the duties of your Compliance Officer on a permanent or temporary basis.
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Hiring a full-time compliance expert may be an unnecessary expense for a limited scope of responsibilities during the year. Instead, you may get all benefits of having me as a Compliance Officer looking after your contracts, assets, and business operations.
Audit Response Team
If your organization is under an external audit, we will be able to provide you with the very best experts in governance, IT, and Legal, in order to address the tasks of performing an audit while protecting the interests of your business.
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We will work closely with your assigned employees and report about the progress, challenges, and results to the management board.
Support Reduction
Analyzing the required level of technical support and your payments for its use.
You will get recommendations on how to reduce the cost of technical support and optimize its use in the future.
Most of the costs associated with software use are for technical support and maintenance. The cost of support increases when new transactions are made or Unlimited Agreements are renewed (in the case of ULA renewals, the cost of technical support is added up).
During the optimization process, two main software sectors are identified: software that requires technical support and software that does not need technical support. From this, an understanding of the licensing landscape and its management in the future is formed.
The license management process has an impact on optimizing the cost of the licenses, as well as the cost of the technical support, as continued work related to the optimization of license assets helps earn a reduction in payments to the software manufacturer. These savings in annual equivalent can be significant.