Okay, remember how we have been warning about the BSA and how they are after companies that have pirated software? Well…here is a prime example. They have just filed to court orders again RedPR Services and Overclockers in the UK, which could cost them thousands of dollars - all because they failed to complete an audit required by the BSA.

You’ll see a lot of these court orders in the coming year - and there will be many unheard of as well, those who have settled out of court and spent a pretty penny!

Keep your Oracle licensing, Microsoft, Adobe, etc in check people! 

Partitioned servers are commonly found in the corporate IT environment today due to cost savings and simplified management of running multiple operating systems — such as UNIX or Windows NT — on the same server. Partitioned servers also improve the work load balancing and distribution.

In the case of partitioning servers, Oracle licensing recognizes hardware partitioning for licensing purposes. Meaning ….Oracle customers can license “only those processors that have been purchased from the hardware vendors.” As more processor rights are bought, additional Oracle licenses must be purchased.

Note: Oracle Database Standard Edition can only be licensed under server with four sockets. Customers cannot partition a larger server into four sockets and then license the database Standard Edition for that partition.

Enterprise Subscription Agreements are typically for businesses with a need to standardize their Microsoft software and with a minimum of 250 PCs. What are the benefits? Some of the benefits include: savings for a 3-year agreement and included software assurance.

If you fit the bill, it’s a smart move and a great way to keep software licensing compliance inline.

The number of Oracle license is required is based on the usage and business environment. Take for example, Oracle database EE during the testing, staging and production phase. Depending on the type of license being used, their number of different Oracle licenses required.

If you’re licensing by processor, the number of Oracle licenses would be dependent on where the database is installed or running must be licensed. So, you have 6 processors, you need 6 licenses. If you have 20 processors installed, but only five of them are actually running, you still need 20 licenses.

If you’re using the Named User Plus scenario, there is a formula that can be used to compute how many Oracle licenses are needed. The formula would be Named User Plus — meaning 25 Named User Plus licenses per processor — multiplied by the number of actual users accessing the database. Now, the actual users mean the number of users and developers.

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We’re getting ready for our Summer Blockbuster hit – the June 25 Oracle licensing strategies webinar (it starts at 1 p.m. ET LIVE).  I and Eliot Colon, president of Miro Consulting, will both be giving tips on how to best work with Oracle licensing and the best way to further optimized your total cost of ownership.  We’ll also be answering questions from the audience and hope to get to all the questions this time (as we almost always run out of time even with 30 minutes-plus allotted for audience questions).

Go to our home page at www.miroconsulting.com and register for the event.  There will also be a live twitter feed at www.Twitter.com/yinchang.

For more information on upcoming events, go to http://www.miroconsulting.com/news-cal.html.

If you’re using Oracle Database Standard Edition, be aware that Oracle licensing rules only allows it to be licensed on servers that have a maximum capacity of 4 sockets. Oracle Standard Edition One has a maximum capacity of 2 sockets, according to Oracle licensing.

With the release of Oracle 10g, the Oracle Database Standard Edition product includes the Real Applications Clusters database option. Also, Oracle Cluster Ready Services must be used as the clusterware AND use Oracle’s Automatic Storage Management. Third-party clusterware is not supported.

If you’ve been following Oracle licensing updates, you’ll note that these licensing tips were part of a footnote reminder in the latest software investment guide.

Like I’ve said before, Oracle licensing can be complex.

Oracle licensing is offered either as a perpetual license – which is a one-time fee – or a term license – which allows software usages for a specified period of time.  Which is better?

Oracle licensing can be complex based on the environment factors.  Aside from the changing software licensing rules and regulations, the added complexity comes from the companies using Oracle.  Interpretation of Oracle licensing depends upon a number of factors –including usage (from number of users to HOW it’s being used) and deployment to multiple platforms.

Because companies are constantly moving with the ebb and flow of business – whether changes are made within a division/group or through M&A activities – it is important to have the right software to support these adjustments.  Therefore, for many companies, we would recommend term license to work with your company’s needs.

However, there are a few companies that experience very little change within their industry and other market factors don’t alter the course of business.  In this very rare case, we would propose perpetual licensing.  Though, there are very few companies that fit that mold.

Oracle licensing is complex and needs to be actively managed to grow with your business.   By governing Oracle licensing usage, your company will be able to streamline operational efficiencies.

Eliot and I have been named as finalists for the third consecutive year for the Ernst & Young Entrepreneur of the Year New Jersey Awards.  It’s a great honor for us to be finalists again amongst many prestigious executives in the New Jersey area.  Who said that Oracle licensing and software asset management couldn’t be glamorous?

More information on the awards and nominations are available here.

The awards ceremony is June 19^th in Teaneck – cross your fingers for us!

Companies like  Oracle and Microsoft typically charge software licensing fees on enterprise server software per processor. With multicore processors, this standard no longer applies – leaving customers feeling like they are paying more in licensing fees for generally the same performance.

Corporate IT is still, to this day, confused about the pricing model because, after attempts made by Oracle and Microsoft, nothing has really stuck.  Standards certainly need to be developed for multicore as well as virtualization. Best case scenario would be to charge a single licensing fee for multicore servers.

My advice – before purchasing new enterprise server software, think about what applications really require a multicore processor. According to PC World, these are applications used in high-performance computing, financial services, or the oil and gas discovery industry – a.k.a “heat seeker” applications.