| | | | Licensing non-Oracle servers in a virtualized environment
In order to understand the licensing model, you must understand that Oracle only acknowledges its own virtualization software and only in standalone servers. This is an extremely important point to internalize, especially if you're using non-Oracle virtualization software (with VMware being one of the most popular).
End-users with non-Oracle virtualization software must license based on the physical size of the server. So, if you're running a VMware cluster, you must license based on the cluster of servers, not a single server where Oracle software is installed. In other words, a license is needed for each server within the cluster - if there are 10 servers in the cluster, the end-user must have a license for each of the 10 servers. Licensing can be extremely complex, and become more complex when you introduce non-Oracle applications into the mix.
|  Sun-Oracle Deal May Signal Great Benefits for Users But Remember to Check Your Terms & Conditions
The big Oracle acquisition that has The Street talking is none other than Sun Microsystems, Inc. The acquisition of Sun following on the heels of Oracle's HP Oracle Database Machine last year signals a new era at Oracle - selling hardware. Despite the European Commission review of the Sun-Oracle deal, we believe that once the EU completes its investigation, it will rule in Oracle's favor and the company will get its Sun business back on track.
In the meantime, we continue to get a lot of questions these days about how Oracle licensing will be affected by the Sun acquisition, and how customers might benefit ... or not. While we can't say for sure, as Oracle hasn't announced any plans yet, I can only tell you what I think will happen and how Oracle and Sun customers will benefit.
As we're seeing already, Oracle intends to put together a bundled Sun-Oracle sell. Sun boxes are quite popular and we predict that Oracle will announce dramatic cost savings on licensing on a hardware-software combo to sweeten the deal. There will be a lot of happy Sun-Oracle users for a couple of years if they play their cards right.
These bundled, discounted licensing bundles will be a win-win for everyone. From a cost perspective, Sun and Oracle customers will get better pricing all around, while Oracle can go head-to-head with IBM.
If these super discounted bundles come to pass, companies will need to pay attention to how this affects their longer-term IT strategy and budget. While Oracle may offer a sweet two-year deal, the reality is that technology will outgrow the licensing, as is the norm, and when the server is upgraded, cost will be, too. Our advice - as always - is to look carefully at the Terms & Conditions and remember to build in some flexibility.
Sun is a game changer for Oracle as the company starts down the path of hardware sales. Despite the news that Sun's Q4 loss feeds talk of Oracle selling the hardware unit, I believe Oracle will turn Sun into an extremely profitable business. Larry Ellison hasn't lost his Midas touch yet!
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Miro in the News
| | | | | | Upcoming Events 
October 21st @ 1 p.m. ET
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| Did You Know?
Miro Consulting's CEO & founder has an "Ask the Oracle Expert: Q&A" column on SearchOracle.com where he answers submitted questions. | | About Miro Consulting, Inc. Miro Consulting helps companies analyze and negotiate enterprise software contracts - specifically Oracle and Microsoft licensing. In addition, the company offers software asset management consultation services and the building of software asset management offices within enterprises. Since 2000, the NJ-based company has negotiated over $1 billion in software licensing transactions. Miro has helped 400+ clients throughout North America and worldwide to optimize their total cost of ownership (TCO).
| | Miro Consulting, Inc. 167 Main Street, Woodbridge, N.J. 07095 o: 732.738.8511 x1210 e: ScottR (at) MiroConsulting (dot) com Copyright © 2009 Miro Consulting, Inc. All rights reserved locally and worldwide.
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