fbpx
 

Month: June 2009

GRC for financial compliance

We are always talking about software asset management (SAM) as a means to cut costs and also keep up with compliance. For financial firms, SAM, combined with a Governance, Risk and Compliance (GRC) program are a necessity to keep those regulators happy. Many firms choose to use GRC software to automate the process should they get audited (which the frequently do) to have information at the ready. Here are some tips for those that are in need of a GRC […]

Processor/CPU licensing: Intel Hyper-threading throws off count

Some processors have a dual core, single chip that appears to be two CPUs within the Oracle kernel (the Oracle kernel determines the number of CPUs on a system during start-up). This is the case with Intel Hyper-threading, where the number of physical CPUs doubles when running on Linux or Windows with a hyper-threading setting of OS or BIOS. Oracle will charge a CPU license fee for the extra cores in multiple core CPUs. Therefore, you will need to license for […]

Embedded Software License

A number of years ago, Oracle introduced its Embedded Software License (ESL) model – available to Independent Software Vendors (ISVs). Once in a while, we get an extremely nervous ISV who didn’t understand the licensing restrictions on ESL ….. The ESL is a highly restrictive license that allows ISVs to embed Oracle technology into their products. The end-user would not necessarily know that they are using an Oracle-powered product.  Examples of possible systems using this licensing model include point of […]

Microsoft License Advisor

Hmmm, an online self-service resource – Microsoft License Advisor for Volume Licensing – can be used to figure out what licensing needs your company has.  This is a great initial start to understanding licensing needs.  It’s also a great marketing tool for online self-service resource. Only issue is that it doesn’t give you insight into how you AREN’T compliant. Devil is in the detail! Ignore the too-chipper voiceover. It gets on your nerves after the first 30 seconds.

Processor/CPU licensing: Multi-core

Software vendors have different licensing rules. With Oracle, you have to understand that you’re licensing per processor (CPU) for running the Oracle software, versus per user. There are various scenarios and factors that change the licensing and pricing. For example, multi-core processors are counted by number of cores, and processors have a different multiple. 0.25 for SUN’s UltraSparc T1 processors 0.50 for Intel and AMD processors 0.75 for SUN’s UltraSparc T2 processors 0.75 for most other multi-core processors 1.00 for […]

SLA – it’s never done

Many of our clients think that once a Service Level Agreement (SLA) is signed and agreed upon, it’s untouchable until the end of the term. This is not the case in most circumstances. In fact, a good SLA should be changed periodically. Particularly, in the case of penalties and rewards built into the SLA, where there is often a need for change. Let’s say, for example, the software vendor is repeatedly missing deadlines and it has become detrimental to your […]

In Archive