Month: March 2018

Spinnaker Support in the Middle East – A Case Study

March 26, 2018 | Michelle Wilkinson | Senior Director, Marketing

Earlier this month, Spinnaker Support exhibited at the Gartner Symposium/ITxpo in Dubai for a second consecutive year. After the incredible awareness created in 2017, we were excited to reconnect with contacts made last year and to further educate regional CIOs on third-party support benefits.

It was advantageous to bring a customer located in the Gulf Coast Cooperative (GCC) region to the event. Our customer, Saudi Arabia-based Alamar Foods, shared their third-party support case study with other event attendees. We met Alamar Foods at last year’s Dubai Symposium. They immediately began exploring our alternative support model and signed with Spinnaker Support in October 2017. Full transition to Spinnaker Support was completed at the end of November. AlMutaz Mah’d, Head of ICT and SSC, co-presented with us regarding their decision-making process.

Alamar Foods’ Oracle Footprint

Alamar Foods has been running E-Business Suite (EBS) since 2013. Currently, they are on version 12.1.3 using the following modules: Financials; Supply Chain; Manufacturing; HR & Payroll; HR Self Service; i-Expenses; BI Apps; Mobile Apps; and Oracle Web Center. They have a customized integration with their Point of Sale (POS) system supporting 400 concurrent users in Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Bahrain, United Arab Emirates, and Jordan.

Why Switch to Spinnaker Support?

Before meeting Spinnaker Support, Alamar Foods never realized there was a viable alternative to replace Oracle-provided support. They were happy to learn that Spinnaker Support could legally provide a superior level of support for dramatic cost savings. Alamar Foods had long felt that Oracle’s support fees were “unjustified,” and found Oracle unwilling to negotiate. Additionally, Alamar Foods was frustrated with Oracle’s ticket handling process. With every logged ticket, they were required to answer a battery of questions before Oracle would even open a case. Alamar Food’s IT team was continually repeating themselves and wasting much time – even when the issue was Severity 1.

Mr. Mah’d presented his business case for the switch to third-party support. He delivered an extensive evaluation to the management team, comparing Spinnaker Support, Oracle support, and another leading third-party support vendor. After facing tough questions on topics like support quality, cost/value, and risk, all decision makers agreed that Spinnaker Support was the best choice for Alamar Foods. They were optimistic at the prospects of redirecting savings towards more strategic projects.

The Pros and Cons as Presented by Alamar Foods

  • Dedicated Account Support Lead (ASL): Having someone respond to tickets who “understands the history and their business” is a huge benefit. As mentioned above, the Alamar Foods IT team was wasting too much time describing their environment, reviewing past tickets, and explaining the current issue. Now they don’t have to go through the entire story, and that level of frustration is gone. They know who they will be talking to because they have been introduced virtually to the Spinnaker Support team, not just the ASL. The entire Spinnaker Support team is intimately familiar with the customer’s environment plans, people, etc.
  • Clear and efficient process: From onboarding to logging their first ticket, Alamar Foods has been impressed with the ISO 9001:2015-certified processes that have been put in place to ensure fast response times, 24 x 7 x 365.
  • Self-service time saved: Mr. Mah’d mentioned in his presentation that one of the cons of switching was that his team had become proficient at using the Oracle’s knowledge base (My Oracle Support) to troubleshoot and resolve issues on their own. They had been well trained by Oracle to do much up-front work to solve their problems. It had become a way of life. As it turns out, this con has become a pro. Alamar Foods logs tickets and Spinnaker Support EBS experts produce solutions. It is undoubtedly a new way of thinking, but after five months I believe they are embracing the new way forward. They have logged over 40 tickets with us to date and are very happy with our service.

Conclusion

While third-party support was still a relatively new concept to the 650 attendees of Gartner’s Symposium/ITxpo in Dubai, it is gaining traction due to a promise of significantly increased service levels with savings on average of 62%. Many organizations we spoke with told us of the almost non-existent service provided by both Oracle and SAP in the GCC region. Hearing success stories like the one of Alamar Foods is validating that Spinnaker Support is an established global alternative to vendor-provided support.

Oracle Audits; Triggers, Considerations, and Tips

Oracle customers that are considering a switch to third-party support sometimes ask us if terminating their Oracle support contract will trigger an audit. We tell them that there are numerous audit triggers. Spinnaker Support has transitioned hundreds of organizations to third-party support and we are aware of just a few customers that went through an audit as a result.

Have you received the dreaded letter that you are under an Oracle license audit? If this is your first time going under audit with Oracle, you may be thinking “Why us?” But if you are a longtime Oracle customer, you know to expect this letter every 3-5 years. The question isn’t a matter of “Why” it’s a matter of “When.”

Oracle publicly states that audits are conducted at random. However, certain events (or non-events) can trigger an audit sooner than others. In this blog, we will discuss common triggers, what to do when you see an Oracle audit notification, and how to prepare for the inevitable.

Common Oracle Audit Triggers

Certain events, the most common of which are listed below may trigger an Oracle audit.

  • Failure to renew an Unlimited Licensing Agreements (ULAs)
  • A recent merger or acquisition
  • Hardware and/or software consolidation projects
  • Virtualization
  • Few or no new software purchases, no revenue generating opportunities for Oracle
  • A significant decrease in license spend
  • Not moving to Oracle cloud offerings
  • A history of non-compliance

There are other reasons that Oracle selects a company for review, but the main goal is simple: to find customers in non-compliance, which typically results in new revenue opportunities for Oracle.

What to Do When You Get an Oracle Audit Letter

An Oracle license review and an Oracle audit are essentially the same thing. The license review is just a nicer way of saying “You are being audited!” If you get a letter that makes specific reference to your agreement and the section that gives them rights to review your usage, then you are formally audited. Customers typically have 45 days to respond to an audit letter, so you will have some time to get organized and prepared before submitting your response. Here’s how to start:

Gather Licensing Agreements

  • Compile all your organizations’ licensing agreements that specify the licensed software, types and counts for purchased licensing, the prices paid for those licenses, and annual support contract.
  • If you cannot locate your licensing agreements, Oracle is obligated to provide you a copy of your license agreement upon request.

Identify Unlicensed Oracle Products

  • Oracle makes it very easy for IT departments to fall into non-compliance, so it’s important for organizations to determine if there are any unlicensed products or features that were inadvertently activated. For example, Oracle often delivers enhancements in updates or patches that activate automatically without your knowledge or consent. In other instances, Oracle does not require a license key or security code to download and install a product – which means you could very well be using a product in a manner that’s inconsistent with your contract.
  • Make sure you understand what is operational in your environment versus what is on your license contract (ULA).

Understand Virtualization Compliance Risks

  • One area that Oracle has historically targeted for audits is virtualization, which can be tricky to prove compliance vs. non-compliance. It is essential to provide any additional communication that may have included system architecture evaluation before licensing, what was included and not required to be included in your license agreement per Oracle.
  • Organizations need to understand how their virtual environments are configured and how or if they utilize Oracle programs.

Oracle Audit Tips

If this all sounds confusing, that’s because it is. But, remember – Oracle’s audit rights are weak, and you may have more power than you think. Here are some tips for navigating your next Oracle license review.

  • Oracle has no right to enter your company’s premises

If you do choose to let Oracle or its license management service onto your property; get it in writing.

  • Assign a named individual through which all communication with Oracle is filtered

It is often in your IT department’s best interest to control the communications with Oracle under a single contact or legal professional.

  • Oracle’s provided audit scripts or tools are not mandatory to run

You should evaluate if the scripts provided by Oracle are collecting information on items you are not contractually obligated to provide prior to turning over information. Only provide information on products that are included in the audit.

  • Oracle’s right to audit does not include a license review by any third parties

You are only obligated to assist the Oracle group named in your Oracle Master Agreement. You are not obligated to provide any information to or work with a third party.

  • Beware of providing Oracle with more information than is necessary  

You should not have to produce licenses you hold, nor should Oracle be examining your IT infrastructure. You do not need to disclose information about areas in which programs might or could be used – but are not.

The Results of an Oracle License Review

Hopefully, Oracle determines that your company is properly using all of your licenses. If the results of your Oracle Audit review determines you are under-licensed, then you are not alone. Unfortunately, you likely only have 30 days to purchase the additional licenses to bring you compliance. You will also need to pay any maintenance fees associated with those additional licenses, as well as back-maintenance fees which will be based on the pro-rated amount from when you began over-using your stated number of licenses. Oracle can terminate your usage and support within 30 days if you do not pay up! Don’t fall into the trap of purchasing cloud licenses as a concession to make the audit penalties go away. You can end up paying way more in the long run on rising subscription services and annual support fees on software that was never intended to be implemented.

You Can’t Avoid an Oracle Audit, But There is Help

Spinnaker Support can help you navigate through audit preparations and outline expectations. Our Legal and Contracts department cannot directly advise clients through an audit but can provide insight from previously-audited customers and industry partnerships that specialize in audit reviews. We recommend reviewing Building the Case for Third-Party Support, which offers some insight for moving away from Oracle Support. For many customers, the Oracle audit process and tactics have created bad will and it may be time to look for alternative options.

For another opinion, click here.

5 Myths About Leaving Oracle Software Support

As a leading provider of third-party Oracle support, we address important topics like service quality, cost of service, transition process, etc. In many cases, we spend time dispelling myths often planted by our competitor. The infographic below reveals the five most common myths about severing ties with Oracle software support. We are happy to discuss these in further detail with you.

Before we get to the specific myths, how about a quick review of Spinnaker Support’s features?

Spinnaker Support significantly reduces your annual support spend while delivering more comprehensive, responsive Oracle support for both your standard and customized code. Our standard support includes break fixes, global tax and regulatory compliance updates, and full technology stack security and vulnerability protection. Included at no cost are a range of technology advisory services to help ensure high-performing and interoperable applications, especially valuable as organizations journey from on-premise to hybrid to cloud. Oracle support has steadily drifted away from a customer-centric service model to a portal-based, self-support model.

So, before you sign your next annual support renewal agreement, do a bit of research to uncover the facts about alternatives to Oracle support.