A European bank (not named) negotiated its Oracle software licensing. According to Forrester, the bank approached Oracle with best practice in “how to negotiate” with the multimillion-dollar Oracle database vendor. Typically, Oracle licensing and maintenance contracts are complex and can be costly.
One of the main issues: Oracle and many software companies typically include clauses in their software license agreement to remove any liability from any negative business-related events related to the software. The financial institution needed more assurance.
CIO Magazine did a wonderful write up last week (entitled How a European Bank Got Oracle to Surrender Key Software Licensing Points). Beginning with: A Forrester Research report offers a rare look inside a multimillion-dollar Oracle database negotiation and how one bank held its ground on a critical contract clause that’s typically “not up for negotiation” with software vendors. Vendor contract negotiations can be complex, arduous and costly. And sometimes there appear to be competing “must haves” on each side that can end up breaking a potential deal. Such was the case as a large European bank entered into negotiations for enterprise-class database technology with Oracle. Forrester Research Senior Analyst Duncan Jones, who wrote a report on the situation, says he cannot name the bank or provide many specifics on the deal, but the bank’s approach to the negotiations provide best practices for how to deal with seemingly insurmountable disconnects with vendors.