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What do I do with unused licenses?
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorizedLeave a Comment on What do I do with unused licenses?

Many organizations purchase licensing for planning and development that don’t actually get used and were not needed in the first place. The question is, can they go back to the vendor and “return” them? The short answer is yes; the long answer however, is much more complicated. Going back to a vendor and requesting a credit for unused licenses isn’t out of the question, but most vendors will then push to re-negotiate their contract, which could lead to unforeseen costs, […]

See, even the government is doing it!
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorizedLeave a Comment on See, even the government is doing it!

The Department of Homeland Security (DHS) has just revealed that as part of their efficiency review, they were able to save $89 million in software licensing fees by renegotiating contracts with Microsoft and Oracle. $89 million that can be used elsewhere.  Their IT budget in 2009 was $6.2 billion. How did they do it? According to InformationWeek “The agency consolidated 487,000 licenses into a blanket software-and-maintenance agreement with Microsoft at a savings (or “cost avoidance”) of $87.5 million over the […]

A $147M mistake by Oracle?
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorizedLeave a Comment on A $147M mistake by Oracle?

Sun Microsystems Inc. (NASDAQ: JAVA) posted yet another loss amid speculation that Oracle (NASDAQ: ORCL) will sell off the hardware unit once the $7.4 billion acquisition is completed. Sun’s announcement that it has lost $147 million has a lot of people scratching their heads and wondering if good old Larry has lost his Midas Touch. Despite the rumors, Larry Ellison has come out and publicly said that he plans to retain the unit. Suggested reading/news sources: Sun’s Q4 loss feeds […]

Even resellers are at risk
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorizedLeave a Comment on Even resellers are at risk

We talk all the time on here about individual companies being targeted by software vendors for piracy and non-compliance with licensing policies. It doesn’t stop there. Recently, Microsoft got settlements from 11 resellers in the UK for selling illegal software and not installing the software properly. Each of the 11 firms have reached settlements with Microsoft and will now work with the company to insure legal practices are being carried out. Ouch. According to an article from ChannelWeb UK, these […]

Understanding Oracle licensing with virtualization and non-Oracle servers
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorized1 Comment on Understanding Oracle licensing with virtualization and non-Oracle servers

We get a lot of questions about Oracle licensing of non-Oracle virtualization servers. 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 […]

We’re all going mobile!
Scott D. RosenbergUncategorizedLeave a Comment on We’re all going mobile!

It’s no secret that the world is going mobile. With devices like the iPhone and Blackberry that have as much functionality as a laptop computer, workers are working from anywhere and everywhere, on the bus, on planes, from the park, etc. The question remains – where does this leave software developers in terms of licensing?  Many software vendors are already developing mobile applications, but in the next few years, more and more advanced applications will be introduced. I wouldn’t doubt […]

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