The “VMware Partitioning” Trap: Why Oracle’s Policy is Not Your Contract
By Sheshagiri Anegondi, CEO of Rythium Technologies
For over two decades, Oracle has utilized a specific document titled the “Oracle Partitioning Policy” to claim that customers using VMware must license every processor core in every server in their vCenter, or even their entire data center.
As a former Vice President at Oracle, I have seen how this document is used as a primary revenue lever during audits. However, there is a fundamental gap between Oracle’s Sales Policy and your Legal Contract.
1. The Disclaimer Oracle Doesn’t Mention
At the bottom of the Partitioning Policy document, Oracle includes a critical sentence:
“This document is for educational purposes only and provides guidelines… It may not be incorporated into any contract and does not constitute a contract or a commitment.”
Despite this, Oracle auditors frequently present these “educational guidelines” as if they are binding law. If your contract (the OMA or OLSA) does not explicitly point to this URL, you are not contractually bound by it.
2. “Installed and/or Running” vs. “Could Run”
The Oracle Master Agreement (OMA) defines the Processor Metric based on where the Oracle Programs are “installed and/or running.” * Oracle’s Claim: Because a VM could migrate to any host in a cluster, the software is “installed” on all of them.
The Forensic Reality: In a court of law, “installed” has a technical definition involving the presence of binaries on a storage volume associated with a specific CPU. The “possibility” of migration is not a licenseable event under standard contract law.
3. Forensic Defense Strategy
When facing a VMware-based audit claim, we advise our clients at Rythium to take the following three steps:
- Isolate the Data: Provide only the data for the specific hosts where Oracle is actually running. Do not volunteer the global vCenter map unless contractually compelled.
- Challenge the Authority: Ask the auditor: “Can you point to the specific clause in our signed OMA that incorporates the ‘Partitioning Policy’ document by name?”
- Document the “Kill-Switch”: Show that while migration is possible, your internal governance (affinity rules, etc.) prevents the software from running on non-licensed cores.
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Sheshagiri Anegondi (Sheshu) ‘s Bio
Sheshagiri is the author of Licensing Oracle ( ISBN: 9781639046881)
