What is Oracle Technology Network (OTN)

Overview of the Oracle Technology Network

The Oracle Technology Network is the largest publicly available repository of Oracle Technical documentation, software for download for development & testing purposes. Developers can use the resources to learn, build, and test solutions.

The Oracle Technology Network provides:

• Access to a community of Oracle experts
• Access to learning the latest technologies
• Access to solutions based on Oracle
• Access to Oracle support
• Access to Oracle software

And all this access is free.

Users, both companies and individuals, need to understand the meaning of ‘free’ download of software and the license restrictions attached to this free download.

OTN License Agreement Explained

The OTN License Agreement provides Oracle software with the following entitlements and restrictions:

Entitlements:

• Software is ‘full use’
• The license is not a 30-day trial license.
• While the license is called the ‘Oracle Technology Network License Agreement’, software across operating system, technology and applications are available for download and use.

Restrictions / Limitations:

• The software downloaded can be used only for the purpose of developing, testing, prototyping, and demonstrating the application
• The software downloaded can be used only internally
• The developed application should not have been used for data processing, business, commercial, or production purposes.
• The customer’s contractor can use the software, but the customer is liable for managing compliance with the agreement.
• The licenses cannot be used for third party training.
• Any benchmarking test conducted cannot be disclosed.

Management of OTN Licenses

The challenge of managing OTN ( or licenses provided by other publishers freely for development purposes) come up because of:

• There is no difference between a commercially available software code and the code downloaded from OTN. It is impossible to separate out a development license & commercial license by looking at the installed code.
• Developers in companies do not understand the implications of the restrictions of the OTN license agreement.

OTN License Management

We believe the following methods to manage OTN licenses:

• Education of license restrictions to all developers in the organization
• Centrally managed allocation of software download approvals
• Documentation of licenses.

Rythium’s Software Asset Manager for Free Development Licenses

Different companies provide free software for development under different programs:

• Oracle: OTN and OPN
• Microsoft: MSDN
• Redhat: Developer Program
• IBM: Developer
• etc (almost every large software company provides for free developmental software)

As discussed earlier the management of free development licenses from any publisher is critical to a successful software asset management program. The correct management will save money on non-compliance and can go a long way in the reduction of software development expenses.

Rythium’s Software Asset Manager has specific functionality to manage such licenses:

• Agreement repository through contract management module
• Asset Separation
• Notifications for actions to be taken for managing developmental licenses.