Oracle ULA: 10 Things Customers Get Wrong and How to Get Them Right

Most of what customers believe about the Oracle Unlimited License Agreement (ULA) comes from conversations with Oracle’s own sales teams. Some of those beliefs cost customers a great deal at certification and renewal time. Here are the ten I hear most often, what the contract actually says, and five moves that put the customer back in control.

10 things customers get wrong about the Oracle ULA

1. Do your Oracle licenses expire when the ULA term ends?

No. In fact, the opposite is true. Oracle ULAs specifically provide a perpetual grant of licenses at the end of the term.

2. Do you have to renew an Oracle ULA?

No. The ULA specifies that the customer has the right to certify the ULA. In fact, the ULA does not even talk about renewal. Our guide to Oracle ULA certification shows what you keep and how to certify.

3. Will certifying a larger number of licenses increase your support costs?

Not at all. The support costs that were fixed at the start of the ULA will continue to remain the same after you exit (that is, certify the ULA). The number of licenses that you declare for certification will not change the support costs.

4. Is your company safe from an Oracle audit during the ULA term?

No. Oracle maintains the right to audit even during the term of the ULA. In fact, almost 60% of ULA customers are either audited during the term of the ULA or forced to purchase additional products to avoid the audit.

5. Can every license deployed during the ULA be certified?

Not really. While Oracle sales reps are known to use this phrase, the truth is that the licenses that can be certified are determined by the terms in the contract. And every ULA contract is different. No two ULA contracts are exactly the same.

6. Does an Oracle ULA allow you to deploy all Oracle products?

Absolutely not. The customer has the right to deploy only those products that are specifically mentioned in the contract. Even features slightly connected to these products are not allowed to be used during the contract. This mistaken understanding has led to multiple audits during the ULA term and to very large license fees paid to Oracle.

7. Do you have to “true up” at the end of the ULA term?

No. In fact, the opposite is true. The Oracle ULA allows you to get a perpetual license grant of all the licenses that you have deployed (subject to the terms in the agreement).

8. Do you have to run Oracle’s scripts before you give Oracle the certification declaration?

No. The agreement does not ask for script outputs to be provided to Oracle at the time of certification. (But, yes, Oracle maintains the right to audit if they feel there is a discrepancy in the declaration.) Customers should therefore declare the numbers correctly after conducting a very detailed internal compliance review. Our Oracle ULA certification checklist lists what that review covers.

9. Will Oracle carry the ULA over if your company is merged or acquired?

No. This is one of the major risks of a ULA, and it can lead to the loss of the huge investments that companies have made in their Oracle deployments over 3 to 20 years. There are ways to overcome this if action is taken in time; see Oracle licensing during mergers and acquisitions.

10. Is an Oracle ULA renewal always costlier than the previous ULA?

This is an interesting one. Yes, if you do not control the conversation with Oracle. No, if you know what to disclose to Oracle and how to set up the terms of the negotiation. During a renewal, the price can vary from much lower than the previous ULA price to many times the previous ULA price. Our guide to the Oracle ULA price sets out what goes into it.

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How to get it right: five moves for every ULA customer

If the beliefs above are not true, what should a customer do? The answer, while not very simple, is this:

1. Customers should not be afraid of Oracle during negotiations. As they say, “sharks smell fear”.
2. Customers should conduct a detailed and comprehensive license compliance review of their ULA deployment months in advance of the ULA term end.
3. Customers should do an objective cost-benefit analysis of the ULA certification versus renewal options.
4. Customers should not disclose information to Oracle without specifically being asked, and only if providing that information is mandated by the contract. Confidentiality is key to both a successful certification and a low-priced ULA renewal.
5. Customers should never get into a situation where they are forced to renew the ULA.

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