When Should You Do an Internal Oracle License Audit?

The short answer: Do an internal Oracle license audit at least once a year, and also whenever something changes in your IT estate, such as a new data center, a cloud move, an acquisition or a ULA renewal. An Oracle audit can be frightening, so we believe customers should run their own, on a schedule, instead of waiting for Oracle to do it. An internal audit is also called a mock Oracle audit.

When to run an internal Oracle license audit

Run one if you can answer yes to any of these:

1. Do you plan to roll out a new data center?
2. Have you made a large hardware purchase, or are you refreshing server and storage hardware?
3. Are you implementing or thinking about a new disaster recovery plan?
4. Are you moving to the cloud?
5. Have you acquired a company?
6. Have you divested a company?
7. Have you relocated or changed geographies?
8. Have you renamed your organization or changed its legal name?
9. Are you using virtualization software, or considering it?
10. Is there a major reorganization or change in IT or procurement staff?
11. Are you changing architecture or moving legacy applications to new infrastructure?
12. Do you have a ULA? Audit regularly to optimize and maximize your investment.
13. Are you at the stage of ULA renewal? Audit immediately so you can negotiate better.

Why a rough estimate is not enough

Rules of thumb and back-of-the-envelope calculations are not a good audit. An audit gives you exact information.

How often

Check your Oracle technology (database and middleware) at least once a year. Look for options, management packs, additional modules, additional products, the correct edition and the correct version across your enterprise. Our guide to options and packs shows what to look for.

Questions we are asked about internal Oracle audits

Who should carry out the audit?

Someone independent of Oracle. See our Oracle license review and audit advisory. If Oracle has already sent a notice, go to Oracle license audit defense.