Many areas in modern days are such where the data matters a lot. In such areas, there are specific technologies used for data management and maintenance which are provided by some of the leading technology companies. One of such companies in this field is Oracle Corporation which is known for its database management system. Oracle has a number of products on various platforms. These products can be broadly classified into two categories- applications and technology products. Oracle offers perpetual license and subscription for all its products. Perpetual license is a one-time license fee that allows the users to use the software as long as they want with all the terms of the license to be fulfilled whereas a license is for a limited period for which a user can access and use any software.
License terms and conditions are selected carefully as they reflect how long the product can be used. It is important for database resellers and users to select the metrics carefully as it determines how the software usage is being measured.
How Oracle software is licensed
Oracle licenses its application and technology products differently.
Application licensing
In order to provide predictability and flexibility, all the application products are available under three licensing models:
- Custom Applications Suite pricing – custom suite user metric
- Component pricing – usage-based and user-based metrics
- Enterprise pricing – five license metrics
Technology product licensing
The primarily licensed products of Oracle technology using two metrics are processor and name user plus. The Named User Plus can be easily identified and counted. All the non-human and human users must be licensing for accessing the software. The processor metric is used in the environment, where the identification and counting of the software are not possible. The processor metric is more cost-effective than Named User Plus licenses.
The Processor metric is used in some environments where the software users cannot be easily identified and counted, like Internet-based applications. It is also used when it is more cost-effective than Named User Plus licenses.
Types of Oracle Software Licensing Agreement
For licensing its software, Oracle uses a combination of written agreements. The license rights have been described in OMA, Oracle Master Agreement which was previously called as Oracle licensing and in the ordering documents; the rights regarding certain products have been described. The ordering document and oracle master agreement grant specific rights to Oracle software and receive any services that the user has ordered, and the rights of the users to Oracle Software License Reviews and adults. Like any other software vendor, Oracle needs to protect its IP, so the users will have a specific clause related to its right to audit. Oracle generally gives a 45 days’ notice before auditing any user. The Oracle Master Agreement gives Oracle the access to all the information. Oracle generally requests the users to run their scripts on the system to ensure the usage of their software. If the user is found non-compliant, then he/she will be asked to purchase extra license to rectify this.
