Software License Management FAQ

License Management Services (LMS) offers a range of value added services that meet many requirements of the Oracle marketplace. Today LMS is able to share its expertise through the following service offerings.

• Managed Services are most suitable for enterprises that want to implement sound and proven practices for effective software asset management.
• Advisory Services provides specialist advice on specific scenarios, such as the impact on licensing when implementing new technologies and infrastructure.
• Compliance Review Services for customers and partners initiate a detailed evaluation of your current licensing position and a review of you license deployment to create a licensing solution designed for your enterprise.

All of these services are based on robust and proven processes developed over the last 12 years working cooperatively with our customers and partners.

These LMS service offerings are based on our fundamental goal to provide customers and partners with the most up to date knowledge, best practices and tools to maximize and protect their investment in Oracle software.

Engagements with Customers and Partners are always open, consultative, and transparent. LMS consultants bring a unique blend of deep licensing capability, infrastructure knowledge, and business acumen to licensing discussions with Customers and Partners.

Depending on the nature of the requirement, LMS engages with Customers and Partners through the various service offerings described above. Communication with Customers and Partners occur through face-to-face meetings, presentations, workshops, conference calls, letter and email correspondence. The results of LMS engagements have enabled customers and partners to address their technological and business needs supported by an efficient, compliant, and flexible license structure.

Like other software vendors in the IT marketplace, Oracle is very concerned about intellectual property rights, copyright infringement and piracy. License compliance is one form of these issues.

When a business is incorrectly licensed for Oracle software, there may a direct impact on license and support revenue. This would affect the level of funds directed towards research and development, which is crucial for the continued innovation and evolution of Oracle's products and solutions. This ultimately impacts our customers and the marketplace.

LMS is chartered to manage the risk of incorrect Oracle licensing in the marketplace through the provision of expert consulting, and education of Oracle's licensing policies and licensing business practices. LMS equips customers with facts and tools so that they understand their licensing agreements and are able to manage these assets more effectively.

In parallel, Oracle has defined a compliance policy that maintains both its contractual and intellectual property rights. In line with the policy, Oracle requires that Customers and Partners correct their license shortfall within 30 days of receiving notification that they are operating outside the terms and conditions of its license or distribution agreements.

The LMS organization is a global division of licensing professionals, with regional teams based in North America, EMEA, JAPAC and LAD. If you want to engage LMS you should contact the LMS team based in your region.

Please send an email to the following addresses if you would like to schedule a consultation with an LMS Consultant:

• LMS North America region
  license_us@oracle.com (for Customer Services)
  LMSChannel_us@oracle.com (for Partner Services)
• LMS EMEA region
  mark.van.wolferen@oracle.com
• LMS Asia Pacific region
  lms_ap_ww@oracle.com
• LMS Japan
  lms_jp@oracle.com
• LMS Latin America region
  lms_lad_us@oracle.com

LMS will work with you to understand your history and situation and the most appropriate service will be selected. All of the service offerings are delivered in a consistent, effective, collaborative and professional manner. Communication occurs with you through face-to-face meetings, presentations, workshops, conference calls, letter and email correspondence.

There are many factors affecting the amount of time that is spent on LMS engagements. Longer engagements can be attributed to the complexity of the corporate structure, complexity of the system environment, complexity of the contractual arrangements, and assortment of licensing metrics. The aim for all engagements is to complete them in a timely manner, which produces outcomes that meets the needs of both the business and Oracle. An LMS engagement typically ranges from a few days to several months.

Correct licensing is the result of fully understanding the software, hardware and business application environments of Customers and Partners. There are many factors which impact license compliance. These include:

• Changes to the corporate structure as a result from acquisitions, mergers and de-mergers.
• Growth of the business in terms of increased workforce through recruitment, acquisitions and mergers.
• Misunderstanding or lack of understanding of Oracle's licensing policies and license agreements may lead to poor licensing practices and license non-compliance.
• Changes to the hardware environment such as additional servers and processors generally require additional software licenses.
• Implementation of new software products or new business applications may impact license compliance.
• Businesses operating with an assortment of license metrics (both obsolete and current metrics) are at additional risk of not being licensed correctly. New technologies may not suit older license metrics and is likely to impact license compliance.

LMS expert consultants are able to work closely with Customers and Partners to identify these areas of risk, and develop flexible solutions that satisfy the business goals as well as maintain license compliance.