Jacqueline Woods
VP, Pricing & Licensing
Strategy
Office of the CEO
Oracle Corporation
Multi-tier Climate:
E-Commerce
Database
Application
Server
Desktop Client
Is there a holy grail
for pricing and
licensing?
Objectives
Simple
Flexible
Transparent
Technology changes ….are catalysts to
licensing changes
Perception is Everything…
Perception
1. Pricing is complex
2. Too many changes
Reality
1. Pricing is rich with nuances to treat
everyone fairly
– Oracle was 1st vendor to publish price
list and its licensing policies
2. Licensing is an evolutionary process
– IT environment is dynamic
Accounting for Data Transfers
Batching
 Definition: data transferred from a database to a
database
 Licensing rule: batching included with the Processor
and Named User Plus licenses
 Historical: prior to Named User Plus and Processor,
batching was counted at the front end
Licensing rule was changed to avoid having customers
pay twice: once for Oracle and once for another
relational database vendor
Accounting for Data Transfers
Multiplexing
 Definition: data transferred from an interface to a
database
 Licensing rule: users and/or devices must be counted
at the multiplexing front end
 Comments:
–
–
A multiplexor concentrates and masks users, thus
making it impossible to count users, unless counting at
the front end
Industry-wide licensing practice
Accounting for Data Transfers
Flat Files
 Definition: Data exported/imported to a database
 Licensing rule: User and/or devices importing/
exporting flat files must be counted as actual users
 Historical: Named User metric: users who were
creating, updating, importing and exporting flat files
were required to be licensed
Importing/exporting flat files is a highly manual process and
Oracle did not want to penalize customers by charging users who
were only creating files and not accessing the Database
Energy Sector Example
House
Meter
RTU
RTU
Remote
Terminal Unit
Communication
Server
Oracle Database EE
In the energy sector, meters are counted as Named
User Plus licenses
Example #1
• 2,500 users are uploading flat files (txt) via FTP sent
manually to communication device once a day
• Data stored on the communication device is automatically
batched into the Oracle Database
4 CPU
Oracle
DB EE
Communication
device
Automated
Batch
2,500 End-User
Answer #1
The communication device is consolidating the flat files and
concentrating actual users and actual usage  the
communication device is acting as a multiplexor
Each user at the front end of the multiplexing process must
be counted (the 2,500 users are counted)
Licenses required:
4 Processors or 2,500 Named User Plus (minimum = 25 *
4 Processors, actual users = 2,500 users)
Example #2
• 2,500 users are uploading flat files into a flat file database
(non-relational database) once a day
• Data stored on the flat file database is automatically
batched into Oracle Database
4 CPU
Oracle
DB EE
Automated
Batch
Flat File
Database
2,500 End-User
Answer #2
Similarly to the communication device, the flat file database
is consolidating the flat files and concentrating actual users
and actual usage  the communication device is acting as
a multiplexor
Each user at the front end of the multiplexing process must
be counted (the 2,500 users are counted)
Licenses required:
4 Processors or 2,500 Named User Plus (minimum = 25 *
4 Processors, actual users = 2,500 users)