Best Practices: Negotiating With Oracle

Oracle's pricing is necessarily complex because of its wide portfolio. Regulatory restrictions, coupled with its size, have caused it to adopt highly centralized approval processes that can make contract negotiations protracted and frustrating. Yet IT sourcing professionals can, with persistence and patience, obtain a better balanced deal with Oracle if they prepare sound negotiating strategies that focus maximum leverage on a few key issues. The adoption of Oracle's database and/or middleware as the enterprise's strategic platform and the first purchase of an Oracle-owned application are the best opportunities to secure the desired financial terms and favorable, enduring contract conditions. Subsequent transactions can also be used to refine the agreement and resolve issues that have arisen since the initial deal. Successful negotiators will allow plenty of time for the process and will target long-term protection against cost increases in return for helping Oracle achieve its commercial objectives.