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This is starting to verge on the ridiculous, and I’m not just going to take it anymore. Look, here is the reality (at least as I see it):
That, or I’m totally wrong :-) I’ve been wrong for several years in a row (here) so I’m starting to doubt myself :-) That said – I’m sticking to my guns – I have never talked to a customer who has said “we love Oracle”, but I talk to many who say “I really resent Oracle”. A big part of that is licensing policy and details. Let their be no doubt, Oracle’s RDBMS remains a technological powerhouse, and is a company, a technology stack, a competitor, and yes, perhaps most importantly a partner to be respected. We have 70,000+ joint customers – and the engineering and customer services teams partner closely day in and day out. That’s great and a huge thank you to all the people focused on our customers. BUT - the way Oracle treats their customers when it comes to Oracle Database licensing and virtualization, shared storage, CI/HCI – that’s another thing entirely, and something I DO NOT respect. Look – software licensing is tricky. Customers want software to be free. There is no “physical cost of goods”… but there is real IP, real value there – and again, if we’re honest with each other – all software vendors (all – including the open source ecosystem, including all of us!) will charge as much as we can for the IP we produce – because only when the customer says “Uncle!” have you validated the value of your software. I’m not debating the pricing model, or the price per socket of Oracle. They build a premium product, and a great product. The dollar value of their database, and the tightly coupled application ecosystem they create - that’s for customers to evaluate and choose. What I AM debating is their absolutely ridiculous, and transparently self-serving and non-competitive position on virtualization. I’ll paraphrase the 2011 version of myself:
And – at least I’ve been consistent – here, here, here, here, here, and starting on May 1st, 2009 – more than 7 years ago (OMG time is flying) here. CUSTOMERS – ARE YOU SICK AND TIRED OF BEING HELD HOSTAGE? STOP. FIGHT BACK. WE ARE HERE TO HELP YOU. But ultimately we can only help people who want to be helped – are you willing to fight? For years, we’ve seen Oracle make claims in the field (not backed up by their documentation) that “every socket in server in a VMware cluster needs to be licensed”. This has escalated into “every host in a VxBlock/VxRack/VxRail” needs to be licensed. We’ve even seen “every host attached to a SAN needs to be licensed” and (and this is the sheer insanity of it all), even “any host you MIGHT use in a DR situation needs to be licensed”. This is nuts. The sessions we’ve done with VMware at VMworld for years on this topic have been packed for years, and we’re doing it this year again with a session entitled “Oracle Database Licensing on Hyper-Converged Platform”. In the session we will review Oracle licensing guidelines using EMC CI and HCI platforms. Last year at VMworld Oracle Licensing sessions were standing room only and we hope the same is true with this year’s session. We will also be delivering the same session at VMworld Barcelona too! But – this only works if YOU as the customer fight back as opposed to just take it lying down. That said, we want to help you. Together with VMware, we partnered (and being transparent – we partially supported the effort financially) a work effort by House of Brick – a partner who is a leading expert in database licensing (and is co-presenting with us at VMworld), to outline the specific rights and language for customers when it comes to database licensing and VMware. The paper reviews the legally binding license rules and then outlines how those rules truly apply on EMC converged or hyper-converged infrastructure – but BTW – would be applicable to non-VMware and EMC solutions. The paper places emphasis on Oracle but talks to other databases as well (SQL Server, NoSQL). In general, I’m not a fan of whitepapers you need to register to download, but if you use Oracle, this one is worth it’s weight in gold (literally many times over).
It openly, directly disassembles the common assertions that are made to customers by people, and what is true – for VMware, for CI/HCI and for shared storage. It evaluates their choices and options. I cannot recommend it highly enough. …And if you are sick and tired of being taken advantage of – I can’t recommend House of Brick strongly enough as a partner to help you fight for yourself. So – what do you think? Am I losing it? Do you not care? Has the Stockholm Syndrome sunk in? OR ARE YOU READY AND WILLING TO FIGHT FOR YOURSELF? … and who do you want to win in the America’s Cup – Land Rover Bar (EMC sponsored, and using VxRail) or team Oracle? :-) |
