Oracle's Support could cost you this much...

Unlike third-party support, Market Driven Support (MDS) isn’t designed to last.

It’s a temporary ‘solution’ designed to be used as a stopgap to keep organisations supported only until they upgrade.

But MDS comes at a considerable cost, despite its evident shortfall in support services.

Market Driven Support (MDS) is an Oracle support offering for its Database 11.2.0.4 and E-Business Suite 12.1.3.

These are two versions MDS is currently supporting, but this can change as and when old versions fall out of Extended Support and into Sustaining Support.

MDS is Oracle’s attempt at third-party support – albeit its poorer cousin.

Separate from their traditional three-tier system of support (Premier, Extended, and Sustaining), MDS aims to keep customers tied into Oracle’s support eco-system by offering them an artificial extension of Extended Support for a set period (usually two years).

An assigned Account Manager is used to nudge you down the Cloud sales cycle and make sure upgrade targets are hit.

Many organisations just want to remain supported, and Oracle knows this – particularly for those who must remain supported to comply with regulations.

Because it knows so many of its customers are trapped in the support cycle, Oracle can afford to offer less for more, while marketing a support product that pretends its working in their best interest.

How much does it cost?

MDS can cost your organisation more than you think…

• You pay 22% of the license price for Premier support & maintenance.
• +20% of the 22% if you fell into Extended Support.
• +20% of the 22% if you fell into Sustaining Support. 
• That’s an accumulative 26.4% for support for old software that’s now fallen into best endeavour support.
• +MDS cost (we’ve seen sums of £250k per year!).

PLUS… this is on top of additional inflationary annual increases (reports are that this could be upwards of 8%).

MDS creates the illusion of support without committing to providing anything at all; it’s all on the vendors terms.

This, added to the fact that it comes at an additional, considerable cost, makes it a much less attractive prospect than third-party support once you scratch just below the surface.

Let’s put this into context with a hypothetical scenario:

If you strolled into an Apple Store tomorrow and were told you needed to renew your AppleCare cover, but that it would now not only cost much more, but that you’ll no longer be receiving 24/7 support (now only 9/5 support), and will no longer be covered for accidental damage – only theft – would you accept that?

This is obviously a fictitious scenario, but one that isn’t completely implausible in the right context; just replace ‘Apple’ with Oracle and that’s essentially what you’re getting with MDS.

The phrase ‘less is more’ is quite apt when referring to lifestyle choices or architectural design, but Oracle seem to have (wrongly) adopted this for its support service too.

When it come to software support, ‘less is [most certainly not] more’.

But how does Oracle get away with it?

• Brand power – it has the big name, the shiny marketing partnerships, and offices across the world that wins the mindshare of the customer and wider market.
• First to market – it was one of the first into the ERP market, and with that comes an image of historicity and expertise.
• Compliance obligations – Many organisations will need to remain fully supported to remain compliant with their governing body.

If only there was a support service that stuck to a customer-centric approach…

… and prioritised support flexibility for the customer over keeping them tied into a never-ending support cycle.

Support Revolution can offer all that and more, including guaranteeing at least a 50% cost-reduction on your Oracle support.

Ready to have a chat about improving your Oracle support? Contact us today >