If you’re reading this article, then you’re probably considering leaving Oracle Support. You’re either going unsupported or working with a third party like us to save money.
But what happens when Oracle finds out you’re planning on leaving them?
In our experience, one of two things:
- Nothing happens at all – phew!
- You get a scary email from your account manager
Why is the email scary? Oracle cannot stop you leaving its support service, but it can try and intimidate you into staying.
We’ve seen plenty of Oracle’s attempts to scare its customers into staying on their support. Three of the most common reasons Oracle gives in its communications are:
1 – You lose access to Oracle patches
“If you terminate Oracle Support and instead proceed with third-party support, you are deciding not to receive new Oracle security patches and updates for your Oracle application software. Doing so means you are choosing not to patch security vulnerabilities. You are thereby accepting the risks and liabilities that go along with this decision.”
Oracle
While it is correct that by leaving Oracle Support you lose access to Oracle’s own patches, it is incorrect to say that you are “choosing not to patch security vulnerabilities.”
By leaving Oracle Support, you are instead choosing to use non-Oracle patches to fix issues and address security vulnerabilities. These patches can be created by a third-party provider like us.
Oracle’s traditional security patching method is out of date anyway. It requires you to test and manually apply patches to your systems in a costly process that usually takes months. Your systems are left vulnerable during this time.
But by leaving Oracle Support, you can instead choose more modern patching methods like the one used by Support Revolution.
We use Gartner recommended Trend Micro Deep Security. This allows us to place a fence around our customers’ systems and apply patches to this fence. This means we can protect our customers in hours, not months.
The truth: Support Revolution will create its own patches and fixes for your systems at half the price of Oracle Support, and delivered in half the time.
2 – No access to Oracle’s source code
“Third-party support models do not have, and cannot lawfully access, the Oracle source code necessary to develop security patches for Oracle products.”
Oracle
This is incorrect. Third-party support partners can lawfully access around 99.5% of Oracle’s ERP source code as long as you have a developer licence (which you almost certainly do as Oracle forced the majority of its customers to buy them). This means that we can fix the majority of issues we come across.
Not only that, but when you leave Oracle Support, you can legally download all the patches and upgrades that have been released while you were on its support contract. We do a patch archive for you when you transition to our services, and can legally use this code when needed. If there are any patches that are released after you transition to us, we will create them ourselves for you.
But what about the 0.5% of code that we cannot access? How do we patch that if required?
This is the other reason why Support Revolution uses Trend Micro’s Deep Security System. Not only does it provide us with a superior method of patching, it also enables us to apply patches without altering source code!
The truth: Support Revolution can legally access the majority of Oracle’s source code, can create its own patches, and can protect your entire system using Trend Micro.
3 – Only Oracle can patch Oracle problems
“Software needs to be updated, and the best way to correct an identified vulnerability within the source code is with a patch provided by the software vendor. The fact remains that only Oracle can do this for Oracle software.”
Oracle
As we’ve already explained, this is incorrect as third-party providers can create and apply its own patches and fixes to your systems (we’ve been legally doing so for more than eight years).
Also, Oracle is rarely the first to identify, communicate, and fix issues with its software. The majority of bugs and threats are identified by third parties that announce their own fixes. Oracle then incorporates them into its quarterly patch update.
We monitor the same security channels as Oracle’s team and respond to every relevant threat, creating and applying our own fixes to our customers’ systems. Those stuck with Oracle Support have to wait for Oracle’s quarterly announcement. They still have to go through the process of applying the patch manually themselves.
The truth: Support Revolution can patch Oracle problems for you faster and cheaper than Oracle will.
Misinformation is just one of Oracle’s traps
Oracle’s aim is to keep you tied into its overpriced support model. This means more money for the vendor each year. It also means Oracle can pressure you into expensive upgrades as it de-supports its older versions.
This is why we started Support Revolution. Not only can we cut your support bill in half, but we also provide support indefinitely for older versions of Oracle (and SAP) software, regardless of customisations. This is something Oracle will not do.
We’ve recently published a guide outlining even more of Oracle and SAP’s traps when it comes to support contracts. It outlines each trap and what you can do to protect yourself.
