Rizen
REAL CUSTOMER CASE STUDY

Are You in the Same Oracle ULA Renewal Trap?

Learn how we saved this client $12.5M in year one and certified their ULA ↓

This customer blindly renewed its Oracle ULA three times, each on a 3-year term, paying 56% to 126% more in support at every renewal. Annual support cost rose 6.5x ($0.64M to $4.2M), and Oracle's next quote would have made it 9.7x, while deployed licences shrank 38% from peak. Total spend before Rizen: $40.7M. Oracle's quote: $15.6M.

Rizen certified the ULA with every compliance risk balanced, harvested 25% more licences for future use at zero licence and support cost, avoided the $9.4M renewal and delivered 50% lower support through a third-party move.

By Prajwal Zende, Founder, Rizen LLP · Oracle ULA Advisory

Real customer case study. Figures are the actual Oracle ULA payment history (2014-15 to 2024-25) of a Rizen client, plus Oracle's 2025-26 renewal quote. Identity withheld. All amounts in US$, converted from INR at a uniform exchange rate.

THE SITUATION

Why customers fall into the trap

01
Fear of audit after certification. Renewing felt safer than certifying and being audited.
02
ULA contract not understood. Certification clauses, deadlines and what “unlimited” excludes.
03
No certification or maximisation expertise. No one knew the true deployed count or how to build it up.
04
Deadline pressure. Oracle set the terms at the deadline, and support re-based upward each time.

THE EVIDENCE

What the customer paid, and what it kept

Annual Oracle spend, US$ millions

Support every year; licence only in years paid. Dashed bar: Oracle's 2025-26 quote.

LicenceSupportQuote
061218$M1.914-15215-16316-1733.717-18718-19819-2099.520-211921-222111.022-233223-243724-254115.6QUOTE - AVOIDED25-26Cum.

Licence estate, index (2014-15 = 100)

Deployment index. Rizen intervention increased future entitlement while reducing commercial exposure.

DeployedHarvested licences +25%
100150200Renewal 1Renewal 2Renewal 3Peak +83%-38%Harvested+25%14-1516-1718-1920-2122-2324-2525-26

Support alone ($23.4M) cost more than every licence fee combined ($17.3M). Annual support rose 6.5x, from $0.64M to $4.2M (9.7x at $6.2M in Oracle's quote), with steps of +85%, +126% and +56% at the three renewals.

RIZEN'S INTERVENTION

Steps Rizen took to harvest and certify

1

Proactive licence assessment

Scanned the estate and mitigated every compliance risk before certification.

2

Maximise utilisation

Harvested idle capacity +25% licences for future use, $0 licence and support.

3

Certify from strength

Certified the ULA with all compliance risks balanced.

4

Scientific renewal decision

Weighed Oracle's $15.6M quote against real renewal avoided.

5

Optimise support

Moved to third-party support at 50% of the cost.

OUTCOME

What Rizen delivered

$12.5M

saved in year 1 (80%) plus +25% licences at $0

25%more licences harvested for future use, $0 licence and support
$9.4Mrenewal avoided
-50%support via third party: $6.2M to $3.1M a year
Allcompliance risks balanced before certification

2025-26: Oracle quote vs Rizen, US$ millions

061218$M15.6Licence 9.4Support 6.23.1-80%Oracle 2025-26 quoteWith Rizen: 3rd-party
Result: the 2025-26 Oracle bill falls from $15.6M to $3.1M, $12.5M saved in year one. If third-party support holds flat for three years, the saving is about $18.8M.
Third-party support assumed at 50% of Oracle's quoted $6.2M support, held flat for the 3-year view. Harvested licences = 25% of the 2024-25 deployed estate. Actual contract values may differ.
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