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Oracle VSAM Case Study: Oracle Optimization Achieved with Anglepoint

(September 2024)

Company Profile

  • Industry: Energy
  • Size: 5K-10K
  • Revenue: $5B-$10B
  • Region: North America
  • Market: Mid-Market
Outcome:
Oracle VSAM
audit exemption for 1 year
Oracle VSAM Compliance Case Study | EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

This American energy company had a challenging Oracle software environment, requiring a high level of license expertise to manage and avoid surprises. The lack of visibility meant they had no control over how the software was deployed or managed. The leadership team sought assistance from Anglepoint, with whom they had worked for four years on other initiatives.

Together, they worked to improve Software Asset Management (SAM) governance procedures, increase visibility on Oracle license consumption, and eliminate non-essential product deployments. These services, provided by Anglepoint and key elements of the Oracle VSAM program, enabled them to rightsize their Oracle estate and become approved for a one-year Oracle audit exemption. 

The Challenge

Following Oracle licensing issues, this Anglepoint client had made it their number one SAM priority to identify and remediate compliance risks within their Oracle estate. The lack of visibility of accurate deployment data and entitlement, siloed management processes, and limited control over what was being deployed made it almost impossible for this client to manage this software vendor effectively. Unoptimized software license fees left them with considerable unbudgeted spend.

At this early stage, the client had limited SAM best practices or a governance structure in place but was working with Anglepoint to implement a framework.

Oracle licensing requires highly specialized expertise and experience that the organization did not have within its small Software Asset Management team. To better prepare for a potential vendor audit, the leadership team decided they needed to become more proactive and add Anglepoint’s Oracle service to their suite of managed products.

The Solution

Anglepoint brought in their Oracle experts, Customer Success team and SAM Tooling team to drive solutions for the client. Working with multiple points of contact across the organization, Anglepoint fostered collaboration from key stakeholders, including the SAM Manager, Enterprise Architect, ServiceNow, Application Owners, and a newly formed Steering Committee.

Anglepoint helped the client establish a Steering Committee to oversee implementation of an overall Software Asset Management strategy. The team set up suitable controls and management oversight to identify and address compliance issues and manage software deployment requests. Anglepoint compiled and delivered bi-annual reports to help the client identify software license optimization opportunities, with the goal of becoming fully compliant with vendor agreements.

Coverage improved over time, as Anglepoint had implemented SNOW the previous year along with SAM processes, aligned to industry best practice standards. As the SAM program matured, so did management of reportingand remediation for top publishers including Oracle. While SNOW was the tool of choice in 2019, in 2023 C-level direction was to move to ServiceNow and Anglepoint supported this transition as ServiceNow partners.

Anglepoint assisted the client in reducing excessive deployments by eliminating unintentional deployments and facilitating required software license purchases. Anglepoint identified appropriate VMware cluster isolation and other industry best practices to avoid unexpected software deployments and limit license consumption. Over time, Anglepoint helped the client implement software governance methodologies to maximize the return on their Oracle software investments.

This four-year partnership has enabled the client to remediate financial risk for Oracle. The cost savings allowed them to set aside funds for future growth.

Confident in their Oracle license position and enrolled in Oracle’s VSAM program, the client received a one-year audit exemption for products enrolled in the program.

RESULTS

Through their close collaboration with Anglepoint, this organization combined SAM tooling, regular consumption monitoring, and SAM governance by key stakeholders to improve the maturity of their SAM program. This resulted in optimized software publisher estates and eliminated unbudgeted expenditures on software licensing.

Leveraging Anglepoint’s status as an Oracle VSAM partner, this client received a 12-month audit reprieve for Oracle Database and Middleware products and can extend this software audit reprieve through ongoing VSAM services provided by Anglepoint.

Looking to the future, this well-established SAM program, enabled through Anglepoint services and the Oracle VSAM program, will allow proper demand planning as the organization considers future software deployment to the cloud. Most importantly, the organization can focus IT resources on core initiatives to drive their business knowing their software licensing is properly managed.

Following Oracle licensing issues, this Anglepoint client had made it their number one Software Asset Management (SAM) priority to achieve total compliance with their Oracle Estate as the unoptimized software license fees were leaving them with a considerable amount of unbudgeted spend.

Maximize ROI From Your Oracle Investments

As a certified Oracle Verified Software Asset Management (VSAM) provider, Anglepoint’s experts will help you achieve a position of compliance and optimization for your Oracle investments. Additionally, clients who complete a managed service under the Oracle VSAM Program may be eligible for audit exemptions.