Case Study – Oracle Support Optimization: Pfizer Cuts Oracle Application Spend by $2.1M Over 3 Years
Background
Pfizer Inc., one of the world’s leading pharmaceutical companies, operates in more than 175 countries with over 80,000 employees.
As a science-driven enterprise managing research, development, production, and global distribution of healthcare solutions, Pfizer relies on a complex IT infrastructure to ensure compliance, data integrity, and operational excellence.
By 2022, Pfizer had accumulated a substantial portfolio of Oracle application contracts, including Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), Hyperion, and several niche applications that support global supply chain, finance, and regulatory operations. The total annual spend on Oracle applications exceeded several million dollars.
While these systems remained critical, Pfizer suspected inefficiencies in its licensing structure and support costs. Seeking to modernize its vendor management and reduce non-essential IT spend, Pfizer engaged Redress Compliance to review its Oracle contracts and uncover savings opportunities.
The result: a detailed contract optimization initiative that led to $700,000 in annual savings, totaling $2.1 million over three years—without disrupting any active business systems.
Read how you can reduce Oracle support costs.
Challenges
Even with an experienced procurement and vendor management team, Pfizer faced several Oracle-specific challenges that made cost optimization difficult:
- Fragmented Contracts: Oracle application licenses had been acquired over many years, often through different subsidiaries and business units. This made visibility and consolidation challenging.
- Overlapping Entitlements: Some contracts covered similar functionality, and usage had shifted over time, resulting in unused or underutilized entitlements that were still being supported.
- Rigid Support Pricing: Oracle’s standard support renewal model provided no reduction even when usage declined. Pfizer was paying full support for legacy licenses it barely used.
- Limited Negotiation Leverage: Attempts to reduce support costs had been met with Oracle pushing new cloud bundles rather than adjusting existing agreements.
- High Sensitivity to Risk: In a highly regulated industry, Pfizer needed any cost reduction strategy to be fully compliant, audit-resilient, and non-disruptive to validated systems.
Pfizer wanted more than vendor pushback—it needed an expert-led strategy that would deliver real savings without triggering operational or contractual risks.
How Redress Compliance Helped
Redress Compliance engaged Pfizer in a multi-phase Oracle application cost optimization program, delivering end-to-end analysis, risk mitigation, and negotiation support.
1. Contract Landscape Analysis
Redress began by conducting a thorough review of Pfizer’s Oracle application contracts, including:
- License entitlement and usage mapping
- Identification of contract overlap and underutilized products
- Review of legacy pricing, support tiers, and auto-renewal clauses
- Normalization of contract terms across global regions
We provided Pfizer with a comprehensive, consolidated view of its Oracle application estate for the first time, highlighting redundant and high-cost entitlements that were ripe for optimization.
2. Usage Validation and Support Value Assessment
Redress collaborated with Pfizer’s internal teams to validate actual usage against Oracle’s billing records.
We found:
- Several applications were no longer actively used or had transitioned to other platforms
- Some Oracle modules were deployed in non-production environments but billed at full support rates
- Certain entitlements had remained untouched for years, despite being renewed annually
This data allowed Redress to classify support lines into three categories: critical (retain), negotiable (optimize), and non-essential (terminate or consolidate).
3. Contract Optimization and Vendor Negotiation
Armed with clear data and contractual benchmarks, Redress advised Pfizer through targeted negotiations with Oracle. We:
- Requested removal or reclassification of unused entitlements
- Renegotiated commercial terms on long-standing contracts, avoiding uplifts
- Restructured support agreements to reflect true business needs
- Rejected Oracle’s cloud bundling offers that introduced long-term lock-in without short-term value
Our approach emphasized commercial fairness, licensing accuracy, and vendor accountability—backed by deep expertise in Oracle contracts.
Outcome and Impact
Within months, Pfizer realized tangible cost reductions with no operational trade-offs:
- $700,000 in annual Oracle application savings
- $2.1 million in total savings over 3 years
- Zero compliance risk, with all actions contractually and operationally justified
- Increased internal visibility into licensing and vendor relationships
- Avoided new commitments, allowing Pfizer to retain future flexibility for cloud or platform transitions
By helping Pfizer take control of its Oracle application spend, Redress Compliance freed up capital that could be reinvested in innovation, research, and IT modernization.
Client Quote
“Redress Compliance helped us unlock real savings in an area we assumed was fixed. Their Oracle licensing knowledge, attention to detail, and vendor negotiation support delivered more than cost reduction—they gave us confidence, clarity, and a better way forward.”
— Director of Global IT Procurement, Pfizer
Call-to-Action
Struggling with growing Oracle support costs? Redress Compliance helps enterprises like Pfizer optimize Oracle application contracts, eliminate waste, and reduce spend—without taking on risk.
Book your Oracle contract optimization review today.
Read about our Oracle Third Party Support Advisory Service.
Read our other Oracle Support Reduction Case Studies.
