Top 10 Best Ways to Reduce Oracle Support Fees
Oracle support fees can feel like a “tax” on your IT budget – they start at 22% of your license costs every year and often rise ~8% annually if left unchecked.
Over time, that means you’ll effectively pay for your Oracle software twice within 5 years, thanks to these compounding maintenance fees. As a CIO, CFO, or IT procurement leader, you need to actively counter these built-in cost escalations and hidden uplifts.
Below are the top 10 strategies to reduce Oracle support fees and optimize your support spend, each presented with the challenge, an insider insight, and a clear next step to take.
These tactics will help you achieve Oracle support cost reduction without exposing your organization to compliance risks.
1. Audit Unused Licenses (“Shelfware”)
Challenge: Organizations often continue to pay for Oracle support on licenses they no longer use or need. This shelfware – unused databases, applications, or extra modules – quietly drains budgets. Each idle license still incurs 22% of its purchase price in annual support, plus any uplifts, delivering zero value in return.
Insight:
Oracle won’t remind you about unused licenses; they profit from your inattention. An insider knows that support fees for shelfware are pure margin for Oracle. By auditing your deployments, it’s common to find that 10–30% of licenses (including add-ons such as database options or packs) are sitting idle.
However, dropping them isn’t as simple as not paying the bill – Oracle’s policies require an all-or-nothing approach per product. You generally must terminate support for an entire product or module (all its licenses) on that contract; Oracle will not let you pay for half and drop half. This “license set” rule means you should plan to remove whole components that are truly unnecessary.
Next Step: Conduct a thorough internal audit of license usage. Identify which Oracle products, modules, or options are not actively used (e.g., extra database options enabled by default but not needed).
Target those for removal. Coordinate with Oracle before your next renewal to terminate support for all unused licenses. Provide any required notice (usually 30-90 days before renewal) and get written confirmation from Oracle of the support cancellation.
By pruning unused licenses each year, you can immediately reduce those support fees and stop paying for services you’re not using. Just be sure to fully uninstall or stop using any retired software to stay compliant and avoid audit issues.
Read Reducing Oracle On-Premise Support Fees: A CIO’s Guide.
2. Tackle Oracle’s 22% Support Fee Rule
Challenge:
Oracle’s standard policy pegs support at 22% of your license purchase price annually – and that percentage is essentially locked in. This is a hefty base cost, and many customers assume it’s non-negotiable.
The pain point grows when you realize that even if you heavily discounted your license purchase, Oracle still calculates support on the net license fee you paid. Over the years, that 22% becomes a large recurring expense, often outstripping the value of the software if usage declines.
Insight:
The 22% support fee is Oracle’s golden goose – they fiercely protect it. Oracle sales representatives will often say, “22% is standard for everyone,” and resist discounting support itself. Typically, they won’t reduce that percentage in a renewal; however, a savvy negotiator knows you can chip away at it indirectly.
For instance, if you plan new Oracle purchases, you can push for extra discounts on licenses (which lowers the support base) or seek alternate licensing models that reduce the upfront cost.
Another insider tactic is to explore converting some licenses to subscription or cloud services; Oracle SaaS/Cloud pricing often bundles support, effectively bypassing the 22% add-on. While you may not eliminate the 22% rule, you tackle it by minimizing the license costs it’s based on and by avoiding paying support on anything non-essential.
Next Step:
Scrutinize every support line item. Ask yourself: “Is this worth paying 22% every year?” For products that aren’t mission-critical, consider if you can retire, replace, or migrate them to alternatives (so you can drop that support).
When negotiating any new Oracle agreement, insist on lowering the cost baseline – for example, by getting larger license discounts or credit for existing spend – which in turn lowers the absolute support dollars.
If your Oracle rep wants to sell you more, make it clear that any deal must also address support costs (e.g., via credits or bundled support).
Essentially, do not accept 22% of an inflated license cost. Use your leverage during procurement to keep that base as low as possible.
And if Oracle won’t budge on the percentage, focus on the other strategies here to reduce what that 22% is being applied to.
3. Manage Annual Uplifts Proactively
Challenge:
It’s not just the base support fee – Oracle also applies annual uplifts (increases) to your support costs. Historically, around 3–4%, these yearly hikes have recently been closer to 8% for everyone, significantly inflating budgets. Left unchecked, an 8% annual increase will compound your support spend to almost double in 9 years.
Many organizations simply absorb these increases as a cost of doing business, often because they overlook the fine print in their contracts or assume the uplift can’t be avoided.
Insight:
The “standard” annual increase is not set in stone – it’s a policy Oracle imposes, but proactive customers can challenge or mitigate it. Oracle typically increases support fees to keep up with inflation and boost revenue, but if you’re a valuable client (or making noise about cost), they sometimes make exceptions.
Insiders know that you shouldn’t wait passively for an 8% hike letter every year. Instead, you plan for it and counteract it. This might involve negotiating a decrease or offsetting it with cost-saving measures.
Next Step:
Calendar your support renewal dates and uplift schedule. Don’t be caught off guard by a surprise increase. Engage Oracle 6–12 months ahead of renewal with a clear message: “This 8% uplift is not feasible for our budget – we need to discuss options.”
Prepare a justification or leverage point, such as comparing to inflation indexes or noting you’re considering scaling down your footprint.
Aim to negotiate a cap or a deferral of the increase. Even a reduction from 8% to 4% saves significant money. If Oracle resists, consider committing to a multi-year renewal (see strategy #7) in exchange for a lower or zero price increase.
The key is to show Oracle that you’re watching these increases and are ready to act – not just rubber-stamping the bill.
4. Reprice Support After License Reductions (Avoid “Repricing” Traps)
Challenge:
You might think dropping some licenses or products will linearly reduce your support costs – but with Oracle’s repricing policy, that’s not always true. Oracle enforces a “matching service levels” rule. If you try to terminate support on only part of the licenses in a product family, they reserve the right to recalculate (reprice) the support fee on the remaining licenses at current list prices. In plain English, Oracle will strip away any volume discount you had. The result? The cost for the licenses you keep on support can shoot up, eating away most of the savings you expected from dropping a few licenses.
Insight:
This is a hidden trap in Oracle contracts. Insiders know that if you’re not careful, partial reductions can backfire. For example, suppose you purchased 100 licenses at a significant discount and later discontinued support for 50 of them.
In that case, Oracle might reprice the remaining 50 as if you only ever bought 50, which could mean little to no discount on those, leaving you paying nearly the same annual fee for half the licenses.
The tactic to address this is two-fold: avoid partial reductions within the same “license set,” and negotiate repricing protections upfront if possible.
Oracle rarely grants a blanket “no repricing” clause, but it doesn’t hurt to ask, especially for large enterprises. In practice, the safer route is to plan to terminate entire products or license bundles, rather than a portion.
If you have separate support contracts (CSI numbers) for different products, you have more flexibility – you can cancel one whole contract without affecting others.
Next Step:
Identify where you can eliminate whole products or modules versus trimming quantities. If you have three Oracle products and one is marginally used, consider fully retiring that product (including all licenses) to eliminate its support costs – this avoids triggering repricing on a subset.
If you truly need to drop only part of a license pool, approach Oracle about a controlled reduction. Negotiate to maintain your original discount on the remaining licenses (get it in writing). If they refuse, analyze if the partial drop is worth it after repricing – sometimes it’s not.
Another actionable step is to segregate your contracts: work with Oracle to split mixed products onto separate agreements, so that in the future you can cancel one without repricing the rest.
By being strategic and aware of Oracle’s repricing games, you can realize the support savings from reductions instead of being caught off guard.
5. Eliminate Unnecessary Product Options and Packs
Challenge:
Oracle’s product suites (such as Oracle Database, Middleware, and E-Business Suite) often come with a variety of add-on options, modules, or packs – each carrying its own license and support fees. Many organizations enable or purchase these options (sometimes by default or as part of a bundle) but never fully utilize them.
Paying support for an unused database option or an extra module is just as wasteful as paying for unused licenses. It’s an easy area to overlook, because these options may be buried in your contract or turned on by technical teams without a formal purchase (leading to a later true-up and then ongoing support).
Insight:
Trimming fat from your Oracle footprint involves examining which features you use. For instance, Oracle Database has add-ons such as Partitioning, Advanced Security, and Diagnostics Pack. If your team isn’t actively using a particular option, it doesn’t make sense to keep paying 22% support on it annually.
An insider trick: Oracle’s audit scripts will flag usage of these packs – so ensure you disable any optional packs you don’t need in the software configuration before you terminate their support. Otherwise, you could cancel support and later get audited for usage of an unsupported feature (a compliance nightmare!). By eliminating unneeded options, you not only save on support fees but also simplify compliance.
Next Step:
Inventory all Oracle product options and add-ons you’re licensing. Cross-check with your IT teams to see if those features are actually in use. For each one that isn’t delivering clear value, plan to remove it from your support contract at renewal.
This may involve turning off the feature in the software to ensure it’s not inadvertently used. Communicate with Oracle that you wish to terminate support for that specific option or module (again, with proper notice).
If Oracle bundles options together in one support line, you may need to drop the entire bundle and possibly re-license only the necessary components. This requires careful coordination, but the payoff is stopping payments for capabilities you don’t use.
Over time, continually right-size your Oracle products to include only what you truly need – and you’ll see your support costs shrink accordingly.
Download Procurement Advisory Playbook: Transitioning from Oracle Support to Third‑Party Support.
💸 Realize Tangible Financial Benefits Beyond Just Cost Savings
- Save 50 %+ annually on Oracle support fees — and avoid costly forced upgrades.
- Extend the life of stable systems without paying for software you don’t need.
- Understand the total cost reduction: license optimization + deferred hardware/software spend.
- Learn how third-party support frees up budget for innovation, not just maintenance.
6. Consider Third-Party Support Providers
Challenge:
Oracle’s support may be the default, but it’s not the only option. Many enterprises feel stuck with Oracle Premier Support despite the high cost, fearing loss of updates or vendor retaliation.
The challenge lies in balancing the need for critical updates and assistance with the reality that Oracle’s support fees are often significantly higher than those of third-party alternatives.
Providers like Rimini Street, Spinnaker Support, and others offer to support Oracle products (database, EBS, middleware, etc.) often at 50% of Oracle’s price – and with no annual increases.
The downside? If you leave Oracle support, you will not receive Oracle’s official product updates, patches, or direct assistance. Additionally, Oracle may refuse to support you until you reinstate your support (with penalties).
Insight:
Third-party support can be a game-changer for cost savings, particularly for stable, mature systems that don’t require frequent updates. Insiders note that Oracle’s threats around third-party support are mostly about future upgrades: you can legally use your Oracle licenses and get support from a third party, but you won’t have rights to new versions or patches from Oracle during that period.
Many organizations successfully utilize third-party support for older versions of software or in instances where they don’t plan to upgrade for a while.
Oracle will likely attempt to scare you off this path, sometimes hinting at compliance audits or saying you’re “unsupported” (which simply means you aren’t entitled to their support services, not that your licenses are invalid).
If your environment is stable and security patches can be managed through other means, the savings are substantial.
Additionally, even if you don’t ultimately switch, having a third-party quote provides leverage with Oracle – it demonstrates that you have a viable alternative.
Next Step:
Evaluate your Oracle portfolio for potential third-party support. Identify systems that are in steady-state (e.g., an ERP that won’t be upgraded for 3-5 years, or a database version that’s sufficient for now).
Reach out to reputable third-party support providers for an assessment and quote.
They can often demonstrate how they’d handle your support needs and what you’d save. If you find a good fit, consider switching one or two systems to third-party support as a pilot.
This will immediately cut costs (often by half) for those systems. Be sure to time the switch at Oracle contract expiration to avoid overlap.
Also, plan how you’ll handle patches or regulatory updates during the period without Oracle’s support (third parties often create their fixes).
Finally, use this analysis in negotiation: let Oracle know you’re exploring third-party support – sometimes Oracle will offer a discount or concession to keep your business. Even if they don’t, you now have a powerful cost-saving option in your back pocket.
7. Negotiate Multi-Year Caps or Freezes
Challenge:
Oracle’s default yearly support increases (the uplifts) will relentlessly drive up costs. Many customers treat support renewals as automatic, renewing annually and swallowing the price hike.
The challenge is that if you keep going year-to-year, Oracle has the power to raise rates each time. This lack of long-term predictability makes budgeting hard and can erode any savings you achieve elsewhere.
Insight:
You have more negotiating power than you might think – especially if you’re willing to commit. Oracle sales representatives and account managers are motivated to secure your long-term support revenue. Use that to your advantage: negotiate a multi-year support agreement with either fixed pricing or a very low cap on increases.
For example, instead of renewing support one year at a time (with, say, an 8% hike each year), propose a 3-year renewal with 0% increase for the first 2 years and maybe a small increase (e.g., 3%) in year 3.
Oracle may be open to this because it secures your business for a longer period. Another tactic insiders use is to align this negotiation when Oracle is pushing a sale – say, you’re considering some new Oracle cloud services or licenses; you then tie the support fee cap into that deal (“We’ll purchase X, but we need our existing support locked at current rates for the next 3 years”). Oracle has been known to agree to price holds or caps when a larger opportunity is on the table or at fiscal year-end, when they need deals booked.
Next Step: Initiate a conversation with Oracle about a multi-year support plan.
Before your next renewal, formulate an offer: for example, “We will commit to 3 years of support for these products if Oracle will freeze the price (or cap increases at 0-3% total).” Be specific about the terms you want – the number of years, which support line items, and the acceptable increase (ideally, none or very low). Engage your procurement and legal teams to draft this into an amendment or as part of the purchase order terms.
When discussing with Oracle, emphasize the win-win: they secure a longer commitment, and you gain cost predictability.
Be prepared to walk through the math of how much the cap saves you (demonstrating that without it, you might be forced to consider downsizing or third-party options).
Once in place, a multi-year cap can save you significant dollars and headaches, and you won’t have to fight the uplift battle every single year.
8. Align Support with Your IT Roadmap (Timing Retirements and Transitions)
Challenge:
One reason organizations overpay on Oracle support is poor alignment between IT plans and support contracts. For example, imagine your IT roadmap shows that a certain Oracle-based system will be phased out or migrated in 18 months – yet you mindlessly renew a 12-month support contract for it, and then perhaps another, paying for support right up until the day you decommission it (or even beyond).
Similarly, companies moving to alternative platforms (such as a different database or a SaaS replacement for an Oracle application) often continue to pay Oracle support during the transition for longer than necessary, due to inertia or a fear of losing support prematurely.
Insight:
Treat Oracle support renewals as strategic decisions, not automatic renewals. Align them with your technology lifecycle. Insiders always map out the support schedule in alignment with the IT roadmap.
If you know that a specific Oracle product is scheduled for retirement or replacement next year, consider shortening the support term or co-terming it to end when you exit. Oracle typically offers an annual contract.
Still, you can request shorter support periods or even monthly proration in some cases if you communicate your plans (Oracle might allow a 6-month renewal, for instance, if you’re shutting something down mid-year).
Another aspect: if you plan to move a workload to the cloud (Oracle’s or another vendor’s), evaluate at what point you can drop on-premises support. Oracle won’t readily give you a refund for unused months, so planning the exact end date is crucial.
Additionally, suppose you’re consolidating or upgrading to a new Oracle version.
In that case, you may be able to eliminate support for the old version as soon as you switch – avoid maintaining dual support longer than necessary.
Next Step:
Review your IT project roadmap side-by-side with your Oracle support renewal calendar. Identify any Oracle-supported systems slated for retirement, replacement, or migration.
For each, determine the optimal point at which to terminate support.
Communicate these plans to Oracle – for instance, if you intend to sunset a product in 9 months, see if Oracle will agree to a prorated 9-month support term instead of a full year (or at least be ready to notify cancellation at the next anniversary).
Additionally, if you’re transitioning to Oracle Cloud or other platforms, leverage that in negotiations: Oracle might offer incentives (like credits or extended support) to bridge the gap.
The goal is to avoid paying Oracle support a moment longer than necessary on any asset that’s on its way out. By syncing support contracts with actual usage timelines, you ensure you’re only paying for Oracle maintenance while it’s truly needed.
9. Leverage Oracle Support Rewards (OCI Spending Discounts)
Challenge:
Oracle’s grip on support fees makes it seem like you have no choice but to pay.
However, Oracle has introduced a program to entice customers into its cloud by effectively discounting support via cloud usage.
The challenge is that many executives are either unaware of this Oracle Support Rewards program or aren’t utilizing it as part of their cost strategy.
If you ignore it, you may miss out on an opportunity to substantially offset your support costs by leveraging planned cloud investments.
Insight:
Here’s an insider tip that comes straight from Oracle’s playbook: if you spend on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI), Oracle will give you support credit in return – typically $0.25 for every $1 you spend on OCI (25%), sometimes even 33% for certain strategic customers or ULA holders. This is called Oracle Support Rewards.
In practice, it means that if you allocate, say, $1 million to OCI services, you could reduce your on-premise Oracle support bills by $250,000.
Oracle is essentially reimbursing you for a portion of your cloud spend by reducing your maintenance fees. For organizations already considering cloud migration or using OCI, this is like getting double value for your money: you get cloud services and a reduction in your legacy support costs.
Oracle wins by getting you more deeply integrated into their ecosystem, and you win by reducing your support expenses.
The key is that these support reward credits don’t apply automatically – you need to enroll and actively use them to pay down your support invoices.
Next Step:
Investigate Oracle’s Support Rewards program and assess your cloud strategy.
If your company plans to use Oracle Cloud (or is considering moving some workloads there), factor in the support savings as part of the business case.
Talk to your Oracle account manager about enrolling in Support Rewards: confirm the percentage you’d earn (at least 25% of OCI spend) and the mechanics of applying those credits to your support bill.
Develop a plan to maximize this benefit – for example, if you’re going to spend money on cloud services anyway, prioritize OCI for applicable workloads to accrue rewards. Then, ensure those credits are used at your next support renewal (don’t let them expire or sit unused).
This strategy effectively lets you “pay” your support bill by redirecting spend into OCI.
It’s one of the more innovative Oracle support optimization tactics: using Oracle’s cloud incentives to reduce your on-prem support fees.
Just remember, it makes you more reliant on Oracle’s cloud ecosystem, so weigh that against your overall cloud vendor strategy.
10. Strengthen Governance and Cross-Functional Alignment
Challenge:
Oracle support cost optimization isn’t a one-time project – it requires ongoing attention and coordination across departments.
Many organizations lack a governance framework for managing Oracle licenses and support.
The result is siloed decisions (IT might purchase new Oracle licenses without informing procurement, or finance might auto-pay support invoices without questioning them), which lead to missed savings.
Without cross-functional alignment, you risk compliance mistakes (such as canceling support on something still in use) or losing negotiation leverage because you weren’t unified in your approach.
Insight:
Seasoned Oracle negotiators will tell you that managing Oracle is a team sport. You need IT, procurement, finance, and sometimes legal working hand-in-hand. Governance means establishing processes to regularly review Oracle usage, spend, and contracts.
For instance, set up a quarterly review of all Oracle support contracts: Are we using what we pay for? Are there any upcoming renewals we need to negotiate? Any licenses we can terminate?
Insiders also recommend creating clear internal policies: for example, no one buys new Oracle products or cloud services without involving the centralized licensing team to consider support implications.
Cross-functional alignment also helps manage risk – IT can assess the technical impact of dropping support or moving to a third-party provider.
At the same time, legal ensures compliance with terms, and finance validates the resulting savings.
When everyone is on the same page, Oracle will find it much harder to exploit gaps (like sales pitching to an uninformed department head who then increases your support scope unknowingly).
Next Step: Establish an Oracle cost governance group or process.
Identify stakeholders from IT (architects or DBAs), procurement/vendor management, finance, and compliance. Assign ownership for Oracle support optimization – for example, a software asset manager or licensing specialist who coordinates the effort.
Implement a regular meeting (or at least an annual review before renewals) to determine actions based on strategies 1–9 outlined above.
Develop an internal Oracle support playbook that documents how your company handles renewals, approves new purchases, and utilizes tactics such as support rewards or third-party support.
By strengthening governance, you establish a sustainable framework for reducing Oracle support costs.
This ensures that the savings you achieve one year aren’t lost in the next, and it empowers you to continuously find new opportunities to reduce Oracle maintenance fees in a safe and controlled manner.
5 Recommendations for Your Next Move
To wrap up, here are five concrete recommendations to kickstart your Oracle support cost reduction initiative:
- Start with a comprehensive audit: Begin by collecting data on all your Oracle licenses, contracts, and current usage. You can’t reduce Oracle support fees without full visibility. Identify immediate quick wins – unused licenses or options – that you can target for cancellation at the next renewal.
- Prioritize highest-impact savings: Not all savings opportunities are equal. Rank the strategies above by potential dollar impact and feasibility for your organization. For instance, if third-party support could reduce your spend on a non-critical system by millions, evaluate that first. If an upcoming project will let you drop a big Oracle product, plan for that. Focus on the moves that yield the largest Oracle support savings with an acceptable level of risk.
- Manage risk and compliance carefully: As you pursue cost cuts, ensure you’re not exposing the company to license compliance troubles or technical risk. For each support reduction (be it dropping licenses or switching support providers), have a mitigation plan: confirm the software will indeed be retired or replaced, document the change, and inform teams about what losing Oracle support means (no patches, etc.). Involve your legal or compliance experts if necessary to ensure that all actions (especially those involving contracts or audits) are within your rights.
- Time your negotiations and changes wisely: Mark your calendar with key dates, such as support renewal anniversaries and Oracle’s fiscal year-end (May 31st for Oracle). Engage with Oracle at moments when you have leverage – for example, a few months before renewal (so you have time to consider alternatives) or when Oracle is eager to sell you something new (such as a quarter-end push). Also, give Oracle the required notice for cancellations to avoid auto-renewal. The timing of when you communicate and execute these strategies will significantly influence Oracle’s responsiveness and your success.
- Build a repeatable governance model: Don’t treat this as a one-off project. Establish an ongoing governance process for optimizing Oracle support. This means regular reviews, a cross-functional team as mentioned, and executive oversight to keep momentum. Make it part of your IT sourcing strategy to continuously optimize Oracle support – updating policies, tracking savings, and adjusting as Oracle’s offerings and your business needs evolve. A strong governance model ensures that you maintain and grow your savings year after year, rather than reverting to the status quo.
Oracle Support Reduction – FAQ
Are there any other possibilities for achieving Oracle support reduction?
You may consider re-purchasing your licenses. If you can secure a high enough discount with Oracle, you can demonstrate a return on investment within a few years.
Oracle does not allow its sales reps to do this, so you need to negotiate with Oracle under the scenario that these licenses are not replacements but licenses for something else. This is what Oracle would call “Cancel and Replace.”
We run older versions of Oracle software, and now Oracle wants to increase support by 10% to support them. (Extended support) is it possible to negotiate away this increase?
Yes, we have helped clients achieve that, but some clients could also negotiate a contract clause in their original contracts, so there was no need to spend time on a later negotiation.
Will Oracle be upset if we move our support contracts to a third-party support provider?
No, Oracle will happily accept your PO if you return to them next year or the year after. After two years, you can investigate re-purchasing licenses and lower support costs.
Why should I review my licensing before I move to a third-party support provider?
You want to be compliant before moving to a third-party support provider. 90-100% of all compliance issues can be remediated without new purchases.
Can we return to Oracle Support?
Yes, Oracle will never say no to your money at any time.
We have Oracle application licenses. Can’t we simply exchange them and get cloud services in return/credit?
Oracle has discontinued this for most products. This option exists but is so cost-ineffective that it makes no sense.
You are better off going to Oracle and negotiating a new cloud services agreement. You will obtain better prices, more favorable terms, and greater flexibility.
We have an Oracle ULA, but now we are out. How can we ask for Oracle support reduction?
No, zero chance. You can certify the Oracle ULA and then look at your options.
What is the repricing policy of Oracle?
Repricing is an Oracle technical support policy. If you terminate any subset of licenses, the remaining licenses will continue to receive support based on the list price.
What is the inflationary adjustment rate for Oracle?
It has been 8% since December 2022.
How much does Oracle technical support cost?
Oracle technical support costs 22% of what you paid to Oracle for your licenses. Then, the support costs increase year on year.
In 2023, Oracle announced an 8% increase in support fees. If you require extended or ongoing support for older versions of Oracle software, you may also need to incur additional costs for technical support.
What is third-party support for Oracle?
Third-party support for Oracle refers to external providers assisting users with older Oracle databases and their associated environments.
Opting for third-party support means users will not receive updates or access to future Oracle software releases.
Instead of reaching out to Oracle for technical issues, users will communicate with the third-party provider. It’s essential to remember that users can only download upgrades and patches until their original Oracle support contract concludes.
Read more about our Oracle License Management Services.
