Contents
Key takeawaysThe main providersWhat decides the selectionSavings and the cost of returningWhich systems should stayWhat we have seenWhat Oracle will sayWhat to do nextFAQThe right Oracle third party support provider is the one that covers your exact modules and versions and stands behind its work with a solid indemnity. Returning to Oracle is costly, so match your diligence to that risk.
- Fit decides most selections. Coverage of your exact modules and versions settled 60 to 70 percent of the selections we scored, well ahead of price.
- Two scale providers, many specialists. Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support cover database, middleware and applications, while specialists go deeper on one product family or jurisdiction.
- The saving is about half. Providers quote against your current Oracle support bill, and Support Rewards credits can make that bill smaller than the invoice shows.
- Going back costs more than you saved. Oracle charges reinstatement for the whole lapsed period at a premium over the old fee, then the current support year on top.
- Indemnity carries more risk than price. Put the clauses side by side before you compare quotes.
- Stable systems do well. The environments that struggled after leaving Oracle were the ones still being upgraded or migrated.
Who are the main Oracle third party support providers?
Two providers support Oracle at scale across database, middleware and applications: Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support. Behind them sits a long tail of specialists, each covering one product family, region or set of statutory rules. The economics and the legal position sit in our third party support guide.
The tiers differ most in where the engineering depth sits. A specialist with 40 engineers who have shipped tax updates on your product family for a decade can serve you better than a larger firm with two people on it.
| Tier | Scope | Strength | Where it is weak |
|---|---|---|---|
| Scale providers | Database, middleware and applications | Follow the sun staffing, formal security programs | Higher list price than a specialist |
| Product specialists | One family, often PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel or E-Business Suite | Depth, often former Oracle development staff | Narrow catalog |
| Regional and regulatory | Local payroll and statutory reporting | Jurisdictional depth | Weaker 24 hour coverage |
Is a publicly listed provider the safer choice?
A listed provider is easier to diligence, which is a different thing from being better. Its audited financials, customer concentration and litigation status are public, which counts on a contract you intend to run for five years or more. It says nothing about support quality for your product family.
The filings also show scope changes early. Rimini Street, which trades on Nasdaq, disclosed a July 2025 settlement with Oracle under which it will complete the wind down of its PeopleSoft support by July 31, 2028. Read current filings rather than a comparison written two years ago.
What stays with Oracle whichever provider you pick?
Third party support replaces Oracle's annual support on licenses you own. Oracle SaaS subscriptions such as Fusion Cloud Applications and NetSuite carry support inside the subscription fee, so no provider can take that cost away.
The SaaS saving has to come from the renewal itself. Our SaaS renewal briefing starts by removing the inactive bundle modules, typically 18 to 32 percent of the bundle, then asks for an escalator cap of 0 to 3 percent written to survive the full term.
How to Negotiate an Oracle ULA: No Price List, Just Your Business Case
What should decide which Oracle support provider you choose?
Coverage of your exact module and version set should decide it. In the selections we scored, that single test settled 60 to 70 percent of the outcomes, ahead of brand, scale and headline discount. Start from your own version list and build the shortlist around it.
Score fit before you score price, in this order:
- Coverage. Every module, release and localization you run, matched line by line against what the provider supports today.
- Indemnity. Who carries the risk if Oracle challenges the provider's work.
- References on your platform. Customers running your product and release today.
- Your own roadmap. Whether the systems in scope will change during the contract.
- What else ends with Oracle support. Support Rewards credits offset on premises Technology support and disappear along with the support they offset.
How do you build the module and version list?
Build it from the running systems, then reconcile it with the contracts. The ordering documents show what you bought, and the tables below show what you run.
- Oracle Database. V$VERSION gives the release and DBA_REGISTRY the installed components. DBA_FEATURE_USAGE_STATISTICS shows which options and management packs have been used.
- E-Business Suite. FND_PRODUCT_GROUPS gives the release, and FND_PRODUCT_INSTALLATIONS lists which products are installed or shared.
- PeopleSoft. The TOOLSREL column in the PSSTATUS table gives the PeopleTools release. Add the application release and each country extension.
- JD Edwards. Record the application release and the Tools release separately.
- My Oracle Support. Map every Customer Support Identifier to the products it carries. That map shows which license sets you are about to split or end.
Send the list to each provider and ask for a written coverage statement against every line.
What should you look for in the indemnity clause?
Look for who pays if Oracle brings a claim over how the provider supported your software. That is the event the arrangement is built around, and the language is not standardized across the market. Two quotes that look 30 percent apart on price can be much further apart on who carries that exposure.
- Indemnity for claims arising from the provider's support work. Include defense costs, with a cap separate from the general liability cap.
- Survival after termination. Claims can arrive years after the work was done, so the indemnity has to outlive the contract.
- Scope change protection. If the provider withdraws support for a product you run, you get written notice, a pro rata refund and the right to exit early.
- Price hold. A fixed annual fee for the term, or a stated cap on increases.
- Named tax and regulatory commitments. The jurisdictions covered and the delivery date for year end payroll and statutory updates.
- Written security commitments. What the provider delivers in place of Critical Patch Updates, and its response time for a newly published vulnerability.
Why do reference customers on your platform count for more than provider size?
They have lived with the provider on the same code you run. In every selection we reviewed, satisfaction tracked references on the same platform more closely than it tracked provider revenue. Ask for two or three references on your product and release, and speak to them without the provider on the call.
- When did the last year end tax update arrive, and was it ahead of your filing date?
- Who fixed your last severity one issue: an engineer who knew the product, or a generalist who escalated it?
- How often has your named engineer changed?
- Did anything you relied on turn out to sit outside the contract once you were live?
Oracle Third Party Support Brief
Provider selection criteria, contract terms and the reinstatement calculation in one document.
Get the white paper →What does leaving Oracle support save, and what does it cost to go back?
The saving is usually about half of your Oracle support bill. Oracle charges annual support at 22 percent of net license fees, and providers price at roughly a 50 percent reduction on that. Going back costs far more, because Oracle charges 150 percent of your last annual fee across the whole period you were away.
How does a round trip compare with staying on Oracle support?
Say you hold Oracle licenses with $4,000,000 in net license fees, and you return to Oracle after two years with a provider. The example assumes flat fees. Oracle's policy also allows renewal adjustments on reinstatement, which would make the return more expensive still.
| Line | Calculation | Amount |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle support today | 22 percent of $4,000,000 | $880,000 a year |
| Provider fee | 50 percent of $880,000 | $440,000 a year |
| For comparison: saving if the provider works out for five years | $440,000 × 5 | $2,200,000 |
| Provider fees paid in years one and two | $440,000 × 2 | $880,000 |
| Reinstatement fee for the two lapsed years | 150 percent × $880,000 × 2 | $2,640,000 |
| Restored Oracle support in year three | Last annual fee | $880,000 |
| Total cost of the three year round trip | Sum of the last three lines | $4,400,000 |
| Three years on Oracle support without leaving | $880,000 × 3 | $2,640,000 |
Two years with the wrong provider costs $1,760,000 more than never leaving. Most software decisions can be corrected at the next renewal for roughly what they cost to make, and this one cannot. That asymmetry should set the depth of your diligence.
The return route is covered in dropping Oracle support and reinstatement.
What do you give up when Oracle support ends?
Your My Oracle Support access ends with the contract, and with it everything Oracle releases after the termination date. That covers:
- Critical Patch Updates and security alerts
- Tax, legal and regulatory updates, including payroll and statutory reporting changes
- New fixes and upgrade scripts through My Oracle Support
- Upgrade rights to new major releases
Reinstatement restores access from the day you return, but it cannot undo the months you ran without Oracle's patches and regulatory updates. What the provider delivered in their place is what protected you in that time.
Why can you rarely move only part of your Oracle licenses?
Oracle's matching service levels rule requires every license in a license set to sit on the same support level. A license set covers all your licenses of a program, including its options, so you usually cannot move half your database processors and keep the rest with Oracle.
The only way to shrink a set is to terminate the licenses you no longer want. Oracle then reprices what remains of that order at support list price less the standard discount, capped at the previous fee. You pay close to the old bill for fewer licenses, so more leaves Oracle than you meant to cut.
How does Oracle Support Rewards change the comparison?
If you consume Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, your real support bill may already be lower than the invoice suggests. Support Rewards credits 25 cents for every dollar of OCI consumption, or 33 cents for ULA customers, against Technology support renewals. Rewards expire 12 months after they are deposited.
Compare the provider's quote with your support bill after rewards. Our Support Rewards guide covers the mechanics.
Which Oracle systems should stay on Oracle support?
Systems that are still changing should stay, at least for now. In our reviews, whether a system was still changing predicted how the switch went more cleanly than anything about the provider.
| Situation | Fit | Reason |
|---|---|---|
| Stable ERP release, no upgrade planned for five years | Good | Fixes and tax updates are all the system needs |
| Frozen legacy application with a small user base | Good | Little change, and the Oracle support fee is out of proportion to use |
| Application due to be retired after a move to SaaS | Often good | The old system only has to keep running until cutover |
| Major upgrade underway or planned | Poor for now | Upgrade rights and upgrade scripts end with Oracle support |
| Acquisition or divestment expected | Wait | License sets and support contracts may be split or merged |
Why we reverse the usual advice to tender on price first
The usual advice treats third party support as a commodity: line up the providers, compare the discount and take the cheapest credible one. We disagree, because price is the variable you can fix at the next renewal and fit is the one you cannot.
A provider that misses one localization you depend on costs more than any discount returns. Run the coverage and roadmap tests first, then use price to choose among the providers that pass them.
How does the decision differ for a small and a large Oracle customer?
A company running one JD Edwards or PeopleSoft instance on a frozen release has a narrow decision: one license set, one version list and usually a specialist with depth in that product.
A global group running Database, middleware and E-Business Suite across regions has a wider one. License sets span business units, the matching service levels rule pulls more licenses into scope, and statutory updates are needed in many countries. That usually points to a scale provider, or a scale provider for technology plus a specialist for the main application.
What have we seen in recent Oracle third party support selections?
Across roughly 20 to 30 third party support selections we ran or reviewed in 2024 and 2025, price was almost never what decided the outcome. Four patterns recurred:
- Coverage of the exact module and version set decided most selections.
- Indemnity language varied enough between providers to move the risk more than price did.
- Reference customers on the same platform predicted satisfaction better than provider revenue did.
- The environments that struggled after the switch were the ones still changing, and stable ones were fine.
A bad price can be renegotiated at the next renewal. A bad fit leaves you with a poor supplier and an expensive, partial route back to Oracle.
Our wider Oracle research sits in the Oracle practice hub.
What will Oracle's account team say when you plan to leave?
Expect Oracle to argue for keeping the support revenue. Each line below has a factual reply worth writing down before the first call.
- "Third party support puts you out of compliance." Perpetual license rights do not depend on buying Oracle support. What matters is that the provider works within your license terms. See whether Oracle third party support is legal.
- "If this goes wrong, coming back will cost you far more than you saved." Agree, and say you have priced reinstatement for the lapsed period against the saving.
- "We can offer a better price if you stay." Ask for it in writing with a multi year price hold, then compare it with the provider quote on equal terms.
- "You cannot drop only those licenses." Correct under the matching service levels rule. Show that you have modeled the repricing of the remaining license set.
- "Without our patches you are exposed." Reply with the provider's written security commitments and your own compensating controls.
The audit clause in your license agreement stays in force after support ends, so settle your usage position before you give notice.
What to do next
- 12 months before renewal: test your roadmap. List every upgrade, migration and acquisition planned for the next five years. Keep any system that is mid program on Oracle support for now.
- 9 months: build the module and version list. Take it from the database and application tables, mapped to each Customer Support Identifier and license set.
- 6 months: request line by line coverage statements. Ask one scale provider and at least one specialist in your main application.
- 4 months: compare indemnity and call references. Put the clauses side by side and speak to references on your platform without the provider present.
- 3 months: model the return route. Include reinstatement for a realistic lapsed period, repricing of any partial license set and any Support Rewards credits you would lose.
- Before the renewal date: archive and decline. Catalogue the documentation and updates you are entitled to while support is active, then decline the renewal as your ordering documents require. Our transition service can run the selection with you.
Want a second opinion on your Oracle position? Our Oracle licensing consultants are former Oracle insiders who now work only for buyers.
Frequently asked questions
Who supplies Oracle third party support?
Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support are the two providers operating at scale across Oracle database, middleware and applications. A long tail of specialists covers narrower product lines, regions or regulatory regimes. Scope changes, as Rimini's agreed PeopleSoft exit shows, so check each provider's current filings and product list before you shortlist.
What actually decides the selection?
How well the provider matches what you run. Coverage of the exact module and version set settled most of the selections we scored, and price almost never did. A high price can be renegotiated at the next renewal, while a coverage gap can only be closed by changing provider or returning to Oracle.
How much does leaving Oracle support save?
Typically about half of the support line. Oracle's policy sets annual support at 22 percent of net license fees, and providers position their price around a halving of that bill. Net the saving against any Support Rewards credits you lose and any repricing of license sets you only partly leave.
What do you give up by leaving?
Everything Oracle publishes after your termination date: security patches, tax and regulatory changes, new fixes and the right to move to a new major release. The provider's own security and regulatory service stands in for them, so its commitments need to be specific, dated and written into the contract.
What does it cost to go back?
Oracle's technical support policies charge a reinstatement fee of 150 percent of the last annual support fee you paid, prorated from the date support lapsed, plus the fee for the new support year. Two years away therefore costs three times the old annual fee before the current year is paid.
Is a larger provider a safer choice?
It is safer to diligence, which is not the same as better to work with. A listed provider publishes audited accounts, customer concentration and litigation, so you can read the risk rather than request it. For one product family, a deep specialist often gives better support than a large firm with a thin team on that product.
Who should not move to third party support?
Organizations whose Oracle systems are still changing: an upgrade underway, a migration planned or an acquisition to integrate. In our reviews those were the environments that struggled after leaving Oracle, and stable ones were fine. Waiting a year or two can be a better choice than picking a different provider.
Is Oracle third party support legal?
Yes. Most Oracle on premises licenses are perpetual, and your right to use them does not depend on buying Oracle support. The court cases in this market concerned how particular providers handled Oracle software, which is why each provider's working methods and its indemnity to you matter more than the general legal question.