How a European Bank Got Oracle to Surrender Key Software Licensing Points
A Forrester Research report offers a rare look inside a multimillion-dollar Oracle database negotiation and how one bank held its ground on a critical contract clause that's typically "not up for negotiation" with software vendors.
What This Deal Means for You
Today, the bank and Oracle continue "to be happy with the relationship," Jones reports. The bank got the contract modifications it wanted, and Oracle got a long-term customer. (Oracle didn't object to Forrester's case study and did see a "courtesy preview" of the report, he says.)
"Clearly, in my experience, this was a unique case," Jones says. While other software vendors may concede this point during contract negotiation, Oracle is usually not one of them, he says. "This was unique for Oracle."
The point of this example, Jones says, is not that other companies will get the same concession from Oracle. "But if you really have your heart set on something and go about it the right way—setting out from day one and sticking to it over and over again and making it worth the vendor's while to give you those concessions at the end—then you can get some valuable contractual concessions," he says.
Providing an alluring incentive to Oracle, of course, was key to finalizing the deal. "Don't expect to get this concession," Jones says, "if you're 'only' spending a couple of million."
