It is essential for an end user to keep track of the specific software entitlements obtained, independently of the software publisher. Understanding your entitlements helps you to be (better) prepared for an audit, licence review, true up or future negotiation with the software publisher.
The objective of this article is to familiarize you with the documents that Oracle recognises as Proof of License.
This document includes the end user’s details, the name of the agreement that governs the purchase, the products that are purchased, the quantity, the licence metrics and level, the fees that were paid for the licences and the terms and conditions for the purchase. In addition, any non-standard terms (e.g. licences being restricted to a specific application or type of usage) are included in the Ordering Document.
An Oracle Unlimited License Agreement (ULA) is a specific type of Ordering Document. The ULA is a time-based contract for unlimited use of a subset of Oracle products. At the end of the term, the end user may choose to renew the ULA or declare and certify usage to Oracle. If the end user chooses not to renew, licences will be assigned based on the end user’s current usage and certification at the end date of the ULA.
An Oracle Pool of Funds (PoF) is another specific type of Ordering Document. A Pool of Funds is a non-standard deal that allows a customer to acquire licences for a set of pre-defined programmes – at fixed prices and over a limited period – by burning down a prepaid licence credit. The Pool of Funds ordering document specifies the Pool of Funds period, credit and the programme licences that can be acquired, including the available licence types and the net licence price per individual licence type.
This document explains what specific versions of Oracle software the end user is entitled to make use of. These documents include the support contract number, the products included in the support contract, the quantities, licence metrics, CSI numbers, the period for which support is paid and the financial fees paid for each of the products.
This document was in the past referred to as “Software License and Services Agreement (SLSA)”, then it was called “Oracle License and Services Agreement (OLSA)” and later on it became “Oracle Master Agreement (OMA)”. These End User License Agreements specify the generic terms and conditions of the licences that have been purchased against these agreements, including, for example, the specific licence metric definitions.
OMA is defined as one single agreement created to support the different lines of business within Oracle (e.g. License Sales, Hardware Sales, Support Sales, Cloud Sales, Consulting Sales, University Sales etc.), in which the duplication of terms and conditions is minimised and the readability of the agreement increases. It includes the generic terms and conditions and the different Schedules (which are integral parts of the agreement) that specify the concepts and terms and conditions applicable to the specified product and/or service.
Schedules included in OMA:
A Framework Agreement is a non-standard end user licence agreement, customised for Oracle’s end users. Next to the above listed licence agreements, Oracle has a limited amount of specific licence agreements for specific Oracle programmes. For example, the Oracle Binary Code License Agreement for the Java SE Platform Products – the Oracle Java Standard Edition programmes, and all components associated with it are licenced under the terms of the Oracle Binary Code License Agreement for the Java SE Platform Products, and not under the OLSA.
Do you need support to understand what you need to keep track of when it comes to Oracle entitlements? Please contact us.
Do you need support to understand what you need to keep track of when it comes to Oracle entitlements? Please contact us.
