I can’t tell you how many times I have spoken with clients or prospects and they tell me they have met with Oracle executives or are currently in talks with Oracle executives to get a better deal or lower costs.
Let’s be clear, they did not become executives of a sales-driven company by lowering the income to that company. No one at Oracle, from sales, to support, to management, gets any incentive to lower the amount you pay them without getting something in return. No matter how good the deal is that you negotiate, they know something you don’t, which allows them to offer you something that appears to be a concession or in other words a “deal” but in reality, it is not.
When this happens, companies typically find themselves stuck a year later because they weren’t aware of what they were agreeing to. The other outcome is that when an account rep tells you they can’t do something for you and you get a meeting with the executives, they most often will tell you no as well. They just do it with more authority and data to back up the reasoning why.
I have had more than one of our clients try to get something accomplished and even spoke to the CEO at Oracle and were told it wasn’t possible the way that they wanted. When an executive tells you no, you typically walk away and just simply believe it can’t be done because you can’t go any higher, right?
The bottom line is that if you want to reduce costs that represent an average margin of 96%, you don’t ask the people making that margin, you ask the people that live and breathe cost reductions with Oracle. Cost reductions are rarely achieved through negotiations but rather through knowing your contracts and the inter-workings at Oracle. It is important to be aware of how to separate items bundled together on renewal so they can be canceled. Knowing exactly what to ask for from Oracle, how to ask, and when to ask is crucial knowledge if you want to save money and take back control.
You need to know the process Oracle follows, which includes telling you “no” even when you have a contractual right to do what you are asking. They will quote policy and everything else they can just to convince you not to do what you are asking. They will try to do as much of this as possible over the phone or in a meeting so it won’t be in writing. They will tell you no multiple times and in multiple ways until you know exactly how and what to do.
The bottom line is that I have never seen Oracle offer any kind of deal that works out to be in the best interest of the company. Stop asking Oracle and except less money. Instead, find advisors that not only know how to help you but that works in a self-funded model where you have no risk and all the gain.
