Case Study – Oracle Licensing Assessment – Dutch Energy Company – Oracle E-Business Suite, Database & Middleware
Background: A Dutch energy company utilizes Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) for its finance and supply chain operations, leveraging Oracle Database and middleware for support.
As the company grew (and customized its EBS system), license compliance became a concern. An Oracle licensing assessment was commissioned to ensure they weren’t unknowingly in breach.
Challenges: The assessment flagged EBS-specific licensing pitfalls:
- Restricted-Use Violations: The company had heavily customized the EBS system, adding custom database tables and bespoke Java programs in Oracle WebLogic to extend EBS functionality. According to Oracle’s policies, such major customizations go beyond the “included” DB/WebLogic license that comes with EBS, meaning the company would need to purchase full-use database and middleware licenses for those environments. This was a common audit finding they had been unaware of.
- Unused Modules Enabled: Several Oracle EBS modules (e.g., Advanced Supply Chain Planning) were installed and left enabled in the system even though the business hadn’t licensed them. This misconfiguration posed a compliance risk if Oracle audited module usage.
- Multiple Environments: The firm maintained separate EBS instances for development and testing, but lacked clear license terms for non-production use, which could potentially lead to double-counting of license needs if not addressed.
Solution: Our team provided a clear remediation plan as part of the license optimization service:
- Decouple Custom Extensions: We collaborated with the IT department to isolate and remove heavy customizations. Non-standard Oracle Database schemas that had been added for custom applications were migrated to a separate, properly licensed database server (or replaced with standard EBS functionality where possible). This brought the main EBS database back under the allowed restricted-use license terms, resolving the need for extra DB licenses. Custom Java programs on WebLogic were similarly reviewed – some were retired or moved to a different application server, so the EBS WebLogic instance remained within permitted usage.
- Disable Unlicensed Modules: We instructed the team to disable all EBS modules that were not purchased. This was done at the application config level to ensure no accidental use. Oracle’s scripts were run to confirm that those modules were shown as inactive, thereby preempting any audit issues.
- Align Non-Production Usage: We reviewed Oracle’s policies for test/development EBS instances. Fortunately, the Oracle support agreement included provisions that allowed for limited use of EBS in test environments. We documented these terms and ensured the number of test instances and their users stayed within acceptable bounds (preventing any inadvertent need for extra licenses).
Outcome:
The licensing assessment and follow-up actions resulted in full compliance with Oracle’s EBS licensing rules – no more lurking gaps. The risk of Oracle audit penalties (which could have been very large given the customization issue) was completely eliminated.
The client avoided spending an estimated €2–3 million on Oracle Database and WebLogic licenses that Oracle might have otherwise required for those customizations.
As a bonus, by removing unused modules and consolidating environments, the company trimmed its Oracle support costs by about 20%.
For example, after disabling unneeded EBS components, they could drop a corresponding chunk of support, and Oracle agreed to freeze support fee increases for 3 years, further improving savings.
The energy company gained peace of mind that their EBS system is cleanly licensed and cost-optimized going forward.
Read about our Oracle Licensing Assessment Service.
