Oracle ASFU License Explained: 

The Oracle ASFU license allows ISV (Independent Software Vendor) partners to build solutions or applications using Oracle technology. These partners can then sell the license to the end customer, who will be listed as the owner of the ASFU license.

• The ASFU license allows for the use of all Oracle technology software, including the Oracle database and Oracle middleware products such as WebLogic.
• To use the Oracle ASFU license model, organizations must:
  • Be a member of the Oracle Partner Network.
  • Agree to the Oracle Partner Network Master Distribution Agreement and the Application Specific Full Use Program Distribution agreement
  • Register each “application package” separately, specifying the details of the application
• The Oracle software obtained through ASFU can only be used with the specified third-party application and must not be used separately without additional licensing. To qualify for ASFU Oracle licensing, the third-party application must be commercially available to multiple end-users and have end-user documentation.
• The third-party application owner is responsible for obtaining the ASFU license from Oracle and using it only with the specified application. The third party is also responsible for providing technical support for the Oracle software.
• The end-user agreement with the application owner must include clauses about the Oracle program usage restrictions and intellectual property rights.

Important facts about Oracle ASFU licenses:

• The ASFU license can only be used for the specific solution or application defined in the agreement.
• End customers of the ASFU license cannot contact Oracle technical support directly and must go through the ISV/OEM partner.
• Oracle technical support for ASFU licenses is 19% for the ISV.
• The ASFU license is discounted at 60% off the Oracle price list.
• Oracle ASFU end customers have the option to pay a fee to migrate or upgrade their licenses to full-use licenses, allowing them to be used for other applications.
• Oracle ASFU licenses do not always follow the standard naming or processor-based licensing rules and may instead use a royalty license model where the ISV resells Oracle licenses, and Oracle receives a percentage of the ISV price.
• If an organization enters an Oracle Unlimited license agreement, it will need to migrate and include any ASFU licenses.

Allowed and not allowed with an Oracle ASFU license:

• Allowed: Non-ASFU applications can read data from the database using methods such as ODBC
• Not allowed: Using an ASFU license to store third-party data in the Oracle database
• Not allowed: Building customized code or applications and using them with an Oracle database license under ASFU
• Not allowed: Non-ASFU applications writing data directly to the database using methods such as ODBC

License Models for ASFU

• There are two different models for the Oracle ASFU license:
  • Standard Oracle license metric (named user plus and processor licenses)
  • Royalty license model
  • In the standard model, ASFU licenses must be purchased and used like normal full-use licenses, but with the added requirement that they can only be used with a specific application.
  • In the royalty model, the ISV pays a percentage of its revenue to Oracle based on how many Oracle licenses it sells.
• Oracle also offers the ESL-embedded license, which has a 90% discount and is popular among ISVs or partners who want to use Oracle software in their solution.