Staying on Oracle’s roadmap often means upgrading to product versions you may not need, dealing with year-over-year price increases and staying limited to Oracle’s product roadmaps.
At Rimini Street, the global leader of third-party support for Oracle, SAP, VMware and hundreds more products, we have worked with thousands of organizations to get them on a smart path to achieving better business outcomes, immediately reducing up to 50% Oracle support costs, eliminating the risks and disruption associated with low ROI upgrades, protecting and future-proofing Oracle investments – and restoring the freedom to modernize on your own terms.
In this blog, we help demystify four common questions Oracle customers have when exploring options and opportunities beyond vendor support:
- If I leave Oracle Support, how do I get access to the latest functionality?
- How do I keep my Oracle system secure if I no longer have access to Oracle’s official patches and updates?
- Can I remain compliant with my Oracle license agreement even without vendor support?
- What’s my Oracle roadmap moving forward when I leave Oracle Support?
With enterprise software costs on the rise and expected to increase between 9–10% on average in 2025,[1] IT and finance leaders must know what their options are, and what peers are doing, to effectively cut costs, enhance security and gain more control over your IT strategy.
Question 1: If I leave Oracle Support, how do I get access to the latest functionality?
If you leave Oracle Support, Rimini Street takes over your maintenance needs with our award-winning global support delivery program led by top engineers and professionals backed by our patented AI technology. While clients enjoy the benefit of comprehensive support that keeps them compliant, stable and secure, we provide a clear and flexible path forward to access the latest functionality, without forced upgrades or vendor lock-in. Through the Gartner recommended composable ERP strategy,[2] you can add the exact features and functionalities you want to your core system, rather than purchasing bundles or being pushed further on a vendor roadmap without guarantees that it will meet your unique business needs.
Businesses today have more options than ever before to modernize and innovate. With the money saved from reducing Oracle support costs, our clients are investing in integrating AI-driven automation, predictive analytics and real-time insights without disrupting operations.
“Finding a new way to manage platform maintenance and support has created real opportunities for our staff and organization. It has meant that resources are available to contribute to new projects that can be embedded into business as usual and then return value over the next year and every year.”
– Jennifer Rebeiro, Former CIO at Greater Western Water
Rimini Street’s partnership with ServiceNow Inc also enables businesses to take full control of their IT roadmap and accelerate innovation in months, not years, with enterprise-wide AI, automated workflows and further application modernization. It’s truly Transformation without Disruption™!
Question 2: How do I keep my Oracle system secure if I no longer have access to Oracle’s official patches and updates?
Rimini Street provides comprehensive security solutions that go beyond traditional vendor patching, helping to protect applications, databases and middleware, including products in Sustaining Support that no longer receive new security updates from the vendor.
Our Rimini Protect™ suite for Advanced Database Security is the next generation of database security. Enhanced with technology from Trellix, Rimini Protect enhances existing security strategies, delivering personalized, proactive solutions that improve overall security posture and help protect against entire categories of vulnerabilities.
We keep our clients secure by providing:
- Security advisory services that include threat intelligence reports (SVARs), hardening guidance, security assessments and dedicated support with guaranteed response times to help organizations stay ahead of emerging threats.
- No downtime or regression testing, allowing organizations to implement critical security updates without disrupting operations.
- Enhanced security posture, which many existing Rimini Street clients state has improved after transitioning to Rimini Street Support for Oracle.
Question 3: Can I remain compliant with my Oracle license agreement even without vendor support?
You have the right to use your on-premises Oracle licenses indefinitely, regardless of whether you continue paying for Oracle’s support services.
Oracle’s policies do not prohibit leaving support, as there are no contractual obligations requiring you to stay. To ensure a smooth transition, our Global License Advisory team provides expert guidance to help you navigate your entitlements and maintain full compliance with your licensing agreements.
Oracle’s changes in licensing practices combined with increasing annual support fees adds unnecessary complexity and costs, and many are turning to Rimini Street to eliminate this challenge.
“Not only was [the Oracle relationship] expensive from a licensing perspective, but I was also concerned about what Oracle is doing in the industry around Java and their approach to licensing.” – Leading US health insurance provider
Question 4: What’s my Oracle roadmap moving forward when I leave Oracle Support?
Instead of being tied to Oracle’s product roadmap, which can be uncertain, you can define your own IT strategy — ensuring agility, innovation and long-term competitiveness. For example, Oracle Database 23ai on-premises version was expected to be released this year, but now with no definitive release date, on-premises Oracle customers are left waiting.
Partnering with Rimini Street doesn’t limit you; on the contrary, it expands your options, allowing you to continue to buy Oracle licenses and products without worrying about high support costs. If you choose to return at any point, you can often do so with greater negotiation power.
We offer a smarter, more flexible alternative to traditional Oracle support, helping organizations reduce costs, enhance system performance and gain the freedom to innovate without restrictions.
“Moving our ERP environment to AWS was a strategic decision for us – setting the foundation for the next five to ten years. Partnering with Rimini Street wasn’t just a cost cutting move, it was about gaining the confidence and the support we need to execute our long-term vision with stability and innovation.” – Kenny Chang, CIO, Korean Air
With industry-leading response times, proactive security solutions and a personalized approach to support, Rimini Street can ensure you’re maximizing the value of your Oracle products while staying in control of your IT strategy.
Why organizations choose Rimini Street:
- Unmatched global support – A 1,200+ full-time service delivery team provides 24/7/365 coverage.
- Fast response times – We guarantee 10-minute response time for priority cases while delivering less than 2-minute average response time for P1 and P2 cases.
- Proven reliability – We achieved 99.99% on-time performance for over 500,000 case update communications as of 2023.
- AI-powered efficiency – Our patent-awarded AI technology reduces case resolution time by 23%.
- Proactive issue prevention – Our proprietary AI support applications reduce urgent cases by 29%.
Clients have saved over $9 billion since 2005. With Rimini Street, you can save up to 50% on your annual support fees and up to 90% on total software maintenance costs.
We help organizations across the globe maximize the value of their existing Oracle investments, maintain long-term stability with up to 15 years of support, guaranteed, so they can evolve their IT strategy at their own pace and drive growth and profitability for their businesses.
Thousands of organizations have already made the switch. You can too. Take the first step by evaluating your Oracle support costs with our simple Oracle savings calculator.
Ready to take control of your Oracle strategy? Speak with one of our Oracle experts today.
Maximize your Oracle value with Rimini Street
With Rimini Street, Oracle licensees can save 50% on annual support fees and up to 90% on total annual support costs including upgrade avoidance, support for customizations, and self-support.
[1] https://www.blueridgepartners.com/insights/how-to-budget-for-your-2025-price-increase/
