Re: question about product license and support

From: Daniel Morgan <damorgan_at_x.washington.edu>
Date: Sat, 07 Aug 2004 07:35:20 -0700
Message-ID: <1091889359.897787@yasure>

Comments in-line.

Hans Forbrich wrote:
> Daniel Morgan wrote:
>
>

>>Hans Forbrich wrote:
>>
>>
>>>Daniel Morgan wrote:
>>> 
>>>
>>>>I'm not advocating not looking up the price at store.oracle.com. I'm
>>>>saying don't give that price to management as it is at best ...the
>>>>highest price you could possibly pay ... perhaps by a very wide margin.
>>>>
>>>
>>><snipped>
>>
>>I never advocate hiding anything from management. Neither do I advocate
>>being lazy and giving them information that is not accurate.

>
>
> And how is any non-contracted price accurate?

Not the final price ... but more realistic.

> Non-standard contracts and discounts are the result of past history,
> relationship with Oracle and/or the rep, the perceived business values
> (both yours and Oracle's), potential future sales, negotiating skills &
> time to do so, and a few other factors - and will change dynamically over
> time.

That and whether it is nearing the end of the fiscal quarter. ;-)

> I'd think the only accurate starting point >for a new customer< is the list
> price with published discounts. (I assume OP is a new customer.)

I assume your assumption valid. Still I've no doubt a substantial improvement in pricing could be made by investing a bit of time. That has certainly been my experience.

One should never minimize the value of developing a relationship with the vendor ... any vendor. Even if you didn't get a dollar off the pricing you might find that it made it possible to obtain valuable services at no additional charge such as access to internal tools for StatsPack analysis.

>>A developer or DBA should not try to replace their purchasing agent and
>>negotiate a contract. But they can certainly trouble the salesperson for
>>a trip to their organization and a 15 minute discussion about licensing,
>>their needs, support requirements, and get a more realistic price from
>>which management can make a decision.
>>

>
> Agreed to all except the 'get a more realistic price'. But ... not quite
> sure how getting a 'more realistic price' is different from 'negotiating'.

More realistic meaning closer to the final. Not perfect. Just closer to reality.

> Please define 'more realistic', taking into account Oracle is not bound to
> any non-standard price until the contract is written & approved.

Not bound ... but from my experience salespeople have flexibility and will use it to close sales. It may not be final ... but you'll be better off than you were at the web site.

> (These days, a new customer to any large sales organization, Oracle or
> other, is likely punted to a telesales rep - this is, however, irrelevant.)
>
> /Hans
> btw - I note the OP is silent to whole thread. Lurking, trolling, gone?

Who can say but likely lurking.

-- 
Daniel A. Morgan
University of Washington
damorgan_at_x.washington.edu
(replace 'x' with 'u' to respond)

Received on Sat Aug 07 2004 - 09:35:20 CDT