Dropping Oracle support: what you gain and what you risk
Oracle's annual support is one of the largest lines in your IT budget, and often barely used.
Oracle charges 22% of list price a year for support, and that percentage applies to a base that rarely goes down. If your database is stable and you are not migrating versions soon, dropping support can free up a lot of money. But it is not a decision without consequences.
01 What you gain is immediate cash
Stopping that 22% annual payment is a saving you see in the same fiscal year. For mature, stable databases, that spend usually returns very little.
22% of list price per year
02 What you lose is patches and new versions
Without support there are no official security patches and no right to upgrade versions. Your database stays frozen in its current state.
03 Getting back in is expensive
If you later want to return to Oracle support, they usually bill you for the years you were out plus a penalty. It is not a cheap revolving door.
04 Third-party support exists
Independent providers offer Oracle support at a fraction of the cost. They do not cover new versions, but they do keep a stable database alive.
// A typical case
Imagine a company paying USD $167,000 a year in support on a database that has not changed in three years. Dropping Oracle support frees up that USD $167,000 a year. The real risk only shows up if it needs security patches or a new version, which in this case was not on the roadmap.
Illustrative example with typical market figures, not a specific client.
// next step
This decision depends on how stable and critical your database is. It pays to measure before you cut. At dba.mx we assess the risk and the savings at a fixed price, so you decide with data instead of fear.