Rimini Street, Inc., a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, products and services, the third-party support provider for Oracle and SAP Software, Salesforce and AWS Partners, has notified owners of pre-19c Oracle Database licenses who are no longer receiving Oracle Premier Support that they can continue to use their previous Oracle Database version for up to 15 years long with no upgrades required by switching to premium Rimini Support™ .
Customers can also save 50% on support costs compared to Oracle Support and the Rimini Protect™-Use security solutions to significantly improve the protection of their entire Oracle Database configuration.
Rimini Street extends the lifecycle of Oracle Database releases and cuts support costs in half
Oracle has downgraded all Oracle Database versions prior to 19c to Sustaining Support status, which provides a highly limited level of support benefits. Although Oracle executives acknowledge that this level of service is not sufficient for production operations, customers are required to pay the same price as full Oracle Premier Support.
Apparently, Oracle’s strategy is to encourage Oracle Database license holders to upgrade to the latest versions of Oracle Database that qualify for Oracle Premier Support – a move likely to result in significant costs for licensees and extensive IT -Taking up resources that impede business operations and yet would not provide significant ROI for many companies.
Currently, Oracle only offers Premier Support for the last two Oracle Database versions 19c and 21c. However, Oracle Premier Support for both versions 19c and 21c ends in less than a year, in April 2024.
Oracle database licensees achieve greater ROI with Rimini Street
Rimini Street continues to expand its impressive roster of world-renowned Oracle Database customers, many of whom are leaders in their respective industries and operate some of the largest Oracle Database configurations in the world.
As more board members, shareholders and investors expect companies to achieve both growth and profitability, IT and finance executives are increasingly looking at the ROI of their IT investments and roadmaps. Support services for Oracle Database, a platform valued as a mission-critical and resilient application, represent significant potential for cost savings, service improvements, and innovative, added security.
Rimini Street customers who use Oracle Database to store business-critical data benefit from Rimini Support and Rimini Protect services for Oracle Database. These include deep Oracle Database technical expertise, a guaranteed 10-minute, 365-day, 24×7 response time for priority cases, near-instant security protection without patches against evolving security threats, and other benefits not found in Oracle’s standard support packages are included.
Rimini Street offers additional business benefits and enhanced expert services
Rimini Support has specialized in providing high-quality support services for Oracle and SAP software since 2005, enabling companies to use their existing version of Oracle Database for at least 15 additional years without upgrades. You’ll benefit from a service with fast response times and deep technical capabilities for Oracle Database, immediate savings of 50% compared to annual Oracle maintenance costs, and freeing up capital for innovation and strategic initiatives.
“Customers who choose Rimini Support for Oracle Database experience a true partnership that helps them achieve more of their strategic goals,” said Frank Reneke, Group Vice President and Global Pre-Sales at Rimini Street. “With dedicated Primary Support Engineers (PSEs), averaging 20 years of experience, assigned to our customers, and backed by a global team of hundreds of highly skilled database engineers, our Oracle Database support is not just responsive and quality is first class, but also with regard to the breadth of the range of services that we can provide to optimize, further develop and transform our customers’ IT landscapes. We help our customers focus their IT professionals’ time on projects that help reduce costs, increase profits, improve competitiveness and drive business growth.”
Rimini Protect for Oracle Database offers unique, innovative protection
In a March 2023 International Data Corporation (IDC) Spotlight reportAnalysts expressed concern about database vulnerabilities caused by software updates when there are custom code compatibility issues in applications built on top of the database. “Companies often face additional challenges when updating the database because the database vendor’s maintenance update does not update the custom code as well. A possible scenario: A database provider updates its database with the latest update provided by the database provider. In doing so, the vendor’s updated code breaks the custom code that worked perfectly with the earlier version of the database software. This can lead to both an operational problem that needs to be fixed, as well as a security issue that may go undetected. It is possible that the security problem will only be discovered during a penetration test.”
Combined with Rimini Protect, Rimini Support not only offers customized solutions and configuration assistance from experienced software engineers, but also responsive enterprise database security with Rimini Street’s Advanced Database Security (ADS) that does not require costly regression testing. ADS also includes a next-generation database security solution that protects all versions of Oracle Database (and other database solutions) through efficient virtual patching. This eliminates the need to update databases just for security reasons.
Power utility Suburban Propane , serving residential, commercial, industrial and agricultural customers from 700 locations, has found a trusted partner in Rimini Street and selected Rimini Street ADS for its Oracle Database platform. In less than a day, the security software was up and running in a test environment. Ron Traub, Senior Operations Manager at Suburban Propane, reports, “Rimini Street ADS gives us a sense of security. As soon as a virtual patch is released, we can apply it in a short time. We don’t need to set up a maintenance window to shut down a system, nor do we need to make code changes or run regression tests.”
“Security and system availability are high on the list of priorities for every CIO, CTO, CISO and IT manager. Compromises in any of these areas can not only result in lost revenue, but also result in lasting brand reputation damage and legal issues, especially when it comes to highly sensitive data breaches,” commented Gabe Dimeglio, group vice president and general manager at Rimini Protect. “Our proven security support, products and services protect databases in seconds, as opposed to waiting for a vendor to release a security patch – if a patch is released at all. Continued application of vendor code patches could pose a greater risk to customers.
Rimini Street supports competition and business innovation
Since switching to Rimini Street to provide support for Oracle Database, auto giant Hyundai Motor Group has taken advantage of “huge cost reductions” to “invest in technologies and expertise that support game-changing innovations.” Satisfied with the quality of the services provided by Rimini Street, the group made the decision to “expand the scope of the contract to cover even more of its subsidiaries and offices around the world,” explains Head of Department, Cloud Technology Team, Hyundai.
Reneke comments, “For one customer with over 5,000 database instances, 90% qualified for Oracle Sustaining Support only – the upgrade cost for that customer would have been $17 million. By moving to Rimini Street, they avoided these costs and extended the lifecycle of their Oracle Database landscape by at least 15 years. They also saved 50% on their annual maintenance costs compared to Oracle. We free up IT budgets and generate significant added value by creating new opportunities for investments – a real win-win situation for our customer.”
“Rimini Street is proud to add to its growing list of global customers more and more companies that rely on Rimini Support and Rimini Protect for Oracle Database to reduce the total cost of ownership of the software, extend the lifecycle of their existing version, a more effective one and enjoy more responsive support, achieve better operational results, and have the ability to focus their budgets and IT teams on strategic initiatives that help improve their competitive position and grow their business,” said Seth Ravin, President and CEO of Rimini Street.
