Oracle's annual support fees — 22% of net licence costs — represent the single largest ongoing cost in most Oracle estates. Third-party providers offer the same support at half the price. This guide examines when switching makes sense, what you sacrifice, and — critically — how third-party options create leverage even when you never intend to leave Oracle.
By The Negotiation Experts
Updated March 2026
2,000 words · 10 min read
Oracle Licensing Cluster
By Morten Andersen
Oracle's support model is one of the most profitable in enterprise software. An organisation paying £10 million in Oracle licence fees owes £2.2 million per year in annual support — with no contractual cap on annual price increases. Over ten years at 4% annual increases, that support obligation more than doubles.
Third-party Oracle support providers — principally Rimini Street (NASDAQ: RMNI) and Spinnaker Support — have built sustainable businesses by offering comparable support services at typically 50% of Oracle's rate. They now collectively support thousands of Oracle clients globally, including Fortune 500 companies across financial services, manufacturing, retail, and the public sector.
This is not a niche alternative any longer. It is a mainstream decision that every Oracle customer with a stable estate should formally evaluate — whether or not they ever intend to act on it.
50%
Typical third-party support saving vs Oracle
5,000+
Rimini Street global enterprise clients
22%
Oracle's standard annual support rate
What Third-Party Oracle Support Provides
The core proposition of Rimini Street and Spinnaker is that Oracle's annual support — for stable, mature deployments — does not deliver proportional value relative to its cost. Their argument: the majority of Oracle support interactions relate to configuration issues, known bugs, and performance problems rather than new releases, and these can be addressed by expert engineers without Oracle's direct involvement.
Both major providers offer:
- Named, dedicated support engineers with deep Oracle product expertise
- Faster response SLAs than Oracle's standard tier (typically 15-minute critical response vs Oracle's 1-hour)
- Custom code fixes and interoperability support for your specific configuration
- Tax, legal, and regulatory updates developed independently for your jurisdiction
- Support for multiple Oracle product versions simultaneously, including versions Oracle has de-supported
- No requirement to migrate to newer Oracle versions to retain support eligibility
Oracle vs Third-Party Support: Feature Comparison
| Feature |
Oracle Annual Support |
Rimini Street / Spinnaker |
| Annual cost |
22% of net licence fees |
~11% of Oracle net licence fees (50% saving) |
| New product releases |
✓ Included |
✗ Not available |
| Security patches |
✓ Oracle-issued |
~ Provider-developed for your config |
| Tax/legal/regulatory updates |
✓ Oracle-issued |
✓ Provider-developed independently |
| Critical issue response SLA |
1-hour (standard) |
15-minute (Rimini Street Premier) |
| Dedicated named engineer |
✗ Pool-based support |
✓ Assigned engineer |
| Extended version support |
✗ Version constraints apply |
✓ Support older versions Oracle has dropped |
| Access to Oracle knowledge base |
✓ Full My Oracle Support access |
✗ No MOS access |
| Price increase protection |
✗ Oracle discretion |
✓ Typically 3-year fixed pricing |
| Return to Oracle support |
N/A |
~ Possible but may require licence audit |
When Third-Party Support Makes Sense
Third-party support is genuinely suitable for a specific profile of Oracle deployment. It is not appropriate for all organisations. The fit criteria are:
Organisations on Stable, Mature Oracle Versions
If your Oracle Database, E-Business Suite, or JD Edwards deployment is on a stable version with no near-term plans to upgrade, Oracle's primary differentiator — access to new releases — has little value. Your support spend is effectively paying for capabilities you will never use. This is the strongest fit for third-party support.
Organisations with No Oracle Cloud Migration Plans
Moving to Oracle Fusion Cloud, Oracle SaaS products, or OCI typically requires Oracle support continuity. If your roadmap does not include Oracle Cloud, this constraint does not apply and third-party support becomes more viable.
Organisations Where Security Patch Coverage Is Acceptable
Third-party providers develop their own security patches and updates — they do not have access to Oracle's security vulnerability data in advance of public disclosure. For some security teams, Oracle-issued patches are a non-negotiable requirement. For others, provider-developed patches are acceptable given the overall security architecture. This is a security team decision, not a commercial one.
Organisations Running Legacy Oracle Applications
Oracle periodically de-supports older product versions, requiring customers to upgrade to retain support. Third-party providers explicitly support de-supported Oracle versions, giving organisations the option to remain on stable legacy deployments without Oracle-mandated upgrades — avoiding upgrade costs that may exceed the support savings.
"The most underutilised application of third-party support is not switching — it is using a credible third-party proposal as leverage in Oracle renewal negotiations. Oracle will move substantially on pricing and support price caps to retain an account that has actively evaluated and received a Rimini Street proposal."
Third-Party Support as Negotiation Leverage
Even if your security requirements, upgrade plans, or organisational risk tolerance make third-party support unsuitable as an end-state, the process of evaluating it creates measurable negotiation leverage with Oracle.
Here is why this works: Oracle's account teams have explicit commercial authority to offer concessions to retain clients who are actively engaging with Rimini Street or Spinnaker. These concessions — multi-year support price freezes, one-time credits, additional Oracle Cloud credits — are not offered in standard renewal conversations. They are activated by demonstrable competitor engagement.
The process is straightforward. Commission a formal proposal from Rimini Street or Spinnaker covering your Oracle estate. Review it seriously — understand the fit, the limitations, and the financial case. Then, in your Oracle renewal negotiation, reference the existence of this evaluated alternative: "We have received and reviewed a Rimini Street proposal for our Oracle estate. Their pricing is approximately 50% of our current Oracle support cost. We need to understand what Oracle can offer to remain competitive." This is not a bluff — it is a documented, evaluated commercial alternative. Oracle's account team will respond accordingly.
The Return Path: Can You Go Back to Oracle?
One concern often raised about switching to third-party support is the ability to return to Oracle support in the future. The answer is nuanced.
Oracle does not contractually prohibit returning to Oracle support — your perpetual licence entitlements remain valid regardless of support status. However, Oracle typically requires a back-support payment — effectively the support fees you would have paid during the period of third-party support — before reinstating Oracle annual support. This back-support requirement can erode some of the savings achieved during the third-party support period, though net savings over a multi-year period typically remain positive.
Additionally, Oracle may use a support reinstatement request as an opportunity to conduct a licence compliance review. Organisations that have made infrastructure changes during the third-party support period — new virtual machines, cloud deployments, additional users — should conduct an independent compliance assessment before returning to Oracle support.
Rimini Street vs Spinnaker Support: Choosing a Provider
For most enterprise Oracle clients, the decision is effectively between Rimini Street and Spinnaker Support. Both are credible, established providers with enterprise client bases and experience across Oracle's product portfolio.
Rimini Street is the larger of the two, publicly listed (NASDAQ: RMNI), and offers coverage across the broadest range of Oracle products including Database, E-Business Suite, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel, and Hyperion. Its scale provides financial stability and deep product bench strength. Spinnaker Support is a privately held specialist focused primarily on SAP and Oracle, with a reputation for highly personalised service and strong customer satisfaction ratings.
For large, complex Oracle estates across multiple products, Rimini Street's product breadth is typically an advantage. For organisations prioritising dedicated service and a more boutique experience, Spinnaker is worth serious consideration. Obtain proposals from both for any substantial Oracle support transition.
Evaluating Third-Party Oracle Support?
We help organisations assess the fit for third-party support, model the financial case, and — where Oracle support is retained — use this analysis as leverage in renewal negotiations to achieve support price caps and discounts that would otherwise be unavailable.
Request a Support Strategy Review
Financial Modelling: The 5-Year Cost Comparison
Consider a representative scenario: an organisation with £3 million in Oracle annual support, planning to remain on current Oracle versions for at least five years, with no Oracle Cloud migration plans.
- Oracle support (status quo, 4% annual increase): Years 1–5 total = £16.2M
- Oracle support (negotiated 0% price cap for 5 years): Years 1–5 total = £15.0M
- Third-party support (50% saving, 3-year fixed price): Years 1–5 total = £8.1M
The gap between Oracle with a negotiated price cap and third-party support remains substantial — £6.9M over five years in this scenario. The third-party option is not attractive solely as negotiation leverage; for the right deployment profile, it is a genuine strategic alternative that transforms the Oracle cost structure.
For further detail on Oracle support cost reduction strategies, see our guide to reducing Oracle support costs and the Oracle contract renewal strategy article. The Oracle Negotiation Playbook contains our full framework for Oracle commercial negotiations including the third-party leverage approach in detail.