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In a new price list it came out with on July 1, Oracle has jacked up the prices for some of its database performance management tools by up to 40%.
The price hikes for some add-on tools for its flagship database management system include processor licenses for Oracle’s diagnostic and tuning packs, which jumped from $3,500 in a Dec. 2008 price list to $5,000. Similarly, pricing for a database configuration management pack also rose by the same amount.
The diagnostic and tuning packs are designed to help database administrators to identify and work through performance issues. The database configuration management pack helps users to conduct compliance assessments and track configuration changes.
Oracle officials haven’t disclosed the reasons behind the price hikes. But on the face of it, you have to wonder whether the cost increases are justifiable or simply another way for Oracle to squeeze additional revenues from customers at a time when the company’s new license revenues are under pressure.
Some experts in the blogosphere say the tools in question are aimed at optimizing database performance, suggesting that a $1,500 price bump might be worth the trouble for some enterprise customers who are trying to squeeze as much performance out of these systems as possible.
But when I first read about the price increases, it brought me back to some of the price gouging that CA was notorious for back in the mid-1990s. Just as banks, healthcare companies and companies in some industries are reliant upon Oracle’s database configuration management pack to help them meet their regulatory compliance requirements, many CA customers at the time felt they were trapped into using some of its mainframe-based systems management tools because there were few, if any options available to them in the market.
I’ll never forget the time I spoke to an IT manager from a power utility in the Northeast about CA’s licensing approach back then. He complained bitterly about a massive hike in his company’s annual license and maintenance bill, calling the price hikes nothing short of extortion.
‘Extortion’ is an inflammatory word that shouldn’t be used lightly. I’m not suggesting that the IT manager who uttered the word in reference to CA was mistaken. He was convinced that his company was wronged by the software cost increases. And the term may not apply to Oracle database customers, even if they are being forced to fork over more money at a time when CIOs are under tremendous strain to curb IT spending. But it is a tough time to ask enterprise customers to shell out more without explaining the rationale for a higher sticker price.
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