Once you certify, your deployed quantities become perpetual licenses you own, and you can support them yourself, through Oracle, or through a third party provider. Third party support can cut the ongoing support stream sharply, but only after a clean certification and only for the right estate.
Yes. When you certify, the quantities you had deployed convert into perpetual licenses that you own outright, and perpetual Oracle licenses can be supported by an independent third party provider instead of Oracle. The sequence matters: the certification has to be complete and clean before you consider leaving Oracle support, because once you are off Oracle support you lose access to patches and the practical ability to certify or true up. That makes third party support a decision for after the exit, never during it. The specific terms always depend on your contract and the products involved.
Certify first, then choose how to support. The certified count is the asset. How you maintain it afterward is a separate decision, and confusing the two can cost you the chance to maximize the count.
Third party support is maintenance for your Oracle perpetual licenses provided by an independent firm rather than by Oracle. Because the licenses are perpetual and yours after certification, you are entitled to keep using them whether or not you pay Oracle for support. Third party providers offer break fix support, tax and regulatory updates for some products, and help with existing versions, typically at a price well below Oracle annual support for the same estate. The saving is on the ongoing support stream, not on the licenses themselves, which you already own. For a large certified estate that is stable, the annual difference can be substantial.
The headline benefit is cost. Third party support is generally priced materially below Oracle support for the same licenses, so an organization with a large, stable Oracle footprint can reduce its annual maintenance spend significantly. The clear trade off is access. Leaving Oracle support means no new Oracle patches, no version upgrades, and no new releases for the products you move. That suits an estate running supported, stable versions that you do not plan to upgrade for several years. It suits less well an estate in the middle of an Oracle upgrade programme or one that depends on a steady stream of vendor patches. The right answer is a function of your roadmap and your security posture, not of price alone.
A manufacturer certified a large database estate out of its ULA and found that most of it ran on a stable version with no upgrade planned for several years. After the certification was closed and the perpetual entitlement documented, it moved the stable portion of the estate to third party support and kept Oracle support only on the products it expected to upgrade. The blended annual support cost fell meaningfully, while the upgrade path stayed open where it mattered. The split approach depended entirely on the estate being stable and the certification being clean first. Figures are indicative and the outcome depends on the specific contract and roadmap.
The decision is a roadmap decision as much as a cost one, and a few checks should come before any move.
Third party support is one lever in managing the cost of a certified estate, and it works best alongside the others rather than in isolation. Optimizing which products you actually need, retiring deployment you no longer use, and keeping your compliance position clean all shape what the support decision should be. A clean certification, a documented entitlement, and standing governance are the foundation that makes a third party support move safe rather than risky. The cost saving is real, but it is the reward for having done the certification properly, not a substitute for it.
If your certification is closed and your estate is stable, model the blended support cost across third party and Oracle support before you commit either way. Start with the post certification audit pillar guide, then read the support repricing myth debunked and optimizing the estate you certified.
Yes. Once you certify, the deployed quantities become perpetual licenses that you own, and perpetual licenses can be supported by a third party provider rather than Oracle. The certification has to be complete and clean first, because leaving Oracle support removes your access to patches and the ability to easily true up, so the decision belongs after the exit, not during it. The terms depend on your contract.
Third party support is typically priced well below Oracle annual support for the same licenses, so the saving is on the ongoing support stream rather than the licenses themselves. The trade off is no access to new Oracle patches, updates, or version upgrades, so it suits stable estates on supported versions more than estates planning major Oracle upgrades. The right answer depends on your roadmap and risk tolerance.
Confirm the certification is fully closed and your perpetual entitlement is documented, because you cannot easily certify or true up once you are off Oracle support. Check whether you need future patches or upgrades, the security posture of running without vendor updates, and whether any product in your estate has dependencies that make leaving harder. This is a roadmap decision as much as a cost one, and it should follow a clean certification.
Book a confidential assessment and we will make sure your certification is clean and documented first, then help you weigh third party support against your roadmap on the facts.