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ARTICLE · 10 JANUARY 2020

VMware Virtualization And The Oracle Audit: What Every Oracle Customer Needs To Know About The "Installed And/Or Running" Language Of The Processor Definition

Oracle claims that all servers running the VMware software require an Oracle license even when there is no Oracle software installed on them.

United StatesAccounting and Audit

From public documents, we know that the standard Oracle License and Services Agreement ("OLSA") and the newer Oracle Master Agreement ("OMA") typically provide Oracle with the right to audit the use of Oracle software by its customers, provided that the audit does not unreasonably interfere with the customer's normal business operations. The contract allows Oracle to, in effect, take a snapshot of a customer's Oracle software usage at a certain point in time, but it does not allow Oracle to go rummaging around and looking through other customer systems and data, which have no relation to Oracle software. Under the OLSA, customers pay Oracle a licensing fee only on those processors where Oracle software is used; i.e. where it is "installed" or is "running". Although the OLSA does not entitle Oracle to audit servers not running Oracle, in the last few years Oracle has sought to stretch the "installed and/or running" language of the processor definition when a customer is

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