Is it worth taking advantage of Oracle Support Rewards Program Savings

What is the Oracle Support Rewards Program

Oracle rewards Oracle technology license support customers for using OCI Universal Credits purchase and consumption. Now they can earn at least 25 cents of Support Rewards for each dollar of OCI Universal Credits they use. 

“OCI is Oracle’s fastest growing business because we built a unique Generation 2 cloud infrastructure platform capable of running the most demanding mission-critical workloads faster, more reliably, and more securely than our on-premises systems,” said Oracle Chairman of the Board and Chief Technology Officer Larry Ellison. “We want to enable more customers to take advantage of our Gen 2 Oracle Cloud Infrastructure. Oracle Support Rewards gives customers an easy way to simultaneously reduce their software support spend as they increase the speed of their cloud adoption.”

How to Calculate the Benefits

Three Ways you can get the Most out of Oracle Support Rewards

Example 1: Migrate a few new workloads to OCI for substantial support savings

Let’s say you start with a $1M annual Oracle technology support bill and spend $2M on OCI for two new workloads. In this scenario, you’ll earn $500k in Oracle Support Rewards, reducing your annual bill by half.

Example 2: Migrate more and reduce your support bill to Zero

What if you identify four new workloads to run on OCI? No problem. With an existing $1M Oracle technology support bill, plus $4M additional OCI spend, you’ll earn $1M in Oracle Support Rewards, cutting your bill to $0.

Example 3: Use your support savings towards an OCI Dedicated Region

For this example, let’s start with $1.5M annual Oracle technology support bill. You identify eight new workloads to move to OCI Dedicated Region and spend $6M. In this scenario, you’ll earn $1.5M in Oracle Support Rewards, and reduce your support bill to $0.

What OCI Services can I Consume?

• OCI, including Autonomous Database, Compute, etc.
• UCM portions of Gen 2 Cloud@Customer, including Exadata, Dedicated Region, etc.

Wait There’s More that You can Save

Combine Support Rewards with OCI Discounts to save even more

* ULA customers earn rewards at a higher rate than non-ULA customers

How can you find out more?

Do read the detailed FAQ’s below or just speak to our experts and they will help guide you on the savings that your organization can make with leveraging latest Cloud infrastructure from Oracle.

Oracle Support Rewards Program FAQs

• What is the Oracle Support Rewards program?
  Oracle Support Rewards is a program that provides additional value to Oracle’s on-premises software customers who also consume Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) services. Customers earn support rewards based on their consumption of OCI services that are then applied as a form of payment for their Software Update License and Support for Oracle Technology Programs.
• Who is eligible for this program?
  Customers using Oracle’s on-premises software become eligible for Oracle Support Rewards when they enter a new Universal Credits order and begin consuming OCI. OCI Pay As You Go customers are not eligible at this time.
• Is this program available globally?
  Yes. This is available in all regions at launch, except for US Public Sector.
• Is Bring Your Own License (BYOL) eligible for the program?
  Yes, BYOL services on the Universal Credits Model (UCM) rate card are eligible for the program.
• Is Oracle applications support eligible?
  No, but customers can contact their cloud applications rep for details on our incentives, such as Customer 2 Cloud, for moving applications to the cloud.
• Do I accrue rewards using every OCI service?
  Almost every OCI service is eligible. Consumption services and offerings that include third parties such as VMware, Microsoft, and Oracle Cloud Marketplace are not eligible.
• Do I accrue rewards for my Oracle SaaS usage?
  No. Though Oracle Cloud Applications run on Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, Oracle Cloud Applications such as Oracle Cloud ERP are not eligible.
• Can I accrue rewards for Oracle Cloud@Customer?
  Yes. A customer can accrue rewards for the portion that is delivered under UCM, but the subscription portion for the base rack is not eligible.
• Do I only accrue rewards for Oracle software or workloads?
  No. Any workload on OCI can accrue rewards. Paid consumption of any eligible OCI service running Oracle software, custom applications, ISV applications, and so on can earn rewards.
• Are Promotions, Trials, or Free Tier Services eligible for this program?
  No, this program is not available for proof of concept/trial customers, nor those using Free Tier services.
• If I purchase UCM through a reseller, can I earn rewards?
  Yes, the Support Rewards belong to the “Sold To” on the UCM order. UCM orders through a reseller do not affect the customer’s ability to purchase, consume, and accrue Support Rewards.
• What if I renew my technology license support through an Oracle Support Renewal Partner?
  In certain cases, authorized Oracle Support Renewal Partners manage the technology license support renewal for end users. In such cases, the end user can authorize the redemption of their rewards to their Oracle Support Renewal Partner.
• How are rewards accrued?
  As OCI services are consumed, customers accrue Support Rewards to apply as a form of payment to any open invoice for on-premises support of Oracle technology programs.
• What are the accrual rates?
  This will vary based on the customer scenario. For customers who have a current Unlimited License Agreement (ULA), rewards will accrue at 33% (US$0.33 for each US$1.00 of consumption). For all others, rewards accrue at 25% (US$0.25 for each US$1.00 of consumption).
• How is it determined if a customer is eligible for the ULA accrual rate vs. the non-ULA Oracle Technology Programs rate?
  ULA eligibility applies to all entities included in the ULA. If the customer has a mix of ULA and non-ULA, we will include all UCM consumption at the ULA rate.
• When are the earned Oracle Support Rewards calculated?
  Oracle Support Rewards are earned and calculated at the end of each month, based on the total monthly consumption of OCI resources and the customer’s Oracle Support Rewards accrual rate.
• How is Total Monthly Consumption of OCI resources calculated?
  Total monthly consumption is calculated by multiplying the (unit net price) x (actual usage) of eligible OCI services. Unit net price is specified in the rate card of the order, or seen in the Oracle Cloud Console.
• When do Oracle Support Rewards start accruing?
  Oracle Support Rewards starts accruing only when the services period for the new order is active. Rewards accrued prior to November 2021 will accumulate and be deposited into the customer’s Rewards account, be available for redemption on November 2021, and be valid for 12 months from that date.
• How long are Oracle Support Rewards valid?
  Oracle Support Rewards are valid for 12 months following the date they are accrued and deposited in the customer’s Rewards account. If unused at the end of the period, these rewards will expire. For example, rewards accrued and deposited in the customer’s Rewards account at the end of December 2021 will expire at the end of December 2022.
• How do consumption overages count towards Oracle Support Rewards accrual?
  Consumption overages during the services period count no differently than normal consumption.
• Is there a limit to the amount a customer can accrue?
  No, there is no limit to the amount of Oracle Support Rewards a customer can accrue.
• Where does the customer see their rewards accrued?
  This capability will be available in early fall 2021. Customers will see their Support Rewards in the OCI console under “Account Management” and “Support Rewards.”
• Can Oracle Support Rewards be used to pay the tax on a support invoice?
  Taxes cannot be paid with rewards. Only the pre-tax invoice amount can be paid with rewards.
• Can Oracle Support Rewards be redeemed for cash or any other type of currency?
  No. Oracle Support Rewards can only be applied to Oracle Technology Programs invoices and cannot be exchanged for cash or any other form of currency.
• In what order are rewards redeemed?
  Rewards are redeemed in the order they are earned.
• Can the rewards expiration period be extended past 12 months?
  No, the rewards are issued monthly in arrears, and will be valid for 12 months from the date of issuance. We are unable to reactivate expired rewards.
• Can rewards be used for Oracle Technology products available on a subscription basis?
  No, Support Rewards redemption is limited to support renewals with Software Update License & Support for Oracle Technology Programs; products such as Java and some MySQL offerings available on a subscription basis are excluded as these include both license and support. Oracle Linux products also are not eligible.
• Can a customer delay paying a support invoice in anticipation of usage rewards that are accumulated during future months?

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