Vendor support agreements have long been a sticking point for customers, and the Oracle Applications Unlimited (OAU) program is no different. The high costs and lack of flexibility associated with OAU puts its value into question and affects enterprises running on Oracle E-Business Suite, JD Edwards Enterprise One, PeopleSoft, Siebel CRM, Hyperion, and more.
As security remains high on the priority list for companies and IT leaders,1 and increasingly so with the rise of cyber-attacks, IT executives are put into a tough position – trying to find the funds to keep their systems secure while having enough left to invest in innovation and growth.
While the OAU program gives customers access to security patches and application updates which may be delivered through periodic upgrades at a cost of typically 22% of the annual license fees, applying changes to software introduces risk of compatibility issues with existing applications and customized software. That, in turn, can lead to system crashes, application errors, degraded performance, and downtime.2
These challenges and contradictions are prompting OAU customers to seek alternatives – including third-party support – to reduce cost, skip unneeded upgrades and consider strengthening their security posture without a dependency on vendor patches.
Increasing security risk and business impact
The security aspect can’t be overstated, with security risks increasing daily as cyber threats evolve and IT environments expand. Over 40,000 vulnerabilities were reported to NIST in 2024, an increase of over 10,000 vulnerabilities YoY.3
Breaches are also expensive. IBM put the latest global average cost of a data breach at $4.88 million, a 10% increase over 2023 and the highest total ever. Much of that cost is reputational in nature, as IBM reports “lost business” accounts for 30% ($1.47M) of the costs of a data breach on average. 4
Defense-in-depth and proactive vulnerability management
A defense-in-depth approach is paramount to protecting against security threats. Most companies implement multiple levels of protection using specific solutions to protect against specific risks. While patching individual vulnerabilities may be one part of that strategy, an alternative (or complementary) approach is to proactively remedy whole categories of weaknesses that lead to vulnerabilities.
Rimini Street, the global leader of third-party support for Oracle, forms a partnership with its clients and helps them identify such weaknesses. The team offers ongoing guidance and detailed, regular reviews of clients’ security posture, as well as proprietary information on how to stay protected.
With a long history dating back to 2005, securing thousands of clients in tightly regulated industries to address both their business and technical needs, Rimini Street’s security offering, Rimini Protect, provides guidance and support in 3 primary ways:
- Establishing an advisory relationship. Staying on top of active threats and vulnerabilities demands resources and expertise that organizations generally don’t have. The Rimini Protect team continually tracks cyber threats on a global basis, providing threat intelligence research that gives users options for addressing the vulnerabilities they face that go well beyond industry best practices.
- Understanding your current security posture. The Rimini Protect team conducts a security assessment to evaluate the risk posture of a client’s enterprise software as well existing security controls, network configurations, deployed applications, and policies. It follows and expands upon security guidance including the Open-Source Intelligence framework (OSINT), the Center for Internet Security (CIS) Benchmarks, and the Defense Information Systems Agency Security Technical Implementation Guides (STIGs).
- Addressing the remaining risk. Some risks cannot be mitigated through hardening guidance or security patches (if available). The Rimini Protect portfolio addresses security vulnerabilities as well as the underlying weaknesses that lead to those vulnerabilities, offering protection even against vulnerabilities that have yet to be discovered – and without requiring changes to the software being protected.
“A proactive defense strategy helps to protect against unknown or yet-to-be-discovered vulnerabilities that can be exploited at some point in time,” said Gabe Dimeglio, SVP & GM of Rimini Protect and Watch Solutions. “By getting ahead of bad actors and having a robust, proven method to immediately combat security breaches, organizations can help prevent the devastating impacts of cybersecurity breaches and the threats that lie-in-waiting for the perfect moment to attack.”
Breaking free from vendor support
Many companies that have elected to switch to third-party support and services typically no longer receive new patches – and they have not looked back.
For Ricoh, the Japan-based provider of integrated digital services, selecting Rimini Support and Rimini Protect for its Oracle EBS applications proved to be a powerful combination that helped keep systems secure while freeing up critical resources for other strategic projects.
“Rimini Street offers an attractive service that has saved us hundreds of millions of yen in upgrade costs. They provide highly skilled support engineers who can cover major ERP and database systems and protect them too,” said Keisuki Hamanaka, Deputy General Manager, Process, IT and Data Management at Ricoh. “Rimini Street is the only partner that can support the Japanese market with the high-quality support and protection we need, at a price that aligns with our financial goals.”5
The dilemma of what to do about risk mitigation shouldn’t be a barrier to any organization’s growth. Rimini Street gives organizations a robust third-party support option for turning application support into a competitive advantage.
“Our proactive approach reduces support costs, provides critical security support, and allows our customers to make the most out of their significant application investments,” Dimeglio says. “It’s a sound alternative when new enterprise software features lack any business imperative, and more priority projects can be delivered leveraging those unlocked funds and resources by choosing Rimini Street.”
No need to sacrifice innovation for security
As cyber-crime continues to rise, IT leaders must evolve their security strategy. Embracing a proactive, multi-layered approach to protecting enterprise software investments, including Oracle applications, can provide organizations with peace of mind. At the same time, the approach frees up resources needed to invest in the strategic IT initiatives that matter most to the business.
With the right third-party support, no longer do IT leaders need to choose between protection and innovation. Follow the path of hundreds of Oracle clients who have achieved flexibility, security and deep savings with Rimini Street.
To learn more about how Rimini Street can help businesses secure their Oracle applications, visit the Rimini Protect page.
1CIO: 7 tough IT security discussions every IT leader must have
2 Linford & co LLp: Navigating the Risks of Patch Management: Security & Stability in IT Systems
3CVE Details
4IBM. (2024). Cost of a Data Breach Report 2024
5https://www.riministreet.com/clients/ricoh/
