Tag: deals

Oracle’s cloud deals questioned

Posted on July 13, 2015 by - News

Pic Mike MageeOracle appears to be forcing corporate clients to buy its cloud products using a complex orchestrated legal maneuver in the dark.

Business Insider claims that Oracle is pressuring some of its customers to add cloud to their contracts that they neither want nor plan to use by using a tactic insiders call “the nuclear option”.

After stuffing up its revenue and profits in the quarter that is traditionally its strongest, Oracle is under pressure. However Oracle’s CEO, Safra Catz, said  analysts blew past its own internal expectations for cloud computing sales. Cloud accounted for about $2.3 billion out of $38.2 billion in revenue.

Chairman Larry Ellison said that was great because every $1 million of cloud contract is worth $10 million over the life of the deal, compared to being worth $3 million for a typical software contract.

But Business Insider claims that Oracle is using its software licences to force customers into these lucrative contracts.

Oracle licenses its software under complex legal conditions. Users have to pay for Oracle software using a variety of metrics such as how many are using the software and which features of the software are being used.

Oracle makes it extremely easy for admins to turn on new features or add more users, and then pay for that increased usage later. That system involves an “audit.”

Much of the time, an audit is used as a sales tactic. Instead of simply paying a big bill, the customer agrees to buy more over the long haul.

If Oracle thinks the customer is really abusing the terms, it whips out the “breach notice,” which warns a customer that they are in violation and must stop using all Oracle software in 30 days.

That’s risky, because it allows the customer to walk away from its Oracle contracts.

They can’t really do that because it can take years to change a database and Oracle is giving them a month or forces them to negotiate.

When they do Oracle says they will have to pay an outrageously high out-of-compliance fine or add cloud “credits” to the contract.

Until this year, Oracle didn’t lightly use the “nuclear option” breach notice but now it is using it even more.

Oracle had an especially good quarter selling cloud in the EU were it was used six times so far in 2015. Business Insider said that it is being used more and more and Oracle is becoming more aggressive

Huawei loses out on US contracts

Posted on May 31, 2013 by - News

huawei-liveHuawei, which sparked unwanted publicity yesterday when its chief security exec told reporters it was standard practice for governments to spy on each other, has apparently been pushed out in the planned acquisition of Sprint by SotfBank.

The £20.1 billion deal, which has been cleared by the US Committee on Foreign Investment, and is now awaiting the nod from one more US regulation body, has had a restriction on  third-party supplier over allegations of Chinese spying.

According to Bloomberg this means that the pair involved in the deal had to reassure those above that they would limit the use of telecommunications gear made by Huawei as well as ZTE.

They also had to agree that they would remove “certain equipment” by Huawei and allow all American vendors to provide the tech instead.

The US is fearful that Huawei and ZTE use their gear for snooping.

Yesterday Huawei’s head of security operations and ex British government CIO John Suffolk claimed that governments had always embarked on such practices.

His comments followed claims that the company had gained access to secret designs of US weapons, which it had managed to steal from Australia’s new intelligence agency headquarters.

Primark and Domino’s do well

Posted on February 26, 2013 by - News

domsIt seems the current economic climate hasn’t got in the way of fast food fans, with Domino’s Pizza announcing that our appetite for the “treat” will help it generate 1,500 jobs this year.

The news comes after the cheesy chain, which promises to deliver within 30 mins, announced that it had sold 61 million pizzas last year, resulting in its 2012 annual profits rising by 11 percent to £46.7 million.

However, it admitted that on average its serving area was small, estimating that on average 19 percent of households were customers.

As a result the company has baked a plan to create more franchise-run stores as part of a drive for around 1,200 outlets, which it hopes will expand its customer waistlines, reach.

More than half of sales were made online, with 56 percent accounting for internet orders  compared to 44 percent a year earlier.

The chain said the rise was as a result of a range of factors. This included store openings, online demand, new stuffed-crust products and a busy summer of sporting events.

Its UK franchisees opened 57 new shops – taking the total to 727.

However 2013 had seen a flat start as a result of the snowy weather which  forced 498 UK stores to close at some point during the first seven weeks of the year.

And it’s not just Domino’s which is raking in the cash, with Associated British Foods claiming it will see a rise in its profits this year as a result of its clothing arm Primark riding high on the highstreet waves.

The company said sales at the cheap clothing chain had risen by 25 percent in the last six months and by seven percent from shops which had been open at least a year.

Over this period the company had opened 15 new stores, including a second store on London’s Oxford Street.