Licensing
West Northamptonshire Council’s Saves £1 Million on Microsoft in Post-Merger License Consolidation
In an era of tightening public sector budgets, a £1 million saving is a significant victory for taxpayers. West Northamptonshire Council (WNC) has achieved just that, securing approximately $1.25 million USD in savings through a renewed and consolidated software licensing agreement with Microsoft.¹ This achievement is more than just a successful negotiation; it is a…
Read MoreHow Kerala’s Schools Saved $360 Million by Swtching to Open Source
In the world of public sector IT, a savings of a few million dollars is considered a major victory. The southern Indian state of Kerala, however, has achieved something on a completely different scale. By systematically replacing proprietary software with a custom Linux-based operating system across its government schools, the state has realized an estimated…
Read MoreA Turning Point for Digital Sovereignty in the Netherlands
In a striking move on March 18, 2025, the Dutch Parliament approved a series of motions urging the government to reduce its dependence on U.S. software companies. These measures emphasize the creation of a national cloud services platform under full Dutch control and push for the active development of European alternatives. Motivations: Autonomy, Cybersecurity, and…
Read MoreThe Best-Kept Secret is Out: Red Hat Confirms No-Cost RHEL is for Businesses Too
In a move aimed at clearing long-standing confusion and countering the rise of community-driven clones, Red Hat has explicitly clarified its stance on the use of its no-cost Red Hat Enterprise Linux (RHEL) subscription. For years, a “best-kept secret” among savvy IT professionals was that the free “Red Hat Developer Subscription for Individuals” could be…
Read MoreA New Deal for Europe: Microsoft Unveils Consumption-Based Licensing for Windows Server
Microsoft has announced a significant change to its licensing model for Windows Server in Europe, introducing a new “Cloud-Optimized” option that allows local cloud providers to offer the ubiquitous operating system on a pay-as-you-go basis.² This move, which directly addresses long-standing complaints of anti-competitive behavior, is a major concession aimed at leveling the playing field…
Read MoreA Final Reprieve: Microsoft Announces Paid Extended Security Updates for Exchange and Skype Servers
Microsoft has officially announced a paid Extended Security Update (ESU) program for Exchange Server 2016 and 2019, offering a six-month window of continued security patches beyond the products’ end-of-support date. The move is a direct response to customer feedback, providing a crucial, albeit temporary, lifeline for organizations that are in the process of migrating but…
Read MoreThe Price of Freedom: Confronting the Sustainability Crisis in Open Source
The modern digital world, a multi-trillion dollar economy of cloud computing, artificial intelligence, and global connectivity, is built upon a foundation that is paradoxically both immensely powerful and dangerously fragile. This foundation is free and open-source software (FOSS), a vast ecosystem of tools and components often maintained by a handful of volunteers. For decades, the…
Read MoreOracle’s Database@AWS Launch Signals Multicloud Pivot While Preserving License Revenue Streams
Oracle’s recent launch of Database@AWS represents a fundamental strategic shift that simultaneously embraces multicloud flexibility while ingeniously preserving the company’s lucrative perpetual licensing model. The general availability announcement, coupled with aggressive Bring Your Own License (BYOL) incentives offering 76% cost savings, reveals a sophisticated approach to maintaining market relevance in an increasingly cloud-native world while…
Read MoreVMware Extended Support Lifecycles Signal Strategic Retreat Amid Customer Backlash
In a significant strategic pivot that reflects mounting enterprise resistance to Broadcom’s aggressive licensing overhaul, VMware has fundamentally altered its product development approach by extending release cycles from two to three years while simultaneously expanding support lifecycles. The changes, announced alongside the general availability of VMware Cloud Foundation 9.0, represent what industry analysts characterize as…
Read MoreMicrosoft’s Concessions to European Cloud Providers: A Stalling Tactic or a Step to Fair Competition?
A recent agreement between Microsoft and Cloud Infrastructure Services Providers in Europe (CISPE) has brought a new chapter to the long-running saga of antitrust scrutiny faced by the software giant in the region.[2] After a formal complaint was filed in November 2022, Microsoft has offered a series of concessions aimed at appeasing European cloud providers…
Read MoreOracle Java Audits Surge: 73% of Users Targeted as Licensing Changes Drive Mass Migration to Open Source
A startling new survey has revealed the extent of Oracle’s aggressive audit campaign targeting Java users, with nearly three out of four organizations reporting they have been audited within the past three years. The findings, which paint a picture of an industry under siege from escalating compliance costs and licensing complexity, are driving an unprecedented…
Read MoreVMware Reboots Partner Program Again: Smaller Cloud Providers Face Uncertain Future
In a move that has sent shockwaves through the virtualization industry, VMware has announced the second major overhaul of its partner program in just 18 months, effectively ending the current channel program and transitioning to a new invitation-only model that will exclude many smaller cloud service providers. The announcement, which came with little advance warning,…
Read MoreThe Hire and License Out (HALO) Effect
Since AI became mainstream, a new type of transaction has emerged that is fundamentally changing how tech giants acquire talent and technology. These deals, dubbed “HALO” transactions, an acronym for “Hire and License Out”, represent a novel approach to talent acquisition that shares characteristics of both traditional hiring and corporate acquisitions, yet isn’t quite either[1].…
Read MoreTelefónica Germany Ditches Broadcom, Opts for Third-Party VMware Support
In a move that sends a clear signal to the rest of the industry, Telefónica Germany, one of the country’s largest telecommunications providers, has dropped direct VMware support from Broadcom. The company has instead signed a multi-year deal with third-party support specialist Spinnaker Support. This decision reflects the growing dissatisfaction among large enterprise customers following…
Read MoreThe End of Ownership: More Software Licensing Upheaval is on the Horizon for SAP Customers
The world of enterprise software is in a state of perpetual flux, but the ground is shifting more rapidly than ever under the feet of IT leaders and procurement managers. Recent years have seen a relentless wave of licensing changes from major vendors, and according to industry analysts, this is not a temporary storm but…
Read MoreThe Great U-Turn: Citrix Re-Embraces VMware and Hyper-V in a Post-Broadcom World
In a stunning reversal of a long-standing and often controversial policy, Citrix has announced it will once again support mainstream hypervisors from VMware and Microsoft in its flagship virtual desktop platform.² This strategic U-turn, which abandons a policy designed to push customers onto Citrix’s own hypervisor, is a direct and calculated response to the seismic…
Read MoreRimini Street and Oracle Reach Historic Settlement, Ending 15-Year Legal Battle
After more than a decade and a half of contentious litigation, enterprise software support company Rimini Street, Inc. (NASDAQ: RMNI) and technology giant Oracle Corporation have reached a confidential settlement agreement that may finally bring closure to one of the software industry’s most protracted legal disputes. The settlement, announced on July 7, 2025, resolves the…
Read MoreA New Deal for DC: GSA and Oracle Ink Landmark “Whole-of-Government” Agreement
The US General Services Administration (GSA) has brokered a landmark, five-year “whole-of-government” agreement with Oracle, fundamentally changing how the federal government buys the tech giant’s products and services.¹ This first-of-its-kind deal for Oracle establishes a single, comprehensive procurement vehicle that consolidates the immense buying power of the entire US government. It aims to simplify purchasing,…
Read MoreA Victory for Software Ownership: Dutch Agency Wins Landmark Right to Resell Oracle Licenses
A Dutch public procurement agency has won a landmark legal victory against Oracle, securing the right to resell its surplus perpetual software licenses on the secondary market.¹ The ruling from a Dutch court in mid-2025 is a powerful affirmation of customer rights in the European Union and deals a significant blow to software vendors’ attempts…
Read MoreDay of Reckoning for the Channel: Microsoft’s ‘Great Squeeze’ Hits, Forcing Industry-Wide Reinvention
The theoretical impact of Microsoft’s strategic overhaul of its Enterprise Agreement (EA) program has finally materialized with brutal clarity. In a stark announcement, London-listed Bytes Technology Group (BTG) revealed its profits are being hit hard, causing its shares to plummet by more than 25%.¹ While the company cited a “challenging macroeconomic environment” leading to deferred…
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