August 02, 2018

July 27, 2018 | David Bass | Manager, Global Oracle Application Support Services

It is a common misconception that leaving Oracle support and joining a third-party support provider like Spinnaker Support inhibits IT innovation. However, my 15 years of experience indicates that companies find third-party support providers liberate the IT team to innovate and modernize by replacing Oracle’s dispassionate one-size fits all self-service model. Spinnaker Support delivers responsive, connected, and customer-centric support from Oracle experts, under a surprisingly affordable price point that offers an average annual savings of 60+%. When customers discover our support is actually supportive, they assign their newly liberated resources to strategic priorities.

Why Third-Party Support is the Right Choice for Your Oracle Innovation Roadmap

Spinnaker Support customers typically fall into two categories: (1) Those that still find full business value with their current Oracle enterprise landscape and want to optimize the substantial investment made in their ERP systems. (2) Those that want to move to a cloud ERP solution and are seeking ways to select, develop, and fund that innovation.

Option 1:  When Remaining On-Premise is Your Preference

Support should elevate your experience with Oracle’s powerful solutions. Because—with great support—these existing tools can drive your business forward. Customers that wish to retain their current on-premise solution for a few years still innovate under third-party support. As part of our onboarding process, Spinnaker Support will archive the latest Oracle software to which you are entitled, enabling you to upgrade when you decide the time is right.  Unlike Oracle, Spinnaker Support does not have an end-of-life support policy; you control your ERP roadmap. We will never de-support or charge a premium fee to support a proven and stable product.

We view ourselves as a critical extension of your team—on the hook when you need us and at the ready even when you think you don’t.

Option 2: A Faster Journey to Cloud Solutions

The second group of customers are those that plan to move their IT landscape to the cloud but are struggling to build a viable business case to support this expensive reimplementation. Replacing costly Oracle support enables businesses to fund a well-planned IT roadmap that can keep them moving forward while industry-specific cloud applications are developed and matured.

Many use the substantial support savings to invest in peripheral cloud solutions. This ‘hybrid’ landscape approach has surfaced as the optimal solution to support the business. It is one of the safest and most strategic ways to keep core Oracle functions on-premise while taking advantage of the best-of-breed cloud solutions available today. Importantly, as part of our standard support service, Spinnaker Support will ensure ongoing interoperability between new cloud solutions and your core Oracle ERP applications.

We help customers position themselves more effectively to take advantage of future innovation that matches their unique business needs without locking you into one vendor. We offer a choice and freedom. Our Oracle support engineers understand your applications and know the surrounding technology requirements, i.e., operating systems, databases, browsers, and interfaces all under one team.

Our customers often use the time with Spinnaker Support to review and harmonize their existing business processes, decide on cloud vendors, and complete prerequisite steps. Spinnaker Support provides technical advisory and consultancy services where we assist with planning your IT roadmap.

Additionally, as part of your standard Spinnaker Support services, we will aid in the process of re-joining Oracle should you decide to move back to vendor-provided support down the road. Oracle customers can make further technology advancements with unbiased advice from Spinnaker Support’s team of experts and implement business process improvements with best-of-breed industry solutions.

We actually believe your wins are our wins. Like the first time we clean out your ticket queue and get you to zero backlog. Or the 30-minute response to a P1 ticket. We find joy in the relationship you build with a support engineer who knows your account intimately. And when we help unlock value—resulting in more time, more resources, or more opportunities to grow your business—it’s the biggest win of all. It’s support reimagined.

Because support should actually be supportive.

Learn more about Oracle third-party support with Spinnaker Support and how to fund your innovation. Don’t get locked into another year of overpriced and under delivered Oracle support.