When I used to work at Oracle LMS, the paycheck of an auditor did not depend on the outcome of a customer case. There was indeed no financial incentive, in order to remain as impartial as possible. And it really worked.
If your financial books are audited by someone who’s paid depending on an additional tax bill, you would be deeply worried (and be living under a corrupted regime).
Nowdays, auditors get that bonus and have an annual target of approximately US$ 5.000.000 each. Oracle LMS employees will however defend their independent position, stating they are a division of Oracle Finance, and are no part of Sales. While this is true, it doesn’t mean that Oracle LMS is any longer impartial: For many years, Oracle’s headcount is funded by Sales. And yes, being funded by sales comes with a bonus package. It’s a no-brainer. A few quoted profiles from Oracle LMS employees on Linkedin say enough:
Manager, License Management Services – North America, East:
Experience:
-Managed a team of up to 9 consultants covering the LMS business for the East region of North America with a revenue target of $44 million.
-Ensured team resource scheduling, budget management, financial reporting and forecasting
–Exceeded a team goal by over 30% and was named as a Manager of the Year for the 2011 fiscal year
Iberia LMS Manager for Oracle Corporation
Main Responsibilities:
Responsible for Iberia ( Spain and Portugal) for the revenue achievement in the department
Manager, Central North America – License Management Services:
Experience:
Cultivate talented individuals to support the role of LMS as an objective, independent resource for Oracle’s licensing policies, current and historical business practices, and effective software asset management strategies, while effectively budgeting team resources and managing engagement strategies to reach an annual revenue target in excess of $50M.
As we expect Oracle to ask all their LMS staff to kindly update their Linkedin profiles, we did download the full profiles in case anyone requests a proof at some time. We want to emphasize that we highlight Oracle’s audit process, and do not criticize the personal intentions of any professional working for LMS. Or, as Peter Drucker said: “The productivity of work is not the responsibility of the worker but of the manager.”
Many cooperate with Oracle is in good faith, expecting a reasonable and friendly engagement. But the real intent comes at the end of the salami slicing. And yes, often the claim can still be reduced with 90% and sometimes more. But if we would have been engaged form the start (while working in the background), many of the discussions could have been prevented in the first place. The pro-active approach results in a much quicker, less frustrating, friendlier and smoother engagement with no unexpected financial surprises. Upon request, our ever increasing amount of grateful clients can testify just that. So, if you receive an extremely friendly audit letter saying
- you got randomly selected by Oracle or an audit partner,
- that it’s a routine audit,
- you will get some great free advice during the engagement,
- it’s primary goal is to help you getting the most out of your Oracle investments:
Wake up. Company cultures are like country cultures: Never try to change one. Try, instead, to work with what you’ve got. Ask other companies who got audited by Oracle. They’ll confirm that you shouldn’t bring a knife to a gunfight.
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