DOD reels in SmartBuy deal with Oracle
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The Defense Department has placed more than 700 orders, worth $500 million, over the past six years under their agencywide enterprise software license contract with Oracle Corp.
The Defense Department has placed more than 700 orders, worth $500 million, over the past six years under their agencywide enterprise software license contract with Oracle Corp. Buying from the contract has saved between 2 percent and 84 percent, according to DOD.
DOD announced it has reworked its enterprise software license agreement with Oracle to go governmentwide under the SmartBuy program, allowing civilian agencies to get similar savings.
Oracle discounted its price on the General Services Administration's Federal Supply Service schedule by as much as 84 percent for its database product and as much as 16 percent for support and maintenance services. Agencies also can get up to 45 percent off other Oracle products, said Rex Bolton, DOD's SmartBuy program representative.
Extra discounts
'Oracle will be able to promote enterprise licensing, have more predictable revenue and increase its market share while reducing costs,' Bolton said, 'while the government receives additional discounts and improved terms and conditions.'
'It was important to us to be one of the first large software providers to be a part of this initiative,' said Mark Johnson, Oracle's senior vice president for the public sector.
The agreement also includes Oracle resellers such as DLT Solutions Inc. of Herndon, Va., Mythics Inc. of Virginia Beach, Va., and Northrop Grumman Corp.
The deal has been in the works for more than a year. GSA announced in January that an Oracle agreement was imminent, but it took nearly three months to finalize.
'For the first time, we are asking agencies to look at how we are buying things and buy them in a more strategic manner,' said David Safavian, administrator of the Office of Federal Procurement Policy. 'We are seeing dramatic price reductions in this Oracle deal because we approached it in a strategic manner. We will be working on other SmartBuy purchases going forward.'
Both DOD and Oracle officials said small agencies will benefit most from the agreement.
'There is no minimum order size to get the discounts,' Bolton said. 'And the expense to sell to small agencies will be reduced.'
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