What price Essbase?
I can(‘t) get it for you wholesale
Oft times when I set pen to paper, I endeavor to get the geeky part of whatever I write just as accurately as I can manage to do. Yes, I get bits wrong – Hah! You’ll never, probably, know ‘cos I have a legion of haters fans who read my missives to you, Gentle Reader, with the zeal of Carrie Nation coming across Harry’s New York Bar whilst travelling Europe on $5 a day (‘natch, back home the 18th Amendment has shut down the honest whistle-wetting establishments so she’s got to go overseas) and, upon finding a teensy-weensy error on my part (Essbase is a very large egg that has gone off? Planning is a color that reminds me of love? I am a genius as yet undiscovered? Non sequiturs are my chosen métier? ) point it out to me most lickety-split so that I may thus correct it before you even know it. – but they’re generally fixed just as soon as I can mutter culpa mea culpa and try to atone for the error of my ways.
Whew. Did I lose you? I know I lost myself but, through advanced navigation skills, have found myself again.
Unhappily, this post finds me (sorry, could not resist) in the unenviable position of an almost certainty of being corrected because: none of this is technical, some of the information came to me secondhand, I’m making wild SWAGs about the mix of products, and, as Barbie once infamously said, “Math class is hard”.
Money makes the world go round
On my laptop resides a Windows VM. On that VM runs Windows 2008 Server (legally purchased I might note). On that Windows install runs (most of) EPM 11.1.2.4. You almost certainly have access to something like this. You’ve paid for it (you’d better, Oracle customers, or an audit from Hell aka Oracle Contracts is almost certainly on its way), or you’re using it to evangelize the glories of Oracle software for free (Hah!, a second time because we all know I am far too lazy and stupid to ever profit from this blog.) and thus can use it for educational purposes which I fervently hope is tickety-boo with Oracle. No matter how you’re here, you have a server(s), and someone installed Essbase and EPM and everything that goes with that.
If you’re using it in a commercial on-premises context, you’re paying for it. There’s an upfront license fee and then a yearly maintenance charge equivalent to 22% of Essbase’s (or EPM-whatever’s) list price. The server you run it on, the OS that surrounds Essbase, the relational database that supports EPM repositories, the backup software your firm buys, the antivirus package, the data center, etc., etc., etc., belong to your employer. You (or your company) get to choose Linux over Windows, the Oracle Database over SQL Server, and so on down the line as you configure what makes Essbase your Essbase. The choices and the costs are yours.
Essbase aka Oracle Analytics Cloud is totally different.
In the OAC cloud there are no: local installs, VMs that you can see, payments to infrastructure consultants, patches, supporting software, or data centers and their server farms. Other than the choice of buying Essbase in the cloud, there simply aren’t any choices to make; that’s all in Oracle’s bailiwick because Essbase Cloud is a PaaS product. There are however monthly payments. Some of these we can tease out but others Remain A Mystery that only an Oracle sales representative can answer.
Can’t means won’t and won’t means jail
No prison pallor is on the menu, but I can’t really know what you pay for on-premises Essbase nor can I tell you what Oracle will actually sell Essbase Cloud for. The former is unknown because I haven’t (and don’t want to – there’s a reason I never got that JD) read your firm’s contract. The latter is because, as my very first real world boss said, “Everything’s negotiable.” I can say that generally there’s a 30% to 35% discount from list price on many of Oracle’s products but what you’ll actually pay is known only to you, your Oracle sales representative, and God. Good luck.
What can I do through this post? Break down all of the bits and bobs that actually comprise an Essbase Cloud instance because it’s not as clear as you might think. With that information, you can berate/beseech/bargain with your Oracle sales representative when it comes down to cash on the proverbial barrelhead. At least you’ll be forearmed when the reality distortion field known as a Sales Call envelops you.
What does it take to get to the cost of an Essbase Cloud instance?
I am, alas, not a wise old owl although with my glasses I do look a bit owlish so there’s that.
So just what are the components of an Essbase Cloud instance? I’m not at all sure how one would figure that out based on OAC’s pricing page which really doesn’t list what it takes to truly run OAC.
I’m not a lawyer but I play one on TV
OMG, the documents you’ll read to figure out what really and truly makes up and how much an Essbase Cloud instance costs.
To start with, take a look at
- Oracle Cloud Services home page, specifically the Oracle Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service – Public Cloud Service Descriptions-Metered & Non-Metered pdf. This link is as of the date of writing, 17 May 2017 so be aware that it will change.
What you see below is my best guess as to what a customer actually needs to buy to get OAC at his company. I could be – maybe am – wrong on this but as noted, this is what I can suss out. I’ll correct this as I get corrections.
There’s nothing secret here; your sales representative tell you all of this anyway (and as noted may correct some bits). Regardless of the final validity of this information, my naiveté re just what makes up a cloud product appears to be without end: I had no idea it took this many components.
Non-metered
For non-metered usage, Essbase Cloud is comprised of:
Part
|
Description
|
Service type
|
Purpose
|
B87390
– or –
B87389
|
Oracle Analytics Cloud– Standard – Non-Metered – OCPU
-- or –
Oracle Analytics Cloud - Enterprise- Non-Metered – OCPU
|
PaaS
|
Essbase
|
B83531
|
Oracle Database Cloud Service - Standard Edition - General Purpose - Non-metered- Hosted Environment
|
PaaS
|
Database, Oracle, metadata, for the use of
|
B83543
|
Oracle Database Backup Cloud Service – Non-metered - TB of Storage Capacity
|
PaaS
|
Backup of Oracle database
|
B85643
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service - Compute Capacity - 1 OCPU - Non-Metered
|
IaaS
|
CPU support for the Oracle database
|
B83456
|
Oracle Storage Cloud Service – Non-metered - TB of Storage Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
B83455
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service - Block Storage - Non-metered -TB of Storage
Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
There are two paths to non-metered Essbase aka Oracle Analytic Cloud. I believe but am not sure that the Enterprise product has full fat BICS as well as everything else in OAC. See, I lied (again) when I wrote that this post would be uncorrectable.
- B87390 Oracle Analytics Cloud– Standard – Non-Metered – OCPU which includes: Essbase, BICS Mobile, 50 named users of Data Visualizer desktop per OCPU, Smart View for all users, and however many OCPUs you buy.
- B87389 Oracle Analytics Cloud - Enterprise- Non-Metered – OCPU which includes: BICS Mobile, 50 named users of Data Visualizer desktop per OCPU, Smart View for all users, one BICS administrator (I believe the significance of this is that Enterprise OAC is full BICS), and however many OCPUs you buy..
Metered
NB – It’s not clear to me if metered and non-metered services can be combined, e.g. could a customer buy non-metered OAC but metered Storage? OMG, have I mentioned who has the answer to this? I have, haven’t I?
NB yet again – Although the OAC pricing page notes both metered and non-metered OAC, I can’t find OAC’s metered product numbers in Oracle’s Public Cloud Service Descriptions as of the writing of this post. It’ll likely be there soon.
My bestest and most awesomest and quite likely wrongest guess as to what makes up metered OAC:
Part
|
Description
|
Service type
|
Purpose
|
B?????
– or –
B8????
|
Oracle Analytics Cloud– Standard – Metered – OCPU
-- or –
Oracle Analytics Cloud - Enterprise- Metered – OCPU
|
PaaS
|
Essbase
|
B78521
– or –
B78522
|
Oracle Database Cloud Service-Standard Edition One Virtual Image-General Purpose OCPU per month – or – OCPU per hour
|
PaaS
|
Database, Oracle, metadata, for the use of
|
B77079, B77476,
B77477,
B77478
|
Oracle Database Backup Cloud Service – Metered
|
PaaS
|
Backup of Oracle database
|
B78516,
B78517,
B78518,
B78519,
B78520,
B85644,
B87082,
B87608,
B87285,
B87286
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service –Compute Capacity - Instance – Metered
|
IaaS
|
CPU support for the Oracle database
|
B83456
|
Oracle Storage Cloud Service – Non-metered - TB of Storage Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
B83455
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service - Block Storage - Non-metered -TB of Storage Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
Pricing
These are list prices. Prices you can find, publicly, across all of those Read The Whole Thing™ links above. What will you really pay? As noted, it’s all negotiable and the only person that can really say is that Oracle sales rep I keep on referring to. I am so far removed from the sales process I might as well be on another planet. Come to think of it, I likely am on another planet (Vulcan? Usra Minor Beta?) which explains all kinds of goofiness in my life both professional and personal.
A caveat re metered pricing: I can’t even begin to understand it. Read the docs, talk to your internal IT pricing analysts, talk to Oracle, but importantly, don’t bother asking me. Non-metered is far easier although not necessarily a better fit for you. Have I mentioned that you ought to talk to Oracle? I have. Again.
This example is for a two OCPU server (roughly four CPUs) with two terabytes of storage so a midsized Essbase server.
OCPUs explained
Just what is an OCPU? Per Oracle’s, “Oracle Platform as a Service and Infrastructure as a Service – Public Cloud Service Descriptions-Metered & Non-Metered” document:
Oracle Compute Unit (OCPU) is defined as the CPU capacity equivalent of one physical core of an Intel Xeon processor with hyper threading enabled. Each OCPU corresponds to two hardware execution threads, known as vCPUs.
What kind of Xeon chip at what speed isn’t spelt out in the Service Descriptions document. Shall I repeat the “you should talk to” statement? Good, there’s no need.
Part
|
Description
|
Quantity
|
Purpose
|
B87390
– or –
B87389
|
Oracle Analytics Cloud– Standard – Non-Metered – OCPU
-- or –
Oracle Analytics Cloud - Enterprise- Non-Metered – OCPU
|
PaaS
|
Essbase
|
B83531
|
Oracle Database Cloud Service - Standard Edition - General Purpose - Non-metered- Hosted Environment
|
PaaS
|
Database, Oracle, metadata, for the use of
|
B83543
|
Oracle Database Backup Cloud Service – Non-metered - TB of Storage Capacity
|
PaaS
|
Backup of Oracle database
|
B85643
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service - Compute Capacity - 1 OCPU - Non-Metered
|
IaaS
|
CPU support for the Oracle database
|
B83456
|
Oracle Storage Cloud Service – Non-metered - TB of Storage Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
B83455
|
Oracle Compute Cloud Service - Block Storage - Non-metered -TB of Storage
Capacity
|
IaaS
|
Data storage
|
List pricing
The below numbers are straight from Oracle’s web pages. Again, what you will pay for may very well be less.
Is it worth it?
Only you can answer that. What you see in the list prices above is the full cost of the product. This is all you pay for non-metered Oracle Analytics Cloud. No servers, no installs, no fighting working with IT. You have the whole kit and kaboodle.
So what are license costs for on-premises? Were you to buy Oracle Essbase Plus from shop.oracle.com for four unlimited CPUs for one year the price is…
Wowzers.
That almost $200,000 (this number is a bit high because the first year’s support is a one-time charge that differs from the 22% yearly maintenance fee but still) doesn’t include any of the infrastructure or internal support: servers, relational databases, installs, OS license fees, etc. without mentioning Data Visualizer. OAC beats Essbase Plus when comparing list to discounted cost and it includes all of the things that PaaS brings to the table.
Oracle Analytics Cloud isn’t just a good deal, it’s a fantastic deal. Perhaps you should talk to your Oracle sales rep? Probably.
Be seeing you.
Don’t be afraid to correct me
I don’t think there’s anyone afraid of that. Fire away and I’ll correct accordingly, especially around metered products.
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