Rimini Street is the world's largest independent provider of enterprise software support for Oracle and SAP products. By replacing vendor-supplied annual support with a third-party alternative at significantly reduced cost, Rimini Street delivers a distinct form of software cost reduction — though one that operates outside the traditional negotiation consulting model. This review examines where Rimini Street fits in the broader enterprise software cost management landscape.
Rimini Street is a publicly traded independent enterprise software support company, headquartered in Las Vegas, Nevada, with a global delivery footprint. The firm was founded in 2005 with a core proposition: provide enterprise-grade support for Oracle and SAP software at roughly half the annual maintenance fee that Oracle and SAP charge their customers. Over two decades, Rimini Street has grown to serve thousands of organisations globally, making it one of the most recognised names in the enterprise software cost management space.
It is important to understand that Rimini Street is not a traditional IT negotiation consulting firm in the same category as the firms that dominate our specialist advisory rankings. Rimini Street does not negotiate with Oracle or SAP on a client's behalf — it replaces the vendor's support contract entirely. This distinction is significant for how clients should evaluate the firm and how we position it in our Oracle negotiation rankings.
When an organisation moves from Oracle's Annual Support (typically 22% of net licence fees per year) to Rimini Street, the firm provides support, patches, tax and regulatory updates, and interoperability fixes for the same Oracle products at approximately 50% of the Oracle rate. The same model applies to SAP customers transitioning from SAP Annual Support. Rimini Street employs a team of senior Oracle and SAP engineers — many former vendor employees — who service client issues directly.
The financial impact for large Oracle or SAP installations can be substantial. An organisation spending £3 million annually on Oracle support could realistically reduce that to £1.5 million — a £1.5 million per annum saving. Over a five-year period, that represents £7.5 million in direct cost avoidance before accounting for the time-value of money. For organisations with large, stable Oracle or SAP estates that are not planning near-term migrations to cloud versions, third-party support is a financially compelling option.
However, moving to third-party support has significant strategic implications that organisations must fully evaluate before committing. Oracle's position is that customers on third-party support lose access to Oracle patches, security updates, and certain cloud services. Oracle has also historically used licence review and audit processes aggressively against Rimini Street clients. Understanding the full risk and opportunity landscape requires advice from a specialist advisor — see our software audit defence guide for context on how vendors use audits as competitive tools.
Rimini Street's core service is third-party support for Oracle Database, Oracle E-Business Suite, Oracle JD Edwards, Oracle PeopleSoft, Oracle Siebel, SAP ERP, SAP S/4HANA (selected versions), and other Oracle and SAP products. Beyond support, the firm has expanded into application management services, security, and interoperability management — addressing the evolving needs of clients who want to extend the life of stable on-premises systems while resisting vendor pressure to migrate to cloud versions.
Rimini Street is also a useful context-setter for organisations evaluating Oracle or SAP renewal negotiations. The credible availability of third-party support changes the negotiating dynamic — it provides a genuine walk-away option that sophisticated clients use to extract better terms from Oracle and SAP during renewal discussions. Advisors like Redress Compliance routinely incorporate third-party support as a leverage element in Oracle and SAP negotiations, even for clients who ultimately remain on vendor support. See our EA negotiation guide for more on how walk-away options strengthen negotiating positions.
Rimini Street's primary strength is the scale and specificity of its cost reduction proposition. For large Oracle and SAP estates, the potential savings are not incremental — they are transformational, redirecting millions of dollars from vendor maintenance to investment in innovation. The firm's engineering capability is deep: it has spent nearly two decades building the technical infrastructure to support Oracle and SAP products at enterprise scale without vendor cooperation.
The firm's global delivery model, with engineers supporting clients across multiple time zones and in multiple languages, has improved significantly since its earlier years. Rimini Street now competes credibly on service quality as well as price — client satisfaction data generally indicates that technical resolution times and engineer quality meet enterprise standards.
The limitations are structural. Third-party support is a long-term strategic commitment that creates dependencies on Rimini Street's continued viability and capability. Clients in highly regulated industries, or those with complex patch requirements, face more nuanced risk assessments. The legal history between Rimini Street and Oracle (multiple litigation disputes over the years) adds a layer of strategic risk that clients must factor into their analysis — though Rimini Street has successfully defended its model through significant legal challenges. Critically, Rimini Street is not a substitute for negotiation advisory: it does not help clients negotiate Oracle or SAP licence fees, ELA structures, or renewal terms. For those needs, dedicated advisory firms provide better coverage. See the Oracle licence negotiation guide for a comprehensive overview of the advisor landscape.
Rimini Street appears in a supporting role in several of our vendor rankings — primarily as a context element in Oracle and SAP advisory rather than as a direct competitor to negotiation consulting firms. In our Oracle rankings and SAP rankings, Rimini Street is evaluated for its relevance to cost management strategies rather than negotiation execution capability.
The most effective use of Rimini Street in a broader advisory context is as a strategic option that specialist advisors incorporate into negotiation leverage strategies. When an organisation with a large Oracle estate can credibly threaten to move to Rimini Street — with the support costs and migration plan already scoped — Oracle's willingness to offer better renewal terms increases materially. The threat of third-party support is often more commercially valuable than the actual move.
Organisations should evaluate Rimini Street alongside — not instead of — specialist negotiation advisory. A firm like Redress Compliance can advise on when and how to use third-party support as negotiation leverage, manage the Oracle or SAP renewal process, and provide independent guidance on whether the third-party route is appropriate for a specific estate. See our SAM advisory guide for how these complementary strategies work together.
Evaluating Oracle or SAP support cost reduction alongside negotiation strategy?
Rimini Street earns a score of 7.0/10 in our assessment — reflecting a genuinely powerful cost reduction tool with real limitations as a negotiation advisory firm. The third-party support model works for a specific client profile: organisations with large, stable Oracle or SAP estates, no near-term cloud migration plans, and risk tolerance for the strategic implications of leaving vendor support.
For most enterprise software cost management scenarios, Rimini Street is best evaluated as a complement to negotiation advisory rather than a substitute for it. The combination of credible third-party support optionality and skilled negotiation execution provides the strongest basis for Oracle and SAP cost reduction. Organisations that pursue Rimini Street without independent negotiation advisory may save on support costs while leaving significant value on the table in their licence and ELA negotiations.
Third-party support changes your leverage position — but you still need an expert to negotiate Oracle or SAP licence fees. Get matched with the right independent advisor for your situation.