Annual software support and maintenance fees are something every customer loves to hate, and yet, for the most part we keep paying them. Technology managers fear “going naked,” right up until they replace the package. Meanwhile, the underlying economics keep vendors keen to promote what has become a major profit center for most.

Annual software support and maintenance fees are something every customer loves to hate, and yet, for the most part we keep paying them. Technology managers fear “going naked,” right up until they replace the package. Meanwhile, the underlying economics keep vendors keen to promote what has become a major profit center for most.

And which vendor has perfected the maintenance fee profit engine? You guessed it: Oracle.InformationWeek‘sBob Evans explains in an excellent column, “Global CIO: How 22% Annual Fees For You Equals 51% Operating Margins For Oracle.”

I think Oracle’s success has had a huge influence on the technology marketplace. In the ten years that I’ve been covering content management, portals, search, et. al., I’ve seen many other vendors deliberately mimic Oracle’s model.

Continues @ http://www.cmswatch.com