Cerner Customers May See More Oracle Audits in 2024

By Pam Fulmer
Oracle recently announced its earnings for the quarter ending November 30, 2023, and Big Red fell short of Wall Street’s expectation, causing its stock to drop at a time when most large-cap companies’ stock prices are soaring. Apparently, health data company Cerner, which was recently acquired by Oracle, was a drag on Oracle’s earnings; and its Cloud growth fell short of predictions. We at Tactical Law have no crystal ball of course, but it is our opinion observing market trends that 2024 may bring a push from Oracle to move legacy Cerner customers from on prem to the Oracle Cloud.  In fact, one analyst stated that “on-premise databases migrating to the cloud… are expected to form the third leg of Oracle's near-term growth strategy.”  If indeed this happens, we predict that Oracle’s tool of choice to get customers to make such a move will likely involve software audits.  Prudent Cerner customers would do well to prepare now for what may very well be an inevitable Oracle audit. Tactical Law attorneys have deep experience defending Oracle software audits.