Overview
Palisade Compliance is an Oracle-focused independent licensing and compliance advisor founded in 2011 by Craig Guarente, a former Oracle Vice President of Global Contracts and Business Practices. The firm is headquartered in Mendham, New Jersey, with delivery resources in the United States and Europe, and reports 11 to 20 advisors with more than 250 years of combined technology contracting experience. Palisade Compliance has supported more than 700 clients across 40+ countries on Oracle commercial events.
The practice covers the full Oracle product portfolio — Database (including options and management packs), E-Business Suite, Fusion Cloud Applications, Oracle Cloud Infrastructure, PeopleSoft, JD Edwards, Siebel, Hyperion, MySQL Enterprise, WebLogic, and the Java SE Universal Subscription. Engagements typically include audit defence, Unlimited Licence Agreement (ULA) exit planning, contract negotiation, Effective Licence Position analysis, cloud subscription review, and renewal advisory. Palisade Compliance does not resell Oracle software, hold Oracle partner status, or participate in Oracle's audit programme as a third-party LMS partner — a deliberate structural choice to avoid commercial conflicts.
Palisade Compliance is a fit for organisations facing an Oracle commercial event — an audit, a ULA renewal or exit, a Fusion Cloud migration commercial review, or a Java SE subscription audit. The firm is rarely the right partner for buyers wanting multi-publisher SAM towers, telecom optimisation, or a generalist negotiation programme; those buyers are better served by Anglepoint, NPI, or UpperEdge respectively. Palisade Compliance is also commonly used as a specialist subcontractor by Big Four firms running Oracle audits where deep ex-Oracle commercial knowledge is required.
Services Offered
- Oracle Database licensing advisory and ELP
- Oracle Unlimited Licence Agreement (ULA) exit planning
- Oracle audit defence and response
- Oracle Java SE Universal Subscription audit defence
- Oracle Fusion Cloud Applications commercial review
- Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) commitment negotiation
- Oracle contract renewal negotiation
- Oracle on AWS and Azure licensing advisory
- Oracle EBS, PeopleSoft, JDE, and Siebel advisory
- Independent technology audit and risk assessment
Typical Engagement
| Engagement Type | Model | Typical Range |
|---|---|---|
| Oracle Effective Licence Position | Fixed-fee project | $30K–$100K |
| Oracle audit defence | Fixed-fee or T&M | $50K–$250K per audit |
| Oracle ULA exit planning | Multi-phase fixed fee | $80K–$300K |
| Renewal negotiation support | Fixed-fee or success-share | $40K–$200K per event |
| Senior advisor hourly | Hourly bill rate | $400–$650/hour |
Pricing verified May 2026 from buyer references and published case studies. Palisade Compliance does not resell Oracle software and does not participate in Oracle's audit programme as a third-party LMS partner.
Strengths
- Founder Craig Guarente was Oracle's Vice President of Global Contracts and Business Practices — the firm has direct insight into how Oracle drafts and enforces commercial terms
- Oracle-only focus produces unusually deep specialist knowledge across Database, EBS, Fusion Cloud, OCI, and Java SE
- True independence — no Oracle partner status, no resale, no participation in Oracle's LMS audit programme
- Strong track record on Oracle Unlimited Licence Agreement exits, including complex multi-territory and acquisition scenarios
- Active Java SE Universal Subscription audit defence practice covering Oracle's per-employee pricing model
Limitations
- Oracle-only — buyers facing multi-vendor commercial events need a separate firm for SAP, Microsoft, IBM, Salesforce, or Workday
- Small team (~11–20 advisors) — capacity is constrained during heavy audit waves
- Limited SAM tool deployment experience compared with Flexera/Snow/ServiceNow-certified firms such as Anglepoint
- Heaviest delivery weight in North America; EMEA and APAC support is generally remote
- Less depth in third-party Oracle support transitions than dedicated providers (Rimini Street, Spinnaker Support)