Oracle, SAP Raise Prices

Oracle's plan to raise prices 15 to 20 percent across major product lines and SAP's 5 percent increase in support costs don't have customers jumping for joy, reports ZDNet blogger Michael Krigsman.

Barron's notes that big customers negotiate prices, but still calls Oracle's increases "an eye-opening development."

Enter open source advocate Bertrand Diard of vendor Talend, who says the companies raise prices in a soft economy because they can:

Because their customers are locked in by the proprietary model. When you have invested millions of dollars or euros in Oracle or SAP software, you can't just walk away from it. And since you don't have access to the source code, or to an alternative network of service providers who can take over support and maintenance, you are stuck with them, for best or worst. And this year, worst seems to be taking over.