Datacom teams with Rimini Street in ANZ support deal

Rimini Street has entered a strategic partnership with Datacom in Australia and New Zealand, allowing Datacom to resell Rimini Support for Oracle and SAP software to public and private sector customers across both markets.

Under the agreement, Datacom will add third-party support for Oracle and SAP to its core platforms portfolio, with Rimini Street delivering the underlying service for customers running supported perpetually licensed versions of the software. The offering includes level 4 support, as well as security and compliance services.

The deal gives Datacom a new service for organisations that want to keep using existing Oracle and SAP systems without upgrading, migrating or replacing current licences. For Rimini Street, it expands access to a broader customer base in a region where many businesses and government agencies are managing ageing enterprise software estates while facing pressure to fund newer technology projects.

Third-party software support has become a contested but established part of the enterprise applications market, particularly among organisations seeking to reduce annual maintenance bills from large software vendors. Vendors such as Oracle and SAP have long relied on support and maintenance revenue, while specialist providers argue that customers can keep stable systems in place longer and redirect spending elsewhere.

Datacom is one of the larger locally owned technology services companies in Australasia, with nearly 6,000 staff across Australia, New Zealand and Asia. Its business spans technology services, operations, digital services and products, and the Rimini Street partnership adds another option for customers managing legacy enterprise software while investing in broader IT programmes.

Rimini Street says customers can use the arrangement to reduce software support costs and free budget for other priorities, including artificial intelligence, cloud and digital transformation work. It says clients could achieve savings of up to 90% of total enterprise software support costs, though it did not provide a breakdown of how those savings are calculated across different customer settings.

Regional push

The partnership is focused on Australia and New Zealand and covers both public and private sector organisations. That matters because enterprise resource planning systems from Oracle and SAP remain deeply embedded in large organisations and government bodies across the region, where replacing core systems can be costly, slow and operationally risky.

Datacom will act as reseller, giving its customers access to Rimini Support as part of its service offering. Rimini Street says the model combines its software support business with Datacom's existing market reach and implementation experience.

The move also reflects a broader market trend, as technology service providers look for ways to help customers balance cost control with spending on newer initiatives. In many cases, companies are trying to fund AI projects and cloud work while still maintaining older back-office systems that remain essential to finance, procurement, human resources and other core functions.

Rimini Street has built its business around that tension, positioning itself as an alternative support provider for customers that want to stay on existing versions of Oracle and SAP software. The company says it has signed thousands of IT service contracts globally across large corporates, mid-market firms, public sector bodies and government agencies.

For Datacom, the agreement could broaden discussions with customers reassessing long-term application strategies. Rather than framing modernisation solely around major software upgrades or platform changes, service providers are increasingly offering models that separate support decisions from transformation programmes.

That may appeal to organisations that do not want to move core systems immediately but still need to release funds for other work. It may also be relevant in sectors where compliance, operational continuity and budget constraints make large-scale system changes harder to justify in the short term.

Rimini Street described the arrangement as its first partnership of this kind in the region. Shirley Riddick, GVP and Regional GM, ANZ, at Rimini Street, said the timing reflected tighter economic conditions and growing pressure on businesses to invest in AI.

"This is a first-of-its-kind partnership for Rimini Street in this region, and we are excited to join forces with a technology leader like Datacom at a pivotal moment, when economic pressures and the urgency to accelerate AI adoption intersect," said Shirley Riddick, GVP and Regional GM, ANZ, Rimini Street.

Dave Payne, Director, Core Platforms, Australia and New Zealand, at Datacom, said the agreement fits with the company's existing work with customers across the region.

"We are excited to partner with Rimini Street to enhance our service offerings. This partnership allows Datacom to provide our clients across ANZ with a proven solution that helps to extend the life and value of their enterprise software investments so they can continue on their AI journeys. It aligns perfectly with our commitment to helping customers solve their biggest challenges and achieve their strategic goals," Payne said.