The OATUG Customer Support Council works closely with Oracle Support year in, year out and year-round, advocating on members’ behalf and providing valuable input and feedback to Oracle. It’s a partnership that dates back 30 years, to the very genesis of OATUG, and this has been a particularly historic one. That said, with all the unexpected twists and turns this year has brought, you just may have missed some of the good news and helpful resources developed by Oracle Support in 2020. On behalf of the Council, here’s a round-up of resources and positive developments you may want to take advantage of in 2021.
COVID-19 Information Center for Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS)
Launched in March, this new information center consolidates needed and helpful COVID-19 related information into a single location for E-Business Suite users. [More from Oracle]
Continuous Innovation on Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 Continues
Oracle continues to implement its “Continuous Innovation” release model for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2, delivering ongoing applications and underlying technology stack updates for 12.2 without requiring a major upgrade. Release 12.2.10 was announced in September 2020. At the same time, Oracle announced continuance of a rolling 10-year commitment to its long-term support for E-Business Suite, with Premier Support for 12.2 available through at least 2031. [More from Oracle]]
Integrated SOA Gateway (ISG) Now Certified with EBS 12.2 and Database 19c
If your Oracle E-Business Suite R12.2 is using Oracle Database 19c on-premise, you can now configure EBS for Integrated SOA Gateway and leverage its features. Additionally, if your Oracle E-Business Suite R12.2 is currently configured for Integrated SOA Gateway, you may now upgrade your on-premise EBS Database to Oracle Database 19c. [More from Oracle]
This audit functionality allows tracking of any data element in the system and includes tracking of any, insert, update or delete activity. As a “best practice”, most companies should at minimum choose to follow critical master data elements such as banks, product and accounts. Since these are low volume entities, they will have negligible performance impact.
The key to audit success is being mindful on what you are tracking. For example, enabling audit on high volume areas such as sales order entry could well have a negative impact on performance, especially if all data columns are being tracked. On the other hand, experience has shown that if the setup is done with careful consideration, i.e. only tracking essential columns, then audit can be safely enabled without negatively affecting performance. As with any change, it is recommended that benchmark timings be taken before and after the audit functionality is activated to confirm performance metrics.
Information Center: Oracle Database 19c with Oracle E-Business Suite 12.2 and 12.1
This is a newly provided information center for EBS customers. It provides many key knowledge sources for topics related to an upgrade to Database 19.c. This should be your starting point for finding any information on this topic. [More from Oracle]
Within the information center, EBS users can access two key analyzers to help in your upgrade:
- E-Business Suite Upgrade Analyzer - 12.X to 12.2.X (Doc ID 2634237.1)
- Oracle Database 19c Upgrade Analyzer for Oracle E-Business Suite (Doc ID 2704990.1)
Extended Support Fee Waiver for Oracle Database 12.1 and 11.2 for Oracle E-Business Suite
In April Oracle announced that due to the certification timing of Oracle E-Business Suite with Oracle Database versions beyond 12.1, Oracle has waived Extended Support fees for Oracle Database 12.1 and 11.2 for Oracle Database licenses used for Oracle E-Business Suite. This is an issue on which the OATUG Customer Support Council lobbied heavily on behalf of the Oracle user community. [More from Oracle]
Oracle Market-Driven Support for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.1.3 moves from Oracle Premier Support to Oracle Sustaining Support on January 1, 2022. Oracle Sustaining Support does not provide new fixes, updates or security patches. In July, Oracle announced that customers can use “Oracle Market-Driven Support for Oracle E-Business Suite 12.1”, offered by Oracle Advanced Customer Services (ACS), to bridge the support gap. [More from Oracle]
Oracle E-Business Suite Learning Center Launched
In January, Oracle introduced a new EBS Learning Center, which offers free “Transfer of Information”(TOI) online courses to help users implement and use new and enhanced 12.2 features. Courses typically run 15-30 minutes and are recorded by Oracle’s development experts. [More from Oracle]
Oracle Executives Participate in “Inside Oracle Customer Support” Q&A Sessions with OATUG
This year, the OATUG Customer Support Council hosted a series of Q&A sessions with senior Oracle executives, providing insights into the current state and future plans for Oracle’s customer support operation. Those recordings are available here:
Watch for announcements in the new year about dates and times for the continuation of this series.