Oracle Cloud Application is built on a continual innovation model. Oracle Cloud publishes new functionality on a quarterly basis throughout the year. Over a hundred new features are added to the ERP section each year. With four feature upgrades every calendar year, this frequency compares to the normal period of 12 to 18 months for comparable on-premise installations.
Oracle quarterly updates are a key advantage to many customers who use the Oracle application model created for the Cloud. However, these updates can also be a challenge if users don’t have experience with SaaS solutions. So? How can one leverage this model without being overwhelmed by its excessive update frequency? And, most importantly, what additional burden should one anticipate?
What Exactly Do Oracle Quarterly Updates Contain?
Oracle offers quarterly upgrades that contain new features, enhancement requests from customers, and bug fixes from prior releases. Oracle publishes descriptions of new features prior to the release. This allows clients to understand the impact of the impending new release on current business processes and provide for a seamless transition.
Releases occur on a quarterly basis and are named in a sequence. Oracle self-service environments provide an on-demand evaluation of new versions of the newest Oracle Cloud. All one needs to do is contact an Oracle representative for assistance.
When Oracle updates your environments, all configurations, extensions, and data are automatically saved. When updates are applied, notifications of the changes reach the end-users via a welcome page whenever they login to the program. Similarly, advanced users receive email notifications whenever updates or new features are implemented.
When can you receive quarterly updates?
You can pick between three quarterly update cycles for your oracle quarterly updates:
● January/April/July/October
● March/June/August/November
● February/May/August/November
By default, Oracle Cloud non-production environments (e.g., training, quality) updates are on the first Friday of a quarterly update month. However, updates on the production environments are on the third Friday of the quarterly update month.
How to prepare for oracle quarterly updates?
● Rethink your Update Timing
Organizations should consider updating in the second month of the quarter to address concerns raised by early adopters.
● Tests and retests
Customer test environments are applied during the first week while the production environment is during the third week of the chosen month. This provides organizations with 2 weeks to test the impact of updates and identify major changes. Use the time and test, retest the updates to identify updates that are relevant to your organization’s processes.
● Inform End-Users
Once businesses discover update functionality that may affect end-users, communication or training sessions should be arranged to alert users. After the update has been implemented in production, communications can give a reference point for end-users to refer to. Organizations can also provide links to Readiness Training videos and papers for specific feature releases.
● Updates for Innovation
While preparing for Oracle updates takes time and work, businesses should take advantage of the new capabilities and continue to improve internal business processes. Companies should utilize quarterly updates to examine existing workarounds and identify areas for improvement.
Opkey offers the best services to manage quarterly updates for Oracle. Oracle test automation from Opkey will not only keep you competitive through constant innovation but also safeguard your business from risks associated with application downtime.
