Oracle continues to be among the top ERP cloud solution providers thanks to its broad feature set that arrives with a Cloud ERP environment, including a reduced burden on infrastructure management. However, Oracle Cloud is still trying to catch up to the existing features on its on-premises E-business Suite (EBS) counterpart when it comes to functionality. In regards to this, Oracle releases quarterly cloud updates comprising new functionalities, bug fixes and client enhancement requests. Typically, Oracle updates are mandatory and installed on a fixed date that can’t be changed once it’s been fixed.
Whether you are moving to the clouds or in the middle of the implementations, understanding the impact of new updates on your business process is necessary to ensure seamless updates. These are the general recommendations to consider before installing the next release update.
- Allocate resources to determine the impact of the update
While preparing for an update, the most necessary step is downloading and reviewing the New Feature Summaries from Oracle’s Cloud Application Readiness site (cloud.oracle.com/readiness). Typically, the releases offered by Oracle follow a quarterly schedule and are named sequentially; for instance, the 2021 Q1 release is 21A, 2021 Q2 release is 21B, and for 2022 Q1 is the Oracle update 22A release. Before installing any update, it is necessary to verify that you are downloading the New Feature summary for the appropriate release period.
- Reevaluate the update timing
As quarterly updates are released for enterprise environments, bugs are identified that ultimately require the release of subsequent maintenance packs. Organizations are recommended to install new updates in the second month of the quarter, allowing early adopters to identify all the issues. As per the Oracle, companies are allowed to change their update schedule once
- Test, Test and Retest
Like the Oracle update 22A release, updates offered by Oracle are installed on the client’s test environment during the first week of the selected month and in the production environment during the third week of the month. Such a thing allows two complete weeks to test the update’s impact in the company’s test environment and identify any significant challenges. Comprehensive testing must be performed on core business functionality (i.e., Approval Workflow, Cutting Purchase Orders, etc.), integrations, key reports, and any new features that have been identified as necessary for the continuous running of your business’s processes.
In Summary
With Oracle Cloud’s quarterly updates like the Oracle update 22A release comes additional opportunities and responsibilities for a company’s ERP team. Organizations that dedicate resources and time to perform a detailed review of the Oracle update helps them enhance their ability to upgrade existing business processes and introduce innovation. In addition, they can also include a thorough test cycle that can limit chances of mishappening to production Cloud environments and day-to-day business operations.
About the Company:
At Opkey, thanks to our automation and fastest adoption time on the market, we empower the world’s largest enterprises to keep pace with release schedules, reduce risk and ensure business continuity. With support for over 100+ technologies and 14+ enterprise applications, Opkey offers resilient test automation for any use case.
