After end of Oracle EBS 12.1 Premier Support, what customers should do
Tags: oracle, ebs, upgrade, testing
Published: 2022-12-21 11:07:26

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As an Oracle EBS customer, you must be aware that Oracle has suspended premium support till version 12.1. It means that you’re no longer receiving updates related to security, new tax, legal, and regulatory requirements. Saying otherwise, you’ll not remain compliant. If you’re wondering what to do next, this article is for you. In this article, we’ll discuss the available options for you.

Staying with the EBS 12.1.3 Status Quo
If you want to stick with Oracle EBS 12.1, you can absolutely do that. Many organizations don’t want to disrupt their processes. Such organizations can keep invested in their existing stance as their staff find it comfortable using it.

However, the downside is that you need to keep paying for Extended Support.

Extended Support: This is a part of Oracle offering. Once the premier support is ceased, EBS customers can opt for extended support. It is made available for 3 years after the expiration of Premier Support. It should be noted that extended support doesn’t cover certifications with third party products and versions..
Sustaining Support: It is a limited support for which customers can opt once the premier support expires. Since this is a limited support, it doesn’t cover new updates, fixes, critical patch updates, new taxes and regulatory updates.
Market Driven Support: This is another type of support that is delivered as Advanced Customer Services (ACS). It covers  2022 and 2023 at various cost tiers. It only mitigates specific support gaps and it’s considered as inherently insufficient.
Upgrading to Oracle EBS 12.2
If you want to receive premier from Oracle, you should upgrade to Oracle EBS 12.2. Upgrading from EBS 12.1 to EBS 12.2 will ensure that you’ll receive premier support till 2030. Furthermore, you’ll keep on receiving critical patch updates. Upgrade is the best option for customers who don’t want to opt for year-long migration to Oracle Cloud. Oracle EBS 12.1 to Oracle EBS 12.2 upgrade seems to be very simple but it can be a challenging task due to following reasons.

CEMLI Evaluation: CEMLI stands for customization, enhancements, modifications, localizations and internationalizations. CEMLI evaluation highlights areas that need additional focus during an upgrade process. Since upgrades can impact any critical business process, CEMLI evaluation helps you understand the baseline of your current processes.
Regression testing: You need to execute regression testing of the production clone prior to enforce practical upgrade in order to understand potential issues. These issues need to be documented thoroughly.
CEMLI retrofitment: Any of the customizations need to be extensively tested for interfaces, forms, descriptive flexfields, and customized reports to ensure that they haven’t been affected due to changes to tables or APIs in the upgraded software.
Test script modification: Since upgrade to EBS 12.2 impacts your forms, you need to modify your test scripts in order to execute regression testing. Without being retrofitted, test scripts will not function properly.
UAT: This is the final validation of EBS 12.2 upgrade as business users ensure that the system is ready to use.    
Since testing is a critical part of EBS 12.2 upgrade, it is recommended that you should incorporate test automation to streamline the processes.

Migrating to Oracle Cloud
If you want to leverage the benefits of the cloud, then you can migrate to Oracle Cloud. However, migration from EBS to Oracle Cloud will be a big step and requires a significant amount of time and effort. EBS to Oracle Cloud migration is no less than a devil as it requires at least three rounds of testing cycles. Manually doing this will be a daunting task so it is recommended that you should bring in test automation.

Test automation significantly reduces stress and helps you to keep migration within timelines and budgets. Moreover, it also helps in keeping business risks at bay.

Conclusion
Whether you want to upgrade to Oracle EBS 12.2 or want to migrate to Oracle Cloud, both are big steps. Testing is critical in both the cases to keep business risks at bay. It is recommended that you should incorporate test automation to address the associated challenges. Test automation platforms like Opkey support both the cases and alleviate burdens from business users with prebuilt accelerators and risk-based coverage.