If your head is also spinning with all the mixed messages around Oracle E-Business Suite and the Oracle cloud, you’re not alone. This blog post is an attempt at clearing the confusion. Last month we visited the COLLABORATE 19 conference in San Antonio, TX, USA. If you were there too, talking to other Oracle power users and IT decision makers, you’d have realized that everyone was trying to figure out the best way to gain greater value from their Oracle investments.
While the Premier Support for 12.2 was scheduled to end in 2023, the announcement that there will be no release 12.3 has caused Oracle to extend support for 12.2 through at least 2030. IT organizations at enterprises that are heavily invested in EBS received this message with a collective sigh of relief. Nevertheless, they must keep their upgrades current.
IT leadership in enterprises running Oracle must keep an open mind. This announcement provides only the assurance that a migration to the cloud could happen on their own timeframe, and even in a phased approach. It DOES NOT provide a clear guideline on the urgency of moving to the Oracle cloud suite.
Mixed Messages
It is no secret that Oracle has been maintaining a strategy of mixed messages with regards to its cloud suite adoption. On one hand, it is working hard on delivering value to loyal customers wishing to keep their on-prem ESB current. This strategy currently pays off, with, 65% of Oracle’s revenue derived from maintenance payments from on-prem solutions.
On the other hand, responding to ERP general market trend, Oracle charges ahead with cloud innovation (currently leading on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant for Cloud Core Financial Management Suites), and encourages existing users to migrate with Oracle Soar, an automated cloud migration offering.
Should You Stay, or Should You Go?
So, Oracle is pushing towards the cloud, but is the market biting? Well, not so fast, apparently. Here are some proof points:
- ~45% of EBS customers are still on 12.1.x
- There is a new Oracle EBS version in the market: v12.2.8.
- Oracle anticipates a big wave of upgrades to 12.2.8 in the very near future
- Oracle patches are still being released quite frequently
So, you might ask, ‘what practical steps should I take today?’ Well, Oracle recommends keeping the on-premise EBS current on your journey to a hybrid cloud approach. In the interim, leveraging technologies that can help you standardize, automate and accelerate the overall change process will help you changes faster and with confidence. This White Paper provides expert advice on coexistence in a hybrid reality of Oracle on-premise and cloud applications.