Oracle South Africa, wholly owned subsidiary of Oracle Corporation, has announced that its Support Services division can now offer upgrades to its customers running applications without the need to send Oracle personnel on-site.
Shane Turner, of advanced product services within the division, has confirmed that Oracle has completed remote upgrades on the ERP module of Oracle E-Business Suite, cutting down dramatically on time. "Two exercises conducted this month have delivered excellent results, in that we have cut down upgrade time by more than 30%," he said. "The client is unaware that the upgrade is taking place, as the entire process is conducted remotely."
The upgrade process consists of upgrading the Oracle database, the technology stack and the application.
Turner said that by taking out the need for a physical presence on-site, Oracle can make available the best possible skills to conduct the upgrade. "By using a proven methodology and tools, and drawing on knowledge and resources from our global team, we are able to make the upgrade process quick and painless."
The upgrade process consists of two test runs, and thereafter the upgrade. "This process is necessary for us to get a full picture of the client`s applications configuration, including identifying and cleaning dirty data, customisations, APIs, reporting set-ups and so on," explains Turner. "The tests do not interfere with the customer`s running of the business, but are vital to ensure that the upgrade is done with speed and accuracy. Once we reach the production stage, the process runs smoothly and the upgrade is very quick, taking hours rather than days."
A smooth upgrade contributes to clients requiring fewer patches and fixes, and Oracle creates an upgrade methodology which the customer would not normally possess. "Customers who tackle upgrading themselves can often run into problems which can draw on their resources and disrupt their business," says Turner. "We not only perform the upgrade almost without them noticing, but we create with it documentation and procedures that will ensure smooth upgrades in the future."
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