Axia Consulting specializes in Oracle applications upgrade strategies, leveraging over 20 years of experience from industry experts to assist clients in optimizing their ERP systems. The document details considerations for upgrading from Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) 11i to R12 and addresses trends, support timelines, and the implications of moving to Oracle Fusion applications. Additionally, it emphasizes the importance of a tailored roadmap based on a thorough assessment of an organization's technical environment and business objectives.

1. Proprietary and confidential. | 2016 AXIA Consulting™ | All rights reserved.
Oracle Applications – Upgrade Strategies

2. AXIA Consulting
About AXIA Consulting
At AXIA Consulting, we understand the importance of
choosing a trustworthy partner who takes the time to
understand your business and we have the proven
ability to deliver meaningful results.
With a team of industry experts who average 20 years of
experience in the field, AXIA’s accessible business and
technology leaders hardness their expertise to solve our
clients’ most complex problems.
Founded in 2005, AXIA is 100% employee-owned and
employs approximately 100 Senior Consultants. We are
a global company, delivering results for clients in more
than 54 countries over six continents.
www.axiaconsulting.net
Committed To Excellence
AXIA is driven by values and our commitment
to excellence, resulting in trusted
partnerships and lasting client relationships

3. AXIA Credentials
• Founded on Oracle EBS - AXIA Consulting was founded in 2005 by
experienced Oracle ERP professionals who created, grew, and managed
Oracle ERP practice areas at larger, global consulting firms.
• Most AXIA company leaders started with Oracle Applications in 1993
working on version 9.4.2. A majority of our Oracle consultants have over 20
years of Oracle experience.
• AXIA Consulting is committed to the ongoing professional development of
its consultants and to supporting regional and national user groups:
• Oracle Gold Partner
• Oracle Applications User Group (OAUG) member and frequent presenter
• Oracle Open World regular conference attendee, frequent presenter
• Ohio Valley OAUG, President, Past-president and Co-Founder
• National OAUG Geo/SIG Committee

4. Upgrade Questions
AXIA has expertise with helping clients navigate through the
following trends in the Oracle Applications area:
• Upgrades of EBS from 11i (e.g., 11.5.10) to R12
• Oracle’s constant revisions to the published support lifecycles for
Applications products
• Applications customers wondering what the future holds for R12.2 and
Fusion
This presentation will review some strategies to consider for
your organization’s journey to the latest Oracle Applications
releases (EBS & Fusion)
Many slides will contain content from Oracle presentations and this
will be used as a reference to drive the direction of this discussion.

5. Upgrade Questions cont.
Depending on your current ERP operating environment
and version, you may be asking questions such as:
“Should I upgrade to EBS Release 12.1 or 12.2? What will R12.2 do for
me?”
“What is going on with Oracle’s Fusion Applications? Should I consider
an upgrade to Fusion? Will there be an EBS version beyond 12.2?”
“Can we use parts of Fusion at some point, or must we migrate entirely
off EBS?”

6. Upgrade Paths
What is the best upgrade path for my organization?

7. EBS Support Info
Current support timelines from Oracle are shown below
and have been updated on yearly basis:

8. EBS Support Info cont.
• AXIA recognizes that it has
been a significant amount of
time from 12.1.3 general
acceptance to the 12.2 general
acceptance (over 4 years).
• We can reasonably anticipate
that Premier and Extended
support timelines for 12.2 to be
pushed out.
• For the latest info on support
of the Oracle applications, go
to My Oracle Support
• Document “E-Business Suite
Releases - Support Policy FAQ”
(Doc ID 1494891.1)
• Contains the latest Support policy
info, including announcements and
the latest dates

9. Upgrade Observations
AXIA has seen the following trends in the usage of the various
Oracle Applications versions
• Upgrades from 11i (e.g., 11.5.10) to R12 have tailed off. But some
organizations are still on 11.5.10
• R12.2 was used only by beta customers up until the beginning of 2014
• Organizations are finally beginning projects to migrate to R12.2 starting late
last year. Oracle calls this “widespread adoption”
R12.1.3 is still a viable solution for on-going projects or those
launching now. There is still a significant time period of
support remaining.
Serious consideration should be given to using R12.2 on any upgrade
or implementation project that is launching now

10. R12.2 Analysis
Only a few new products in 12.2, there are limited new functional
features:

11. R12.2 Architecture
Technical Architecture Differences: R12.1 Architecture

12. R12.2 Architecture cont.
Technical Architecture Differences: R12.2 Architecture
• Replaces Oracle Containers for Java (OC4J) 10g with WebLogic Server 11g
• Online Patching support via 11gR2 Edition-Based Redefinition

13. R12.2 Architecture cont.
Environment Overview:

14. R12.2 Requirements
12.2 On-Line Patching Cycle:
• Online Patching is used to apply all patches in 12.2 using the adopt tool
• Patched file system becomes the Run file system
• Run file system becomes the Patched file system

15. R12.2 Requirements cont.
Sizing Requirements for 12.2
Application Component Upgrade Size
FS1 (APPL_TOP + INST_TOP) 30 GB
FS2 (APPL_TOP + INST_TOP) 30 GB
FS_NE (Non-Editioned + APPLCSF) 700 KB (Sizing Depending on CMGR Logs)
Oracle OATM (Oracle Application Tablespace Model) Performed Prior or NO Option Later
Database Component Database Increase (Percent)
Oracle Home 11.2.0.4 or 12c.1 5 GB
12.1 to 12.2 6% of Total Database Size Increase to support the
enablement of Edition-Based Redefinition.
11i to 12.2 20% of Total Database Size Increase to support
Data and enablement of Edition-Based Redefinition
New Schema Size
APPS_NE (Non-Editioned File System) 100 MB
GHG (Oracle Environment Accounting and
Reporting)
100 MB

16. Summary R12 Analysis
Features of R12.1
• Thousands of live customers
• Can stay on this release 3-4 years before an upgrade to R12.2
• Easier to upgrade to this version from releases before 11.5.10
Features of R12.2
• New technical architecture elements and features like Online Patching
• Limited functional enhancements compared to 12.1
• Will be on Premier and Extended support through at least 2021
Considerations from Oracle:

17. 12.1.3 to 12.2
On 12.1.3?
• Limited functional enhancements compared to 12.2
• 12.2 will be on Premier and Extended support through at
least 2021
• Online Patching
• iStore, Service
• 24x7 shop
• World-wide operations
• Specific functional enhancements
• WMS Personalization
• Subscriptions

18. Fusion Introduction
Oracle focused on three areas of improvement during the
development of Fusion Applications: Platform, User Experience
and Technology
• The platform
changes are also
being realized in
R12.2
• User experience
steadily improves
with User Interface
changes
• Technology changes
give flexibility for
Cloud and SaaS
support

19. Fusion Options
A long-term plan with (or without) Fusion has three main options:
• Majority of
organizations will
go with the top
option until Fusion
functional footprint
is increased to
match EBS
• 2nd option will be
to add a pillar –
do further
adoption at their
own pace

20. Expected Upgrade Benefits
Upgrades are inevitable, but there can be a hard or soft benefit
derived from every upgrade effort:
• There may be
technical benefits
to staying current
with latest
platform
• Functional
benefits are
touted in Fusion,
but exist only in
certain areas

21. Co-Existence Options
The most attractive use of Fusion a this point is through a co-
existence strategy. This will persist until Fusion Applications are
built out with all of the functionality of EBS:
• Additionally, there
are opportunities
to extend EBS
with Endeca
• All Co-Existence
modules should
be considered as
a separate project

22. Thoughts on Fusion
Choosing to go with a Co-existence scenario will present its
own set of challenges in the long term:
• May complicate future upgrades of the EBS “Applications
Unlimited” products.
• At some point, an organization may choose to complete migrate
to Fusion Applications. The process of data synchronization
used in a Co-existence model will have to be rationalized with
the upgrade onto a complete Fusion platform.
• We are trusting that Oracle will develop some really good scripts
to deal with this action!!

23. Factors to Consider
While considering your existing Oracle solutions and the
new releases of Oracle Applications available, customers
should keep the following potential business objectives in
mind:
• Getting and protecting the most value from their existing investment
• Getting the key benefits of new application features and functionality
offered by Oracle
• Mitigating the risks associated with upgrading, reimplementation, or
coexistence with multiple instances
• Minimizing risks of disruptions to daily operations
• Looking for productivity enhancements, while keeping employees
motivated and challenged
• Exploring benefits of On-Premise vs. SaaS models

24. Next Steps
• Whenever an organization must decide on the future direction of their
applications environment, it is vital to perform a detailed business
and technical assessment of the organization’s requirements and
existing solutions
• Typically, this would result in an applications roadmap tailored to the
organization’s unique requirements and current application footprint
• The roadmap is based on an assessment of the customer’s existing
Oracle Applications and any proposed target Oracle Applications
solution, and includes a proposed high-level plan and an
identification of any risks
• Assessments should also take into account the organization’s
technical environment, custom development inventory, and existing
issues in order to fully leverage Oracle Applications

25. Reference Materials
Steven Chan posts a quarterly EBS Upgrade
recommendations article.
• Includes apps versions and technical components and the path to
upgrade them https://blogs.oracle.com/stevenChan/entry/quarterly_e_business_suite_upgrade8

26. Reference Materials cont.
See 12.2 Technical Planning Guide, Doc 1585857.1
“One of the most significant new features of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 is Online
Patching, which greatly reduces the periods of downtime needed when applying patches. Such a
significant transition does, however, require an understanding of the new patching model, including
the new terminology and tools that underpin online patching operation, as well as the database and
file system features and organization.
This Technical Planning Guide is designed to help you identify what you need to think about as you
prepare to install (or upgrade to) Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 and its online patching
environment.”
Oracle® E-‐Business Suite -‐Upgrade Guide Release 11i to
12.2
• Part No. E48834-‐08-‐March 2014

27. Reference Materials cont.
The following documents on My Oracle Support are useful
• Upgrade Advisor: E-Business Suite (EBS) Upgrade from 12.0/12.1 to 12.2.x (Doc ID
1593640.1)

28. Reference Materials cont.
• EBS Data Model Comparison Report (1290886.1)
• Lists database object definition changes between 11i (and
beyond) and 12.x releases
• Helps you identify and plan for upgrade impacts on custom code
• Switch custom reports from distribution lines in separate apps to new
Subledger Accounting (XLA) tables
• Update custom Oracle Discoverer Business Areas
• Video on the contents and usage
• EBS File System Comparison Report (1446430.1)
• Lists additions, removals, and modifications of EBS files
between 11i (and beyond) and 12.x releases
• Helps you analyze and plan for upgrade impacts on:
• Customizations and personalizations
• Functional flow tests

29. Reference Materials cont.
When you are ready to move from 12.1.3 to 12.2, apply RPC2:
• One Consolidated patch across product families (ATG, CRM, FIN, etc)
• Doc ID 1920628.1

30. Reference Materials cont.
When you are ready to move from 12.1.3 to 12.2:
New Development Standards
Some Examples:
• Review the New Coding Standards:
• Cross Edition Triggers replace data upgrade scripts
• Table names must be less than 29 characters
• Non-Editioned objects can't reference Editioned objects
• Do not reference the database object directly from their home schema
• Never query standard tables directly, instead use the synonym
• All custom schemas/applications must be registered
• Review the New Deployment Standards:
• Custom files must be applied to the Patch file system
• Custom files must be registered with the custom driver

31. Reference Materials cont.
Technical Challenges for 12.2 – Impact on your Customizations
• Note 1577661.1 describes the process of setting up the application and
database tiers to support custom objects in the new On-Line patching
architecture
• An Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 installation now includes two editions
(versions) of the application code and seed data, the “Run” edition and the
“Patch” edition
• Online Patching Readiness Report MOS DOC ID #1531121.1
• The Global Standards Compliance Checker (GSCC)
• New development standards for R12.2 are discussed to ensure compatibility with
On-Line Patching
• Online Patching Analysis Report (Patch #16236081)
• Report all violations of “Non-Editioned Objects can’t reference Editioned Objects
• Custom application is created with the adsplice utility, to ensure that the proper
“editioning” of the custom code will take place
• This is described in further detail in note 1577707.1

32. Conclusion
• Stay Alert! Take a Yearly Check-Up!
• “Favorite” the important notes in My Oracle Support
• Talk to other organizations to find out what they are doing
• Support your local/national OAUG and attend events
• Consider a formal roadmap exercise every 3-5 years

33. Contacts
For more information, visit
http://www.axiaconsulting.net/
or give us a call at 866.937.5550
AXIA Consulting is a global provider of business and technology solutions
focused on maximizing investments and delivering results. With experience
across multiple industries and more than 54 countries, AXIA’s senior team
helps organizations tackle tough challenges, from large-scale ERP
implementations and post-merger integrations, to organizational change
and more.