What does Oracle Quarterly Patches have in common with the song (Don't Fear) The Reaper - by Blue Oyster Cult?
At first glance, when reading this you may think... well not much... (Frankly) I'm not sure where you are going with this comparison to an (absolute classic) rock song - that's lyrics are about love and the foolishness of fearing death.
Yet it seems that recently the biggest concern of Oracle Partners and End Users alike is the fear of being unable to deploy new quarterly patches and features in their beloved environments at speed.
In fact, I was in a meeting just recently in which, for the second time that week, I was reliably told that Oracle Quarterly Patching and Regression Testing was now the No. 1 concern of the Oracle Users Applications and Technology Group - with most customers and using often only just starting to deploy the previous quarters patches at the time the next patch was dropped!
Let's just take another moment to properly digest that - that would mean that not only is the majority of Oracle Users still at least approximately two patches behind the current release - but they are also another two patches away from any fixes and features that those previous patches didn't include!
Of course, as any good system(s) manager knows: "any system... no matter the function, is only as good as the data contained within it." This is where Enterprise grade AI and RPA (also known as Hyper Automation) comes into play.
At the simplest level, AI and RPA can be utilised to create a report, or a 'photograph in time' if you will of your current Oracle environment - including any scripts or custom IP. This can then be used to monitor, modify, test or even restore your environment back to exactly how it was before.
Moreover, this technology can also be then used to test various supported scenarios against the latest patches and feature releases - turning months of manual testing the latest patch into a task that can be done in a short number of days (depending on the number of scenario based tests required).
This is well documented, both in our previous blog posts such as "Why hundreds of Oracle consultants owe their weekend to robots" (which is still a great read) or also in our latest customer case study with Inoapps - which you can also watch here.
In conclusion, embracing AI and RPA in quarterly patching can alleviate the concerns and challenges faced by Oracle Partners and End Users.
By effectively utilising these technologies, customers can efficiently deploy new patches and features in their environments, ensuring they stay up-to-date with the latest releases. This not only saves time and effort but also enables customers to overcome the fear of falling behind and confidently embrace all the benefits that their businesses and staff so rightly deserve.
So, why hesitate? Embrace AI and RPA in your quarterly patching strategy and unlock the full potential of your Oracle environment. Contact us today to learn more or tell us what you think in the comments below!