- RDBMS 12cR1 (12.1.0.2) Extended Support is available through July 31, 2022
- The Extended Support fees have been waived for 12cR1 databases used for E-Business Suite through July 31, 2022. [Previously, December 2020]
- RDBMS 11gR2 (11.2.0.4) Extended Support is available through December 31, 2020.
- The Extended Support fees have been waived for 11gR2 databases used for E-Busines Suite through December 31, 2020.
The current certified versions of the Oracle RDBMS for use with E-Business Suite R12.1 and R12.2 include 11gR2, 12cR1, and 19c.
What should E-Business Suite customers do now?
If you're on 12cR1, you should upgrade to 19c as soon as reasonably possible.
If you're on 11gR2, you too, should upgrade to 19c as soon as reasonably possible.. You could upgrade to 12.1.0.2, but you would be forcing yourself into another upgrade (to 19c) pretty soon.
Should I wait for the next release?
The Oracle Server group has switched to a "yearly" release schedule. So, sometime during 2020, there should be an "Oracle RDBMS 20c" and, sometime in 2021, we should expect an "Oracle RDBMS 21c".
However, given that it takes a while to certify the database against E-Business Suite on the variety of platforms that are necessary, the E-Business Suite team has indicated their intention to certify on every other release. Also important is that the certification for E-Business Suite tends to lag the database release by at least 6 months. So, that means that the next certified release of the Oracle RDBMS for E-Business Suite should be RDBMS 21c and you might not see that certification until late in 2021.
So, if you choose to wait for the next release, you may find yourself praying for another extension... which is increasingly unlikely.
References
- Release Schedule of Current Database Releases (Doc ID 742060.1)
- Extended Support Fee Waiver for Oracle Database 12.1 and 11.2 for Oracle E-Business Suite (Doc ID 2522948.1)
- Oracle Applications Technology Group Announcement
- Oracle Support Blog Announcement
- Oracle Lifetime Support Policy for Technology Products
- Oracle Lifetime Support Policy for Applications
