The Continuous Innovation of Oracle EBS

Author: Nadia Bendjedou

Job Title: VP of E-Business Suite Product Strategy, Oracle

Bio: Nadia joined Oracle in 1991, and her main objective is to help customers understand the value that each release of the Oracle E-Business Suite brings to them.

In the first part of our 3-part series, we sit down with Nadia Bendjedou, VP of E-Business Suite Product Strategy at Oracle, to discuss the EBS strategy, the importance of Premier Support and “Continuous Innovation”, and more.

Q) Long-Term Premier Support: why is it important to EBS customers?

Oracle recognises that thousands of organisations around the world rely on Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) to run their key business operations. Oracle is committed to helping those organisations continue to succeed by delivering new features and innovations and providing long-term Premier Support for Oracle E-Business Suite.

If we look back at 2019, Oracle announced premium support through at least 2030 with a rolling 10-year commitment. In 2020, that was extended through at least 2031. In 2021, that was extended again through at least 2032. In 2022, that was extended one more time through to at least 2033, etc…  

Today, in 2024, we have just announced premium support through at least 2035. As you see from this pattern, we are reviewing and adding one year every year with a commitment of a rolling 10 years—this is beyond anyone's planning horizon. 

Q) We hear a lot about “Continuous Innovation.” Can you please explain what it really means in EBS?

“Continuous Innovation” is a term you probably think of as a buzzword from marketing campaigns. However, for Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS), it is a tangible commitment and a strategy of adding new capabilities to EBS 12.2, delivering ongoing application enhancements and underlying technology stack updates without requiring a major costly upgrade project.

You may hear me refer to EBS 12.2 as the continuous innovation release because it represents a fundamental shift in delivering technical and functional innovation without enduring the cost of a major “Upgrade” project. So, if you have recently upgraded to EBS 12.2, this would be your last “Upgrade”, your last “Rapid Install” in the history of EBS.

Historically, an upgrade for EBS, whether from 12.1 to 12.2 or from 11i to 12.1, has been synonymous with extensive technical work, resembling full-scale implementations rather than routine maintenance. Moving from one version to a later release required running a “Rapid Install” of the entire E-Business Suite filesystem followed by executing upgrade scripts—a process that could be both resource-intensive and complex. Hence, customers often shy away from embarking on such upgrade projects.

However, with the transition to EBS 12.2.X, each incremental release (denoted by the X) represents not an “Upgrade” but an “Update”. Once you are on 12.2, you will always be on 12.2 and no longer need to run the “Rapid Install”. Updates allow you to seamlessly integrate the new functionalities and enhancements (faster to market) without resource-intensive overhauls.

In addition, in EBS 12.2, “Updates” from one release to a later release can be done at a family pack level. This means you can “Update” your EBS HR to 12.2.13 and keep your EBS Financial on 12.2.7. You can choose to “Update” in 12.2.X only where there is value to your business. Having said that, it is always recommended, as a best practice, to run an overall update to synch up all the family packs to the same level occasionally.

To learn more about EBS Continuous Innovation, please refer to: Our Commitment to Oracle E-Business Suite Continues.

Q) Will there be EBS 12.3 or EBS 13, and if so, when?

Simply to answer your question, no, there will not be an EBS release 12.3, or EBS release 13. It will always be EBS 12.2.X. Today, it is 12.2.13 (since November 2023). Please remember, EBS 12.3 or EBS 13 means “Rapid Install” and our customers don’t want us to do another “Rapid Install” project, but still would want incremental enhancements from the technical as well as functional perspective and that is what the “Continuous Innovation” is all about.

Looking at where we are today, we have demonstrated our commitment to delivering new features and value to our customers. Since 2013, EBS has adhered to a cadence of annual updates. Although this is not a written commitment, we deliver to the standard and expectations of our customers. The latest iteration, EBS 12.2.13, was released in November 2023, and we are already working on 12.2.14, due for release later this calendar year.

We are committed to actively enriching the EBS experience with new features and capabilities (based on customer feedback) and introducing a new wave of agility and efficiency for your EBS ecosystem while running the continuous innovation release of EBS 12.2.

If you're interested in reading the second and third instalments of this series, below are links to take you directly to the blogs:

• Part 2 - Oracle EBS Release Support
• Part 3 - Oracle EBS Investment Priorities

At DSP, we can help you with whatever your scenario is. If you still need to do that final upgrade to R12.2, check out our Oracle EBS Upgrade services. If you’ve already upgraded to R12 but are below 12.2.7, check out our Oracle EBS Updates services. Stay around for part 2 of the series, where we discuss the latest version of Oracle EBS!