Upgrade

to Oracle
E-Business
Suite R12
TRANSITION TO NEXT The world continues to change,

GENERATION APPLICATIONS even more now, in a way that is

unseen. The fiercely competitive

From Dilemma to Decision

global market and ever turbulent
economies are forcing modern
enterprises to equip themselves
with the latest tools of trade as well
as persistently innovate and
enhance operational competence
to stay ahead in the global race.
Enterprises today need systems
that are scalable, flexible, secure

WHITEPAPER
and stable to keep pace with the
competitive marketplace.

Ifath Ilyas
Lead – Oracle Applications
Sonata Software Limited
 TABLE OF CONTENTS

1. INTRODUCTION 3

2. WHAT IS THE BUSINESS VALUE OF UPGRADING TO R12? 4

3. R11i DE-SUPPORT RISK? RUNNING AN OUTDATED ERP VERSION? 6

4. UPGRADE? OR RE-IMPLEMENT? 8

5. BUDGET REQUIREMENTS? 8

6. HOW TO ENSURE BUSINESS CONTINUITY? HOW TO GUARANTEE 9

A SMOOTH CUT-OVER TO PRODUCTION?

7. IS THERE AN OPTION OF MOVING TO A GLOBAL SINGLE 11

INSTANCE? WILL IT REDUCE COST?

8. CAN CORE CHANGES BE MADE TO EXISTING COA OR ORG 12

STRUCTURE ALONG WITH UPGRADE?

9. WILL EXISTING CUSTOMIZATIONS BREAK? 13

10. ARE THERE ANY TOOLS THAT WILL ANALYZE AND ASSESS TO 14
HELP MAKE BETTER INFORMED DECISIONS WITH FACTS AND
FIGURES?

11. CONCLUSION 15

2
1 INTRODUCTION
Oracle E-Business Suite R12 is the latest version of the ERP solution from Oracle which is a significant
upgrade on the widely used Oracle EBS 11i. EBS R12 offers extensive operational and functional
improvements over EBS 11i. To keep pace with changing market dynamics, it is imperative for
organizations running their ERP on EBS 11i to reassess and look for ways to maximize their ROI on
Oracle ERP by opting for Upgrade to EBS R12 and stay up to date with latest functionalities and
capitalize on crucial performance improvements that R12 offers.

While upgrade means that it is a necessary step forward for organizations, most customers are often
faced with dilemma when considering an upgrade. Questions that characterize this dilemma can be
many and may cloud upon the ultimate goal of long term application strategies to realize maximum
return on their new and existing Oracle investments, to take advantage of Oracle’s offer of greater
value and new advantages for business with each new version of EBS being released.

These questions can effectively be addressed by choosing the right experts who will help in wending
one’s way through to a tailored upgrade roadmap which fits you best. This helps in identifying one’s
business drivers that necessitate an upgrade which help one move ahead when all questions are
answered adequately.

This whitepaper aims at answering some of these pressing questions and help one to be more
knowledgeable to take strategic decisions.

3
2 WHAT IS
THE BUSINESS VALUE
OF UPGRADING TO R12?
Unlike common perceptions, EBS R12 isn’t just old wine in a new bottle. The overall value proposition
of R12 upgrade is huge and covers various aspects of what is needed to run ERP more efficiently. Its
major Financials initiatives feature Ledger and Ledger Sets, Multi Org Access Control (MOAC),
Subledger Accounting, Tax Engine, changes to Bank Model etc. It also offers enhancements to many
product areas and also many new products.

4
1.3 Market Chat

R12 offers opportunities to eliminate customizations with its enhancements and new products.
It offers greater flexibility to fit the business needs and paves the way for opportunities in
automation and process improvements. With the launch of newer products within R12, adding
these and using them will come at a low cost since the implementation that is already done is
being leveraged.

R12 is also Oracle Fusion Middleware certified, which means that most of the tech stack is based
on new open standards based technologies, which is the way forward for all systems and
applications to move away from proprietary tools and technologies.

Upgrade can also be combined with other long awaited system changes like architectural
changes to business, database or operating system upgrade, platform migration etc. This can be
planned with proper phasing and scoping to maximize results.

5
 3 R11i DE-SUPPORT RISK?
RUNNING AN OUTDATED
ERP VERSION?
Oracle’s Lifetime Support policy provides access to experts for as long as the Oracle products are
licensed. This support consists of 3 stages – Premier, Extended and Sustaining Support. With EBS 11i
now on Sustaining Support, it is time to take control and put the upgrade strategy in shape. Although
Sustaining Support is available for as long as the products are licensed, it does not include many of the
necessary features that might be needed to keep the ERP up and running for long.

6
2 Product Of IOT And Real Time Business Intelligence

According to Oracle Lifetime Support Policy for Oracle Applications, Sustaining Support does not
include

Updates, fixes, security alerts, New tax, legal, and regulatory

data fixes, and critical patch updates updates

Certification with new Certification with new third-party

Oracle products products/versions

New upgrade scripts

Apart from these, there may be a need to freeze the desktop and server configurations to be able to
run EBS 11i for a longer time in future. New versions of desktop or server-based components may not
function well with 11i.

Things will get more complicated while considering individual components of the EBS 11i tech stack
components like Oracle Database, Reports and Forms etc.

Establishing the target release of R12 to move to is of prime importance. Consider the support stages
and the features offered in various R12 releases to determine the best suited version of R12.

It is important to take necessary steps forward to migrate to an updated release version sooner so that
organizations have time to keep pace with industry’s leading practices and not just be a part of
the race but also excel further to stay ahead.

7
 4 UPGRADE?
OR RE-IMPLEMENT?
Organizations can upgrade if satisfied with core Financials configurations such as Chart of Accounts
definition, Costing Method, Calendar etc.

Upgrade is ideal for organizations running a single instance of EBS and using standard business proc-
esses with minimal customizations. It is also best suited when all historical transaction data needs to be
carried forward.

On the other hand, organizations can consider re-implementation if dissatisfied with core Financials
configurations. If multiple instances need to be combined into a new Global Single Instance,
re-implementation is an option, though this can be achieved with a hybrid upgrade model too.

5
In practice, upgrades are opted against re-implementations by most enterprises.

BUDGET
REQUIREMENTS?
If Sustaining Support for EBS 11i has been purchased, Oracle guarantees providing access to its experts as
long as the products are licensed.

R12 focuses on standardizing and simplifying, with focus to achieve rapid returns. R12 promises substan-
tial value in every product area. Upgrade to R12 is free and Oracle will provide support as long as licenses
are valid.

Budget considerations while choosing a partner, amassing the right project team, allocating necessary
time, resources and funds, establishing target timelines play a crucial role in achieving returns. It is impor-
tant to evaluate the scope and complexity of the instance and customizations in every stage of planning.

Budget planning should also cover full functional testing at full data volumes with complete production
data set. Automated testing tools should be planned if deemed necessary.
8
6
HOW TO ENSURE
BUSINESS CONTINUITY?
HOW TO GUARANTEE A
SMOOTH CUTOVER TO
PRODUCTION?

9
Tips for ensuring business continuity
Choose the right partner
for upgrade who will
guarantee that daily
business is not affected
during the process of
upgrade
Share the requirements and
work through to come up
with the best strategy to
keep afloat both business
and the upgrade process simultaneously
These have to be started early in a project to achieve best results.
The following set of suggestions can be considered for a smooth cutover to Production:
Being prepared for all eventu-
alities is the best strategy -
Critical processes should be
performed thoroughly during
UAT to eliminate and resolve
exceptions
Minimize the duration of
tasks performed before and
after core upgrade processes
are run on the production
environment
Work on early adaptation of
new features so that there
are no qualms when they are
actually put to use in daily
live business
10
Assess the organizational change
requirements that may arise due to
upgrade and prepare for it to be
implemented at the right time
during the project life cycle
Motivate and manage the busi-
ness users to learn and adapt to
the new ways of working after
upgrade
Choose a partner who
shows the most promising
and quality delivery
Production cutover should be
carefully planned to ensure that
it does not clash with critical
closing activities or peak
business timelines
Use recommended down-
time reduction techniques
and consider use of tools to
drive greater end-user
productivity
Careful planning and execution
paired with extensive testing
and minimum downtime will
guarantee a smooth cutover to
Production and then institute
stability of ERP there on
7
IS THERE AN OPTION
OF MOVING TO A GLOBAL
SINGLE INSTANCE?
WILL IT REDUCE COST?
Merging of many instances into a Global Single Instance during an upgrade project can be made
possible by adopting a hybrid upgrade model. All decisions should be taken after carefully weighing
requirements vs practical possibilities and the time that each of these entails. Customers with complex
configurations will require more time to achieve a Global Single Instance.

11
 4.1 Customer Arrival Phase

Many enterprises are running their various verticals on different

instances. In the wake of multiple acquisitions and/or business
expansion, centralized accounting is of prime importance to
achieve global efficiency from an ERP. Standardized accounting
rules will help streamline processes and support centralization of
business operations. This will also help achieve better consistency,
data reliability and more than anything, a greater global visibility.

Apart from these advantages, there are other more palpable ones
- one single instance to maintain and plan beyond an R12
upgrade, to future ERP versions easily. Maintaining a single
instance will also mean rationalization of IT infrastructure and
hardware requirements. The IT staff required to maintain a single
instance will also reduce considerably resulting in reduced
support costs.

8
CAN CORE CHANGES
BE MADE TO EXISTING
COA OR ORG STRUCTURE
ALONG WITH UPGRADE?
Consider taking expert Hybrid upgrade models
opinions before making can be developed to
decisions. suit –the requirements
and timelines.

Allocate enough time and

resources for making all
other changes that need Consider the pros and
to be combined with an cons of both upgrades
upgrade. and re-implementations
and consider different
possibilities of mixing
these two methods if
suited

Architectural changes such as

those that are mentioned here
are possible with planning and
enough time.

12
 4.2 Customer Inside Phase

If an organization envisions the expansion of their

ERP footprint to use more modules or products, it is
best to upgrade to the latest release of ERP first and
then implement more products. However, with the
right approach, these activities can also be planned
and executed together.
Plan for related system changes like the database
and Operating System Levels, platform migration to
be combined with upgrades. They can be phased
and scoped depending on the strategies that enter-
prises want to adapt. In practice, many enterprises
complete most of the database, operating system
and platform migrations as an initial phase preced-
Planning for such system changes along
with upgrade will require lesser downtime,
while it may increase business risk and lead
to complex troubleshooting. Allocation of
resources and deciding the right timelines
is crucial to attempting these changes
along with upgrade. Weigh multiple
downtimes against inherent complexities
to phase the changes accordingly. Stream-
line the processes to adapt to these
changes along with a new system to work
with.

9
ing the actual upgrade. This can be done with mini-
mum downtime and timelines will depend on how
much testing businesses will require.

WILL EXISTING
CUSTOMIZATIONS BREAK?
When there are customizations, an Oracle EBS upgrade is most often not just about patches. It always involves
more exertion to retain or retire the existing customizations in 11i. They need to be addressed separately with a
mitigated and careful planning after impact analysis. Code retro fitment to adapt to technology and EBS version
changes, change management (if necessitated either through a need for enhancement or upgrade), unit testing,
functional testing, UAT, End user training and the actual migration will be required for a complete transition to a
newer version of EBS.

Some customizations may be retired and latest functionalities in R12 may replace them and be employed to fill the
gaps that older customizations addressed in 11i. Such replacements will be possible with proper mapping of busi-
ness process to a standard functionality in R12. Careful design and planning will enable a smooth switch to new
functionalities.

Organizations should also consider modifications that will help evolve the existing business processes that are
addressed through customizations. The upgrade opportunity should be used to make such changes wherever
suitable, once the right conclusions are in place.

13
 ARE THERE ANY TOOLS

10
THAT WILL ANALYZE
AND ASSESS TO HELP
MAKE BETTER INFORMED
DECISIONS WITH
FACTS AND FIGURES?
There are many Upgrade Impact Analysis and Assessment tools in the market which will help in accelerating
the evaluation and planning. These tools will help get up-to-date data in the hands of decision makers.
INSIGHT is Sonata’s answer for the upgrade dilemma enveloping all the customers who are at the cross-
roads to choosing the right path and enable them to take the most empowering upgrade decisions. A
change enabler, INSIGHT is a potential tool for Impact Analysis and Upgrade Readiness Assessment to make
well informed and supremely imaginative upgrade decisions to increase the ROI in Oracle’s EBS.

14
4.2 Customer Inside Phase

CONCLUSION

In essence, organizations can maximize their ERP investment

and unlock the full value of ERP Upgrade by making the right
choices early in the transformation – Partner, Upgrade Assess-
ment tool, ERP Version, Upgrade model and roadmap. Organi-
zations can adopt industry best practices, plan the upgrade
approach and prepare for execution accordingly with help
from industry experts. These strategic decisions are key to stay
ahead and improve continuously.

15
ERP
Transition To
Next Generation Applications;
From Dilemma to Decision

WHITEPAPER

Sonata Software Ltd.

APS Trust Building, Bull Temple Road,
N. R. Colony, Bangalore - 560 019, India.
Tel : +91-80-6778 1999 | Email: info@sonata-software.com
www.sonata-software.com