Why you seriously can’t wait for the second release!

Premier Support for Oracle Database 11.2 has ended 4 weeks ago at 31-January-2015. 

I think most Oracle DBAs are aware of it. And I have stressed the topic about the need to upgrade to Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 a lot in the past months via the blog, in workshops and in discussions and customer meetings.

But there are still plenty of people out there you would like to wait for Oracle Database 12.2, the so called “secondrelease. From looking backwards I can understand this thinking. Neither Oracle 9.0 nor Oracle 10.1 were the best and most stable releases ever. If you waited a while then you could expect at least the first or sometimes even the 2nd patch set for the SECOND release being available. And then most people started going live. And some did wait for the terminal patch set.

But this has changed. You can’t seriously wait anymore for the second release. Why? There are several reasons and it’s fairly easy to explain.

  • Reason 1 – Every release is a full release
  • Reason 2 – Every release has a significant number of changes
  • Reason 3 – Every release has a significant number of new features
  • Reason 4 – Oracle 12.1.0.2 is the TERMINAL patch set
  • Reason 5 – The time span between releases has grown to large
  • Reason 6 – Important application providers will certify Oracle 12.1.0.2

Especially the Reason 5 is very important. You can’t seriously wait for Oracle Database 12.2 as you will potentially see a period with no bug fixing support for Oracle 11.2.

So let’s be honest:
You don’t wait for the second release. You’ll wait at least for the first patch set.
Patch Sets in the past got released roughly 12 months after the initial drop has been put out (please don’t get this wrong: I’m not saying that 12.2.0.2 will be released 12 months after 12.2.0.1 – I just try to project from the past!).

We announced already the planned availability of Oracle 12.2 for H1CY16 (first half of calendar year 2016).
See the Release Schedule MOS Note:742060.1for further details.

And keep in mind that this is a plan and no fixed schedule. So let’s project the usual patch set cycle from the past. Then we may be in the 2nd half of 2017. If you start your tests (I hope you’ll test 🙂 ) by then you may be ready to go live in 2018.

Look at the release cycles:

Oracle Release Cycle

It has grown from 18 months in the past to 45 months for Oracle Database 12.1.0.1. For Oracle Database 12.2 we may be at 30-36 months based on the currently announced plan.

Any further questions?

Be smart and transform from “We’ll go live on the 2nd release only” into “We’ll go live with the current release’s first or terminal patch set!”. This will be Oracle Database 12.1.0.2. There’s a reason why large application providers such as SAP will announce support for Oracle Database 12.1.0.2 soon.

–Mike

Share this: