We all love a good deal. It’s probably fair to say that value for money typically ranks quite highly for the majority (if not all) of us when we’re considering our next purchase; be that a personal item or a professional requirement. It’s this logic that Oracle pivots its continuous database release model around. That’s not to say that the …

“Is Larry okay?” This was a genuine question asked by an Oracle Executive when the CEO announced its latest ploy – Oracle Support Rewards. In a surprising move, the mega-vendor has revealed plans to help CIOs save money with a seemingly generous discount scheme.   Oracle Support Rewards is the latest tactic in the vendor’s game plan, and has been designed to encourage and accelerate the migration of existing customers to Oracle …

Have you recovered from your recent Oracle upgrade yet? Or are you still feeling the effects? You might have even thought to yourself “I need to stop upgrading” as the dread of having to go through the whole ordeal again in the future creeps back in.  We’re not surprised. Upgrading your Oracle systems can be a momentous task, draining your resources, time, and …

From the Latin principle (omne trium perfectum: everything that comes in threes is perfect) and ingrained cultural beliefs through to literature, mathematics, and even modern film, the number three is commonly linked with good luck. It’s a number that is also associated with power, effectiveness, and wisdom.  It seems rather fitting then that most organisations will typically have three tiers of support available to assist with Oracle and SAP software incidents.   As you well know, when your …

Opting for third-party support can feel like stepping into the unknown. Of course, mega-vendors, such as Oracle and SAP, will not be too forthcoming with the benefits (of which there are plenty) of moving away from them.   On the ropes, the mega-vendors have tried multiple tactics to dissuade customers from moving away from vendor support (their biggest cash cow).   Oracle recently tried to land a few blows by publishing guides highlighting …

Oracle is up to its old tricks again. But this time, the vendor’s not even trying to hide it.   It shouldn’t come as news to you that the mega-vendors are always scheming to keep you in the perpetual upgrade cycle, and this time is certainly no different.   On 1 January 2022, version 12.1.3 of Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) will move from Premier Support to Sustaining Support.   It seems like this deadline came up pretty quick, right? That’s because Oracle decided to skip a step, removing …

From ‘Rise with SAP’ to the 2027 deadline and favouring Cloud-first over hybrid, it seems that SAP doesn’t believe in the middle ground.   2020 was an unbelievably challenging year for a great many organisations. Of those still standing, we look at SAP in this article. The German-based ERP software giant saw a significant dip in revenue at the end of Q3. By Q4, SAP had managed to haul …

Budget planning can be a challenge. You need to consider any upcoming projects and development, and where the budget for these projects will be coming from.  However, this challenge can come with potential rewards. Making the time for budget planning now could yield benefits throughout the year. Specifically, organisations should analyse their current costs and usage, to identify the areas where money is being lost, and where changes should be made to unlock critical savings.  Here’s one to …

It’s pretty easy to convince a crowd of the quality of a painting when you don’t allow onlookers to inspect its intricacies too closely. If they did, they might just notice all the little discrepancies that reduce its value.   Oracle does much the same when it comes to stating facts and figures. It’s well known that the mega-vendor doesn’t publicly share the exact number of customers using its Cloud product, although Oracle has previously suggested that over 750 customers currently use its Fusion Cloud ERP.   There is no description …