Even though the pandemic prompted many organizations to take immediate action to upgrade their Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) to release 12.2 or migrate to the cloud, many were still hesitant of making the investment in terms of costs, resources, and time.
As entire workloads moved to the cloud and with remote work being the new reality, it was no wonder that app modernization was on everyone’s mind.
EBS clients who are still on EBS 11i or 12.1 are more than aware of the fact that Premier Support ended on December 31st, 2021. As a result of that tight deadline, many organizations considered they didn’t have enough time to complete the upgrade in time, and decided to risk it by losing support.
So, what does this mean for your organization and your Oracle EBS? With few options available, your Oracle EBS 11i or 12.1 is either on Sustaining Support or with purchased Market Driven Support (MDS).
In both cases, the support of your Oracle EBS 11i or 12.1 is limited and downright insufficient, giving you no access to the latest updates and security patches that protect your Oracle EBS 11i or 12.1 software from costs and risks that could translate into millions of dollars for your organization or a complete halt to your operations.
If you purchased Market Driven Support for your Oracle EBS 11i or 12.1, you will only receive limited support for the 2022 and 2023 years, not to mention that it’s far from being the most cost-effective solution for your organization.
In a comparative analysis performed by ITC thought leaders who are experts in the subject, all signs point to the fact that it is cheaper to upgrade to Oracle EBS 12.2.X than paying for MDS.
And this is just scratching the surface.
MDS costs are unique to each client, depending on the tier they are in as an Oracle customer, but industry know-how estimates that the prices could reach up to $250K per year.
Oracle MDS is a means to mitigate some of the risks of losing Premier Support while clients strategize for their next move: upgrading or moving to the cloud. While MDS is far from being as comprehensive as Premier Support, it does help somewhat close the support gap and buy time for organizations. As mentioned earlier, Oracle does charge for the MDS service, and it’s purchasable on an annual basis, meaning costs can reach half a million dollars in the long run.
Other third parties offer extended support services to try and fill the support gap, but by going with an external party, clients lose all forms of Oracle support altogether, which can turn detrimental because if clients ever decide to return to Oracle support, they will have to true-up costs, increasing the EBS spend even more.
A third, but highly inadvisable, route, is third-party support that replaces Oracle support completely. These third-party support providers claim their costs are a lot lower, and while it can be true to an extent, it can end up costing a lot more because they simply cannot offer all that Oracle provides, and can result in severe losses.
In our latest webinar, our experts will dive deep into the cost comparative analysis of upgrading to Oracle EBS 12.2.X (the latest current version is Oracle EBS 12.2.11) versus waiting it out with Market Driven Support, with exclusive pricing details and scenarios that paint a clear picture of how much you can be overpaying by staying on MDS instead of taking concrete steps to upgrade your Oracle EBS to release 12.2.
The webinar also sets the stage on proven methodologies that can help you migrate to the cloud as it’s the inevitable next step in the modernization strategy of your Oracle EBS. It will also cover how being in Oracle EBS 12.2.X gives you a lot more benefits than passively being on MDS as you get ready for the cloud.
If you are an EBS 11i or 12.1 customer, you may be a few steps behind in your road to modernization, but with expert resources and proven methodologies, you can upgrade and migrate to the cloud without MDS as quickly and cost-efficiently as possible.