A key milestone in the support lifecycle of E-Business Suite will arrive in December this year when 11i (11.5.10) moves into Sustaining Support with Oracle.
This has important consequences for those enterprises using this version of the software, particularly those using Oracle Payroll.
Oracle Lifetime Support Policy
First, a brief review. Oracle E-Business Suite (as with most Oracle products) has three stages of support:
Premier Support
- Usually lasts for 5 years from the release date of the product version.
- The most comprehensive support cover, including all aspects of Oracle support.
Extended Support
- Usually lasts for 3 years after the end of Premier Support.
- Includes most of the features included with Premier Support, with the exception of certifications with new Oracle/third party products.
- Typically adopted by those customers that wish to continue to receive the benefits of Premier Support but who are not yet ready to upgrade to a later version of the software.
- Normally needs to be purchased with an uplift on existing support costs, although Oracle will sometimes announce a waiver for Extended Support fees for certain product versions over specified timescales.
Sustaining Support
- Lasts from the end of Extended Support indefinitely.
- Important restrictions means that key features of Oracle support are not included, such as the latest tax/legislative updates and security fixes.
As of November 2013, the relevant dates for Oracle E-Business Suite are as follows:
The key date here is the end of Extended Support for 11.5.10 in Nov 2013
