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In article <01bec3e4$8c45d860$c74995c1_at_default>,
"Glenn Baron" <gbaron_at_dial.pipex.com> wrote:
> Phone call from my boss today .. he was at a Usergroup meeting, and
was
> desperate to know what (exact) version of Oracle we were on. Turns
out that
> Oracle U.K. are about to announce that only versions 7.3.4 and higher
will
> be supported from 2000 onwards. Rumours that 7.3.3 and below *might*
not be
> entirely Y2K compliant... > Hmmm, we'll see > > Glenn Baron >
EMS offers the continuance of full metals services for Release 7.3.3. It provides error correction for new severity one and some severity two issues. EMS is best suited for customers that need to stay with Release 7.3.3 past the desupport date of December 31, 1998. Customers can get more information about EMS by contacting their Support Sales Representative.
Although EMS is available, Oracle strongly encourages customers to upgrade to Oracle7, Release 7.3.4 or Oracle8, 8.0.4 to maintain the highest level of support and stability for their Oracle-based systems.
2. Which products are eligible for EMS? EMS is currently offered only for Oracle7, Release 7.3.3.
3. Are there any other options available to customers using Oracle7,
Release 7.3.3?
Customers who are using Oracle7, Release 7.3.3 and who are holding a
current annual maintenance license may request and receive a free
upgrade to Oracle7, Release 7.3.4.
This terminal release of Oracle7 will be supported through December 31,
2000. To receive the upgrade, customers should contact Client
Relations.
4. What is Extended Assistance Support (EAS)? EAS is not a separate support offering. Under EAS, supported customers will continue to be able to call in and get product information, migration information, workarounds for known issues, and so on.
EAS includes the following services:
 Answering customer questions
 Providing workarounds and available fixes for known problems
when
possible
 Providing customers with migration path information and
OracleMetals
Support options
EAS does NOT include the following services:
 Software error correction support
 Backporting of fixes
 Certification with supported products of newer operating
system
releases
 Escalation support, guaranteed response timers, or skills
availability
Analysts receiving calls from customers using R10.4, 10.5, or 10.6 should open TARs and provide assistance to the customer; however, no new bugs should be logged to Development for these releases.
5. Which products are eligible for EAS? Oracle has announced via mailings and on MetaLink that OracleMetals Support for Oracle Applications Releases 10.4, 10.5, and 10.6 was discontinued effective December 31, 1998. These releases are not Y2K compliant, and customers must upgrade to 10.7 or 11.0 as soon as possible. However, because we realized that some customers would not be able to migrate prior to December 31, 1998, customers who are still using these releases can continue to contact Oracle Support Services to receive Extended Assistance Support.
6. What is Oracle’s policy on desupported products?
 The compliance status of desupported products is no longer
listed in
the White Paper.
 Once a product has been desupported, error correction is no
longer
offered for newly identified problems. Y2K errors are no exception to
that policy.
 Desupported products may or may not be compliant. Many have
been
tested and indeed are compliant; however, as no new error correction is
possible, customers run some risk by choosing to remain on products
that, in many cases, are 8+ years old.
7. What are some other issues I may face in trying to achieve Y2K
compliance?
 The compliance of individual environments greatly depends upon
the
coding practices used by customers.
 Many of the older products accommodated flexibility in their
usage,
so depending on the specific implementation, customers could have
compliant or noncompliant applications. Y2K testing of individual
environments must be rigorous and thorough, because this is the only
way customers can be assured of correct date handling.
 If customers are using older Oracle products, in many cases
they will
be using older versions of an operating system or older hardware.
Because there are many points of compliance throughout the stack,
customers who choose to remain on desupported products are running some
risk.
 Customers are encouraged to remain on OracleMetals Support
during the
century date transition. Normal business operations may only require a
low level of on-going support, but Y2K is a unique event. Moving up to
a higher level of support should be considered.
 Whether customers are using supported or desupported products,
Oracle
strongly encourages all customers to complete rigorous Y2K testing
throughout their environments, including testing of customizations and
interfaces.
8. If Oracle’s products are being tested for Y2K compliance, why does
Oracle recommend that all customers complete their own rigorous Y2K
testing?
Individual implementations of Oracle products vary greatly.
Customizations may introduce date problems. Our products are not
standalone products. Third-party products vary in their deployment
throughout the stack and in customer usage. Customers may be using
compliant Oracle products, but at the same time they may be using a
noncompliant version of the operating system.
9. What products will soon be desupported?
 Oracle InterOffice: All versions of InterOffice will be
desupported
by 12/31/99 including versions 4.1.1 and 4.1.2. (See page 23 of the
White Paper.)
 Oracle Application Server (OAS): Older versions of OAS will be
desupported by 12/31/99. (See page 23 of the White Paper.)
Desupport notices for InterOffice and OAS have not yet been received by customers. Given the time criticality of Y2K, the White Paper will post the information first and can be used to give customers advance notice. Obviously we would prefer to have desupport notices
received by customers first, but we are concurrently addressing the desupport notification process and releasing this in the White Paper.
HTH
--
Oliver Willandsen - [ European Commission - http://europa.eu.int ]
All comments represent my own opinion and may not in any circumstance be regarded as stating an official position of the European Commission
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Received on Fri Jul 02 1999 - 05:42:25 CDT