Oracle FAQ Your Portal to the Oracle Knowledge Grid
HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US
 

Home -> Community -> Usenet -> c.d.o.server -> Re: Rumours

Re: Rumours

From: Oliver Willandsen <fafnyr_at_my-deja.com>
Date: Fri, 02 Jul 1999 10:42:25 GMT
Message-ID: <7li52g$8k3$1@nnrp1.deja.com>


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
>

Y2K FAQ: Product Compliance
White Paper (version 4.1.0.0.17)
  1. What is Extended Maintenance Support (EMS)? EMS is an enhanced support offering, which is typically sold when customers renew their support agreements.

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:
&#61623; Answering customer questions
&#61623; Providing workarounds and available fixes for known problems
when
possible
&#61623; Providing customers with migration path information and
OracleMetals
Support options

 EAS does NOT include the following services:
&#61623; Software error correction support
&#61623; Backporting of fixes
&#61623; Certification with supported products of newer operating
system
releases
&#61623; 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?
&#61623; The compliance status of desupported products is no longer
listed in
the White Paper.
&#61623; Once a product has been desupported, error correction is no
longer
offered for newly identified problems. Y2K errors are no exception to that policy.
&#61623; 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?
&#61623; The compliance of individual environments greatly depends upon
the
coding practices used by customers.
&#61623; 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.
&#61623; 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.
&#61623; 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.
&#61623; 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?
&#61623; 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.)
&#61623; 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.

  1. What resources are available on MetaLink for achieving and understanding Y2K compliance?
    &#61623; Y2K information is posted on the top page of MetaLink under
    News & Notes.
    &#61623; The Y2K FAQ has been updated.
    &#61623; Y2K patches for Applications are updated with new patch
    information (10.7/R11).
    &#61623; Y2K Forums have been added for Applications, Server, and
    Tools. Please make customers aware of these forums and encourage their use.
  2. Is Oracle7, Release 7.3.3 supported? As of December 31, 1998 Release 7.3.3 was desupported for most platforms. For a few platforms it is still supported. Oracle is offering Extended Maintenance Support for Release 7.3.3 through December 31, 2000 for those platforms for which it has been desupported.
  3. What is the compliance status of desupported versions of Oracle7? Desupported versions of Oracle7 are compliant from 7.1 and higher, although those desupported versions do have some Y2K issues that may affect some customers and should be considered. Also, in keeping with Oracle’s desupport policies, Oracle will not patch errors, including Y2K errors, in desupported products. Oracle recommends migrating to a supported version of the server. Information on known Y2K issues can be found on MetaLink. Customers can also access this information through Aspect’s faxback option.

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

Sent via Deja.com http://www.deja.com/
Share what you know. Learn what you don't. Received on Fri Jul 02 1999 - 05:42:25 CDT

Original text of this message

HOME | ASK QUESTION | ADD INFO | SEARCH | E-MAIL US