A Beginner’s Guide to Oracle Updates
Oracle Fusion Applications are globally recognized and are being used by 14,000+ organizations to run their business. Fusion applications include enterprise resource planning (ERP), supply chain management, human capital management, advertising, and customer experience. To add value to its customers Oracle rolls out periodic updates. In this blog, we will highlight what Oracle updates are and why they are critical to maximize your investment in Oracle Apps.

What is Oracle Quarterly Updates?

Oracles updates are delivered quarterly to add new features and functionalities to your Fusion applications. These updates are aimed at delivering new features to keep up with market dynamics along with fixing bugs from the previous releases.

Changes that come with Oracle updates

Quarterly updates contain three different types of changes:

· Fixes: These are delivered “enabled” and address technical defects such as a legislative or regulatory change.

· New functionality: These are delivered to enhance the user experience and contain UI changes, new web services, or features. These are delivered “disabled” and require opt-in. When enabled, they can impact the user experience.

· Ready to use by end users: These include minor changes and have minimal impact on business users. These are shipped “enabled”.
When are Oracle Quarterly Updates rolled out?
The test and production environments of customers are updated based on cohorts which are as follows:
· Cohort A: February, May, August, November
· Cohort B: March, June, September, December
· Cohort C: April, July, October, January
The released are named as two-digits of the calendar year plus the letters – A, B, C, or D.
For example, the first release of the year 2025 will be 25A and later releases as 25B, 25C, and 25D.

What happens when you get the Oracle Updates?

Oracle updates are first applied to non-production environment. The updates are mandatory and cannot be rescheduled. Oracle gives customers two weeks to test these updates in the test cadence environments. After two weeks, these will be applied in the production environment. If any issue arises, customers need to report that to Oracle Support.

Why should you take a test after the quarterly update?

Every business follows a unique business process. Oracle Fusion Applications are configured based on unique business processes. When updates are rolled out, there are chances that they may impact your unique configurations. To avoid that, it is recommended that key business processes should be tested on the new update.
Best practices to avoid business disruption

· The foremost thing you need to do is to create a team that is accountable for the assessment, testing, and roll out of the new features. This ensures that the change is managed properly, and the update process goes smoothly. The team should include technical, business, and end-users.

· Then, you need to review the release details and start preparing for the test. The test environment should be refreshed first.

· We recommend you bring in test automation. Oracle gives two weeks’ time to test updates and report any issue. By incorporating test automation, you can ensure that you get the best results with less work.
However, not all test automation tools are the same when it comes to testing automated Oracle Fusion. Here are the top tips you should consider while selecting the tool.

· Since business users are involved in the testing process, it is always recommended to bring in a no-code test automation tool. Most tools are developed with a programming mindset and require coding knowledge. However, they are difficult to operate for business users as they are non-technical folks. So, incorporate no-code test automation platforms like Opkey.

· Oracle Fusion Applications hardly operate as stand-alone applications. They often integrate with other apps. So, always incorporate test automation platforms that support end-to-end coverage.

· Oracle apps are highly dynamic in nature. Even a small change in the UI can break the test scripts. So, bring in a test automation tool that can support test script maintenance. There are several tools available that come with self-healing capabilities to minimize test script maintenance. Always opt for such a tool.