For those who attended, we’re all getting settled back in after Oracle OpenWorld. Yet for more and more people, OOW is a non-event. Despite prospectuses continuing to tout 60,000 attendees, the event felt smaller, there was less hype, and there were fewer exhibitors. There were really no stunning announcements, and there were long lines for everything, from registration to food to keynotes.

Still, we were able to glean some information on the top 3 most pressing areas for Avout’s customers:

1. Security Oracle has made a lot of advancements in security . Some are incremental, like the myriad improvements to the Autonomous Database, and some are more dramatic, like the release of the second generation Oracle Cloud which is highlighted by separating the Cloud Controller. There’s really no choice in this. Security is a necessity, not an option.
2. Artificial Intelligence is making its way into everything Oracle. Oracle even has its own assistant. AI will make your life better: easier, faster, more flexible. You owe it to yourself to learn what it can do and how to use it.
3. Release 12.3 Oracle announced that there will be no release 12.3 for the Oracle EBS software.  If you’re on R12.2, that’s the end of the line. There will continue to be dot releases for issues, but no new significant functionality.  And you can expect to move through Premier Support to Extended Support and finally to Sustaining Support. While the Premier Support for 12.2 was scheduled to end in 2023, the announcement that there will be no release 12.3 has caused Oracle to extend support through at least 2030. Still, you’ll want to keep your upgrades current.

While these were the subjects most relevant to our client base, this doesn’t really constitute big news. Oracle customers continue their gradual move Oracle Cloud, but in the meantime need to keep their R12 up to date. We are hoping Oracle took notice of the rather reserved reception of what used to be an industry-leading event and will beef it up for next year.