Does Change Management Include Patches?

1
Does Change Management Include Patches?

• Joel Howard, RingMaster Software
• Northern California OAUG
• San Ramon 2004

2
Agenda

• Change Management
• Answer the Question
• Realities of 11i
• APM - a Change Mgmt Solution

3
What does Change Management cover?

• Upgrades Software
• Upgrades Hardware
• Document Management
• Configuration Management
• Software Development
• Maintenance

4
Change Management

• Why is Change Mgmt important?
• Disparate components share a relationship to one
  another
• SHARED DEPENDENCIES!!

5
ChangesDependencies

• Maintenance Pack gtgt Apache Pre-reqs
• Apache upgrade gtgt DB Pre-requisites
• One off patch gtgt Pre- and Post-requisites
• Apps Upgrade gtgt DB Upgrade
• Does CM include patches? YES !!

6
Release 11i Dependencies

• The biggest, most complex release ever
• Release 10.7 40 products
• Release 11.5.5 161 products
• Release 11.5.7 179 products
• Release 11.5.8 191 products
• Release 11.5.9 197 products
• ALL OR NOTHING!

7
Release 11i

• Release 11.5.5 gt 20,000 bug fixes
• Release 11.5.7 gt 40,000 bug fixes
• Release 11.5.8 gt 64,000 bug fixes
• Release 11.5.9 gt 100,000 bug fixes

8
Not Unique to Oracle

• What are the two most difficult issues in
  maintaining software?
• Patching
• Not Patching

9
The Impact of Patching

• Problems Resolved
• New, more stable technology
• Added Functionality
• Improved Security
• Faster Performance
• Who is impacted? EVERYONE.

10
The Impact of Patching

• Large amounts of new code introduced
• Exact Impact unknownundocumented
• 2000-5000 distinct bug fixes in an average family
  pack
• 2-50 different modules impacted
• User unaware of changed processes/attributes
• Disabled forms/reports
• Extensive testing
• Disruption of production system

11
The impact of NOT patching

• Why not patch? Stability
  Perceived
• From Metalink FAQ
• At a minimum, apply maintenance packs to stay
  within two maintenance releases of the most
  current release.
• Timely support
• Call Oracle support for a problem and youre not
  patched current?
• Performance
• Latest performance updates as part of a patch.

12
The impact of NOT patching

• Security
• Latest security updates issued in the form of
  patches
• New Functionality
• Improvements in functionality and stability
• Politics
• User complaints, frustration over a lack of
  fixes, requests for added functionality

13
Why avoid it?

• Multiple manual steps per patch, per environment
  
• No detailed impact analysis
• No structure to enforce pre-requisites
• Inability to flag affected customizations
• No mechanism to manage testing, approvals or
  workflow

14
Manual Steps
Maint Pack Download
Change Reporting
Maint Pack Research
Change Testing
Maint Pack Application
15
Strategy

• AUTOMATE the maintenance of your applications
• Patch Proactively Stay current on your watch
  not Oracles
• Software issues are typically encountered when
  you least have time for them
• Month end (Mgmt reports due, Payroll filing)
• Quarter end (SEC Reporting)
• FDA or other certification requirements
• Year end (1099s, W-2s, Sarbanes Oxley)
• Not patched current major project when you can
  least afford it

16

• APM
• A Change Management Solution
• Identify the change
• Control the change
• Communicate the change

17
Change Management

• APM
• Real-time analysis by APM
• file system impact (APPL_TOP)
• database impact (table,view,sequence,index)
• list of affected customizations
• required prerequisite patches
• is the prereq obsolete?
• determine patch impact ratio
• summary of bug numbers in patch
• links to Oracle bug database
• list environments where patch/bug already applied
• Patch Prediction

• Change requested
• Research performed on Metalink
• Patch obtained
• Patch impact analyzed
• Dependency information obtained
• Knowledge disseminated
• Implementation planned
• Plan implemented
• Testing performed
• Patch Approved
• Patch Migrated
• Concurrent Documentation

18
Change Management

• Change requested
• Research performed on Metalink
• Patch obtained
• Patch impact analyzed
• Dependency information obtained
• Knowledge disseminated
• Implementation planned
• Plan implemented
• Testing performed
• Patch Approved
• Patch Migrated
• Concurrent Documentation

• APM
• Automatic scheduled download of patch from
  MetaLink
• Notification of obsolescence
• Enforcement of pre-requisites
• Establish pre-reqs
• Automate manual tasks

19
Change Management

• Change requested
• Research performed on Metalink
• Patch obtained
• Patch impact analyzed
• Dependency information obtained
• Knowledge disseminated
• Implementation planned
• Plan implemented
• Testing performed
• Patch Approved
• Patch Migrated
• Concurrent Documentation

• Automated processes within APM
• patch download
• transfer patch to multiple servers
• schedule single patch or patch group
• merge patches in background
• ADADMIN, ADCTRL, sqlplus/shell scripts
• compile / list invalid objects
• start/stop Oracle processes
• email/pager notification

20
Workflow / Approval Process
Yes
21
Change Management

• APM
• Automatic Alerts emails, pager, etc.
• Central Repository for all environments for all
  patching information
• Dozens of useful reports
• Environment comparisons,
• patch detail, patch impact analysis,
• patches applied by date, by environment, by
  application, by person, etc.
• find patchset levels,
• find where patch was applied,
• compare your patches against those released from
  Oracle

• Change requested
• Research performed on Metalink
• Patch obtained
• Patch impact analyzed
• Dependency information obtained
• Knowledge disseminated
• Implementation planned
• Plan implemented
• Testing performed
• Patch Approved
• Patch Migrated
• Concurrent Documentation

22
Functional Analyst
Alerts, queries, reports, email, pagers,
approvals
Patching Information
Information Flows
Application DBA
23
Environment Comparison
24
The Impact of APM

• Functional Group
• Reduced, focused user testing
• Verify testing took place
• Faster support from Oracle
• Technical Group
• Reduced workload through automation
• Reduced risk through impact analysis
• Complete, accessible audit trail
• Faster problem resolution

• Organizational Effect
• Enforced procedures
• Decreased workload
• Communication, accountability between business
  groups
• Improved problem resolution
• Reduced costs

25
Oracle and RingMaster

• 11.5.9, Oracle Application Manager (OAM)
• Improved Reporting
• No automation, scheduling, workflow
• No pre-requisite checking
• No mechanism to manage testing or approvals
• No detailed impact analysis
• No environment comparison reports
• 11.5.10, Oracle Application Manager (OAM)
• Improved Impact Analysis on file system only
• Pre-requisite checking
• No automation, scheduling, workflow
• No mechanism to manage testing or approvals
• No impact analysis for DB changes
• No environment comparison reports

26
RingMaster Software Corporation

• 1995 Founded as a consulting organization with
  expertise in Oracle Applications
• 1998 Began developing and selling software
  specifically for Oracle Applications Users
• Offices in Boston, Dallas, Los Angeles, Atlanta,
  Chicago, St. Paul, and Vermont
• More than 100 customers in the US, Canada, and
  Europe

27
Representative Customers