Top 3 Reasons to consider R12 Upgrade

Based on 2012 OAUG (Oracle Applications User Group ) Survey on ERP Upgrade Economics,

As of 2012, About 46 percent of the OAUG survey respondents reported that they have already moved to the latest Oracle ERP solution – version 12.1 of EBS. Another 51 percent are still running version 11i (11.5.10). Also, 7 percent are running the latest version of PeopleSoft (9.1).  For many respondents, an upgrade is imminent. A total of 42 percent say that they are either in the process of an upgrade or planning to do so within the next 12 months. There is a segment,totaling 17 percent however, who say they either have no plans or aren’t aware of any plans.

ERP Upgrade Plans (as of 2012)

Among the segment of respondents who have no plans for an ERP upgrade, the main reason is a perception that their current systems are still adequate—as cited by about half. One-fifth are troubled by the lack of budget resources to execute an upgrade.

For those who have no plans for upgrading to R12 in the near future or those who are currently in the process of upgrading to R12, Here are some critical reasons to consider R12 Upgrade.

 

1) Oracle Support

EBS 11i is currently on Extended Support until Dec 2013. After that 11i will be on Sustaining Support. During Oracle OpenWorld 2012, Oracle announced an exception that will be provided for the first 13 months of Sustaining Support on Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11.5.10 (11i10), valid from December 1, 2013 – December 31, 2014.

This exception support will be comprised of components:

1. 1. New fixes for Severity 1 production issues,
   2. Critical Patch Updates (CPUs), up to and including the October 2014 CPU,*
   3. United States Form 1099 2013 year-end updates (for Oracle Financials/Accounts Payable product), and
   4. Payroll regulatory updates for the United States, Canada, United Kingdom, and Australia for each country’s fiscal year ending in 2014.

* POST OPENWORLD ANNOUNCEMENT: Exception for CPUs until October 2014 is newly added feature as of October 29, 2012. 

As per Oracle’s Lifetime Support Policy for Applications, E-Business Suite 11.5.10 is in Extended Support. There is an uplift fee waiver for all 3 years of Extended Support through November, 2013. As long as customers are current on their Software Update License & Support fees and renewals, their release version will automatically receive the Severity 1 Production Support Exception to Sustaining Support for 11.5.10. Customers must meet, or be above, the required minimum baseline patch level as identified in Doc ID 883202.1 - Patch Requirements for Extended Support of Oracle E-Business Suite Release 11.5.10.

So it is highly critical that all customers who are currently on 11i plan and upgrade their system to R12 to keep their Extended Support active.

2) New Features

Better User Experience in R12

Reduced pop-ups and duplicate screens
Re-designed and streamlined entire workflows
Reduced the number of steps to complete key tasks
Improved overall look & feel and visual style
Increased personalization capabilities

Financials R12 New Features

Ledgers and ledger sets
Centralized rules-based accounting engine
Single, global tax engine
Centralized payments engine
Common global intercompany system
Shared services support with multi-org access
Centralized data model for suppliers and banks
Incentive Compensation enhancements
Improved Collections Functionality
New Project Management tools
Enhanced Rev Recognition
Enhanced Revenue Matching Subledger Accounting

XML Publisher Reports, Embedded BI

Other Features

iRep

Enhanced Patch Management and Cloning

Better Security

Simpler Management, Better UI

User Management, Globalization

UPK (User Productivity Kit)

3) Fusion Middleware

AIA, BPEL, SOA, ESB, BAM

Here are some additional reading materials on R12 - EBS Release 12 Information Center on Metalink:
The link for R12 Information Center

EBS Release 12 RCD’s (Release Content Documents) (Metalink Note: 404152.1): 
EBS Release 12 Documentation Resources Overview (Metalink Note: 394692.1):
EBS Release 12 Translation Matrix (Metalink Note: 412218.1):