Oracle Database users question value of costly upgrades, survey reveals

Rimini Street, a global provider of end-to-end enterprise software support, has revealed the results of a new survey, entitled "Forces Driving the Future of Your Oracle Database Road Map". The survey analysed the strategies, the driving forces behind changes, and the challenges experienced by Oracle Database customers as support for 19c concludes in April 2024, then Oracle's Extended Support in 2027.

The survey found that the challenges identified by Oracle Database customers are high costs (38%), the cost and effort required to apply security patches (38%), and frequent upgrades needed to maintain full support (37%). Despite these challenges, 78% of the participants plan to continue using Oracle Database, citing overall satisfaction with their investment. To maintain full support from Oracle, organisations have to upgrade which, according to surveys, can be costly and time-intensive.

One of the key findings of the survey is that most enterprises are highly dependent on Oracle, with survey participants reporting an average of 182 Oracle instances in use. As per the research, most respondents (79%) are using Oracle Database version 19c or earlier. Given the strong inclination towards current versions of the database and the costs and effort associated with upgrades, companies may potentially face substantial financial and resource commitments in the future.

Discussing the results of the survey, Robert Freeman, the Senior Director of Product Management for Database and Middleware at Rimini Street, stated, "With a majority of Oracle Database customers running 19c or earlier versions and enjoying the stability of these releases, the push to upgrade to a newer version does not provide enough ROI to justify the financial and resource commitment needed".

He further added that more leaders are taking control of their IT roadmap by refusing costly and disruptive upgrades and instead focusing on strategic initiatives that accelerate their growth and profitability goals.

To further optimise and improve performance, reduce costs, and improve their focus on innovation, over one-third of the respondents (36%) revealed they are outsourcing the management of their Oracle Database to a managed service provider. According to Freeman, options are available for superior quality, end-to-end IT support and services, which do not require extensive, expensive regression testing and also offer comprehensive coverage of customised environments.

Freeman concluded, "No matter the size of the organisation, IT leaders are always challenged to deliver innovation and add to the bottom-line at the same time. To drive ROI and maintain flexibility, successful IT roadmaps are drawn based on the needs of the business, not by the vendor demands."