5 Things That Oracle Database 12c Is Not

1. Database Creation and Upgrade Assistants (dbca and dbua) are no longer mere beginner tools to be ignored by expert DBAs. After all, the experts know exactly what commands are going to be issued anyway, and in what order they need to be performed …every single time, regardless of version, patchset or platform. Don’t they?
2. Enterprise Manager (EM) Express is not a business management acceleration tool.  DB Control was one of the least-used freebies in the package, but for very good reasons. EM Express changes that through a number of major renovations.
3. Releasing Oracle Database Release v12.1.0 does not mean we should wait for v12.2.0 so all the bugs can be fixed. As a user-group member, we had hands-on with the Betas for 12.1 under conditions that the regular discretionary Corporate Beta customers would have loved, but logistically impossible to organize.
   • 1-on-1 with the Database Technology Development Team at Oracle
   • Direct escalation of issues with the Technology Product Management Team
   • User Experience sessions to record those things that don’t translate well to standard Service Requests
   • 12.1.0 is a very good release, as a result of Oracle and Users Groups working together.
4. Parallel upgrades and patching don’t refer to running the upgrades and patches on multiple separate machines. The new methodology can cut your downtime by at least 50% on most platforms.
5. General Availability (GA) release does not equal Certification. Oracle’s certifications will be released after appropriate quality assurance has taken place, and rest assured, that’s still the best way to keep your Oracle-based technology running smoothly.