Oracle is a renowned platform in the market and helps businesses streamline financial processes, other HR operations, etc. To stay competitive and beneficial to businesses, Oracle releases frequent updates to facilitate new features, functions, and security upgrades across the ecosystem. Hence, the fact cannot be undermined that testing every Oracle update becomes imperative to ensure existing processes are not disrupted. In this blog, we will analyze how testing plays a pivotal role in every Oracle update.
Understanding Oracle Updates
Oracle cloud applications are used by almost every organization. The Oracle apps are used to streamline essential business operations, such as Human Capital Management (HCM), Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP), and Supply Chain Management (SCM). Oracle works on the principle of continuous improvement and innovation; hence, frequent updates are released to unveil new features, enhancements, and bug fixes.
A systematic approach is followed for each quarterly release update, and a sequential number is assigned to each update. For instance, the update for the first quarter of 2023 is known as 23A, 23B for the second quarter, and so on till the fourth quarter.
Importance of Oracle Quarterly Updates
Security Patching
Oracle Quarterly Updates typically include a wide range of security patches and fixes. In today’s digital landscape, cybersecurity threats are constantly evolving, and software vulnerabilities can be exploited by malicious means. Regular updates help protect organizations from potential security & data breaches by addressing known vulnerabilities.
Bug Fixes and Stability
Apart from security updates, Oracle releases updates that fix software bugs and enhance the overall stability of its products. Bugs can lead to system crashes, data corruption, and performance issues. Regular updates help ensure the software runs smoothly and efficiently, reducing downtime and minimizing the risk of data loss.
Performance Enhancements
Oracle often includes performance improvements in its updates. These enhancements can result in faster query execution, improved resource utilization, and better overall system performance. Keeping systems up-to-date can lead to a more responsive and efficient IT infrastructure.
Why Testing Is Crucial for Oracle Update?
Quality Assurance: Testing is essential to maintain the quality and reliability of the Oracle database or application. It helps identify and fix issues, bugs, or vulnerabilities that may arise due to the update.
Compatibility: Testing ensures the new Oracle update is compatible with the existing hardware, software, and configurations within the organization’s IT infrastructure. Compatibility testing can prevent unexpected issues and downtime.
Functional Testing: Functional testing verifies that the core functions of the Oracle software continue to work as expected after the update. Test cases are designed to check specific functionalities and business processes.
Regression Testing: Regression testing is critical to ensure the update has no new defects or broken existing functionality. It involves retesting the entire application or database to detect any unintended negative effects.
Data Integrity Testing: Ensures data integrity is maintained throughout the update process. Data migration and transformation processes are thoroughly tested to prevent data corruption or loss.
Best Practices for Performing Oracle Update Testing
Testing Oracle updates is a critical part of the update process to ensure that they do not negatively impact Oracle databases or applications. Here are some best practices to carry out Oracle update testing:-
Create a Test Environment: Set up a dedicated testing environment that mirrors the production environment as closely as possible. This includes hardware, software, configurations, and data.
Test in Phases: Do not test all Oracle updates at once. Break them into phases and prioritize critical updates, especially security patches.
Test Realistic Scenarios: Test the updates under realistic conditions, using typical workloads and scenarios your production environment experiences.
Regression Testing: Perform thorough regression testing to ensure the updates do not create new issues or break existing functionality.
Test Automation: Consider automating repetitive and time-consuming tests using testing frameworks and scripts. Automation can ensure consistency and efficiency in your testing process.
Test Across Platforms: If your organization uses multiple platforms or operating systems, test the updates on each platform to ensure cross-platform compatibility.
Documentation and Reporting: Maintain detailed records of testing procedures, configurations, and test results. This documentation is valuable for audit purposes and future reference.
Choose Opkey for Test Guidance of Oracle Updates
It is important to note that every Oracle Cloud quarterly update necessitates a minimum of two rounds of regression testing, one in the testing environment and another in the production environment.
Opkey specializes in helping organizations manage Oracle updates. Opkey runs a comprehensive series of automated tests to validate the existing features, whether impacted positively or negatively. The automated tests created by Opkey help validate successful test execution and maintenance of end-to-end business process flows.
Apart from this, the testing becomes a breeze with Opkey. It supports over 15 packaged apps and 150 technologies and enables customers to automate single-app and cross-app tests without coding. Moreover, high-speed test automation empowers Opkey to certify Oracle Cloud updates in just 3 days.
It makes use of a no-code, drag-and-drop test builder & test recorder that enables any non-technical employee to scale test automation in minutes. Opkey comes with 30,000 pre-built & automated test components that customers can use from day one.
