Last week, Oracle announced plans to retire Web Services Gateway (WSG) and Extended Process Integration (XPI) from JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. While the company has made noises about putting these offerings out to pasture for some time, the announcement puts definite dates on the event.
Beginning September 1, 2008, Oracle will no longer offer WSG with EnterpriseOne Tools. However, existing users will still be able to access WSG via the Update Center. In addition, Oracle will provide Premier Support for the offering through October 1, 2010. This means that WSG will continue to receive updates, fixes, and certifications for new EnterpriseOne releases. After October 1, 2010, WSG will move to Sustaining Support, which provides technical assistance and pre-existing fixes for known issues.
Yesterday, Oracle issued an urgent Security Alert about a vulnerability in Oracle’s WebLogic application server (formerly BEA WebLogic). The company also provided a workaround for the vulnerability that WebLogic customers can implement until developers create a patch for the flaw. This is the first time in more than three years that Oracle has issued a security alert outside of its regularly scheduled Critical Patch Updates, making this a “must fix” for WebLogic users.
The story behind the unusual alert was broken yesterday by Eric Maurice on the Oracle Global Product Security Blog. For those of you who do not know him, Maurice anchors this blog and has made it one of the best sources of information about securing Oracle products on the web. As Maurice explained in yesterday’s post, both the vulnerability and the code to exploit it was posted on public forums before it was sent to Oracle (a definite “no no” that separates ethical hackers from the black hats of the business). To make matters worse, the exploit code hit the forums shortly after Oracle released its last Critical Patch Update on July 15. This is forcing Oracle to issue an out of cycle security update.
If you do not subscribe to the feed for the Oracle Global Product Security Blog, I would encourage you to do so. Its timely warnings could save you from a nasty breach of your JD Edwards applications.
On Monday, SAP informed the IT world that it will “wind down” the operations of TomorrowNow, its subsidiary that provides third-party support for Oracle applications. The announcement ends a bold experiment on SAP’s part that blew up in its face. Unfortunately, the fallout from the explosion will put over 200 TomorrowNow customers — including many JD Edwards users — through the pain of having to find new support providers.
According to SAP sources, the software vendor plans to shutter TomorrowNow before October 31 of this year. Undoubtedly, the actual shutdown date will be partly determined by how long it takes the subsidiary’s 225 customers to return to Oracle support or choose another maintenance vendor. SAP spokespeople say that they are already assisting customers in transitioning to new providers. While Oracle will undoubtedly get the bulk of the accounts, it is likely that third-party support providers such as Rimini Street will also win significant numbers. Indeed, Rimini Street has posted a “Welcome TomorrowNow Customers” page on its web site that advertises its 50 percent savings off Oracle support prices.
When Oracle boosted list prices for its database and middleware products last month, it was not clear whether it had also changed prices for its applications. This week, however, Oracle sources told us that the company did update prices for its applications, including many EnterpriseOne and World offerings. That update increased prices for many products by approximately 15 percent in the United States and the United Kingdom. In all fairness to Oracle, prices in some regions remained unchanged or even decreased.
To understand what Oracle has done, one first must realize that the company offers three licensing models for its applications. Component licenses are for small “a la carte” purchases of one to several products. Custom Application Suite (CAS) licenses are used for purchases of software bundles that are priced by the bundle user (otherwise known as a CAS user). Enterprise licenses are used for purchases by larger companies that have many internal and external users.
With that brief licensing lesson in mind, let’s look at Oracle’s pricing action. According to Oracle, the price increases apply to Component and CAS prices for all EnterpriseOne and World products. From the information we have received so far, Component prices for U.S. and U.K. customers rose by 15 percent for all JD Edwards products. CAS prices for these countries also rose across the board, though we are still trying to determine by how much.
While the summer doldrums may be upon us, there has been no reduction in the flow of JD Edwards news coming across my desk. In this article, I’ll discuss important changes on the middleware and tools fronts, promising developments for JD Edwards World, and a way that almost any company can get a fat check from Oracle.
Next Stop…WebLogic?
Last week, I posted a review of Oracle’s plans to integrate BEA products into its Fusion Middleware portfolio. As the review stated, Oracle’s middleware roadmap raises many questions about the role that BEA products will play in the Oracle Technology Foundation for EnterpriseOne. While we are still working to get definitive answers to those questions, sources inside Oracle have confirmed that there are no plans to force EnterpriseOne customers to use BEA WebLogic Server. If you are running Oracle Application Server or IBM WebSphere Application Server, you will continue to receive support.
While the JD Edwards Advisor strives to provide comprehensive news and analysis to our readers, we also like to have a good laugh. That’s why we post the occasional picture or video that gives us a chuckle, even if it pokes fun at our own foibles or (heaven forbid!) at Oracle itself.
The following video from a group inside SAP definitely fits in the latter category. Its sheer campiness, not to mention the fact that it comes from a firm with a reputation for seriousness, makes it particularly funny. I hope you enjoy it as much as we did.
Do you have any videos or pictures that are worthy of being hung in our Software Hall of Humor? If you want to nominate something, send me an email with a link to (or attachment of) your candidate. If we post your submission, we’ll be sure to give you credit for it.
Two days ago, Oracle hosted a webcast in which it announced how it will integrate BEA and its products into Fusion Middleware. While the webcast answered many questions about where Oracle plans to take BEA products over the next several years, it raised fresh questions about the implications of Oracle’s strategy for JD Edwards users.
To get a sense of what those questions might be, let’s dive into the announcement itself to analyze Oracle’s product roadmap. During the webcast, Oracle Senior VP Thomas Kurian explained that the vendor has divided BEA’s products into three groups.
Last week, Oracle announced plans to retire Web Services Gateway (WSG) and Extended Process Integration (XPI) from JD Edwards EnterpriseOne. While the company has made noises about putting these offerings out to pasture for some time, the announcement puts definite dates on the event.
On Monday, SAP informed the IT world that it will “wind down” the operations of TomorrowNow, its subsidiary that provides third-party support for Oracle applications. The announcement ends a bold experiment on SAP’s part that blew up in its face. Unfortunately, the fallout from the explosion will put over 200 TomorrowNow customers — including many JD Edwards users — through the pain of having to find new support providers.
When Oracle boosted list prices for its database and middleware products last month, it was not clear whether it had also changed prices for its applications. This week, however, Oracle sources told us that the company did update prices for its applications, including many EnterpriseOne and World offerings. That update increased prices for many products by approximately 15 percent in the United States and the United Kingdom. In all fairness to Oracle, prices in some regions remained unchanged or even decreased.