What those Oracle patches mean for users

Only one day after Microsoft released its monthly Patch Tuesday, Oracle issued for critical patches this week.

Oracle’s patches cover several products, including versions of Oracle Databease 11g, 9i, Oracle E-Business Suite R12, 11i, Oracle WebLogic Server 9.0 8.1 and Oracle JRockit. Oracle recommends that users apply the fixes to their systems immediately. We spoke to Inatech’s Ravindra Krishnappa about the patches, where they came from, and what they mean for users.

This particular patch clash had its origins in an end-user environment. Last month, Adobe released a set of patches that conflicted with Microsoft patches. This means that Oracle’s server side patches may not have such an impact, but not necessarily. Oracle operating level patches may impact users who have installed Oracle products under the Microsoft New Technology base, and so awareness of up-and-coming patches is always important.

Ravindra said: “Inatech recommends that there is a standard patch application and inter-dependency test process established within each of its clients environments.” This kind of approach can help users understand patches as they are released and apply them where necessary.

“Given the multiple software components or stacks, we think that it is going to be more and more difficult for our end customers to internally keep staff to evaluate these patches and their impact.

“Inatech, for a few select managed services customers, help in both establishing this patching process and to also provide this as a service,” Ravindra continued.

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