March 01, 2021

Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) is a set of business applications that work together to create an integrated business management system. The applications run the gamut from supply chain management to HR to accounting, and everything in between. Every company and business structure is unique, therefore Oracle EBS ensures customization in order to utilize tools specific to each company’s needs. Just like any IT solution, Oracle EBS managed services can (and should) be enhanced to maximize your investment. Take the time to identify areas for performance tuning and enhancement to experience the industry leading speed and agility that Oracle EBS applications are known for.

Step 1: Identify Performance Problems

The first step to performance tuning and enhancing your EBS applications is to identify and clearly define any potential problems so that you can understand the effective resolution steps. Run a set of diagnostic tests to gauge the performance potential of your applications. MOS DOC 1121043.1 is a good starting point. Look for the longest running jobs to identify areas of improvement. Once you know which jobs are taking longer in your applications, you can begin to identify why the jobs are slower, and then how to improve the performance.

Step 2: Investigate

Once you have determined which areas can be improved, you can begin to research the factors that are causing the slowdowns. Gather as much data as possible to fully understand the issues and identify the root causes. Look carefully at all 3 tiers to see which layers are impacted and which components within the tiers are of note. Pay attention to resource consumption and OS metrics. This is an intensive fact-finding mission but having a target in mind (step 1) will help you focus your efforts efficiently.

Step 3: Analyze and Document Findings

Carefully document your findings. This is important for your own records, but even more so if you should need to escalate an issue to support/dev teams. If the investigation should reveal a product issue to be the root cause, send any appropriate documentation to the support team for resolution. The documentation process also helps to organize the issue and serves as a platform for analysis.

Step 4: Find a Workaround/Resolution

Now that you have identified your issue and thoroughly analyzed and documented its cause, you can find the appropriate resolution to reinstate optimized performance for your application suite. Depending on the issue you may find an immediate resolution, or you may need to identify a temporary workaround while a more permanent solution is designed. Your first step should be to check Oracle’s product resources for known issues and workarounds and to make sure all patch updates are installed. Workarounds and resolutions will vary widely based upon the nature of the issue and the components involved. You may benefit from utilizing a contracting service with an extensive array of skills and expertise on hand. The efficiency provided by their services generally mitigates the cost of hiring out-of-house.

Step 5: Follow Best Practices

General best practices will ensure an optimized environment and keep your applications up to maximum potential. When you are up against a performance issue, start at the simplest explanation and work your way up. This means going back to the basics and checking your version levels, ensuring best-practice configuration, and making sure patch updates are maintained to schedule.

Oracle E-Business Suite is a robust set of applications that can help your company run more efficiently. Both operational tools and analytics are combined in the integrated environment to give business owners functional control and maximum visibility. Taking a bit of time to manage and performance tune your EBS solutions will help ensure your business operations and reports/analytics are running quickly and efficiently.

For help maintaining your Oracle products, reach out to a trusted partner who can ensure vendor best practices are in place. Let our Oracle product experts help you make the most of your Oracle EBS managed services.