Chris Warticki's Blog - Oracle Support

When was the last time that our database recovery strategy was tested?  When was the last time that the database was even backed up?  Do we even know if we can even recover what we think we’ve backed up?

This one is all about Disaster Recovery, not just about hurricanes.  I live in Florida so I thought the title would grab you.  June 1st was the start of hurricane season.  I’m reminded of speaking at Oracle events over the last few years about Disaster Recovery and High Availability.  I’m also shuttering in remembrance to know how many customers have neither knowledge of, nor tested their backup/recovery plans.  I’m amazed at the single points of failure that exist if the company DBA was in a car accident on their way to work, that nobody else would know how to perform a backup/recovery.  Better yet – it’s not even documented anywhere.

Should this alarm us?  Yes.  It should. It should be a smack in the face to standard operating procedures.  As a former support manager for RDBMS, I remember the countless customers who have logged Sev1 service requests because of poor backup practices and nonexistent recovery testing.  The list is long and distinguished.  CIO’s  thought they had been backing up all along.  BAM! – hardware corruption.  Kapow!- Data UnLoader fees to recover data from ones and zeros.  Those CIOs are still working on their resumes.

Oracle Support has an extensive knowledgebase in My Oracle Support on Backup/Recovery.  Advanced Customer Services has Disaster Recovery-Backup/Recovery Assessments and Testing Services.   Oracle has incredible products like RMAN, RAC, Dataguard etc., which are solutions to High Availability and Data Recovery.

Let me share a support-story triumph.  Years ago, one of those hurricanes blew up through the Gulf Coast.  The Support line rang and on the other end was a DBA who basically had just enough time to grab his toothbrush and a duffle bag.  In the duffle bag were the backup tapes.  They had just been on the road for hours heading north.  They needed to get their system back up and business back open.  All they had were the backup tapes.  To make a long story short…..Oracle Support remained online with the DBA and within a few hours, the database was fully recovered and business was back up and running.

Oracle Support is here to help and we would do the same thing for any customer.  That’s our commitment to our customers. That’s our commitment to customer service and satisfaction.  I’m proud to work for Oracle.

Chris Warticki works for Oracle Global Customer Services & Support, under the office of Regional Advocacy
Chris twitters daily support tips and tricks @cwarticki

An oldie but a goodie..
I'm in the Support business. It's always important to remember who is responsible for your company's survival. If survival means writing blog, participating in a wiki, authoring a podcast or twittering, than do it.  Meet your customers where they are.

I am your customer. Satisfy my wants with personal attention and a friendly touch and I will become a walking advertisement of your products and services. Ignore my wants, show carelessness, inattention and poor manners, and I will simply cease to exist, as far as you are concerned.

I am sophisticated, much more so than I was a few years ago. I have grown accustomed to better things. I have money to spend. I am an egoist. I am sensitive. I am proud. My ego needs the nourishment of a friendly, personal greeting from you. It is important to me that you appreciate my business. After all, when I buy your products and services, my money is feeding you.

I am a perfectionist. I want the best I can get for the money I spend. When I criticize your products or services, and I will to anyone who will listen when I am dissatisfied, take heed. The source of my discontent lies in something you or the products you sell have failed to do. Find the source and eliminate it or you will lose my business and that of my friends as well.

I am fickle. Other businesses continually beckon me with offers of more for my money. To keep my business, you must offer something better than they. I am your customer now, but you must prove to me again and again that I have made a wise choice in selecting you, your products and services above all others.

In the spirit of customer service, print this out and hang it on your wall (in your workspace or home office) I didn't author this, just passing it along.
-Chris
Twittering @cwarticki

Talk about value of the support investment…The Advisor Webcast Program is now available to Oracle E-Business Suite (EBS) customers. Customers can access information about the Advisor Webcast program through Metalink Document ID: 398877.1. Here, they will find information about the Advisor Webcast program, a current schedule of upcoming webcasts, registration information and more.

Advisor Webcasts offer a convenient and cost-effective way for PeopleSoft Enterprise, JD Edwards World, JD Edwards EnterpriseOne, and Oracle EBS customers to interact with professional, technical, and application experts regarding topics to help them get the most from their support services. Our support experts will provide information such as tips and techniques, best practices, or how to effectively work with your support team to maintain your applications. Each webcast is delivered straight to your desktop and includes a live Q&A session with subject matter experts, enabling customers to receive answers to their specific questions. Advisor Webcasts are offered on a consistent basis and recorded for on-demand viewing—anytime, anywhere.

View the entire EBS, ST and FMW Advisor Webcast schedule and registration information. View the entire PeopleSoft Enterprise schedule and registration information
View the entire JD Edwards EnterpriseOne schedule and registration information
View the entire JD Edwards World schedule and registration information

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Coming up for R12.1