Enterprise technology leaders need to stay current with rapid technology updates while driving measurable value. Release management—vital, yet frequently underestimated—can make or break a project’s success. As Oracle customers strive to accelerate innovation and manage change at scale, the need for a smarter, more unified release strategy has never been greater.

In this spirit, I’m spotlighting a recent fireside chat featuring Aileen Schwab, VP – Oracle HR Technology, and Mitchell Flinn, VP – Oracle Cloud Success Navigator Program Management. Their conversation reveals how Oracle’s own global HR team overhauled HCM application release management using Oracle Cloud Success Navigator, achieving a notable 40% boost in operational efficiency. This transformation holds valuable lessons for other enterprises seeking to streamline upgrades, unify technology roadmaps, and ensure smarter and faster feature adoption.

Release management in a cloud-first world

Innovation brings both opportunity and complexity. Regular release cycles, rapid product evolution, and expanding feature sets require organizations to adapt continuously. Yet release management can often be fragmented across geographies and business units. The result? Delayed rollouts, missed value, and frustrated stakeholders whose needs outpace what legacy processes can deliver.

Oracle’s global HR team experienced some of these challenges. With a global workforce and mission-critical HCM systems at its core, aligning release activities was not just an IT concern but a business imperative.

Centralizing with Oracle Cloud Success Navigator

“We needed a way to bring structure and visibility to the way we rolled out updates across our global operations,” explains Aileen Schwab. The solution was Success Navigator—a comprehensive tool designed to centralize release management, foster collaboration, and support continuous transformation.

The move to Success Navigator enabled the Oracle HR team to:

  • Unify roadmaps: By bringing all release planning into a single platform, stakeholders gained clarity around timing, dependencies, and business impact.
  • Streamline upgrades: Automated workflows and standardized processes reduced manual effort, lowered risk, and accelerated time to production.
  • Accelerate feature adoption: With improved communication and guidance, business users better understood new capabilities, driving faster adoption and maximizing value from every release.

Mitchell Flinn, who leads the Oracle Cloud Success Navigator Program Management team, notes: “Success Navigator isn’t just about tools—it’s about giving organizations the confidence and repeatability they need to manage constant change, without missing a beat.”

“Success Navigator brought everything into one place, with AI surfacing our priorities, next steps, and stakeholder assignments. Features like tagging, automated notifications, and streamlined backlog management keep everyone aligned…an estimated 40% time savings.”

— Aileen Schwab, VP – Oracle HR Technology

This operational excellence translated to business impact: faster access to innovation, more efficient alignment between IT and business partners, and a consistently positive user experience for Oracle’s most valuable asset—its people.

What customers and partners can learn

Oracle’s approach to release management offers practical takeaways for any organization on the cloud journey:

  • Standardize processes: Consistency reduces risk and makes it easier for teams to collaborate across business lines and regions.
  • Invest in change management: Beyond technology, clear communication and structured support are crucial for encouraging user adoption.
  • Leverage central platforms: A single source of truth such as Oracle Cloud Success Navigator enables visibility and alignment across global IT and business stakeholders, as well as historical context and continuity, so the focus can be on forward planning.
  • Measure what matters: Focus on outcomes—including efficiency and user satisfaction—not just completion of upgrade tasks.

Turn release cycles into catalysts for growth

Release management no longer needs to be a source of anxiety or headache for the enterprise. Oracle’s journey demonstrates that, with the right platform and mindset, organizations can turn release cycles into engines of efficiency and growth. Oracle Cloud Success Navigator is at the heart of this transformation—empowering teams to move faster, adopt new capabilities confidently, and realize the full potential of Oracle Cloud.