As highlighted
in this previous post, the Oracle® Unified
Method (OUM) includes supplemental guides to provide product, technology, and
business area specific guidance, which complement and expand on the general guidance
found in OUM’s baseline method materials.
There are a
number of Supplemental Guides currently available in OUM covering a variety of
areas from Commercial Off-the-Shelf (COTS) Application Implementations to
WebCenter. Because they provide targeted
guidance, most supplemental guides are applicable only to projects that include
the subject area being addressed in that guide.
However, there is one supplemental guide, which is applicable to virtually
all projects – the Oracle Support Services Supplemental Guide.
The Oracle
Support Services Supplemental Guide provides OUM practitioners, and Oracle
customers alike, with the guidance needed to effectively manage and support the
lifecycle of Oracle environments during an implementation and after go-live.
So, what’s in this guide for you? Well, in a word, plenty. Like all of OUM’s supplemental guides, the Oracle Support Services Supplemental Guide is comprised of several sections, including:
- Oracle Support Services Lifecycle Management Strategy Overview
- Oracle Support Services Lifecycle Management Methodology Mapping
- Supplemental Task Guidelines for Lifecycle Management of the My Oracle Support Services Portal, and
- Supplemental Task Guidelines for IT Change Management
The Oracle Support Services Lifecycle
Management Strategy Overview section describes the lifecycle management
strategy along with an overview of the Information Technology Infrastructure
Library (ITIL) Service Lifecycle upon which it is based.
The Oracle Support Services Lifecycle
Management Methodology Mapping provides a mapping between the OUM and ITIL lifecycle
management methodologies. This mapping
should be used to gain an understanding of the relationship between OUM and
ITIL, as well as how to leverage the value of the ITIL best practices to
achieve excellence in the lifecycle management of any Oracle investment.
The Supplemental Task Guidelines for Lifecycle
Management of the My Oracle Support Services Portal should be used in
conjunction with the standard OUM task guidelines to supplement baseline
guidance for affected tasks when planning and implementing the processes,
policies and procedures used for lifecycle management of the My Oracle Support
Services portal. This section contains
very helpful guidance regarding the recommended configuration of client
environments, and establishment of best practices, to take full advantage of
the My Oracle Support Services portal.
The Supplemental Task Guidelines for IT Change
Management likewise should be used in conjunction with the standard OUM
task guidelines to supplement baseline guidance for affected tasks when
planning and implementing the processes, policies and procedures used for implementing
changes in Oracle environments.
Accessing
the Oracle Support Services Supplemental Guide is fast and easy. A link to the guide can be found in the Key
Components area of nearly all Implement Focus Area Views – look for it in the“Other Supplemental Guidance” section in the middle of the screen. Alternatively, you can access it by selecting
the “Supplemental Guidance” option in the Method Navigation drop down menu from
any OUM page. On the Supplemental
Guidance page you’ll find it listed in the table of Supplemental Guides, which
are listed in alphabetical order.
Take the
time to check it out and revisit with each new release, since new sections are
being added over time. I think you’ll
find the information very helpful!