As vendors release new versions of their databases more frequently and support for older versions ends, it is vital for organisations to understand the reasons and benefits of upgrading.

SQL Server 2012 is now released to market. Service Packs have been released for both SQL Server 2008 and SQL Server 2008 R2. SQL Server 2005 is in Extended Support. Extended Support is ending in April 2013 for SQL Server 2000. Oracle 11.2 is the current version whereas Premier Support for Oracle 11.1 ended in August 2012. 10G is no longer in Premier Support, with Extended Support ending in July 2013 for 10.2.

Although SQL Services have the skill base to continue supporting your environment regardless of what version you are running, not having support from the vendor carries some risk.

SQL Server 2005/2000 and Oracle 10G/9i still have a significant install base and companies continue to operate quite happily in these environments. While some see no reason to upgrade, others have specific requirements that drive an upgrade path to the latest versions. Prior to upgrading, consideration needs to be given to how the upgrade will be performed, what the impact will be on existing applications and hardware, and what the support requirements will be post the upgrade?

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