The situation
The distributor runs Oracle Siebel CRM on Oracle Database 12c in a hosted private cloud. Oracle Database 12c was out of support, so the company could no longer rely on current patches. There was no in-house database administrator to take care of patching, backups and monitoring. CRM screens and batch jobs had become slow, and nobody could say for certain that the backups and the disaster recovery setup would work when needed.
What we did
- Upgraded the Siebel CRM databases from Oracle Database 12c to 19c, the long-term-support release. We rehearsed the upgrade on a copy of production, tested Siebel against it, and then upgraded production in a planned maintenance window.
- Analysed performance with AWR and ASH reports, then tuned slow SQL, indexes and memory settings for the CRM and its batch jobs.
- Set up and documented RMAN backups and a standby database for disaster recovery, and introduced regular restore tests.
What we do now
- Monitor the databases and act on warnings before users notice them.
- Apply Oracle release updates and security patches on a regular schedule, tested first outside production.
- Administer the Siebel CRM servers and application alongside the databases, so one team owns the whole stack.
- Manage database users, security and capacity, and keep operating procedures documented.
The work is delivered remotely, on a time-and-materials basis.
The result
- Siebel CRM runs on Oracle Database 19c, a supported release that receives regular patches.
- CRM screens and batch jobs are noticeably faster after tuning.
- Backups and disaster recovery are verified by regular restore tests.
- The company has predictable support from a remote DBA team that monitors the system proactively.