If I was perhaps a bit more creative, or patient, I would have waited: 12 things or Oracle 12c in the theme of the 12 days of Christmas might have been too much. A lot of the initial buzz around Oracle 12c was related to the new Pluggable Database features and the In Memory Database option. Because of all of this chatter, many were reluctant to consider upgrading, if these features didn't provide a compelling reason. If you are looking for a compelling reason to upgrade, a good place to start is that the 11gR2 release will be entering into Extended Support within the next two months. 11gR1 release is already in Extended Support. source: http://www.oracle.com/us/support/library/lifetime-support-technology-069183.pdf So now that you are considering an upgrade, the next series of posts will show some additional features which may be useful. First installment starts on Monday, 12/1