Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Reviews

Primary use case was to have a central web interface where we could administrate all Oracle Database instances.

After installing, I found out that it is not only a database administration console. You could manage hosts, middleware apps (WebLogic), and many more plugins, which are available to download for other vendors' software and databases.

Our banking environment is based on Oracle Databases (11.2.0.4) and our banking software is Oracle FLEXCUBE (12.0.3), which is running on WebLogic (10.3.6). In total, I have about 15 databases registered in Cloud Control and four to five WebLogic consoles, all of which are self-monitored from Oracle Cloud Control 13C monitoring software, and configured to send an email alert when a metric threshold is triggered.

I have registered a testing Microsoft SQL Server environment, but I did not find it very useful (it cannot be used as an alternative or as SQL Server Management Studio).

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control has been really useful for our organisation. Before Enterprise Manager, I had 15 different database consoles with no centralised monitoring or alerting system. With EM, it has been easier to monitor all DB errors. For example, it is possible to register your My Oracle Support account, so when you get an error, it will automatically search for a document in My Oracle Support.

Also, you can create a system group (database, application, and web server), so you can monitor performance as a system.

Host-based monitoring is a big advantage of Enterprise Manager.

Now, with EM, it is easier to manage your Oracle Database backups and create email alerts regarding the status of your backups (Succeeded or Failed). I know when a target is up or down (this can be an Oracle Database instance, Listener, WebLogic Server, or even a deployment in the WebLogic Server).

When registering a host, only if your host is running Linux will you get all the information which is available on EM. It would be nice if in future releases to include IBM AIX (primarily) and Microsoft Windows (secondly).

When you register a WebLogic server (in our case WebLogic 10.3.6), you can actually do certain things. You cannot use Enterprise Manager as replacement for a WebLogic console.

No different solution was used before.

If you read the prerequisites from My Oracle Support, then installation is straightforward even without the manual. What you need to understand is what to install first, then second.

The implementation was done in-house.

I did not evaluate other options because our core banking system is based on Oracle.

The big win here is alerting - if configured sensibly (don't use the out of the box settings) with some planning this can be a real asset - alerts can also be sent to your problem management system and steered towards exactly the right group of people using target labels such as "line of business" or "department".

Alerting, patching, general monitoring. Each host to be monitored requires and agent to be installed and configured - this process is mature and works well.

It's much more than a monitoring package - sometimes when scratching beneath the surface you end up with issues . Such as agents requiring security, scan listeners moving about after fail overs, some patching processes failing - these are relatively rare though and considering the breadth of the product I would not consider this an issue.

No system works well.

IF configured correctly this product is fully scalable.

Customer Service:

8/9 out of 10 - Oracle support is generally very good - sometimes they need nudging / issues need escalating bit the support model is good.

Technical Support:

generally good - the documentation and knowledge bases are extensive - so often you can resolve your own issues.

No.

You need to install oracle middleware and an oracle repository DB back end

Install scripts are good however with proper planning/sizing there shouldn't be any issues.

In-house

OEM is invaluable in many ways, other products can replace bits of it - but the product should be used as a single point from which to view as much of your enterprise as possible.

You will probably already be an Oracle user and so will have an existing license agreement. Add-on's can be pricey though.

Nothing else was considered for Oracle database monitoring.

Its one of those products that you can, and should customise to your own requirements. Don't expect a one off install then leave it to take care of itself. Proper procedures will greatly assist, and time spent discovering features can be very rewarding. Agent deployment is straight forwards, and the agents are light weight and easily maintainable

My interaction with OEM was primarily for governing Oracle 10g/11g databases. I was particularly interested in the monitoring/alerting features, table maintenance automation, performance dash-boarding, and Active Data Guard management.

I used this with clients, but not internally. For those with larger footprints, but with an inexperienced staff, it really helped to cushion the issues brought on by skill gaps. It also provided greater visibility of database performance for administrators. This helped prompt decisions around capacity and availability.

The interface for Data Guard could use some work. We had challenges with switchover/failover testing.

I have used this solution for three years.

We have not had any stability problems.

We have not had any scalability problems. My largest installation had approximately 16 databases. We did not challenge the server's existing compute resources.

Technical support from Oracle was not required during my implementation.

There was no previous solution. The solutions deployed had a fair Oracle footprint, so it was determined that OEM would be the best fit.

The initial setup was straightforward. OEM's GUI is pretty comprehensive and user-friendly. The documentation is very clear in terms of prerequisites and steps to be executed.

The base product, including DB Control, is free. However, additional Ops Center management packs, e.g., Tuning, Lifecycle Management, must be licensed in accordance with Oracle's guidelines. It's very easy to get confused about this. We recommended a comprehensive review of the licensing documentation, or a sit-down meeting with the vendor, prior to installation.

We did not look at any alternatives.

Depending on the size of the Oracle footprint that you need to monitor, it's a good idea perhaps to pursue an Oracle Licensing Agreement with the vendor. This will allow you to implement management packs more easily. I would recommend this for larger environments of 25 or more databases.

Real-time SQL, performance monitoring and SQL Tuning Advisor are the features that I use the most. These features are very effective to find problems and to resolve them.

Besides these, setting alert mechanism, getting AWR reports and monitoring the Exadata hardware are the most useful features.

Also, adding clients remotely from the Oracle Cloud Control 12c screen makes this version different from the earlier ones.

There are still doubts as of how to use this tool for administration issues such as storage or replication operations. DBAs still prefer to administer databases by manual commands. They rather use this tool to monitor databases and alert mechanisms.

To be more specific, most DBAs (that I've met) prefer to use “Sqlplus”, “putty”, “secureCRT” command line tools or “Toad” tool to manage replication or to manage storage(tablespace, control file etc) instead of using EM Cloud Control.

They do not feel relaxed using EM Cloud Control for those subjects. Oracle may emphasize on those subject on the trainings. Or Oracle Support Engineers can motivate the customers about using those features if they are really stable.

I have used this solution for more than four years. Before this, I was using earlier versions of the product, i.e, Oracle Enterprise Manager 11g.

With the earlier release, we did encounter stability issues. But, now I use version 12.1.0.4.0. and I do not see any stability problems.

I have used the earlier version (i.e version 11g) and also, I have used dbconsole (i.e., the Oracle Enterprise Manager Console dedicated to one server). I switched to this version so as to administer my database and the Exadata hardware from one point.

The setup is not complex. Everyone can do it by using its official documents as well as the tutorials that can be found from the web easily.

If you plan to use OEM Cloud Control 12c for a corporate company, it will be better to get the Diagnostics and Tuning Pack or the Management license based on your needs. This tool will be your most important assistant. But for smaller goals, you can use the base OEM functions for free (http://docs.oracle.com/cd/E246...).

If you use Oracle, you do not have many options. This product is the best for a DBA. But, if you have license limitations, then you can use it with the base functions or you can use Oracle Enterprise Manager Console (dbconsole).

Implementing this version is so much easier than the earlier ones. You do not need to install agents into the client one by one. You can install the agent from one point (i.e., from the OEM Cloud Control 12c screen). You just need some firewall actions before installing the agents. Implementation is easy, there is no need for a lot of engineering.

Oracle Enterprise Manager Cloud Control (EM CC) is the best product for monitoring many of the Oracle databases and other Oracle applications such as Siebel, E-Business Suite, WebLogic.

The product has a common user-friendly interface which provides simple maintenance and administration tasks.

The Oracle Enterprise Manager (EM) helps to monitor many of the different targets and resources.

It is a flexible system for metrics and for the notifications that inform the DBAs and system administrators, before the occurrance of a problem.

I think EM should be able to monitor new products from different vendors. I would like to have unified monitoring interface to monitor other software and hardware, for example: AIX operating systems, including IBM-specific features (HMC, LPAR parameters), disk and tape storages, some optical switches and other enterprise production hardware.

I have been using this solution for about a year.

We did encounter some stability issues but many of them were fixed.

I did not encounter any scalability issues.

I would give the technical support a rating of about 7/10. This estimation is true for the Oracle support in general.

I used some open-source products, like Zabbix. I moved from the open-source products over to Oracle EM because it has many embedded metrics.

This product has a simple installation. All of the steps are described in depth in the Oracle documentation and I didn't have any problems with it.

From what I know, Oracle EM CC requires the Oracle Diagnostics and Tuning Pack license if you want to monitor Oracle databases.

Oracle EM is a unique product, i.e., if you need to monitor many of the Oracle products in detail.

My opinion is that this product must be used in companies that have many Oracle databases.

The performance feature is most valuable to me. It allows the user to see the real-time behavior of the database and diagnose where an issue may exist. It also has advisor functions that give recommendations on what to do to fix any problems with performance of the database.

The product has made it possible to reduce the size of the performance team and still be able to correctly monitor all the databases and fix issues quickly, resulting in fewer downtimes.

This product is a web-based tool and sometimes has conflicts with some web browsers. This can be improved to make it more compatible with most of the popular web browsers.

I have used it for two years.

I encountered no issues with stability of the product.

As the number of databases increased, the tool got a bit slower. Its response time increased with larger number of databases.

Oracle provides excellent technical support for the product.

I did not previously use a different product.

Initial set up seems a bit complex from the beginning. Because it’s a web-based tool, it requires proper configuration to function properly with the browser.

For all the real-time benefits you get from using the product, I can say it is worth the price for licensing.

Before choosing this product, I did not get the chance to evaluate other options.

Take time to study how to use the product. It is very helpful, if it is put to maximum use.

There are lot of features in this product that I like. Among them are that RMAN backup jobs can be created, and that all the database instances can be monitored from one place. Tablespaces can be monitored and data files can be added when required. Also, it's easy to generate ADDM, ASK, and AWR reports.

In my organization, the RMAN backup jobs are configured through this product. Also, we have test, prod, UAT, and QA servers. All these database instances are easy to monitor from this product.

I think the help file should include more in-depth documents for the user to collaborate with all aspects of the product even if they haven't had product training.

I have been using it for three years, and before that I used Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control.

Once, after migrating the server, we had an issue of not being able to start it. We wanted to restore the OEM12C to another server, but the process was so complicated and the testing was not successful. Later, we were able to continue with the previous one.

We have had no stability issues.

There have been no issues scaling it for our needs.

The level of customer service and technical support are good. I understand the product is highly technical, so sometimes issues need more investigative time.

I used Oracle Enterprise Manager Grid Control and switched because this is the updated version and it's in the cloud. There are a lot of benefits behind using the cloud, and we wanted to take advantage of using the cloud through this product.

The initial setup was straightforward since we followed the setup guide, which was easy to follow. However, in some cases we faced some issues, but they were easy to figured out.

My company implemented it through a vendor team before I joined. Since the product was new and very few people had advanced knowledge of the product at that time, they preferred to implement it through the vendor team.

The product is good for monitoring all databases, but in some cases it's not easy to maintain. For example, if the server crashes and we need to restore the monitoring system, it's very complex. This product is very good for monitoring purposes as well as for cloud databases.

In our experience, the two most valuable features we've found are the email notifications and the live, real-time monitoring. They really allow us to stay on top of things.

As contractors, we manage a whole bunch of different environments and servers. EM Cloud Control gives me a good way to look at everything in one snapshot and to stay on top of daily monitoring.

Another big thing is that it helps with the down time. Instead of having to wait for a user to report an issue, I get an email notification, and most times I can fix it before anybody even knows that something went down.

They're moving everything off of our currents servers into the cloud. It would be nice if there was a way to seamlessly clone the configurations onto Cloud Control and then into the new environment so that I don't have to reconfigure everything.

We've had no issues with deployment.

The stability is pretty good. Sometimes it runs slowly, but that may be due to our network. Generally, though, it's good. The downside is that there is a lot of configuration overhead to get it working the way you want.

We only have one instance of it running. We're not so big that scalability is a concern.

We've had a few issues, opened CRs, and had no trouble getting them resolved. So technical support has been good.

We were using Grid Control and we switched as we didn't have a place to have just one dashboard with everything on it.

The initial setup is not hard; it's just time-consuming.

What it does, it does well, but it's so complex. There are a lot of quirks to get it to do what you want it to do. Do blackouts before you take anything down, because if you don't, you will get a gigantic shit storm.