Question: I want to downgrade my databases from EE to SE to save licensing fees, but I need to carefully check to ensure that I don't accidentally use any EE features before downgrading to Standard Edition.  

What are the Oracle best practices for downgrade testing for Standard Edition (SE)?

Answer:  It's a best practice to hire an expert to come in and "certify" it for SE. To create the checks yourself could take months of work, and you risk missing something!  Your licensing agreement requires allowing Oracle to audit your shop and they have internal triggers to tell what features each database is using.

• You have to interrogate your schema to see if tables/indexes use EE features.

• You have to also interrogate your workload to see if EE features are used. For example, function-based indexes can only be used in EE.

• You cannot use some extra "packs" (diagnostic pack, performance pack) or AWR unless you are using EE.

Beware, just because a feature works on SE, that does not necessarily mean that you are licensed to use the feature!    Some Oracle features are allowed without explicitly purchasing any extra-cost options.

   For example, querying any AWR tables is allowed in EE but it triggers an internal Oracle system audit that may require you to purchase the extra-cost performance and diagnostic packs.  

For more details on the features of Oracle Standard Edition (SE) vs. Enterprise Edition (EE) see these MOSC notes:

• Oracle 10g Standard vs. Enterprise Features:  MOSC Note 271886.1:   Differences Between Different Editions of Oracle Database 10G

•  Oracle 10g r2 SE vs. EE Features:  MOSC Note 465465.1: Differences Between Enterprise, Standard and Personal Editions on Oracle 10.2

•  Oracle 11g release 1 .1 SE vs. EE Features:  MOSC Note 465460.1 Differences Between Enterprise, Standard and Personal Editions on Oracle 11.1