For using 11g on a daily basis for accessory databases such as Grid Control and RMAN, listeners for databases and clients will require regular exposure to the new version. This should increase your skill level and confidence in the new release while reducing the possibility of disruptions.
As a new DBA, it is important to realize that the binary upgrade and the database upgrade are two different events that most often executed at different times. Taking apart a large project and cutting it up into more manageable components brings stability to what can be an overwhelming process to someone new to Oracle.
Hopefully, this chapter opened up the possibility of a creative migration path that you hadn't considered before. Oracle expands the features of each version while still including compatible components to earlier as well as later versions, providing you with multiple paths for upgrades.
It is interesting that the final point for our migration path in this chapter is about migrating...