I recently attended the ODTUG Kscope18 conference in Orlando earlier this month. It was a great conference with a very strong focus on technical sessions and hands-on learning labs. In this blog post, I want to focus on some of the key features that are available now and/or in the pipeline from Oracle’s perspective for the Oracle Planning on the cloud services solution.
Business Rules Using Groovy Scripts
Groovy is a dynamic programming language based on Java. The Groovy based business rule feature was released in the Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (EPBCS) version 17.06 and opens a door of opportunities for various organizations. This feature is currently available only with the Enterprise version. Groovy being based on Java allows us to work with various user actions and events like cell edits, right clicks etc. With the help of Groovy business rules can now be run independently and be based on action menus and right clicks.
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One of the most exciting use case that was discussed by the Oracle product directors at the Kscope conference was using Groovy to change the color of cells with the incorrect data. In traditional planning, a validation rule written on a cell of a web form could change the color of the cell only after the data had been saved. In other words, there was nothing preventing the user from saving incorrect data into the system (except that you could stop the user from promoting a planning unit if you are using approvals). Using Groovy users can effectively capture the edited cells and change the color of the cells based on a validation criteria without waiting for the user to hit save.
Groovy scripting can also be used to run the business rule for the changed cells only. This intelligent calculation feature will make rules run faster and more efficiently.
Bring Your Own Chart of Accounts
This feature was released in EPBCS version 18.02. Essentially, it gives the users the flexibility to build their own account hierarchies. You can still use some of the prebuilt dashboards and web forms even though you could be bringing in your own chart of accounts. I believe this feature really opens the world for EPBCS. A lot of customers have their own structure and chart strings that may not fit the pre-built hierarchy entirely or in parts. By providing the option of using either the out-of-box hierarchy or building their own, Oracle has reached a wider audience.
Features Included in Oracle’s Roadmap Shared at Kscope18
- Fast Snappy Web Grids – Fast snappy web grids are in the roadmap for Oracle. These grids essentially will bring Excel like features to the Oracle Planning Cloud users. Not only will the grids look and feel like Excel, but the features like sort, filter, comments and formatting will be available as well. This will definitely hit a home run for a lot of FP&A users who are so used to using Excel.
- Smart View Essbase Features – Oracle also talked about enabling Essbase features for planning Smart View users. “Multi-grid refreshes”, “Submit without refresh”, “Member name and alias display option” and “on the grid POV” were some of the features that are in the pipeline.
Safe Harbor Disclaimer: Statements in this blog post relating to Oracle’s future plans, expectations, beliefs, intentions, and prospects, including statements regarding expectations of future release functionality, are “forward-looking statements” and are subject to material risks and uncertainties. Many factors could affect Oracle’s current expectations and actual results, and could cause actual results to differ materially. A discussion of such factors and other risks that affect Oracle’s business is contained in Oracle’s Securities and Exchange Commission (SEC) filings, including Oracle’s most recent reports on Form 10-K and Form 10-Q under the heading “Risk Factors.” These filings are available on the SEC’s website or on Oracle’s website at http://www.oracle.com/investor. All information in this blog post is current as of June 26, 2018, and Oracle undertakes no duty to update any statement in light of new information or future events.
