Oracle routinely announces significant future changes for EPM customers in each month’s cloud readiness documentation. If you’re not aware, Oracle EPM cloud updates are published monthly. If you read the details within the ‘Important Actions and Considerations’ section (located at the bottom of each readiness release), you will notice several very interesting announcements that we’ve highlighted below.

Infolets Discontinuing

Starting sometime later in 2024 the Infolets functionality will no longer be supported by Oracle. The ability to create Infolets will cease to exist for Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management, Financial Consolidation and Close, FreeForm, Planning, and Tax Reporting applications. Nothing specifically has been announced about existing Infolets, however any issues with them will not be addressed by Oracle support once support ends.

To many of us here at Perficient, the removal of Infolets is not surprising as we’ve seen many customers prefer to use Dashboards 2.0 instead.

Smart View Native Mode Option Deprecation

Continuing with the theme of eliminating functionality not widely used, the Native Smart View option will no longer be supported later this year. Standard will continue to be the ad hoc mode for development of enhancements by Oracle. The announcement contains two additional aspects customers need to note:

• The expectation for existing Native-mode worksheets is that they will work “as is” when the setting is changed to Standard.

• Smart Forms are not supported in Standard mode and there is no plan to support them in Standard mode.

In order to avoid any negative experience by end users, administrators need to proactively start testing all mission-critical ad-hoc sheets using Standard mode. If the results of the testing results in any issues, customers need to log the issue as an enhancement request on Customer Connect.

Removal of Data Management Job Scheduling

Data Integration now has the ability to schedule jobs. This means that Oracle will soon be removing the job scheduler within Data Management. The change is expected to occur sometime in Q4 this year. This means customers need to start migrating their scheduled jobs to the EPM Job Scheduler console immediately! To help faciliate the migration, Oracle is providing a script (“Migrate Schedules to Platform Jobs Scheduler”) within System Maintenance Tasks in Data Management. This change is applicable to the following solutions: Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management, Financial Consolidation and Close, Planning, and Tax Reporting.

Have a question about the above changes, or want to understand more about Oracle EPM cloud updates, drop us a comment!

Oracle EPM cloud customers who utilize solutions which using non-hybrid Essbase versions will be upgraded to hybrid version soon. According to Oracle’s March release notes, this upgrade will occur in the next 2 months. It’s important to note that this upgrade does not force non-hybrid configured cubes to now become hybrid. It’s simply updating the Essbase version within the application as part of Oracle’s effort to upgrade all environments to an Oracle Essbase version which supports hybrid cubes. Quoting Oracle “…if the application is configured to use non-hybrid cubes, this update will not change it to use hybrid cubes.” I know, I know.. Whew!

Now, if you’re not sure if your application is hybrid Admins can easily find this by checking the Activity Report in each application. If you find a “Yes” value in the Essbase Version supports Hybrid Block Storage Option field, then the application is hybrid enabled (see below image for where to find this information).

Non-hybrid Oracle EPM cloud customers who have concerns about potential issues – have no fear. Oracle provides a new utility to validate the outlines in your cubes. The utility can be found under the Actions menu in Application Overview. Select the “Pre validate Outline” option, then select Outline Pre-validation Report to view a list of incompatible member formulas. Customers with hybrid capable applications will not see this option.

This upgrade applies to the following application types: Financial Consolidation and Close, FreeForm, Planning, Planning Modules, Tax Reporting

Have questions about this update or need help with fixing incompatible formulas – contact us today! We’d love to help!

Oracle’s release notes for the March update includes a very important feature for Oracle EPM Cloud customers. The Daily Maintenance can now be configured to any minute within any hour (i.e. HH:MM format). Previously, the window could only be configured to start at the top of the hour. This allows customers to have more control over the maintenance processes. See below for an example of the this new format in use.

Additionally, the release notes include the following notice…

“Starting with the April Update (24.04), the daily maintenance start time of EPM Cloud environments will be updated by assigning a random minute at which the maintenance process will start. Currently, the daily maintenance starts at the top of the hour, for example at 2:00 p.m. UTC (14.00 on a 24 hour clock). This change will modify the start time by adding a value for minute (for example, 2:24 p.m. UTC (14.24 on a 24 hour clock) so that the daily maintenance load on EPM Cloud infrastructure is distributed throughout the hour.”

The start time can be changed by Oracle EPM cloud Admins after the update is applied. Therefore, we recommend that customers review their Daily Maintenance settings for all EPM applications after the April updates have been applied.

Oracle’s product development team for EDM (Enterprise Data Management) continues to provide highly valuable new features each quarter, and the release earlier this month is no different. With 30 enhancements on the list all providing immense benefits to customers, it’s a challenge to narrow it down to the top 3. However, after some debate by our Oracle EDM specialists, we were able to agree on the following!

Node Name Calculation

This feature is easily the one that sticks out. The inability to auto-populate node names for simple uses cases (such as using the next logical sequential number for Accounts) has been an annoyance. Not to mention a huge time waste for many users. I personally can recall numerous clients expressing grief about having to rely on manual intervention for something so trivial. Can’t say I don’t agree with them. But that changes this month!

Now, node names can now be automatically generated. The automation can be configured based on node properties or hierarchical relationships (such as using the name of a parent node to derive the name). Customers who rely heavily on custom validations to enforce naming standards can now use this new feature to further enhance the user experience by removing manual (and many times frustrating) involvement in simply naming nodes.

Validation Severity Enhance Workflows

Not every violation of a validation rule can be resolved by users submitting a request. This could be due to users not having enough information, or it may be sensitive information for which they are not privy to based on their role. However, for many Oracle EDM customers these situations should not deter the users request from advancing. For these situations, validations can now be configured as Warnings. The user is still notified of the issue, but the request can be submitted and the violation can be resolved in later workflow stages. Additionally, the validations can be outright ignored for certain workflow stages if needed.

Providing the flexibility of how/when validations are enforced greatly enhances the user experience. We are excited to see customers using this new feature in the coming months & years!

Select Multiple Nodes for Moves and Inserts

Starting this month users can now select multiple nodes when performing Insert or Move. Nodes can be from a single parent or multiple parents. This removes many many “clicks of the mouse” to perform mass changes. Plus, the feature enhances the user experience while leading to an increase in efficiency.

Want to learn more about Oracle EDM’s latest features, or have questions about the solution’s capabilities? Contact us or leave a comment and we’ll be happy to answer!

Earlier this month Oracle released a long list of new features for EDM (Oracle Enterprise Data Management). The enhancements address several areas that great improve the tool for both administrators and business users. Follow below as we take a look at a few of the features which we believe are most beneficial.

Customized Navigation and Information

Since the initial release of EDM, the home page has contained been the same layout and options for both administrators and business users. But now, Oracle is providing the ability to customize the home page to specific users to help reduce confusion and streamline efficiency in navigation. This now puts EDM on par with the other Oracle EPM cloud offerings in regards to tailoring the user experience. Existing customers should note the presence of a new card named “Information Model” that will now contain the Node Types, Hierarchy Sets, Node Sets, Properties and Lookup Sets cards within the default layout.

Additionally, EDM now provides Announcements to be displayed on the home page. Administrators can create announcements to communicate various information to the user community. Users view announcements from the welcome panel on the home page. Announcements can include hyperlinks and can be effective dated as well.

Oracle Financials Cloud General Ledger Integration Processing Gains

The pre-built integration with Financials GL now allows for only the specific trees and tree versions contained in EDM to selected for processing . This results in for a reduction in processing time for Financials GL customers with multiple tress/tree versions.  The ‘Process Segment Values and Hierarchies’ task and the ‘Publish Hierarchies to Cube’ task are limited to process only the trees/tree versions managed in EDM (export options in EDM control these tasks).

Test of Expressions Reduces Time-to-Build

The ability to customize properties and validations within EDM through derived expressions is a major benefit to all EDM customers. However, unit testing the expressions has always required the developer to navigate away from the expression builder screen and view the data. But that is no longer the case! EDM now has the ability to test the expression directly in the expression builder. Talk to any EDM developer and they will undoubtedly give you an earful of just how much this streamlines their ability to build custom derive properties and validations.

In the image below, the Expression Tester tab can be viewed on the right. The result of the expression is displayed to the right of the ‘Evaluate’ button at the bottom.

If you’ve been following Oracle’s monthly updates for Cloud EPM, then you are aware that they had previously announced that the Data Management user interface was slowly being replaced with the newer Oracle Data Integration screen (found under the Data Exchange tile). The move does not mean the deprecation of functionality overall, but rather an enhancement to the user experience overall. The Data Management UI is largely a tribute to the on-prem equivalents. And to be honest, looks just as antiquated… and boring. Yes, I know I can hear all of you long time Oracle EPM techies yelling… it works, why mess with it?!  But in response, I’ll say what I was once told by an old girlfriend …. looks matter. Or maybe a saying from the sports world is better fitting – “look good, feel good, play good”. Jokes aside, the newer interface is better and is much more intuitive for users in my opinion. And September’s Cloud update contains a few key items to note regarding this change.

First, the following Data Management screens are no longer available. And are now accessible via the corresponding Data Integration page.

Second, the update notes state that all Data Management features will eventually move to Data Integration except the following:

• The batch feature will be replaced by the new Pipeline feature. The Pipeline feature was available in the June (23.06) update.
• The Report Definition feature will not be migrated, only the Report Execution feature.
• The ability to create new Custom Applications in Data Management will no longer available, and customers should use the “Data Export to File” application type instead.

Regarding the last bullet, for customers still using custom target applications, Oracle recommends using the Upgrade Custom Applications option to migrate the custom target application to a data export to file application. Additional documentation on topic can be found here. But don’t worry, this change doesn’t need to happen immediately as “Existing integrations that use a custom target application will not be impacted, and will still run without any changes” according to the release notes.

Are you already using Oracle’s Data Integration interface? Have you familiarized yourself with the new interface? Or have questions about it? Comment and let us know!

Oracle’s list of new features for EDM (Oracle Enterprise Data Management) in the September release are quite long. It seems they’ve really place focus on a few key areas to ensure an improved experience for the business user. Follow below as we take a look at three of the features which we believe are most beneficial to most organizations using EDM.

Validation Warnings vs Errors

Validations in the EDM application have long been a “line in the sand” type of approach. Either the item being requested passes the validation or it doesn’t. And if it doesn’t, then the update being cannot be applied. However, in practice there are plenty of customers who need to instead provide a warning to allow the request to proceed for an initial submission and approval, but enforced before the update is finally committed. EDM now provides the ability to configure whether a validation produces a warning or an error. Warnings allow requests to proceed to the next stage in the workflow, while errors prevent this. The configuration is defined on the validation itself (see below image). It should be noted that this functionality applies only to custom validations.

Approval Policy Visualization

Business users need to have visibility to workflow models defined by approval policies within EDM. The new Policy tab within the Request inspection window in EDM provides users with a visual diagram of all the approval policies for the request once submitted. Additionally, the tab displays the progress of in-flight requests in relation to the stage and policies. This feature will greatly help customers who have complex approval policy models to reduce confusion when trying to understand the approval paths of requests.

Chart of Accounts Redesign Enhanced

EDM has been used extensively to support mappings between all kinds of applications. One common use case is chart of accounts redesigns as part of ERP modernization projects. Oracle is now providing a specific node type (Legacy GL Node Type) for customers to use for mapping the legacy accounts to the new chart of accounts. This node type has a limit on properties that cannot be customized. However, the node type does have flexibility in how it is used. Customers can either create a new application to store the legacy nodes, or create a separate dimension within the registered ERP application in EDM, or even use the node type within the same dimension as the new chart of accounts.

A nice added touch for customers looking to use this new approach is that nodes assigned this new node type do NOT count against subscription record counts for EDM.

The following screen shows the configuration screen for how to utilize the Legacy GL node type.

Oracle has recently announced that Enterprise Data Management (EDM) is now included in the Oracle Implementation Success Program (ISP). For those not familiar with the program, it is helps to ensure customer success by engaging Oracle Development teams in implementations. In addition to EDM, the program is also available to customers who use Planning, Financial Consolidation and Close, Profitability and Cost Management, and Account Reconciliation. The ISP provides direct interaction with Oracle Development through several unique aspects of the program.

Implementation Success Program at a Glance

The ISP provides a framework for collaboration between customers, their partners, and Oracle. The program involves several key meetings between all parties.

First, a kick-off meeting between Oracle, the customer, and the customer’s implementation partner occurs to ensure that everyone has a basic understanding of the customer’s requirements and background. Also, the meeting allows for a discussion of the key milestones for the project. Lastly, the communication plan between all parties is also agreed upon.

Once the kick-off has occurred, the next major step in the program is for Oracle to review the Solution Design document(s). The customer provides the documents to Oracle via a SR. The document should include requirements, technical design, and technical architecture diagram(s). As part of Oracle’s review process, a formal feedback document will be provided to the customer at the conclusion of the review. Oracle’s feedback is typically provided within two weeks of receiving the documentation from the customer. Oracle will then collaborate with the customer on the feedback.

The collaboration will allow for a joint understanding of the design, a discussion on best practices being applied, and any challenges that may need to be closely monitored during the remainder of the project. Once the solution enters the “go-live” phase of the project, Oracle proactively monitors the application(s). Any issues identified are presented to the customer (and their partner) to help provide awareness and resolution. This helps avoid bigger issues, prolonged “band-aiding” and overall dissatisfaction with the solution.

Conclusion

At Perficient, we highly suggest to all of our clients to utilize Oracle’s ISP. The program costs nothing to join and can greatly aid in ensuring a successful adoption of Oracle solutions throughout the enterprise. Lastly, it’s very exciting to see that the ISP now includes EDM. This speaks to the increasing pace of EDM being adopted by organizations across the globe.

Jobs are organized into Stages within a Pipeline. Stages are “containers” for the jobs and allow for the addition, managing, and deletion of job(s) contained in each stage. Stages be configured to execute jobs serially or in parallel. Below is an example of a Pipeline with several Stages and Jobs.

As you can see, Pipelines provide an advancement in daily job processing. The ability to manage jobs across applications is a huge plus for organizations with multiple applications. Additionally, the visualization that Oracle is providing within the Pipeline screen helps customers to easily understand what processes are occurring and in what order! It will be interesting to see what new job types are added over the next few months.

The June 2023 update for Oracle EDM (Enterprise Data Management) contains several new features that greatly enhance the current user experience within the solution. Continue reading below for an overview of the features which we are most excited about here at Perficient.

Security Enhancements – New Roles Provide Improved Segregation of Duties

Two new roles are now available for EDM. The Access Control Manager role permits the managing of groups and application role assignment for users. The Migration Administrator role addresses the ability to import and export migration snapshots as well as the cloning of environments. Many times organizations have strict policies to segregate these types of activities for all applications. Now, EDM provides that ability!

Additionally, EDM now contains a new Metadata Manager permission. This permission allows users to create and modify objects without allowing visibility to the actual data in the application. The permission can be assigned to users and/or groups at the application and dimension levels. Node Types, Hierarchy Sets, Custom Validations, etc. are all able to be managed by users who have this permission.

Downloadable Compare Results

The ability to quickly and easily compare data between different applications, time-frames, hierarchies, dimensions, etc. is a huge benefit of EDM. Organizations use EDM to compare to identify and troubleshoot differences as well as similarities quite often. Starting this month, the results of compares can now be downloaded to file for sharing with others… with the click of a button (see image below).

Extracts for Every User

Extracts enable users to retrieve data from a viewpoint into a formatted file or a global connection. They can be configured for any viewpoint and for any properties. Extracts can provide full data sets or incrementally between two different dates. EDM now offers the ability for any user (with the Participant permission) to create and run an extract for the viewpoint. No longer do users have to collaborate with Application Owners/System Admins to create simple report!

Require Request Reasoning

An organization’s master data needs to be managed with scrutiny to avoid many pitfalls associated with unregulated data. It’s not uncommon for organizations to require an explanation of the reasoning behind a request to modify master data. EDM’s product development team understands this and has enabled a feature within EDM to help capture this upfront. EDM requests have a description field, which can now be configured to require input from users before submission of the request. The field can also be configured with default instructions to help guide users appropriately.

Inefficient manual processes. Lack of data integrity. Untrustworthy and cumbersome reporting. Complex mapping for chart of accounts between ERP applications. These are the greatest challenges regarding managing & aligning financial master data per Oracle’s 2022 “Value of EPM” survey. The issues result not only in frustration across organizations, but also contributes towards significant financial loss. Organizations with an environment that is inefficient in adapting quickly and accurately due to the before-mentioned issues are at a real disadvantage when comparing to competitors which have evolved to prioritize managing financial master data.

Oracle EDM

Oracle’s EDM (Enterprise Data Management) solution can directly address many of these challenges and more resulting from inefficient master data management practices. EDM empowers organizations with a best-in-breed solution encompassing data governance workflow, change visualization, data integrity validations, and pre-built integrations. Not to mention EDM’s ability to seamlessly synchronize master data changes across unlimited numbers of applications. These capabilities all combine to allow faster and more efficient adaption to changes in master data by organizations. This is evident in the responses to the Value of EPM survey conducted by Oracle.

• An astounding 78% agreed that “EDM improved productivity and change management efficiency” and 65% reported a “reduction in time for business change management“!
• Almost 40% realized these benefits in 3 months or less; 65% realized benefits in 6 months or less
• Customers who used EDM within their Chart of Account initiatives reported 30% reduction in time for the Chart of Accounts design
• 35% reported an accelerated deployment of cloud applications where EDM was included. 25% observed a reduction in data conversion cycles.

The survey included over 500 finance professionals. The gains in efficiencies by utilizing EDM described above translate into actual savings:

• 15% reported a reduction in audit costs
• 39% observed a decrease in overall cost of data governance change management

Critical Component

EDM is a critical component in the Oracle cloud offerings. It’s role in ERP, EPM and MDM initiatives cannot be understated. And these survey responses provide clarity on just how much customers who have embraced the solution are gaining in savings for both time and money.

If you are interested in learning more about EDM or have questions on the survey, leave a comment or contact us today!

In Oracle Cloud Infrastructure (OCI) / Gen 2 architecture, OAuth 2 access tokens are used to issue REST APIs on EPM Cloud to fulfill the requirement of avoiding the use of passwords in the environment. After the REST client has been registered the Refresh token is obtained using the Identity Cloud Service URL (IDCS URL), scope, and client ID. Details of the process can be found in the Oracle document.

While working on setting Refresh token for a client, we worked our way through few errors and thought of sharing the knowledge with everyone. Below is an elaboration on the errors that can occur during the process and their resolution.

ERROR 1:

When logging into epmautomate following error can occur.

Cause: This error occurs because the job tries to access feature that runs on .NET 2.0 Framework which is not available in .NET 4.0

Resolution: Install .NET Framework 3.5 feature.

ERROR 2:

When issuing the request to the IDCS URL for generating device code, the following can occur.

Cause: This error occurs because the “cmd /c” syntax was not used before curl command.

Resolution: Use the “cmd /c” before curl command.

ERROR 3:

When issuing the request to the IDCS URL for generating device code, the following error can occur.

Cause: This error occurs because the “cmd/c” is used instead of “cmd /c” (notice the space after “cmd”).

Resolution: Use the correct syntax for “cmd /c” before curl command.

ERROR 4:

The request to IDCS URL generates a response that contains a device code, user code, and verification URI. On logging into verification URI, it prompts for ‘Device Log In’ and user code from the response payload should be entered. The following error appears when you submit the code:

Cause: This error occurs if you press the ‘ENTER’ key after inputting the code.

Resolution: Click the ‘SUBMIT’ button after inputting the code. Do not press ‘ENTER’.