Cloud Readiness / Oracle Enterprise Data Management Cloud
What's New
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  1. September 2020 Update
  1. Revision History
  2. Overview
  3. Feature Summary
  4. Enterprise Data Management Cloud
        1. Monthly Update Schedule
        2. Please Join Oracle Cloud Customer Connect
        3. Give Us Documentation Feedback
        4. Follow Us on Social Media
        5. Defects Fixed and Considerations
    1. Features
        1. Calculate Movement Properties for Financial Consolidation and Close Applications
        2. New Video for Concurrent Request Editing
        3. Removal of Internet Explorer Browser Support
        4. Support for Vanity URLs
        5. Information Security in EPM Cloud
        6. EPM Automate Updates
  5. IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

September 2020 Update

Revision History

This document will continue to evolve as existing sections change and new information is added. All updates appear in the following table:

Date Product Feature Notes
27 AUG 2020     Created initial document.

Overview

This document outlines the upcoming Enterprise Data Management Cloud update.

Feature Summary

Column Definitions:

Features Delivered Enabled

Report = New or modified, Oracle-delivered, ready to run reports.

UI or Process-Based: Small Scale = These UI or process-based features are typically comprised of minor field, validation, or program changes. Therefore, the potential impact to users is minimal.

UI or Process-Based: Larger Scale* = These UI or process-based features have more complex designs. Therefore, the potential impact to users is higher.

Features Delivered Disabled = Action is needed BEFORE these features can be used by END USERS. These features are delivered disabled and you choose if and when to enable them. For example, a) new or expanded BI subject areas need to first be incorporated into reports, b) Integration is required to utilize new web services, or c) features must be assigned to user roles before they can be accessed.

Ready for Use by End Users
(Features Delivered Enabled)

Reports plus Small Scale UI or Process-Based new features will have minimal user impact after an update. Therefore, customer acceptance testing should focus on the Larger Scale UI or Process-Based* new features.

Action is Needed BEFORE Use by End Users
(Features Delivered Disabled)

Not disruptive as action is required to make these features ready to use. As you selectively choose to leverage, you set your test and roll out timing.

Feature

Report

UI or
Process-Based:
Small Scale

UI or
Process-Based:
Larger Scale*

Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Monthly Update Schedule

Please Join Oracle Cloud Customer Connect

Give Us Documentation Feedback

Follow Us on Social Media

Defects Fixed and Considerations

Features

Calculate Movement Properties for Financial Consolidation and Close Applications

New Video for Concurrent Request Editing

Removal of Internet Explorer Browser Support

Support for Vanity URLs

Information Security in EPM Cloud

EPM Automate Updates

>>Click for IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

Enterprise Data Management Cloud

Monthly Update Schedule

Test Environments: Oracle will apply this monthly update during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, September 4, 2020.

Production Environments: Oracle will apply this monthly update during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, September 18, 2020.

NOTE: Backing up the daily maintenance snapshot and restoring the environment as needed are self-service operations. Oracle strongly recommends that you download the maintenance snapshot every day to a local server.

The Oracle Help Center provides access to updated documentation. The updates will be available in the Help Center on Friday, September 4, 2020.

NOTE: Some of the links to new feature documentation included in this readiness document will not work until after the Oracle Help Center update is complete.

Please Join Oracle Cloud Customer Connect

Please take a moment to join the Cloud Customer Connect forums for EPM Cloud services. Oracle Cloud Customer Connect is a community gathering place for members to interact and collaborate on common goals and objectives. This is where you will find the latest release information, upcoming events, or answers to use-case questions. Joining takes just a few minutes. Join now!

https://cloud.oracle.com/community

NOTE: The Settings and Actions menu now contains a link to Cloud Customer Connect. To access this link, from the Home page, click the down arrow next to the user name (in the upper right-hand corner of the screen), and select Cloud Customer Connect.

Give Us Documentation Feedback

We welcome your comments and suggestions to improve the content of the What's New document and the product documentation.

Please send us your feedback at EPMdoc_ww@oracle.com. In the body or title of the email, state that you are inquiring or providing feedback, and indicate for which EPM Cloud service and the monthly update cycle.

Follow Us on Social Media

Follow EPM Cloud on YouTubeTwitterFacebook, and LinkedIn.

These are great resources for the latest updates and information about EPM Cloud.

Defects Fixed and Considerations

Software issues addressed each month and considerations will be posted to My Oracle Support.

Features

Calculate Movement Properties for Financial Consolidation and Close Applications

New properties are available for Financial Consolidation and Close type applications to configure Account and Movement dimension members for calculating movements. The following properties were added:

  • FCCS.Is Default Movement
  • FCCS.Default Movement

Application specific validations are now enforced for these node properties. The following validations are included:

  • Is Default Movement property can only be defined on bottom nodes
  • Default Movement property can only be defined on bottom nodes
  • Default Movement property can only be defined below the FCCS_Mvmts_Subtotal node

Business Benefit: This feature enables customers using the Calculate Movements rule in Financial Consolidation and Close applications to configure their dimension members for proper calculation.

Key Resources

New Video for Concurrent Request Editing

Enterprise Data Management now supports real-time collaboration on requests. This means that end users can initiate a request, and invite collaborators to participate in enriching the request while retaining submit control over the request.  Collaborators are assigned concurrent access to the same request. Individual changes are globally ordered and end users are alerted of changes made by peers that can be visualized and overridden as needed to support a fully digital, asynchronous, real-time collaboration experience that is an industry-first in data governance.

Overview: Concurrent Request Editing in Enterprise Data Management

Business Benefit: This video provides a quick, orienting overview or step-by-step instructions to help you perform your related business activities.

Removal of Internet Explorer Browser Support

Starting with this update, EPM Cloud will not support Internet Explorer based on the Microsoft recommendation that Internet Explorer browser users use the new Microsoft Edge as their default browser. Because Oracle will no longer test EPM Cloud using Internet Explorer, existing functionality that currently works with Internet Explorer may no longer work starting this update.

Oracle recommends that you move all users to a supported browser. See Supported Browsers in Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Management Cloud for Users for a list. For guidance on Internet Explorer Lifecycle, please reach out to Microsoft.

Business Benefit: Updating to a supported browser ensures that EPM Cloud works as designed.

Support for Vanity URLs

You can use custom URLs to access EPM Cloud environments from a web browser. You use a third party link shortener, for example, T.ly,  Bitly, Rebrandly, TinyUrl, is.gd and so on, or an open source solution, for example, YOURLS, to configure your custom URL. For detailed information on creating vanity URLs, see the documentation from the third party link shortener of your choice.

NOTE: Vanity URLs do not work with Smart View, cross-environment connections (EPM Connect), and EPM Cloud tools such as EPM Automate.

Business Benefits: Vanity URLs help you easily remember and enter URLs of EPM Cloud environments into a web browser.

Information Security in EPM Cloud

Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud for Administrators now includes comprehensive information on the mechanisms that EPM Cloud employs to implement, manage, and secure communication channels and security to protect the confidentiality, integrity, and availability of data. This new topic includes information on  data and password encryption, data security, access control mechanisms, access auditing, application performance monitoring, security evaluation process, and threat and vulnerability testing and management process.

Business Benefit: This information helps you determine how EPM Cloud information security mechanisms align with your organization's information security compliance requirements.

Key Resources

EPM Automate Updates

A new version of EPM Automate is available. This version includes the optional parameter errorFile with the importData and importMetadata commands. This version also supports the optional userNames parameter with the exportAppAudit command to help you export the audit data created by specific users. These commands work with Planning (including Modules), Consolidation and Close, and Tax Reporting business processes only.

Business Benefit: Error files are important diagnostic tools that help identify issues in the import and export process. Filtering the audit data by users allows you to quickly identify the changes made to the business process by specific users.

Key Resources

IMPORTANT Actions and Considerations

EXPORT FILE LINK MOVED TO GET JOB RESULT RESPONSE IN REST API IN ENTERPRISE DATA MANAGEMENT

Prior to 20.08, when using the Export Dimension To File endpoint in the REST API, the link to download the export file was previously included in the response for the Get Job Run endpoint which is called after running the export. With the introduction of the Validate Dimension Viewpoints on Export feature in 20.08, the export file link has been moved to the response for the Get Job Result endpoint to be returned along with any validation issues occurring during the export. This change will impact existing processes which export a dimension to a file using the REST API. API programs should be modified to call the Get Job Run endpoint to poll for the status of the export job and then the Get Job Result endpoint to retrieve the link for downloading the export file.

FUTURE AVAILABILITY OF THE REDWOOD THEME

In a future update, EPM Cloud will offer a new Redwood appearance theme, in addition to the existing 13 themes available. The Redwood theme gives an enhanced look and feel in terms of colors and icons and brings consistency across Oracle Cloud.

Preview the new Redwood theme

Redwood will be the default theme for new instances, while existing instances will continue to see the current theme by default. You can switch to the Redwood theme from Tools > Appearance.

The following EPM Cloud business processes will have the option to select the new theme:

  • Account Reconciliation
  • Enterprise Data Management
  • Financial Consolidation and Close
  • Narrative Reporting
  • Planning
  • Profitability and Cost Management
  • Tax Reporting

IDENTITY_DOMAIN AS A REQUIRED PARAMETER NO LONGER NEEDED FOR THE EPM AUTOMATE LOGIN COMMAND

In an upcoming release, Oracle will remove the IDENTITY_DOMAIN parameter from the EPM Automate login command documentation. However, you can still set a value for this parameter and it will be ignored. Existing scripts that contain this value will not be affected.This documentation change is expected to be implemented in the 20.10 update.

REMOVAL OF INSTANCE NAME FROM PREDEFINED ROLE NAMES

Currently, the predefined role names displayed in the Access Control screens of EPM Cloud environments prefix the instance name to the role name in INSTANCE_NAME ROLE_NAME format. They are also stored in this format in the snapshots, making it difficult to migrate snapshots from one instance to another.

To facilitate the migration of security across EPM Cloud environments, Oracle plans to rename predefined role names displayed within EPM Cloud applications by removing the instance name prefix. For example, if the instance name is Planning1, predefined role names are Planning1 Service Administrator, Planning1 Power User, Planning1 User, and Planning1 Viewer, the new role names will be Service Administrator, Power User, User, and Viewer.

NOTE: This change does not affect how the role names are displayed in the MyServices customer portal.

This change won't impact customers who currently use predefined roles for managing application-level provisioning and access to artifacts. Oracle will ensure that all application role assignments and artifact security assignments are automatically updated after the roles are renamed. This change makes it easy to migrate EPM Cloud artifacts across environments.

This change is being implemented to address customer feedback. If you have any concerns about this change, please contact Oracle Support.

EPM MOBILE APP STATEMENT OF DIRECTION

EPM Mobile App is a downloadable application for the phone that is purpose built to perform approval actions for iOS and Android based phone devices. It was purpose built to help users perform Approval and Workflow activities. It is currently only supported for Oracle EPM Cloud for the Planning business process.

The terminal release of EPM Mobile App is September 2020.  EPM Mobile App will not be available for download in the Apple and iOS App Stores effective October 2020. Oracle’s strategic direction is to have customers use the Approval and workflow capabilities using the mobile browser interface on mobile devices.

Oracle will continue to support Oracle EPM Mobile App in its current supported versions until September 2020.  Oracle recommends that users using Oracle EPM Mobile App prepare to instead use the approval functionality using supported mobile browser in tablet devices.