Kscope Recap: Big Changes to Oracle EPM Cloud

The Kscope annual conference is always a source of excitement and anxiety, as attendees wait to find out which changes Oracle will announce to its current suite of products and services.

 
In addition to changes in the Analytics suite and Essbase – which we’ll discuss in a later post – Oracle also declared some changes to Oracle EPM. This article will discuss how Oracle EPM will be different moving forward and what it could mean for you as an Oracle EPM user.

Oracle EPM 11.2: What’s in Store?

The next release of Oracle EPM is 11.2, which is currently scheduled for September 2019.

One noteworthy upcoming change to Oracle EPM 11.2 will be the disappearance of Oracle EPM Architect (EPMA), an on-premise solution for creating and managing Oracle EPM applications. In its place, Oracle plans to implement a limited-use version of Oracle Data Relationship Management (DRM), an enterprise change management solution for consistency within master data assets. Oracle will provide a migration utility when upgrading to EPM 11.2 in order to ease the transition from EPMA to DRM.

Perhaps the biggest change with EPM 11.2, however, is the plan to transition Oracle EPM to a “continuous innovation” release model. Continuous innovation means that moving forward, Oracle will distinguish between technology stack updates and applications code updates. This enables EPM customers to install either or both sets of upgrades on an as-needed basis, so that they don’t have to weigh the advantages of updating EPM against the time and cost of doing so.

In addition to continuous innovation, EPM 11.2 will also come with Oracle’s guarantee of offering Oracle Premier Support until at least 2030. Oracle clearly sees EPM 11.2 as a long-term support version that will continue to be a stable and predictable offering for at least the next decade.

According to Oracle, the EPM 11.2 software will be released on Windows first and arrive on Linux later. The features of on-premise EPM 11.2 are expected to include:

• An uplift to the Oracle Fusion Middleware 12g release
• Streamlined and simplified infrastructure and architecture
• Third-party certifications including Windows 2012, Windows 2016, Oracle 12.2, Microsoft SQL Server 2017 and Java 8

 
Note that EPM 11.2 will use the Essbase 11.1.2.4 version, rather than any newer versions of Essbase.

Final Thoughts

Every release of a new version of Oracle EPM prompts the question: should you continue using your current software, or upgrade in order to have access to all the latest features and bug fixes?

With Oracle EPM 11.2, that choice will soon get much easier. The move to the continuous innovation model under EPM 11.2 will enable customers to receive ongoing updates, rather than having to upgrade the software to an entirely new version.

Concerned about how EPM 11.2 will affect your organization? You’re not alone. Datavail can help you figure out what impact Oracle’s changes announced at Kscope19 will have for you. Get in touch with our team of Oracle experts for a consultation about your business needs and objectives.