As most of us have started slowing down for the year, Oracle has been hard at work preparing the December 2023 (23.12) patch, and it’s a big one! This blog is going to cover what we see as the significant functionality releases in the 23.12 patch, but be sure to check out the Oracle Patch Release Notes for the complete list.
The most important features of the 23.12 (December 2023) patch
EPM Common
Maximum skip update period extended to three update cycles (PCM & EPCM)
- Oracle has extended the maximum number of months clients can skip the monthly patch updates to 3 months (instead of 2) by using the “skipUpdate” EPM Automate and associated REST API command.
- This update allows clients to implement a quarterly update and testing cadence if appropriate.
Quick Mode – file-based locations (PCM & EPCM)
- Quick Mode now supports file-based locations and enables the loading of large files efficiently into PCM and EPCM applications.
- In addition to supporting source and target expressions, Quick Mode – file-based locations will also support member mappings using the Explicit and Like mappings times.
Enterprise PCM updates
Auditing for Models, Rule Sets, Rules, POVs and Profit Curves
- Auditing has been enhanced in EPCM to include auditing on Models, Rule Sets, Rules, POVs, and Profit Curves.
- EPCM clients have been asking for advanced auditing for some time and this update enables them to track changes to the application at a significantly more detailed level than before.
Data Card now available in the Modeling Clusters
- Users will now be able to access Data Forms through the Data Card in the Modeling Cluster.
- This enhancement makes the processing of managing and validating a model and its output seamless for the user.
Calculation performance enhancement for Essbase connections
- This update will enhance the calculation performance of models where there is a high degree of concurrency, such as is the case in multi-period calculations, parallel rule processing, and parallel rule script processing.
- This enhancement aims to enhance the speed of calculation execution and also to reduce overall errors related to parallel processing
- Customers utilizing the Same As Source (SAS) Different Dimension functionality may also see a performance improvement.
Ad Hoc analysis available in Rule Designer and Rule Balancing
- This is an update that I, as a developer, am very excited about! Users are now able to use the Ad Hoc grid to analyze specific Allocation or Custom Calculation rule data elements. For example, users will be able to generate an Ad Hoc grid showing the Source, Target (if calculated), and Driver Data associated with a specific Rule.
- This enhancement makes troubleshooting significantly easier and enhances traceability, as previously this could only be achieved by manually creating either Data Forms or SmartView retrieves which is very time-consuming and error-prone.
PCM Updates
PCM Cloud now supported in Data Integration
- The Data Integration UI is now available in PCM. This enables various data integration functionalities previously only available to EPCM applications such as Quick Mode.
- The Data Exchange card is now present in the Application Cluster.
Regression testing requirement
This month’s patch introduces significant functionality enhancements alongside calculation performance improvements. As such, we suggest a more rigorous level of regression testing than in other patch releases for both PCM and EPCM.
Enterprise PCM regression testing requirement:
For the 23.12 Patch, we suggest clients do a more extensive level of regression testing to ensure that they are aware of the new functionality released and ensure results are calculated as expected.
PCM regression testing requirement:
For the 23.12 Patch, we suggest a moderate level of regression testing for PCM applications as there are some updates released in this patch that are relevant to PCM but should not affect calculation performance or results.
The 23.12 Patch is scheduled to be pushed to the Production environments at or after 22:00 UTC on Friday, December 15, 2023, so be sure to complete any Regression testing soon!
TL;DR
Oracle has released the December 2023 (23.12) patch, introducing several new features and improvements for EPM Common, Enterprise PCM, and PCM applications. Some of the highlights include the ability to skip up to three monthly patch updates, the support for Quick Mode for file-based locations, the enhancement of auditing, data card, calculation performance, and ad hoc analysis for EPCM applications, and the introduction of Data Integration UI for PCM applications.
We recommend a more rigorous level of regression testing for both PCM and EPCM applications due to this patch's significant functionality enhancements and calculation performance improvements. The patch will be released into the Production instances on Friday, December 15, 2023.
In case you missed it: highlights of profitability patch release – November 2023 (23.11)
EPM Common
- Standardized application role names (PCM & EPCM)
- Forms 2.0 (EPCM only)
- Functionality to keep up-to-date on: Groovy & Pipeline
Enterprise PCM updates (EPCM only)
- Total Number of Rules Processed added to the Calculation Statistic Report
For full details of the November patch release (23.11), read the full blog post Profitability patch release – November 2023 (23.11).
About Oracle Cloud Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Profitability and Cost Management (PCM)
A purpose-built allocation solution can make organizations more effective and provide greater insight into profitability and costs within key business dimensions. Profitability and Cost Management strikes the perfect balance between a business-owned allocation engine and a rich analytical tool to discover the fundamental drivers of cost. This solution accomplishes both by providing an innovative allocation framework that provides step-by-step transparency to calculations – all while ensuring ease of use and upgradability of an Oracle cloud-based solution.