Oracle Wants to Make FDM Classic Seem Really Old

Oracle recently released FDMEE 11.1.2.4. Back when Oracle rolled out Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) System Release 11.1.2.3 in 2013, FDMEE was missing a number of core FDM Classic features (e.g. support for file-based data loads and scripting). Since the initial release, the Oracle development team published several patch set updates; each delivering more FDM Classic features to FDMEE. Now, with 11.1.2.4, FDMEE is FDM Classic and more. Like an aging superstar athlete in the twilight of a storied career, FDM Classic is looking ready to give way to its successor. Here are a few reasons why.   Web-enabled Application – FDM Classic comes with a Windows client called Workbench.  A Windows client is so 2005.  Like most other Oracle EPM applications, FDMEE is a fully Web enabled application.   Direct Connect to Any ERP System – Want to integrate data and metadata directly from an Enterprise Resource Planning (ERP) source system?  With FDM Classic, you will need to use the ERPi add-on module.  ERPi turns FDM Classic into a bit of a Frankenstein monster.  With FDMEE, this functionality is baked into one product.   Advanced Architecture – FDMEE’s underlying data transformation engine is Oracle Data Integrator (ODI).  ODI is a world-class data integration tool on par with Informatica.  FDM Classic doesn’t have ODI (unless you use it in conjunction with ERPi module).   EPM Data Sync – Oracle Hyperion FDMEE Release 11.1.2.4 introduced data synchronization to the product.  Using the data synchronization feature, you can now move data between EPM applications (e.g. from HFM to Planning).  FDM Classic does not have this capability.     Superior Performance on Exalytics – Want blazing data transformation performance using Exalytics,...

FDMEE 11.1.2.3.530 Brings Lots of Fixes

For you FDMEE pioneers on 11.1.2.3, Oracle has released patch set update (PSU) 530.  You can download PSU 530 from My Oracle Support. Unlike patch set update 520 released in the Fall, PSU 530 doesn’t appear to have any new features.  Instead, the 11.1.2.3.530 is solely focused on bug fixes, and man, there are lots of them.  According to the ReadMe, 47 defects are addressed by 530. It’s good to see the Oracle EPM Product team addressing so many defects in this patch set update.  Even though FDMEE 11.1.2.4 is out, Oracle is still committed to fine-tuning the first major release of FDMEE.  This demonstrates Oracle’s commitment to those customers that took the maiden voyage on FDMEE 11.1.2.3. I have a couple of clients that have been waiting on the 530 release to address some critical bugs.  They will be happy to see the following bug fixes on the list. 20494577 – Improve Hyperion Financial Management check process performance. 19631188 – When using the SQL Server database, frequent database locks occur when multiple users access FDMEE at the same time. 19817853 – A Hyperion Financial Management adapter database connection error occurs when the MS SQL server is not using the default port 1433. We’ll be testing 530 in our lab.  Stay tuned for further...