by Doug Correa | 10 23, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDMEE
Tip 3 – Downloading Metadata Using the Excel Interface Let’s face it. Analyzing data in an application interface can sometimes be cumbersome. Sometimes it’s just easier to do it in Excel. FDMEE comes with a rich reporting framework that allows you to export data to PDF and Excel. But occasionally you’d rather dispense with all of the reporting formatting and just have the data. Or, maybe there isn’t a report for the exact thing you want to review. Enter the Excel Interface component. Using the Excel Interface component you can download just about any metadata item in FDMEE. The Entity Type drop down list (yes, it’s a weird name) gives you a pre-defined list of objects you can download to Excel. Go to Setup > Integration Setup > Excel Interface and try it out. ...
by Doug Correa | 10 04, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDMEE
Over the past month, Oracle has released a couple of key patch set exceptions (PSEs) for FDMEE 11.1.2.4, PSE 21444040 and PSE 21819491. What are Patches? A patch is a small collection of files copied over an existing software installation. There are 4 types of patches – Patch Set Exception (PSE), Patch Bundle, Critical Patch Update (CPU), and Patch Set Update (PSU). Oracle provides infrastructure resources with the “OPatch Utility for applying interim patches. For more information about how patch types differ and how they are applied, see Fusion Middleware Patching Guide. The attached screenshot below shows a breakdown of the defects fixed in FDMEE 11.1.2.4 PSEs 21444040 and 21819491. Right away, you can see that 9 out of the 10 fixed defects address issues with HFM. No surprise there. HFM Release 11.1.2.4 was re-written from the ground up to achieve independence from the Microsoft platform. (For details on the new HFM, see Henri Vilminko’s post, Say Hello to HFM 11.1.2.4.) So, if you’re using FDMEE with HFM Release 11.1.2.4 you almost certainly want to apply these patches. Additionally, if you’re in this camp you absolutely want to install two patch set updates to HFM 11.1.2.4, PSU 100 and PSU 101. Both patch set updates fix a major number of defects in HFM. If you’re implementing FDMEE 11.1.2.4 or your company is already live on 11.1.2.4, please pass along feedback. The Oracle development team relies heavily on user feedback to improve the...
by Doug Correa | 08 07, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDM Classic, FDMEE
This past June saw the annual gathering of Oracle EPM folk for KScope15. For those not in the know, KScope is the premiere conference for all things Oracle Hyperion put on by the esteemed ODTUG (Oracle Development Tools User Group) community. Thought leaders, product experts, and end users meet to share tips, implementation success stories, and to get details on upcoming product releases from the Oracle product management team. Enter FDMEE. If you couldn’t make it to KScope15, or you attended the conference but had too many commitments to make it to FDMEE sessions and the EPM Symposium (read: you were sitting poolside with a mojito in hand), here are the highlights of the near-term roadmap for FDMEE – 11.1.2.4.100. Note: It’s always important to bring attention to Oracle’s Safe Harbor statement, which simply says, Yeah, this stuff is on the way, but no guarantees as to when. PBCS Integration and the Universal Data Adapter If you’ve ever attended one of Oracle’s presentations over the past couple of years, you know that data integration goal for FDMEE is any source/any target. FDMEE delivers several pre-built source adapters for major ERP systems, like EBS Financials and PeopleSoft. Earlier this year, the 11.1.2.4 Release also introduced the EPM Data Synchronization component. With FDMEE EPM Data Sync we can map and move data between two EPM applications, such as HFM and Essbase. In the next 11.1.2.4 patch set update (PSU), we can expect Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS) to the be part of the EPM Data Synchronization family for quick and easy EPM to EPM integrations. To achieve the objective of any source/any...
by Doug Correa | 07 10, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDM Classic, FDMEE
Good news for you FDM Classic users out there looking to extend the life of legacy FDM just a little longer. Oracle has provided a solution for using FDM Classic with IE11. See My Oracle Support Knowledge Base article Doc ID 2028236.1 for details. Keep in mind, if you plan an upgrade to Oracle EPM Release 11.1.2.4, you will still need to migrate to FDMEE. There’s no sticking around with FDM Classic beyond Release 11.1.2.3. And with 11.1.2.4 being the second major release of FDMEE, there are a lot of reasons to make the leap to FDM Enterprise Edition. Want to know a few of those reasons? Click here....
by Doug Correa | 05 28, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDMEE
Tip 2 – Viewing an Execution Log In FDMEE, you use data load rules to extract data from a source system (e.g. Oracle EBS or SAP) or to load data from a flat file. When you click any Workflow step (Import, Validate, Export, or Check) in Data Load Workbench, the data load rule associated with the point of view is executed. Now, suppose you want to see the status of an import? Or you want to view additional details associated with a failure. Where do you look? That’s easy. Just go to the Process Details component of FDMEE. With the Data Management tab open in Workspace, go to Workflow > Monitor > Process Details. The Process Details grid will appear with an entry for each submitted task. For any task in the grid, click the corresponding Show link to view the log. ...
by Doug Correa | 05 27, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDMEE
Tip 1 – Registering a New Target Application You access FDMEE via Oracle EPM Workspace. Like HFM, Essbase, and other EPM applications, FDMEE is fully baked into Workspace. As such, FDMEE is ready to communicate with any Oracle Hyperion application registered in Workspace. In FDMEE, simply go to Setup > Register > Target Application. From there, you can easily add a new Oracle EPM application for FDMEE to integrate with. That’s it. For more details on registering target applications in FDMEE, see Integrating with Hyperion Apps Should Be Easier. It is with...
by Doug Correa | 03 10, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDM Classic, FDMEE
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,...
by Doug Correa | 03 03, 2015 | FDM, FDMEE
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...
by Doug Correa | 01 30, 2015 | EPM, FDM, FDM Classic, FDMEE
In late January 2015 , Oracle Corp. released the first sequel to FDMEE – Release 11.1.2.4. As expected, it’s chock full of some good stuff. 1) New Look FDMEE 11.1.2.4 has a new skin. (That’s geek speak for a new visual style.) With FDMEE 11.1.2.4 you get a slightly cleaner appearance than FDMEE 11.1.2.3. There’s less shading in various component borders. (If you’re using or have seen Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS), it has the same look and feel.) A flatter user interface has been the trend for a couple of years now, as evidenced by the Windows 8 Modern user interface and Apple ditching it’s signature skeuomorphic design elements in iOS and Mac OS. 2) Fix Mapping Feature This important FDM Classic feature makes its way to FDMEE. Using the Fix Mapping Feature the end user can view and fix mapping errors right from the Validate screen. (In FDMEE 11.1.2.3, the end user had to leave the Data Load Workbench component and launch the Data Load Mapping component to fix the maps.) Fix Maps screen is a a handy end user feature, for sure. 3) POV Locking by Location Another critical FDM Classic feature finds it’s way to FDMEE – POV locking by location. By locking a point of view (POV) you can prevent the location from modifying data. FDMEE 11.1.2.3.520 provided the ability for the FDMEE administrator to lock all locations from the Application Settings component. With 11.1.2.4, the end user can lock his/her POV at the location level. Like FDM Classic, the end user even gets the groovy little lock symbol in the POV to...
by Doug Correa | 10 10, 2014 | EPM, FDM, FDM Classic, FDMEE
Building a Better Goldfish Many of my long standing clients have been using FDM Classic for years. For the most part, they’re very happy with their goldfish, a la the guided workflow. So, you can imagine they’re a little leery of this new thing called “FDMEE“. I get it. FDM Classic is easy-to-use, has internal controls baked-in the product, and it’s been around for years. But when it comes to a data transformation tool for Oracle EPM applications, I tell my clients that Oracle has built a better goldfish. And with the forthcoming release of FDMEE 11.1.2.4 there’s even more reasons to make the switch. With FDMEE, you go from this guy… To this guy… So, What’s Coming in 11.1.2.4? In the last three months, I’ve had the opportunity to attend KScope14, take part in Oracle’s FDMEE Summit, and I presented a FDMEE customer success story at OpenWorld. I’ve got the scoop on what’s coming in 11.1.2.4. Among the variety of enhancements and parity features, here’s a quick list of what my FDM clients will care the most about in 11.1.2.4. At this point I should point out Oracle’s standard “”Safe Harbor Agreement”. The Safe Harbor Agreement simply states that some of these features may never see the light of day. That’s right, no guarantees here (wink, wink). With that out of the way, here’s what to expect with FDMEE 11.1.2.4. New Stuff in 11.1.2.4 Here’s a list of four major enhancements coming to 11.1.2.4.x. 1) EPM to EPM Data Sync Learn More FDMEE 11.1.2.4.x will allow you to import data directly from a source EPM application (e.g. HFM) and...
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