First quarter 2024 in the books! Here are the EPM updates for April 2024. Updates will hit test environments April 5th and prod environments April 19th. Here’s what caught my eye.
Daily Maintenance – Randomization of Start Time
As noted in last month’s updates, the April update includes a randomization of the start time by minute. This change ensures that the daily maintenance load on EPM Cloud infrastructure is distributed throughout the hour. If you do not like the random start time assigned by Oracle, it can be changed to a more desirable minute.
Improved Redwood Experience in EPM Cloud
We knew this was coming and I think it is going to be a good improvement. In addition to the new light and dark themes, Redwood Experience will have these features:
- Adhoc on Web
- Calc on the Fly
- Dashboard 2.0
- Dynamic tabs
- Forms 2.0
- Horizontal tabs at the bottom of the page
- IPM Insights
In a future update, Oracle will automatically convert non-Redwood theme environments to the new experience. I suggest switching now instead of waiting.
Updated EPM Books Extension for Smart View
An updated EPM Books extension is available for Smart View. It is always a good idea to update Smart View extensions when Oracle releases them.
Allowing Non-Administrators to Execute Jobs in the Pipeline
This seems like cool new functionality. Using proxy administrator credentials, non-administrators can execute an individual Pipeline job. Normally, a non-administrator cannot execute integration jobs, but with this functionality they can.
Ability to Export Data to Microsoft Excel in Forms 2.0
Forms 2.0 will now have the ability to export data to Excel. I had not noticed that Forms 2.0 did not have this capability, it was apparently only available in Forms 1.0.
Edit Forms from Dashboards Opens the Layout Tab of the Form
Here is another enhancement to make our jobs a bit easier. Previously, when you edited a form from dashboards, it opened to the Properties tab and you had to click on the Layout tab. Now it will default to the Layout tab. Sure, it’s a small thing, but small things add up over time.
Retain Comments, Attachments, and Job Status After a User is Removed
User activity records will be retained for comments, attachments, and job status records after a user is removed. This is good, previously when a user was removed, all those records were deleted.
Enhanced Simplified Dimension Editor
I made the decision a while ago to use the simplified dimension editor, I forced myself to adapt to it. I understand that a lot of us still prefer the classic editor, but with these latest improvements, maybe now is the time to make the jump. Here are the latest enhancements to the simplified editor:
- Redesigned grid user interface uses Oracle JET technology
- New column selector user interface
- Properties are grouped within the column selector interface instead of displayed as a flat list
- Column selections that are added to the grid are saved for the next session
- Force fit columns option moved to the column selector
- Undo command removed (the Refresh command performs the same function)
- Drag-and-drop column reordering within the grid
- Filtered search within the grid
- Right-click context menus within the grid to perform Move, Zoom In, Zoom Out, Keep Selected, Remove Selected, and Delete actions (as applicable, depending on the dimension)
- Expansion states of the member hierarchy are saved for the next session
- Attribute dimensions are moved to the bottom of the Dimensions drop-down
- Position of new members (child or sibling) are added next to the selected member instead of adding them to the end
- Cube drop-down on the Dimensions page defaults to All
Predictive Cash Forecasting – New Planning Application Type
This is a big one. This new application type is designed specifically for cash forecasting. Per the documentation, “Predictive Cash Forecasting provides pre-built, best practice out-of-box content including a dimensional model, line items, forecast methods, forms, dashboards, rules, and role-based navigation flows.” A future update will allow direct integration to Fusion ERP Cloud, but for now data can be loaded from any source using Data Integration.
Updated Narrative Reporting Extension for Smart View
An updated Narrative Reporting extension is available for Smart View. As I said previously, it is always a good idea to update Smart View extensions when Oracle releases them.
As usual, there are lots of other updates in the April release that may be of more interest to you. I encourage you to read the full document and be prepared when environments are updated.
As always, happy EPM’ng!
Random EPM Notes 