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Monday, February 9, 2015

EPM 11.1.2.4 : First Look

Oracle released EPM 11.1.2.4 with various new features added to the list. Having initial look at the list, it seems quite exciting to work with new release. Apart from minor enhancements and features for different products, migration of HFM application from Windows dependent platform to platform independent nature seems to be the major offering in this release. HFM's dependence on Windows had been the reason behind unavailability of HFM over Exalytics. Thus Oracle catered to this requirements to introduce ability to install HFM on Linux but it is supported only for Exalytics as of now.

Let's quickly walk through the new EPM 11.1.2.4 and have a chance to look and feel the new interface. I will limit myself to basic visual changes to the interface and won't delve into technicalities.
  • Installation
Installation steps have not undergone any change except for HFM where it no longer asks for DCOM and IIS details. Similar to 11.1.2.3 we can install and configure all components in single go. Configuring different databases for each component is possible too



The configurator service with a long name is no longer present in the list of services


The background processes still have HyS9 in their names and profitability still have its name starting with HyS9HyS9 similar to EPM 11.1.2.3


  • Web Interface - Workspace, Planning
Oracle has changed its landing page and introduced different colour combinations


The interface has new look and feel. I would say, it is now more crisp and pleasing. The tabs are edgy, with changes to expansion buttons - '+' no longer exists. The interface is quite similar to the PBCS version of Planning.

There is a new entry at the bottom of Planning app - 'Diagnostics'. This was initially available as a utility under tools, now has a place on left menu


The webforms have undergone changes too - Planning's sample app Vision
  • They load comparatively fast
  • The grids look more like excel spreadsheet
  • Users can use tab, shift+tab
  • No need to double-click on cells to see numbers when they are large

Oracle mentions that most of the activities are now done at client side and less requests are sent to server which enhance experience working with new forms.

And finally, Oracle planning's simplified interface. It the same planning interface running at port 8300 with a complete makeover. And guess what, it can be accessed from chrome browser too. 


This version of planning enables accessing it from mobile/tablet devices and definitely seems promising. Stay tuned for detailed analysis of different modules !!!

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