Oracle releases EPM On-Premise version 11.2.5

Oracle dropped 11.2.5 this week and its chock full of EPM goodness. The big news is the upgrade of the middleware stack.

Oracle has upgraded to Fusion Middleware 12.2.1.4 which includes newer versions of: Oracle HTTP Server, Oracle WebLogic Server. and Java 1.8.0_251. They have also added support for MsSQL 2017.

While 11.2.5 as a new install offers upgrade paths from 11.1.2.4 and 11.1.2.3, it’s also a complete patch to the 11.2 family of code. You can apply the new 11.2.5 patch directly to 11.2.3 and 11.2.4. Previous versions of 11.2 require a patch to 11.2.3 at a minimum and then you can apply 11.2.5. Like the previous 11.2 patches, the patch is applied directly to the already installed software and then the config tool is used to update the instance.

Some new features in the app stack include a configurable Content Management system for FCM, a legacy feature missing in previous 11.2 releases, and for Planning, SmartView gets extended dynamic members or "on-the-fly" members through the use of business rules.

Huge for Financial Reporting migrations, the read me now provides guidance on how to migrate Financial Reporting roles and Provisioning from 11.1.2.4 which until now has been a complete rebuild in 11.2. The readme provides details how to use LCM for the migration and how to edit the export file for 11.2 including role Maps for the new "Document Repository Roles"

Another big win for EPM is the Certification of Essbase 21c. While not support for Planning yet, Shared Services, SmartView, and Financial Reporting are now supported with Essbase 21C.

Over the next few days, I will be kicking the tires on the install and config so check back to see my take on how this new version works and if I run into any "gotchas" along the way....