Oracle EPM Planning Audit Feature and Reporting !

Oracle EPM Audit feature provides a huge amount of information that can help Administrators troubleshoot a variety of issues.

The number of tasks available to audit has steadily increased over the last few years. As of today, there are 18 items available to audit.

The most useful features so far that I have found are Data, Dimension Administration, and Launch Business Rules. Analyzing these has helped me to troubleshoot issues with data, who ran a rule and when, or if the metadata has been altered. 

But by having all enabled, I can review many other types of changes that have occurred. 

And all of it is exportable to an Excel file. Plus, it might be the easiest thing to configure in Planning.

To get started, auditing needs to be enabled. 

Go to Navigator > Tools > Audit.

Click on Enable Auditing and select all the available items in the list, then click Save and Close.

Once auditing has been enabled for a few days, you will be able to see all the information.

From the Audit Filter page, you can review or select various tasks for your reports.

Select a date range for the information. You cannot select a range greater than 180 days from here, but you can select up to 365 days by using EPM Automate.

The page will display the first 200 records. Click Export to export to an Excel file.

EPM Automate Support of Task Manager Commands

EPM Automate Support of Task Manager Commands

EPM Automate now supports the following Task Manager-related commands:

• deployTaskManagerTemplate
• exportTaskManagerAccessControl
• runTaskManagerReport
• setDemoDates

deployTaskManagerTemplate: This command deploys tasks from a Task Manager template into a task schedule ensuring consistent execution of repetitive business processes.

exportTaskManagerAccessControl: This command exports the details of users assigned to work within Task Manager to an Excel or CSV file.

runTaskManagerReport: This command generates reports that display data from Task Manager.

setDemoDates: This command helps you update the dates associated with tasks in Oracle internal demo data such as start date and end date of tasks, and ancillary dates including those of history, individual workflow due dates, and start date (actual).

Business Benefit: These commands enable the remote administration of Task Manager-related operations in Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management environments.

Generative AI for Management Reporting Narratives - Oracle EPM

 Generative AI for Management Reporting Narratives

Reports provide the ability to utilize Generative AI (GenAI) for generating narrative summaries in a text box. It is used for the following three use cases:

• Describing exceptions: Describe the cell(s) where a condition is satisfied. For example, a grid cell that satisfies the variance threshold defined by the report designer as a condition.
• Describing the causality for exceptions: Examine one of the relevant cell dimensions where the condition was satisfied and describe the top 3 contributors to it.
• Performing a comparative analysis: If the grid has prior time periods in the columns, describe the cell value in comparison to the prior period.

The generation of narrative summaries within a report is exposed via the conditional text framework with corresponding machine learning property files (Prompt Template properties file) for each use case, which provides examples to generate the textual narrative via GenAI. Conditional text is defined for rows, columns, or cells, and if the condition is satisfied, the GenAI service returns the resulting narrative text using the ConditionalText text function.

NOTE: 

• The Reports GenAI feature is only currently available in EPM Cloud Enterprise Narrative Reporting deployments. It is not available in Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Platform application deployments, in the Standard EPM Cloud Narrative Reporting deployments, or Legacy Enterprise Performance Reporting Cloud Service (EPRCS) deployments.

• The GenAI feature is available only for OCI environments, and it is not yet available in all OCI regions. To view the regions where it is available, please refer to the OCI (Gen 2) Geographical Regions and Identifiers section of the Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Operations Guide.

• For the initial release, narratives will only be generated in English.

• The Reports GenAI feature is a decision support tool. End users make any final decision regarding the interpretation of the information it provides. AI should be treated as a decision support tool only. Always review AI-generated content and verify its accuracy before using or relying on it.

We developed three sample GenAI Reports to help you learn more about the GenAI functionality. For more information, refer to the following links:

• Installing Samples in Administering Narrative Reporting
• Reviewing the Sample Reports in Designing with Reports for Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud

Business Benefit: GenAI can bring more intelligence to reporting and analysis to aide decision-making in finance.

Steps to Enable

Enabling Generative AI in Narrative Reporting

Currently the Generative AI (GenAI) service is not available in all data centers. If GenAI is available in your data center, you can enable it from the Tools > Settings card.

To enable GenAI, follow these steps:

• On the Narrative Reporting Home Page, select Tools, then select Settings.
• In the Settings window, in the left panel, select Generative AI. 

NOTE: If the Generative AI is not available in your data center, the Generative AI panel displays “Generative AI is not available”.

• Click on the checkbox to Enable Generative AI, then click Save.

Updated Admin Extension for Oracle Smart View

Updated Admin Extension for Smart View

An updated Admin Extension extension for Oracle Smart View for Office is now available to download and install. This update contains additional debugging information useful for Smart View’s new Trace Traffic tool.

Applies to: Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management, Financial Consolidation and Close, FreeForm, Planning, Tax Reporting

The Admin Extension allows Service Administrators to quickly import and edit dimension and member metadata directly in Smart View. 

The Admin Extension is also referred to as the Smart View Add-on for Administrator or the Planning Admin Extension.

Smart View’s new Trace Traffic tool enables users to view network traffic details comprised of request and response logs in real time. 

Oracle Smart View for Office 24.200 is required to use the Trace Traffic tool. 

The updated Admin Extension contains additional debugging information that is enabled at run time when using the new Trace Traffic tool.

Business Benefit: With the updated Admin Extension, users can take advantage of the Trace Traffic tool available in Oracle Smart View for Office 24.200.

Steps to Enable

You can update the Admin Extension in either of these ways:

• From the business process Downloads page, download the Admin Extension SVEXT file available under Planning Extensions, and then double-click the SVEXT file to install it.
• From the Smart View Options dialog, Extensions tab, click Check for Updates, New Installs, and Uninstalls, then follow the prompts to download and install the Admin Extension.

Oracle EPM update for ENTERPRISE PCM (EPCM)

MIGRATION ENHANCED TO EXPORT FAILED CALCULATION RUNS

In addition to exporting the details of the latest calculation run for each POV, any failed calculation runs will now be exported as well. 

That is, any calculation runs ending in a status other than "Completed" or "Completed With Warnings" will be included in the export.

UPGRADING TO HYBRID ESSBASE

Starting with this update, Oracle will begin the process of upgrading EPM Cloud environments that currently use a non-hybrid Essbase version to a hybrid Essbase version.

In this monthly update, the Profitability and Cost Management Cloud environments on a non-hybrid Essbase version are upgraded to a hybrid Essbase version. 

This upgrade will occur when the 24.05 updates are applied to your Profitability and Cost Management Cloud environments.

This upgrade affects only the Essbase version used in EPM Cloud; it does not affect the cube configuration of the application. For example, if the application is configured to use non-hybrid cubes, this update will not change it to use hybrid cubes. 

For detailed information on the use of Essbase in EPM Cloud, see About Essbase in EPM Cloud in Getting Started with Oracle Enterprise Performance Management Cloud for Administrators.

To check whether your environment is on a hybrid or non-hybrid Essbase version, look at the value of Essbase Version supports Hybrid Block Storage Option in the Activity Report. 

If the value is Yes, it means that your environment is on hybrid Essbase version. 

If the value is No, it means that your environment is on a non-hybrid Essbase version.

Oracle Release Updates for PLANNING EPBCS

CUSTOM TEMPLATE IN WORKFORCE NOW SUPPORTS MORE TEMPLATES FOR EASIER CUSTOMIZATION AND UPDATES

The Workforce custom template, OWP_Custom Template, now supports more templates.

The following additional templates now support OWP_Custom Template and will read any of the modifications you make to the custom script blocks:

OWP_Calculate Employee Compensation_Te

OWP_Process Loaded Data_T

OWP_Synchronize Defaults_T

OWP_Synchronize Definition_T

Additionally, OWP_Custom Template was updated to include three blank script blocks for each supported rule, instead of only two.

TIPS AND CONSIDERATIONS

If you've already modified OWP_Custom Template, it is not automatically updated to support the newly added third script block. If you have a use case that requires the third script block, restore the OWP_Custom Template to its original state so that it is updated, and then re-apply your modifications.

WORKFORCE BATCH RULES UPDATED TO IMPROVE PERFORMANCE

The performance of Workforce batch rules is improved.

WORKFORCE NOW LIMITS THE NUMBER OF EDITABLE ROWS IN MASS UPDATE FORMS

Workforce now limits the number of rows that can be edited at one time in the Mass Update forms. If you attempt to edit more rows than the limit, you'll receive an error message. If you see this message, you can reduce the number of rows you are editing and re-submit the form.

PREDICTIVE CASH FORECASTING SIMPLIFIES LOADING THE OPENING BALANCE

Predictive Cash Forecasting now supports an easier option for loading the opening balance, which supports use cases where you can load data for any historical periods, for example, if a new bank is added within the last 365 days.

Oracle Smart View for Office (MAC and Browser) update

SUBMIT NUMERIC ZERO AS REPLACEMENT FOR MISSING VALUES IN SMART VIEW (MAC AND BROWSER)

With the new Submit Zero option, you can choose to submit numeric zero values in place of #Missing label.

To enable submitting zeros as replacement for missing values:

Open the Smart View Option panel, and then go to the Data Options tab.

Under Replacement, enter #NumericZero in the #Missing/NoData Label field.

Select the Submit Zero check box.

ADD MORE DIMENSION ROWS IN FUNCTION BUILDER IN SMART VIEW (MAC AND BROWSER) 

For HsGetValue and HsSetValue functions, you can now add more dimension rows to the Members List in the Function Builder.

Earlier, the number of rows in a function were limited to 10. Now, you can add more rows and enter additional dimensions as per your requirement. Click the Add button to add a new row at the bottom of the Member List.

USER INTERFACE IMPROVEMENTS IN SMART VIEW (MAC AND BROWSER)

User interface improvements have been done in the Home panel and User Preferences panel in Smart View (Mac and Browser).

Right-click menu in Smart View Home panel: You can now right-click on forms, ad hoc grids, and other artifacts in the Smart View Home panel to open forms or ad hoc grids and launch other functionalities such as Job Console, Copy Version, Business Rules, Task List, Approvals, and User Preferences. These options are additionally available under the Action menu in the Smart View Home panel.

Variables tab in User Preferences panel: The associated dimension of a user variable is now seen up-front below the user variable name, instead of as a tool tip. Earlier, the user variable name acted as a button to open the Member Selector dialog, which was not intuitive. Now, a dedicated ellipses menu is introduced for opening the Member Selector dialog.

DISPLAY MEMBER NAMES AND ALIASES IN SEPARATE COLUMNS IN SMART VIEW (MAC AND BROWSER) AD HOC GRIDS

A new Member display option, Member Name and Alias, allows you to display both the member names and their aliases in separate columns on row dimensions in ad hoc grids.