Talking Tech: Top 3 Ways to Keep Oracle EPM Up to Date

Let’s Talk Tech.

There are many Oracle EPM patch releases and updates to environments which can easily pile up if you’re not vigilant. It is a common occurrence for clients to request a delay for an update; however, this can open a whole new can of worms if not cautious. For example, you may find yourself on different versions between your test and production environments, then find you are not able to migrate snapshots across these environments. To help you and your company, we’ve listed three (3) tips so you can stay in the know for all EPM system updates.

Please note, the below sections are broken down by distinction – Oracle Cloud and Oracle On-Premise. In regard to Oracle Cloud, Oracle rolls out the updates automatically each month, but for on-premise, the local IT team would be responsible for keeping things up to date. In general, these updates include security fixes, bug fixes, new functionality, etc. Overall, whether your environment is on-premise or cloud, you should remain knowledgeable with any releases so you can define the best technology roadmap for your organization. Let’s dive into the specifics:

Oracle Cloud

1. Service Administrators should review all correspondence by Oracle

Oracle notifies Service Administrators of the updates included in each patch. For minor patch releases, Oracle provides a one-week advance notification, and for a major patch release, you can expect a two-month advance notification. Further detailed information about the currently installed service update is also posted on the Oracle Cloud Release Readiness website. We know keeping up with all Oracle related notifications can be tedious, but it is a task that is necessary to keep your environment(s) and users aware of service installs, new functionality, defects, and everything in between.

2. Test patch updates in the test environment (before Oracle pushes them to production)

Generally, Oracle releases a patch containing bug fixes, performance enhancements, or feature updates on the first Friday of every month. Oracle applies this patch to the test environment of the service during the next daily maintenance window following a patch release. Since production environments are typically patched on the third Friday of the month, this leaves a two-week window designed for the patch updates to be verified in the test environment. If needed, an update delay can be requested, and a ticket can be created if the patch is causing an issue. Our advice – take this opportunity to validate the patch release before it hits your production environment.

Oracle On-Premise

3. Stay up to date with patches in Oracle EPM 11.2

Oracle EPM 11.2 system updates are released on a quarterly basis – generally January, April, July, and October. Currently, the latest version is 11.2.7, with 11.2.8 most likely scheduled for January 2022. Each release includes a late-breaking information documented in a “readme” file containing bug fixes, new features, and other upcoming changes. Patches for 11.2 are required to be installed in a specific manner – you can never jump more than 2 patches at a time. For example, you cannot go right from 11.2.1 to 11.2.7 – you will need to install intermediary patches first. As a result, we recommend being no more than 2 releases behind the current patch.

Below are the supported paths to EPM System Release 11.2.7 (the current patch at the time of this posting):

• If you are on 11.2.5 or higher you can go right to 11.2.7
• If you are on 11.2.4 you can move to the 11.2.5 update and then to 11.2.7, or you can move from 11.2.4 to 11.2.6 and then to 11.2.7
• If you are 11.2.2 or lower you can apply every two updates to 11.2.6

Please note, going from the 11.1.2.4 version to release 11.2.x is a full version upgrade requiring additional steps which include migrating artifacts and data to the new deployment.  This may also require new hardware, operating systems, and so on.

When you apply an on-premise 11.2 update, all installed EPM System components are updated. There is no option to select components. For example, this may include Planning, HFM, FCM, ARM, and FDMEE.

With support for Oracle EPM (Hyperion) 11.1.2.4 ending in December of 2021, your organization may need to make the decision between upgrading to EPM 11.2 or migrating to EPM Cloud. Let us help you with your specific On-Premise or Cloud needs.