Don't forget it's not too late to join the "Hyperion EPM Ultras" Fantasy Football League

To enter, Click here to Fantasy League Premier site

League code is 1549801-570079

Any problems, contact the Dark Lord for an invite

"Hyperion EPM Ultras" Fantasy Football League

Following the exciting news that the Dark Lord is soon to be joining KPMG to build the new Oracle EPM Practice and the start of the new Premier League season, I have created a fantasy league private league called "Hyperion EPM Ultras"

There will be a prize for the winner at the end of the season.

To enter, Click here to Fantasy League Premier site

League code is 1549801-570079

Any problems, contact the Dark Lord for an invite

Oracle Hyperion EPM 11.1.2.3. Patch 500 – New features

Oracle released EPM version 11.1.2.3. almost a year ago and it was hailed as a minimal feature update but consolidating on the quantum leap forward to 11.1.2.2. but without the bugs.

 

In the main, they were right but those that have moved to 11.1.2.3. have noticed some really frustrating performance defects over the past few months.  Oracle have saved up the bug fixes and bundled them together with a patch release called “500” which is one of the biggest releases the Dark Lord has ever seen.

Given that, it seemed like a good opportunity to summarise these for your enjoyment so here goes:

Supported Path

Note this is only a patch for 11.1.2.3.0

Third Party Software

WOW – Actually supported for Windows 8 and Internet Explorer 10.  Firefox gets a boost too and 24 is now supported, 17 no longer.

Office 2013 now joins the party too!

Virtualization

For years and years, Oracle and Hyperion beforehand would not support virtual technology, insisting that if a problem could not be resolved, you would need to replicate the problem on a physical solution for them to support.

Name me somebody who’s not using virtualisation in some way shape or form……….

Well from now onwards, Oracle are officially supporting Microsoft Hyper-V (Virtualization Windows Server 2008 and Virtual Desktop Infrastructure (VDI) for Windows).

BIG NEWS!!!

Mobile

So we all love mobile technology eh.  With the 11.1.2.3.0. release it became possible to view Financial Reports using a mobile device but it didn’t work too well.  Now it does, hooray.

There is an EPM app, available through itunes and the Google app store.  I’ve not found it yet so can’t offer and opinion but it’s supposed to work on:

i)                 Hyperion Planning

ii)                Hyperion Financial Management

iii)              Hyperion Tax Provision Management

As soon as I get a chance I will be reviewing this and will feed back to you all the juicy info.

Administrators can make available to planners a tablet-friendly user interface for performing common planning tasks such as accessing their task lists, working with data, approving budgets, viewing reports, and controlling settings…………..interesting, need to play here.

All of this works for IOS 7 and Android 4.1, 4.2 & 4.3

FDMEE

Now certified for Peoplesoft 9.2, whoopee

Defects fixed

There is a huge list of defects fixed in this patch release.  I will create a separate post for this.

Summary

I’ve missed out loads and just concentrated on some highlights.

The readme doc is 76 pages long and available through the Oracle web site.  If you have any questions, drop me a line.

Cheers,

TDL

CGMA European Conference - Maximising ROI in Finance System Development

For those that don’t know, the Chartered Global Management Accountant CGMA is a joint venture between the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants CIMA and the American Institute of Certified Public Accountants AICPA, creating a recognised global brand of accounting professional.

The European CGMA conference is November 13^th and 14^th in London and I shall be speaking about Maximising ROI in Finance System Development.

Many interesting speakers on the Bill including Nick Leeson and Robert Peston and a presentation of the CIMA research study “From insight to impact: unlocking opportunities in big data” by Peter Simons which I shall definitely be attending with interest.

I’d urge you to go if you can.

http://www.cgma.org/Development/Conferences/Pages/cgma-european-conference.aspx

 

 

The Dark Lord is speaking for CIMA - Derby Oct 10th

Following on from the first session in Hull last month, I’m speaking in Derby on October 10^th for the Chartered Institute of Management Accountants.  The session is called “From spreadsheets to systems”, details below.

http://www.cimaglobal.com/Events-and-cpd-courses/Events/CPD-Technical-update-business-intelligence2/

CPD technical update: "From spreadsheets to systems"

When Lotus 123 was introduced in 1982, few could have predicted the impact spreadsheets would have on the working environment for the next 30 years.

In today’s modern finance function, our complex planning and reporting requirements have outgrown the humble spreadsheet driving the need to establish a more systematic approach for performance management solutions.

What you can gain?

By attending this half-day event you will:

• review the appropriate use of the spreadsheet in today’s modern finance environment
• be walked through an implementation roadmap to best practice using enterprise performance management systems
• discover how your processes will change from working with spreadsheets to working in a systematic based environment
• receive tips and tricks to ensure successful implementations and the pitfalls to avoid
• receive demonstrations for the solutions discussed.

 

 

The Dark Lord of EPM is speaking at APPS13

I’m speaking at the Oracle User Group conference “APPS13” in London on Tuesday October 15^th.  These events are usually a great place to network with other Oracle users and you will definitely pick up tips and tricks in the breakout sessions.

I’d urge you to go if you can.

http://www.apps13.ukoug.org/

Synopsis of presentation below.

To consolidate or not to consolidate, that is the question!

With continued improvements in OLAP over the past 10 years, the FD may ask the question “why should he invest in a ‘big bang’ consolidation system when he can dump the trial balance into an agile Essbase cube”. Many times I have the following phrase....."We're not big enough to consolidate; we just need a reporting cube to add everything up". The need for a solution like Hyperion Financial Management has nothing to do with size. This presentation will go through the questions you need to ask in advance to determine whether you need a reporting cube or a consolidation system to assist making the correct decision. We will examine and discuss the key drivers to implement a consolidation system, rather than a reporting system, focussing on the following focus areas:

Requirement for Control

Requirement for Workflow

Requirement to Improve the Quality of submission

Requirement to handle Currency

Requirement to report a Complex company structure

Requirement to handle inter group trading

Compliance Requirements

 

 

Why Investing in EPM is like ‘Buying a Yacht'

Last week I was on holiday in Sardinia and the gods were definitely shining as we just happened to be there at the same time as some friends who have a yacht out there.

We spent a couple of days on board with our friends relaxing in total luxury, being pampered by the crew who did a superb job in making us feel very, very special.  A big thank you J & K.  One of my everlasting memories will be the expectant look on the faces of tourists on the dock as we backed into port, trying to work out if we were famous movie stars or rock gods and then walking on by when they realised I was just normal fat bloke with a nice red British lobster tan  :)

On the way home, I was browsing on the web and looking at the price of chartering yachts and I found a lovely boat called "Va Bene",  which is owned by a hero of mine: Eric Clapton.  Checking the price for a week in August - £200,000 for 7 days !!!!!!

Sadly, the first thought in my mind was "I could implement a decent EPM project for less than that!"

So it got me thinking, what is more value for money?  Would I want to spend a week on Slowhand's lovely boat or implement a world class planning or reporting solution.....

The thought process to justify either is fairly similar.

You see, if you ever thought about owning a yacht and cruising the med, you'd never do it.  Aside from the initial cost, they constantly need maintenance and the running costs are horrendous.

Financially, owning a yacht doesn't make sense but for the time you are on board the yachts, you feel like you're on top of the world.  The special feeling you get cannot be measured in value, it's priceless.  If you can afford it, just do it...........

Similarly, the business cases for EPM projects are also difficult to justify if you look purely on financials.

Some companies try to justify on headcount savings but realistically the heads that get saved in 'Excel churning' should be used elsewhere more productively in analyzing the results rather than producing them.

I have seen some business cases trying estimate savings around reducing the risk made from errors in spreadsheets and even percentages of profit improvement driven by better decision making......REALLY!  The irony here is that these business cases have come from the finance department who should know better.

There is no question that in the mid to large modern finance function; you cannot support the business with just Excel as your tool.  It's pointless to make up numbers so why bother.

Conclusion!

If you're a reasonable mature finance divisional head who is frustrated at the amount of time it takes to plan or report, are nervous about the quality of numbers produced by your team by their 1,000 spreadsheets...........buy an EPM solution.

Alternatively, if you’ve already made your millions and fancy cruising around the med ..........buy a yacht!