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Oracle EPM software is a suite of applications, chosen 1 at a time.

We explain the 8 applications, how they relate to Hyperion and how a group decides which ones to buy.

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Oracle sells its EPM software as Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM, a set of separately licensed applications. The applications cover planning, consolidation, account reconciliation, tax, narrative reporting, profitability, master data and free-form modelling. Groups buy them 1 at a time, and each new one has to agree with the others on entities, accounts and periods.

The applications
The suite has 8 applications: Planning, Financial Consolidation and Close, Account Reconciliation, Tax Reporting, Narrative Reporting, Profitability and Cost Management, Enterprise Data Management and FreeForm.
The Hyperion link
Oracle bought Hyperion in 2007 and still supports the on-premises release 11.2 alongside the cloud suite.
Where we sit
Constancia is an EPM consultancy and an official OneStream partner. We survey an Oracle estate before we price a move to 1 model.

Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM has 8 applications, and each one is a separate subscription.

  1. 01

    Planning

    The planning and budgeting application in Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM, sold as a subscription.

  2. 02

    Financial Consolidation and Close

    The consolidation application, with the tasks for the group close built in.

  3. 03

    Account Reconciliation

    Checks account balances automatically, so reconciliations run faster and need fewer people.

  4. 04

    Tax Reporting

    Calculates the tax provision for multinational groups reporting under GAAP or IFRS.

  5. 05

    Narrative Reporting

    Finance teams define, write, review and publish their financial and management report packs here.

  6. 06

    Profitability and Cost Management

    Runs the cost and revenue allocations that show profit by product, customer, region or branch.

  7. 07

    Enterprise Data Management

    Holds the hierarchies and master data that the other applications share.

  8. 08

    FreeForm

    A flexible reporting and planning application, sold as a subscription, with no fixed model.

A group with 3 of the 8 applications keeps 3 copies of its entity list, unless 1 of them is Enterprise Data Management.

Oracle EPM software grew out of Hyperion, which Oracle bought in 2007. Planning replaces Hyperion Planning, and Financial Consolidation and Close replaces HFM.

Oracle Premier Support for Hyperion 11.2 runs until at least 2033, so the on-premises release carries on beside the cloud.

Each move to the cloud is a rebuild on new dimensions. A group moving 3 Hyperion products runs 3 rebuilds.

Groups usually start with the Oracle EPM application that faces the nearest deadline, which is often the consolidation.

Groups start with whichever of the 8 applications has a fixed deadline. The end of HFM support or an audit puts the consolidation first, and a budget round puts Planning first.

Each of the 8 applications is a separate business process. A group starting with 2 of them writes its entity list twice, unless Enterprise Data Management holds it.

When the consolidation team and the planning team each keep their own entity list, the 2 lists drift apart at the first acquisition.

A suite of Oracle applications stores metadata in every application, and 1 model stores it once.

How a suite of separately licensed EPM applications differs from 1 model in structure.
A suite of applications1 model
The entity list1 in each application, kept in step by Enterprise Data Management or by hand.1 list, read by the close, the plan and the report.
Adding a processA new subscription, a new metadata load and a new integration.A new application on the same model, with the dimensions already there.
The close and the plan2 applications, with actuals copied from 1 to the other.1 set of actuals the plan reads directly.
UpgradesMonthly updates to each application, tested application by application.1 release, tested once.
Who sells itOracle, as Oracle Fusion Cloud EPM.OneStream (EPM software), and Board and CCH Tagetik in their own designs.
The structure it suitsA group on Oracle Fusion ERP and Oracle Planning, adding 1 process at a time.A group whose consolidation and plan have to share entities, accounts and periods.

In Oracle EPM software each definition belongs to 1 application, and moving it later is hard.

An Oracle estate has to decide early which application owns each definition, from the entity list to the currency rates. Enterprise Data Management can own them all. Without it, each application keeps its own copy.

Moving a definition later means changing every application that reads it and every integration between them. Groups tend to keep the choice they made in month 1.

When Planning and Narrative Reporting each define gross margin, the board sees 2 margin figures and a footnote.

Oracle EPM software works across several entities once 1 application owns the master data, and our survey finds out which one does.

In a group on Oracle EPM software, the consolidation, the plan and the tax provision all read the entity list. The estate works when 1 application owns that list. Constancia is an EPM consultancy, and we check who owns the list before we price any work.

We are an official OneStream partner. For groups moving from the suite to 1 model, we survey each Oracle application before we fix the price.

A group that bought 3 applications over 5 years from 3 budgets usually last reconciled its 3 entity lists at its latest acquisition.

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