"Validation"

In installment #3 of this series we installed and configured the 11.1.x software.  In this installment we will discuss what Infrastructure Architect will do before the environment is turned over to the development or migration teams.

It is quite frustrating to the developers if the environment is not fully functional when they start using the system.  Additionally, it is very frustrating for the installation architect to have users in the environment as debugging of issues is occurring.  Each installation and configuration project plan should include at least a day or two to review an environment, restart it a few times, check out the logs, and then test the functionality of all installed components.  The number of items to validate depends on the products used and licensed by the client but it should start with the following and adjust as necessary.

• Shared Services
• Essbase
• EAS and Business Rules
• Planning
• Financial Reporting
• Web Analysis
• Interactive Reporting
• SQR
• Workspace
• Smart View and Provider Services
• Financial Management
• Financial Data Quality Management
• Oracle Data Integrator
• Data Relationship Management
• Strategic Finance

The Installation Architect will test the use functionality of each of the installed product to ensure there are no errors.  This activity takes a combination of functional and technical ability.  The installation architect must know how the application works from the interface as well as understanding what any potential errors mean and how they may be corrected.  I’m not suggesting the infrastructure engineer know how to create a P&L report or design a Planning application, but the ability to navigate the user interfaces and test functionality eliminates the problems of encountering them after development has begun.

Early in my exposure to these applications, I’d spend a lot of time with a developer or functional user of the applications to show me how to test the system.  I’d ask them to tell me the first thing they try to do when they get a new environment.  It is always useful to know more about how the applications are used. 

Some of the common problems that occur include the following.
EPMA dimension server does not resolve in Workspace
Shared Services doesn’t find users in Active Directory
Cannot create Planning Application
Cannot create FDM Database
ODI repositories are not available
Common Essbase commands do not work

The solutions to some of these problems may range anywhere from Database Access Permissions, Windows Security Rights, DCOM Settings, or incorrect Active Directory Setup.  Over the past few years working on dozens of installation, I’ve seen all of these.  From encountering many of these, the pre-installation requirements covered in installment #2 have been improved.  Some of these problems don’t arise until functionality is tested.  It’s important to test each installation and environment.  I’ve had situations where the development environment will test out fine and the QA Environment will have issues.  Each installation is usually different from each prior installation because of server settings, security policies, database settings, firewalls, or some other nuance.

If there are problems with the functionality there are a number of resources available to assist in troubleshooting.  I find the Oracle Technology Network Forum to be very useful.  I recommend anyone looking to work in this space, get an ID, and get involved.  You may also find some real useful things on blogs like this or a number of other very experienced bloggers.  There is a wealth of information at Oracle Support in the knowledge base.  In addition, if you have a support agreement with Oracle, register here and you can get support from Oracle.

Assuming everything is functioning as expected, the environment is turned over to the appropriate support person, or maybe support falls on the same individual that did the installation.  Either way, there is a lot of information that needs to be collected.  In the next installment, we’ll look at the information that should be compiled to capture the state of the environment as it was at the end of the installation as well as information that is useful to those that will be using the system.

Step 2: Adding ‘Advanced Suppression’ to each of the 12 Trigger columns.

The Conditional Suppression set on each of these columns (see Step 1) will suppress the column that correlates to the Period selected. If the end-user selects Jan, then the column representing Jan will be suppressed. This is used later in step 4 of the report development.

Keys:

• The Advanced (Conditional) Suppression for each column relates to the 12 Periods added in Step 1.
• The logic for Jan is as follows:
  • Suppress Column If:
    • "Member Name" "Period" "equals" "Jan".
    • "Jan” is the actual member name.
• The same logic in place for Jan will be required for the Feb-Dec columns, Thus…
  • Suppress Column If:
    • "Member Name" "Period" "equals" "Feb".
    • "Feb" is the actual member name.
    • Etc…
• Once steps 1 & 2 are complete, development of the trigger section has been finished.

If you have worked with Hyperion Financial Reporting, odds are good that you’ve come across report requirements for Rolling Years and Periods, that is to say a report that spans periods from multiple years. This is an easy build if your data source includes a single “rolling” dimension for ‘Year’ and ‘Period’ – you utilize the “RelativeMember” function to move up or down the hierarchy. The difficulty arises when programming this same logic into a report with separate ‘Year’ and ‘Period’ dimensions. A solution utilizing "Trigger" columns is shown below.

The use of what I call trigger columns allows for Hyperion Financial Reporting to display rolling Years and Periods, whether your requirement is for a 2 or 12+ month rolling report. The Trigger section of the report requires both the ‘Year’ and ‘Period’ dimension to be columns on the report, while any dimension; such as Account or Product, can be included on the rows. The steps below detail a rolling 5-month solution.

Step 1:  Add data columns for all 12 periods (Jan-Dec).

These columns will function as the Trigger section, essentially telling the other columns what the end-user selected for Period. This is important because later sections of the report require knowledge of the selected Period to ultimately decide what is displayed.

Keys:

• These 12 columns MUST be Data columns.
• These 12 columns MUST be hidden.
• The Period member selection MUST be set to “Current Point of View for Period”.
• The Year member can be any member – not relevant to the trigger.

• Optional: Overwrite the Period POV cell with the 12 periods (Jan-Dec) as shown below.

Yesterday, Oracle announced the official launch of the Enterprise Performance Management 11.1.2 Release.  This release introduces some major enhancements to the existing Hyperion applications, along with three new products – Disclosure Management, Financial Close Management and Public Sector Planning and Budgeting. 

I’ve had the opportunity to see the release live during a partner launch event and have been very impressed thus far.  Over the next few weeks, In2Hyperion will begin to look at this release and share how to take advantage of new functionality. 

View the press release below.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/066183

More information is also available on the Oracle website, which has been updated to include information for the 11.1.2 Release.

http://www.oracle.com/us/corporate/press/mediakits/epm-system-release-media-kit-066160.html.

As Enterprise Performance Management and Business Intelligence systems become adopted as the core decision support mechanisms within organizations, the need for transparent, fact-based decisions increases.  It not enough for these systems to provide the voluminous amount of data to the end user for analysis, but to tie data and decision inputs to the collaborative decisions that these systems support. 

Although the organizational adoption of this style of decision making may face challenges, the technological groundwork is already in place.   Oracle’s addition of Annotation Service to Financial Reporting 11.1.x allows the capture of shared information against reporting objects and data.  This tool allows for threaded discussions and comments within EPM Workspace. 

Let’s take a look at how users can utilize this tool against a Financial Report for a Planning application.

For those of you who still enjoy the flexibility of the Hyperion Excel add-in and have upgraded to Microsoft Office 2007, you are well aware that Excel no longer has toolbars or menus.  SmartView integrates with the ribbon methodology well, but the Hyperion Essbase Excel add-in doesn’t.  What used to be the Hyperion menu is stuck in the add-ins ribbon as a drop down menu.  It still functions the same, but users loose the quick access to functions that the ribbon methodology adds.

In2Hyperion developed a ribbon add-in that can be used in conjunction with the Excel add-in.  Nearly all the functionality exists and makes the options easier to use and are embedded in their own ribbon!  This still requires the Hyperion Essbase add-in to be installed.  It simply uses the existing functions and associates them with a ribbon button.

We have also added a few additional functions that make common tasks a little quicker to perform.

• Drill To Bottom:  Use this option to drill down to level 0 of the selected member.
• Drill To All:  Use this option to drill down to all descendants of the selected member. 
• Restore Defaults:  Use this option to set all the global settings back to the default settings when installed.
• Excel Mouse:  Use this option to set the mouse functionality to the Excel options.  This disables the right click and double click Hyperion Essbase functionality.
• Hyperion Essbase Mouse:  Use this option to set the mouse functional so the double click and right click functions interact with Hyperion Essbase.
• Lock And Send:  Use this option if you do not want to select lock, followed by selecting send.

To install the add-in, unzip In2Hyperion Essbase Ribbon.zip to any location and follow these steps. 

1. Click on the office button in the top left corner of Microsoft Excel. 
2. Click the Excel Options button located in the bottom right area of the window. 
3. Select the Add-Ins menu.
4. Select Excel Add-Ins in the Manage drop down, and click Go. 
5. Click the browse button, navigate to the location where you unzipped the downloaded file, and click the OK button.