This is the part 3 of 3 blog series explaining basic feature differences & similarities in PCMCS - Profitability and Cost Management Cloud service Application and HPCM - Hyperion Profitability and Cost Management.
In the last blog I had written about Data Management / Integrations, License Cost calculations, Future Roadmap and available Automation tools. Focus was on how PCMCS scores over HPCM in all these areas whether its availability of limited FDMEE for integrations within the same license cost or EPMAutomate utility as an automation tool for automating most of the PCMCS application jobs instead of custom script based automations.
In this last part of blog series we would look at remaining areas in detail:
- Reporting and dashboards
Security and SSO
Maintenance & Backup
Upgrade and Notifications
Reporting and dashboards
In both HPCM and PCMCS for any standard reporting Hyperion Financial Reporting web studio could be used and for Ad-hoc reporting excel plug in smart view could be utilized. But in case of PCMCS apart from Smart View and HFR Studio, Reporting dashboards and out-of-the-box profitability reports are also available. Also we can run basic financial reports from queries displayed in the Intelligence area in PCMCS. Given below is detailed analysis of reporting features:
|
Functionality |
On Premise HPCM |
PCMCS |
|
Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting |
HFR Studio is part of HPCM as well as PCMCS License | |
|
Smart View |
Smart view is an excel plugin for ad-hoc reporting needs | |
|
MS Office Integrations |
MS Office integrated reporting in terms of Word, PPT and Excel is provided as part of License | |
|
Data Base |
In HPCM standard Profitability module Essbase ASO database created along with calculation database acts as Reporting database. Once calculation has been run, data needs to be transferred from Calculation to reporting DB. For any kind of reporting this ASO database needs to be first updated and then Reporting can be done on top of this. |
In PCMCS backend there is an Essbase ASO database where calculations as well as reporting could be done from. There is no transfer of data required hence no time lag for reporting. |
|
System Reports |
ü Stage balancing reports ü Unassigned Drivers, Rules etc. ü Trace Allocations
|
ü We can run basic financial reports from queries displayed in the Intelligence area. These reports can be further refined using Oracle Hyperion Financial Reporting. ü Trace Allocations |
|
Genealogy Report |
Genealogy reports could be built to trace expense and revenues flowing from source to Target. |
No requirement to build genealogy report as source & target destinations are defined as part of each rule |
|
Dashboards |
No Dashboards as part of standard HPCM license |
Embedded reporting and analytics are included in Dashboards in PCMCS. These are sets of small-scale charts that display values and trends: ü Analysis Views: E.g. Most profitable regions/departments etc. ü Scatter analysis graphs: Analyze data and difference at a particular period ü Profit curves: Graphical curves, pie charts showcasing YTD Profit, MTD Profits etc. ü Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) |
Sample Dashboard
Security and SSO configurations:
We create, maintain and provision users and groups for HPCM through EPM Workspace. Security Roles as listed below are defined in shared services console:
- Administrator (admin is the default security role when you log on to Shared Services)
Power User
Interactive User
View user
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Basic access to Oracle PCMCS instances is granted by assigning users to predefined functional roles.
Identity Domain Administrator
Service Administrator
Power User
User
Viewer
In PCMCS we also provision data access via Data Grants by defining data slices that can be assigned to users or groups to enable them to access the data in the defined data slice. There are predefined access groups,
Users and Viewers
Native groups, created by Identity Domain Administrators
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Configuring SSO for Cloud includes below steps
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Maintenance and Backup:
In HPCM any system maintenance is an admin/IT job that needs to be performed at regular intervals. Backup process has to be built as a custom procedure while for PCMCS there is a standard daily backup provided as part of application landscape. For automation of backup process in HPCM custom batch scripts needs to created. Whereas in PCMCS in case additional Backup needs to be placed in local server, EPM Automate utility in PCMCS could be utilized to automate the process of downloading application snapshot, dating and time stamping it and then placing it in designated server for required number of days. (Daily Backup download>EPM Automate places it in server location > Date and Time stamp it > Keep file for designated days > Deletes older file).
HPCM Migration is via Life Cycle Management and needs to be manually triggered. PCMCS has in-built migration functionality to perform export/import of artifacts manually. This could be automated using EPMAutomate scripts.
There is no scheduling features in HPCM and all application back-up and other job execution can be handled by custom created batch scripts. Whereas in PCMCS Batch execution and scheduling are available in Data Management of PCMCS. Also jobs could be scheduled using windows or Linux server task scheduler that could call EPM Automate script in turn.
Upgrade and Notifications:
Regular patch updates and notifications prior to upgrade is part of Oracle support platform. For any cloud EPM modules updates schedules are designed well in advance and notifications are available in server instance page. Oracle applies the monthly service update to test instance on the first Friday of every month and to the production instance on the third Friday of every month.
But in case of on premise HPCM there are manual customer driven patch updates. Required patch upgrade information needs to be discussed with Oracle. Upgrade environment readiness and plan needs to be prepared for each environment. For HPCM application Disaster recovery plan needs to created and backup for Disaster recovery needs to be maintained as required. For PCMCS Disaster recovery is by oracle team
Please find below links to Part 1 and Part of this blog series.
http://www.infosysblogs.com/oracle/2018/01/pcmcs_what_should_you_look_at_.html
http://www.infosysblogs.com/oracle/2018/03/_this_is_part_2.html
