Continuing its momentum with Enterprise Performance Management (EPM) Cloud initiatives, Oracle recently released Enterprise Data Management Cloud Service (EDMCS). Here are some initial impressions of the application to provide fundamental information and spark discussion.
First, some background: these observations are based on an actual project from working with a client who was 1 of 3 selected for the EDMCS Early Adopter Program. This client is essentially going all-in on Oracle EPM Cloud, with Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (PBCS), Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud Service (FCCS), and Account Reconciliation Cloud Service (ARCS). One on-premise component, Financial Data Quality Management Enterprise Edition (FDMEE), is also in the mix. This client quickly realized its reporting structures between the Planning/Budgeting and Financial Close/Consolidation worlds, while not identical, were similar and contained a high degree of shared structures. The idea of maintaining these reporting structures in multiple tools did not make sense, leading the client to inquire about EDMCS. After an evaluation, Oracle selected them to participate in the early adopter program for EDMCS with Edgewater Ranzal as the implementation partner.
EDMCS = DRM in the Cloud, Right?
Well, not exactly, but that’s not necessarily the right question to ask. EDMCS is NOT a lift-and-shift of Data Relationship Management (DRM) to the Cloud. Yes, there are similar concepts and constructs in EDMCS that a DRM administrator will quickly grasp (Add/Insert/Delete/Remove of members, Shared members, properties, and node types to name a few). But EDMCS utilizes a different philosophy to manage your enterprise master data along with a different data model, all geared around effective master data management for EPM Cloud products. It’s crucial to adopt a new mindset as you embrace EDMCS and not be constrained by “this is how DRM did it.”
With EDMCS, you will immediately notice new functionality such as the capability to create an Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud Service (EPBCS) or PBCS application in EDMCS, which provides the built-in connectors, properties, and validations for those target applications. Simply step through the Register Application wizard, specify your dimensions and plan types, and EDMCS will automatically build the rest for you. The built-in properties and validations enforce constraints and business rules to ensure no changes can be made that could break EPBCS/PBCS.
For other use cases, EDMCS provides the ability to create a custom application along with custom properties. As EDMCS matures, the number of packaged connectors, applications, and validations will surely increase.
So, the Data Model is Different?
The EDMCS data model is quite different from DRM. Understanding the EDMCS data chain is crucial to effective administration, especially given new concepts such as Viewpoints, Hierarchy Sets, and Node Sets.
Key data objects include:
- Node Type – a collection of nodes and associated properties for your application
- Hierarchy Set – defines the parent-child relationships of nodes
- Node Set – defines a group of nodes available for a viewpoint. This may include all nodes in a hierarchy set or a subset of nodes
- Viewpoint – the other data objects come together to provide the viewpoint, which is essentially the “hierarchy” you interact with to modify nodes, parent-child relationships, and properties
The diagram below, taken from the Oracle EDMCS Administration Guide, is a useful reference as you start to build out your EDMCS applications. Future blog posts will explore these key constructs in more detail.
Does EDMCS include Data Relationship Governance (DRG)?
Not yet, but workflows, approvals, separation of duties, and other data governance goodness is on the roadmap for EDMCS. But fear not! EDMCS already provides a “request” mechanism. Modifications to master data can only be performed within the context of a request. Requests can include interactive changes through the UI or batch loading of changes through an Excel request file (think of request files like automator or action scripts, but easier to use and yes, in Excel!). Comments can be included with a request and, continuing with one of the strongest features of DRM, requests provide auditability by capturing the who/what/when/where of every change performed in EDMCS.
How is the User Interface?
One of my favorite features is the visual feedback EDMCS provides as you make changes within a request. As you add, insert, remove, delete, reorder, or modify a member, visual icons and highlights are displayed for that member in real-time to capture the action being performed on that member. You basically get a preview of the change before it’s committed. Changes to properties are visually highlighted and easy to spot. Validations are performed as the request is in Draft status and instantly flag any violations with error messages highlighting the problem node and issue.
Summary
Overall, EDMCS is an exciting entry into the EPM Cloud market and a foundational tool critical to maximizing your EPM Cloud investment. While DRM administrators will experience an adjustment period as they learn EDMCS due to the data chain and new terminology, they will be pleasantly surprised with the available functionality such as pre-packaged connectors and properties for PBCS/EPBCS, the use of requests (and did I mention you can load Excel files?!), and the real-time visual feedback as you modify and validate your master data.