Tootsie Roll’s Sweet Journey from HFM to FCC

Learn how easy it was for this beloved candy company to migrate from their on-prem HFM application to Oracle Cloud EPM Financial Consolidation and Close. Inspirage’s Nancy Ackerman, Senior Manager, EPM Solution Architecture, will host this encore presentation of her popular Kscope22 presentation on November 16 at 12 PM (ET). This presentation will discuss the following topics:

• Streamlined dimension setup
• Reduced number of monthly journal entries
• Reduction in number of web studio reports by changing to a more dynamic setup
• Simple validation of HFM vs FCC results

Don’t miss it!

Register Now!

Profitability and Cost Management (PCM) has always been a crucial part of the Oracle EPM (Enterprise Performance Management) suite. With the latest June 2022 update, Oracle has announced the launch of a new iteration of the PCM solution — Enterprise Profitability and Cost Management (Enterprise PCM). This blog highlights the key new features of Oracle EPM Cloud’s Enterprise PCM and how it differs from earlier versions, including:

Common EPM Platform:
Then: Oracle Cloud PCM was developed on an independent platform.
Now: Enterprise PCM is an integrated part of the common EPM platform.

Business Impact: Oracle Planning, FCC (Financial Consolidation and Close), and other EPM applications (except PCM) have had similar, standard approaches for several functionalities, such as the application, dimension-metadata management, and data management processes. This move now adds the Oracle Enterprise PCM application to the list, which will help customers get accustomed to a single UI for these tasks.

Additional ASO Database Cubes:
Then: Oracle Cloud PCM had a single ASO cube.
Now: Enterprise PCM comes pre-loaded with one calculation and one reporting ASO cube. It also allows the creation of up to three additional ASO cubes.

Business Impact: Proper utilization of reporting and calculation cubes will optimize overall performance. You can also use custom cubes for managing drivers or other data-enabling system administrators to organize data.

Data Forms to Load and Manage Data:
Then: Legacy data management, native file load, and the Essbase plugin of SmartView were used to load or manage data for analysis.
Now: In addition to the above options, admins create customizable data forms, EPM agent, data exchange, and data maps. The platform plugin of Smart View is also available, like other Oracle Cloud EPM applications, model views are discontinued.

Business Impact: Until now, data forms have been a significant missing piece for data collection and analysis. For example, whenever the driver data collection from various stakeholders is needed, users have had to rely on native data load, data management, or a planning application. Including data forms in Enterprise PCM eliminates the reliance on multiple instances/environments and reduces the maintenance required for data security and cross-application integration. With Enterprise PCM, you can also leverage an additional ASO cube to manage driver data and organize the overall solution more efficiently.

Rules and Rule Sets Management:
Then: Rules and rule sets were created as a part of PCM’s Point of View (POV), which determines what data to retrieve for allocations.
Now: Allocation and custom rules, as well as rule sets, will be created as part of the model.

Business Impact: You can now create multiple models for different allocation scenarios. You can also run a model against one or more data POVs together. With Enterprise PCM, you can avoid making numerous copies of the same rules across POVs. Moreover, the rule name will now be the rule member name instead of the rule ID, which will help business users to analyze allocation results effortlessly in SmartView.

Reporting and Analytics Updates:
Then: Native PCM dashboards and financial reporting for data analysis were necessary.
Now: New options are available for using the EPM Platform analytics tools, including Dashboards 2.0, Infolets, and Forms. Analysts can establish a connection to Oracle Analytics (OAC) to prepare data visualizations and dashboards. In addition, management reporting is now available with Enterprise EPM, as is Advanced Trace Allocation.

 

Source: Admin guide for Enterprise PCM
 

Business Impact: This opens the floodgates of new functionalities in reporting and analytics within the PCM solution. Data transparency and reliability have always been vital for all versions of PCM solutions. Management reporting, previously available only in Narrative Reporting and other EPM tools, will help analysts to generate reports without experience with Essbase, scripting syntax, or programming languages. The advanced multi-step Trace Allocation feature will aid business users in tracing the allocated numbers and visualizing data relationships across multiple dimensions.

 

Source: Admin guide for Enterprise PCM
 

Apart from these innovations, many other capabilities have been added to Enterprise PCM, including custom navigation flows, substitution variables, additional security, valid intersections, and more. Enterprise PCM is not just an update but an evolution of the Oracle EPM Cloud PCM application, which has opened boundless new opportunities for customers.

Inspirage can help

The seasoned professionals on the Inspirage Finance/EPM team are cloud-certified and specialize in solving fragmented and complex reporting and business analysis solutions. We facilitate your transformation to a modern finance solution that integrates your ERP systems by accurately aligning the facts with projections to drive world-class finance initiatives and business growth. Our Strategic Advisory Services can help customers evaluate the pros and cons of staying with on-premises apps versus moving to the cloud, and our Managed Services professionals ensure the success of your EPM and BI solutions well beyond the implementation phase. For additional information about Oracle EPM Cloud and to learn more about how Inspirage can help your business digitally transform its finance operations, please contact us today.

As the Integrated Supply Chain Specialists, with recognition from Gartner, IDC, and winners of Oracle’s 2021 Game Changer Award for SCM Service Delivery Partner of the Year, Inspirage is uniquely qualified to be your success partner. Whether you are upgrading your on-prem system or have decided to move to the cloud where continuous improvement is built-in, our team is prepared to guide you on your transformational journey.

How LSI Accelerated Their Financial Consolidation and Close Processes with Oracle Cloud EPM’s FCC

This year, ODTUG’s annual Kscope conference will again bring together Oracle technology users and experts from across the country to exchange ideas and lessons learned about their enterprise-transforming digital initiatives and opportunities. To contribute to those conversations and answer questions about Oracle solution best practices, Inspirage will also be in Grapevine, Texas, where we’ll share our unique insights in eight live presentations.

One of our sessions, “LSI Lights the Way to the Cloud,” will feature Nancy Ackerman, Inspirage Senior Manager, Solution Architecture, as the presenter. She will share how Inspirage made it possible for LSI — a US-based, international commercial and industrial lighting company — to migrate from an Excel-based consolidation process to the Oracle EPM Cloud using the Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud (FCC) solution.

Better forecasting, planning, and modeling

Oracle Cloud EPM gave LSI the ability to adapt quickly to changing business and compliance requirements while reducing risk, improving controls, delivering more accurate insights faster, and significantly reducing the month-end close cycle.

Mark your calendar and plan to attend this Inspirage presentation to discover how your finance department can leverage FCC’s functionality to accelerate and efficiently orchestrate the financial close process. “LSI Lights the Way to the Cloud” takes place on June 21st from 2:30 PM to 3:30 PM in Texas 4. In the meantime, check out our on-demand webinar, LSI Industries Accelerates the Financial Close Process with Oracle EPM Cloud.

If you still need to register for Kscope22, use promotional code INS22 to save $100 on your conference pass!

Going to Kscope22?

Please reach out to me if you’ll be attending Kscope22. I would love to meet up to have coffee, invite you to our special Inspirage customer event, and hear about what’s on your mind these days! You can reach me at camille.delacruz@inspirage.com.

Inspirage is proud to be a Platinum Sponsor of ODTUG’s Kscope22, to be held June 19-23, 2022 in Grapevine, TX. The conference features presentations across a variety of technical content topics, including Oracle Database, Oracle Application Express, Oracle EPM-Hyperion, and Oracle Analytics, along with a multitude of educational benefits for attendees. Inspirage will be presenting on a variety of topics, so please add our sessions to your conference schedule. Reserve your seat today!
 
Register Now!
 

Don’t miss the following Inspirage presentations:

Oracle EPM REST API for Dummies!
Monday, June 20 (11:00 AM – 11:30 AM) Texas 6

REST API opens up a wide variety of new possibilities to manage your Oracle Cloud EPM platform. In this session, we will cover adding and sorting members, updating security, migrations, and data management tasks.

Tootsie Roll’s Sweet Journey from HFM to FCC
Monday, June 20 (4:15 PM – 5:15 PM) San Antonio 4

Learn how easy it was for this beloved candy company to migrate from their on-prem HFM application to Oracle Cloud EPM Financial Consolidation and Close.

LSI Lights the Way to the Cloud
Tuesday, June 21 (2:30 PM – 3:30 PM) Texas 4

Learn how LSI, an international commercial and industrial lighting company, migrated to the Oracle Cloud using Financial Consolidation and Close (FCC) to reduce close cycle time, eliminate manual tasks, and achieve other key benefits.

Flagstar Bank’s Migration Journey from On-premise to EPM Cloud
Wednesday, June 22 (10:15 AM – 11:15 AM) Texas 6

This session highlights how Flagstar’s cloud migration resolved several inefficiencies by reducing manual errors, improving accuracy, and streamlining budgeting and planning processes.

Automating Security Management in PBCS!
Wednesday, June 22 (12:45 PM – 1:45 PM) Texas 5

In this session, learn how to leverage multiple tools to mass update the security in PBCS for standard dimensions, custom dimensions, forms, and business rules to greatly increase the efficiency of creating and implementing a standard security model, while also providing tools to help maintain it going forward.

Gain and Sustain Agility with Strategic Modeling
Wednesday, June 22 (2:00 PM – 3:00 PM) Texas D

Learn how EPM’s Strategic Modeling enables users to quickly model financial scenarios for fast-changing business dynamics as well as the uncertainties of long-range financial forecasts.

Automating Metadata & Data Load Process in PBCS using REST API!
Wednesday, June 22 (3:30 PM – 4:30 PM) Texas 6

In this session, we will discuss how to leverage REST API to update the Metadata and data in PBCS.

Meet Us in Florida Or Attend Virtually

Inspirage is proud to be a Silver Sponsor for ASCEND 2021, presented by the Oracle Applications & Technology Users Group (OATUG) and Oracle HCM Users Group (OHUG). Enjoy stunning beachfront vistas at The Diplomat Beach Resort in Hollywood, FL. Take advantage of all educational experiences, on-site demos, networking, and more — with the peace of mind that Ascend 2021 will put your health and safety first. Can’t join us in person? The Ascend 2021 virtual event registration provides access to almost all of the education and breakout sessions of the live event, plus exclusive access to recorded sessions so you won’t miss a thing.

Educational Tracks

Strengthen your skills by participating in world-class education with the ability to customize your experience from almost 20 educational tracks including Analytics, BI, HCM, EPM, ERP, Hyperion, and more.

Reserve Your Spot for the Opportunity to:

• Gain actionable insights from top-tier keynote speakers and leading experts
• Enhance your skills
• Connect with colleagues, mentors, and industry leaders at networking, SIG, and evening events

For more information and to register

Don’t miss our Inspirage Presentation:

Spare Parts Planning and Aftermarket Solutions for Oracle SCM Cloud

Tuesday, August 17 – 11:15 am EDT
Watch online or join in-person in Diplomat Ballroom 1

Reverse logistics volumes continue to rise and in many industries like consumer goods, high-tech, automakers, pharmaceuticals, and medical devices they are part of the everyday transaction cycle. However, while supply chain planning capabilities have improved for the forward supply chain there are still leakages and challenges in the reverse supply chain. Learn how you can develop a robust solution for planning reverse logistics with Oracle SCM Cloud and Oracle PaaS.

Don’t miss this presentation if you want to know:

• Key capabilities needed to plan your reverse logistics supply chain
• How Oracle PaaS solutions can enable an industry-specific solution
• Industry examples in Oracle

Select the right tool for your business with this deep dive into solution functionality

 
In Part One of our series, we covered the high-level differences between the close and consolidation tools Hyperion Enterprise, Hyperion Financial Management (HFM), and Financial Consolidation and Close (FCC). Let’s take a closer look at the differences in functionality.

Dive into the Tools Functionality

Hyperion Enterprise has just five dimensions: Account, Entity, Category (scenario and year combined), Period (month and year combined) and View. Because of this, the depth of analysis that can be achieved is limited. You’ve probably heard of peers getting creative with the software to realize some analysis functionality, but it is important to know that the product was not designed for this practicality. The rules are written in a proprietary language with limitations on what can be attained.

With HFM the ability to have unlimited custom dimensions was added allowing for increased analysis functionality and the capability to easily meet SEC segment reporting demands. Additionally, the rules were changed and written in visual basic script which allowed for increased flexibility and agility in writing custom rules.

So now you ask, what’s changed with FCC as far as functionality? To start, FCC has the same functionality as HFM, it just looks and feels differently. Currency translation, intercompany eliminations, journal entries, custom calculations, partial ownership and multiple consolidation methods and even process management continue to exist in FCC.

You will notice that typical uses for custom dimensions in HFM are now pre-built dimensions that come standard with FCC. For example, many HFM applications have an “audit trail” or “data source” dimension. FCC includes one pre-built for the user. Most HFM applications have a dimension to calculate and/or store cash flow/movement information. FCC also has this dimension pre-built. Did you have a custom dimension to handle multiple different GAAP reporting? FCC has a pre-built multi-GAAP dimension that you can enable if needed.

A welcome change with FCC is that it has standard HFM rules pre-built in the system. It isn’t necessary to write rules for balance carry-forward, USD override, net income to the retained earnings, CTA or cash flow. These rules have been written and included in the FCC module.

Since the dimensions and rules come standard and “out-of-the-box” in FCC, many dimensions come with “pre-seeded” members. The chart of accounts has the main SEC reporting line items already built – you just add what you need. The same for the movement dimension. Most of the line items needed for cash flow are also included, just add those that are unique to your application.

Finally, FCC includes Data Management which is the cloud version of Financial Data Management (FDM/FDMEE) as well as Close Manager, the cloud version of Financial Close Manager. Both of these on-premise products are separately purchased and licensed but are included with your FCC (EPM Cloud) subscription. Data Management allows you to easily load your GL data from multiple source ledgers to FCC and Close Manager assists in manage and tracking your close process.

What Financial Consolidation and Close tool is Right for your Business?

For most, the answer is FCC. The cloud-based application is designed from best practices and is continually evolving based on technology advancement and user requirements. The enhancements present themselves as upgradeable new releases from Oracle, resulting in superior longevity of the product.

FCC has inherent features beneficial to users and administrators including the ease of installation, use, and built-in functionality to fit your consolidation and close needs. Together these features make deployment of this application quick and virtually seamless. FCC also allows for easy integration with other Oracle Cloud Suite products such as Planning and Budgeting Cloud (PBC), Account Reconciliation Cloud (ARC), Narrative Reporting and many others.

 
Determining what application is best for your organization can be an overwhelming task. Inspirage has deep experience in implementing Oracle EPM solutions for organizations across all industries of all sizes. Contact us to learn how the Oracle EPM Cloud platform can streamline and optimize your finance organization or learn from one of our customers – LSI Industries – and watch our webinar on-demand.

See how far consolidation tools have come

 
Have you been working with the Oracle | Hyperion applications for years or are you new to these consolidation tools? In Part One of our series, let’s take a look at each of these solutions, see how they compare and learn how they have advanced over the years.

Evolution of Close and Consolidation Tools

The first windows-based consolidation tool to hit the market was Hyperion Enterprise, a simple and easy to use application that accountants were able to manage without the help of IT. While Hyperion Enterprise was an effective solution for basic legal and statutory reporting it did not meet the growing list of increased reporting and analysis requirements.

Hyperion Financial Management (HFM) was the next generation financial consolidation and reporting tool to penetrate the field. This tool garnered popularity from finance professionals because of its expansive functionality including more detailed analysis, comprehensive audit trails, electronic certification of results and more. HFM provided global collection, consolidation, reporting and analysis in a single, web-based application. At the time it arrived, HFM was unique in that it used the most advanced technology, integrated easily with Hyperion tools and could be owned and maintained by the finance team with minimal IT intervention. As solutions have moved to the cloud, so have Oracle’s consolidation tools.

Oracle’s EPM Cloud Financial Close and Consolidation Suite (FCC) module is an out-of-the-box cloud solution for consolidation and close process tasks. FCC has a user-friendly interface and built-in functionality to accomplish reporting and consolidation tasks without the need for hardware and requires minimal IT support. This newest consolidation tool provides all of the same functionality that is available in HFM but has the addition of pre-built content including dimensions, forms and rules. Also included with the subscription are the cloud versions of Financial Close Manager (FCM) and Financial Data Quality Management, Enterprise Edition (FDMEE). Both products have a separate fee for the on-premise versions. It is important to note that with the Cloud Suite, companies no longer have to manage the software and servers as Oracle manages both.

Hyperion Enterprise vs HFM vs FCC

As the consolidation and close tools have evolved its left many wondering how these three products compare. Whether you are using one of these tools or considering a move to a different tool, it is important to understand some high-level differences.

Hyperion Enterprise is no longer available and has not been supported for many years as it runs on an unsupported Microsoft operating system. If this is your current close and consolidation tool, you should definitely be moving to a supported tool. But where to go? Do you stay on-premise with HFM or move to the cloud with FCC? Let’s compare these two options on a high level.

HFM is an on-premise tool that allows for maximum flexibility when configuring the application. If you are not already using HFM and determine that this on-premise application is best for your needs, version 11.2 should be your choice as it is the latest release and only version with support. It is also important to consider that this support will end in 2030 and because this is an on-premise tool, your team will need to manage the servers and any and all patching requirements.

 
FCC is the best-in-class cloud consolidation tool. This scalable and easy to use application has no hardware requirements and Oracle addresses all patching needs as they arise. Because of this, you will save time and money while ensuring that your software is up to date with new features and functionality. This module of the Oracle EPM Cloud Suite also easily integrates with the other modules included in the suite such as Planning and Budgeting, Account Reconciliations and Narrative Reporting. These additional modules are included with your Enterprise Cloud Subscription. If you choose to stay on-premise, you will need to purchase each of the modules separately.

Stay tuned for the next part of our series when we take a deep dive into the functionality of each application – Hyperion Enterprise, HFM and FCC – to see how they compare.

Inspirage is proud to Sponsor ODTUG’s Kscope21 Virtual Event which features presentations across a variety of technical content topics, including Oracle Database, Oracle Application Express, Oracle EPM-Hyperion, and Oracle Analytics, just to name a few. The conference offers a multitude of educational benefits for attendees. Among the highlights are:

• Technical sessions with real-world solutions
• Expert panels
• Half-day Oracle Symposiums
• Interactive small group breakouts
• Video chat with the experts and your peers
• Flexible agenda with half-day sessions and access to session replays
• Live presentations, Q&A, session chat, and polling give you direct expert advice and feedback from industry leaders
• An easy-to-use, web-based platform with nothing to download or install ahead of time and one-click easy login on show days
• Access to our virtual exhibit hall

Along with educational opportunities, the ODTUG Kscope21 Virtual Event offers fun networking activities, including:

• Engaging demos on the hottest tips, tricks, tools, and technologies in the virtual exhibit hall
• Sponsor & exhibitor virtual events—bond with your peers and make new connections in an array of virtual settings, all thanks to our sponsors!

 
For more information and to register
 

Don’t miss this Inspirage Presentation:

Automating Security Management in PBC
Wednesday, June 23, 2021 | 11:00 AM – 12:00 PM ET – Room 1

---

Session Number: 11060
Track: Enterprise Planning
Sub-Categorization: Enterprise Planning
Session Type: Tips, Techniques and Tuning
Presenter: Dayalan Punniyamoorthy, Practice Manager, Inspirage

---

Session Summary for Attendees:  As implementation times for PBC projects shrink, every solution needs to be faster, smarter, and more robust. In this session, we will learn how to leverage multiple tools to mass update the security in PBC for standard dimensions, custom dimensions, forms and business rules – greatly increasing the efficiency of creating and implementing a standard security model while also providing tools to help maintain it going forward.

The Session will address the following points:
* Introduction to Security in Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud
* What are the artifacts/granular level that can have security in PBC?
* What are the best practices for addressing security?
* How can you mass update security using EPM Automate, REST API, Groovy, LCM, etc

Inspirage is a proud sponsor of the virtual Michigan Oracle Users Summit taking place October 26 – October 29. Get ready for four days packed with seminars, speakers and virtual networking sessions with other Oracle users and professional.

Presentations include a range of topics to keep you on the cutting edge of the lastest technology: Oracle Application Express (APEX), Big Data, Cloud Computing and Infrastructure, Coding and Application Development, Data Warehouse, Data Lake, Business Analytics, Database Technologies & Tools, E-Business Suite and Cloud Applications, Oracle EPM, Oracle SaaS, Peoplesoft and JD Edwards.
 
View the event schedule here

Don’t miss this Inspirage presentation:

 

Migrating Your Complex HFM Application to Oracle EPM Cloud

Thursday, October 29 | 11:00 – 11:50 a.m.

If your HFM application has become more than just your financial consolidation and reporting tool, you are not alone. We know that many of you have taken HFM to new heights by leveraging the application to do more than it was originally designed for. Join us as we discuss what you should consider when planning your migration to the cloud:

• Has your finance organization made HFM a one-stop repository for all things accounting and finance related?
• Are you doing Financial Consolidations as well as Planning and Budgeting in HFM?
• What about detailed sales and cost analysis or even weekly reporting?
• Do you have multiple data sources feeding HFM?
• Are you concerned that you have too many custom dimensions to move to the cloud?
• Are you up-to-date with EPM Cloud offerings and how your Financial Close process can benefit from those capabilities?

We will share insight and key design considerations to guide you through mapping the migration of your complex HFM application or applications to Oracle EPM Cloud.

Presenters:
Nancy Ackerman, Senior Manager, EPM Solution Architecture, Inspirage
John Conlee, Senior Vice President, Global EPM, Inspirage
Bill Day, Practice Director, Global EPM, Inspirage

In an environment that is constantly changing and influenced by economic uncertainty, Oracle Cloud EPM gives you the tools to plan for what happens next. This solution allows you to forecast, plan, run what-if scenarios and model your business trajectory in real time.

Cloud EPM’s Financial Consolidation and Close (FCC) application helps organizations effectively manage their agile businesses. Your finance department can leverage functionality to accelerate and efficiently orchestrate the financial close process. This allows you to execute quality decisions and automate routine tasks all while having the agility you need to pivot in times of uncertainty and respond in real time.

Join this webinar to learn the challenges that LSI Industries faced and how EPM Cloud’s FCC provided the capabilities needed to adapt quickly to changing business and compliance requirements while reducing risk, improving controls, delivering faster more accurate insights and significantly reducing the month-end close cycle.
 

Meet the Speakers:

 
Jeff Bastian, Chief Accounting Officer, LSI Industries

Jeff has been a part of the LSI Industries team for 31 years and has been a vital part of the digital transformation journey for the company including the adoption of technologies including NetSuite, Oracle Cloud ERP and EPM Cloud. Additionally, Jeff oversees the internal and external financial reporting for LSI Industries Inc. in addition to managing directly and indirectly 37 members of the accounting team.

Nancy Ackerman, Senior Manager, Solution Architecture, Inspirage

Nancy is the Consolidation Practice Lead for Inspirage. She has over 17 years of experience with the Hyperion suite of products with specific emphasis on the financial consolidation products (FCC, HFM & Enterprise). As an Oracle Certified Implementation Specialist for both Hyperion Financial Management and Financial Consolidation and Close Cloud, Nancy has led, designed, and implemented countless successful projects from requirements gathering to delivery to training the end users. Her responsibilities include not only the development of the application, but also managing the project to meet the customers’ requirements. She is experienced in working with multi-currency applications and multi-national companies. Her background also includes implementing FDM, building complex FR Studio reports, developing Smart View reports and training administrators and end-users on the use of the products. Nancy has extensive knowledge of business processes and her experiences spread across numerous companies in a wide range of industries including automotive, manufacturing, financial services, real estate, healthcare, and wholesale distribution to name a few.

Camille DeLaCruz, Solutions Director, Inspirage

Camille is a Solution Director covering the Small and Medium Business segment for Inspirage in the TOLA and Southeast Regions, United States.  She has 15 years of senior level business development and technology sales experience across multiple verticals and industries. She has a proven track record for success in the professional services, technology sales & business advisory sectors having been recognized as a top performer at such companies as Oracle, Vertical Edge Consulting Group, Volusion E-Commerce, and H-11 Digital Forensics.

With a new round of updates coming for Oracle’s EPM Cloud Service, users will notice an enhanced interface when they arrive at their landing page. This new interface is structured to be more consistent with other Oracle products, has a more modern look and feel, and provides a more responsive design that allows for easier navigation. Here are a few changes to expect (or not expect) when logging in:

Functionality Remains the same

The most important thing to point out is that the environment functionality has not changed. The changes associated with Oracle’s new EPM Cloud interface are cosmetic and have no bearing on how your environment functions.

New and existing environments take on a Sky-Blue Theme

All new environments for EPM Standard Cloud, EPM Enterprise Cloud, and all existing EPM Cloud Services will use Oracle’s new “Sky-Blue” theme.  Application administrators for both new and existing applications can switch their themes by navigating to the appearance card in the tool cluster on the landing page, or by accessing the tools link under the navigator (aka “hamburger”) menu icon.  To differentiate between test and production environments, Inspirage recommends that if you elect to keep the default backgrounds, you should consider choosing different background colors and communicate these changes to the end-users.

Sky Blue Theme Continues to Secondary Environment

Existing users will continue to see their current theme on the interface, while all new applications will adopt the new default “Sky-Blue” theme.  If business processes are integrated across connected environments, the theme on the primary environment will be applied to the secondary environment for consistency across applications.

Welcome Panel and Global Headers Automatically Adjust

The welcome panel and global headers will automatically adjust to your screen resolution to minimize the amount of scrolling that is necessary.  If infolet dashboards are used in an application, users can easily access this information by clicking on the dots at the top of the interface or on the side-arrows on the left and right side of the home screen.

Identify Interface Clusters by New Icons

Clusters on the interface will be represented by updated icons. Additionally, the navigator menu is larger, and while menu selections are listed in the same order they may now be in a new column.  The adoption of a larger menu allows for easier navigation and increased space for customization.

Timing of the new interface rollout:

Updates to test environments are happening now. Production environments will be updated during the first daily maintenance that occurs at or after 22:00 UTC (15:00 Pacific Time) on Friday, April 17, 2020.

Environment interfaces impacted:

• EPM Standard Cloud: Account Reconciliation, Financial Consolidation and Close, Narrative Reporting, Planning
• EPM Enterprise Cloud: Account Reconciliation, Financial Consolidation and Close, Narrative Reporting, Planning, Profitability and Cost Management, Tax Reporting
• Legacy Cloud Services: Account Reconciliation Cloud, Enterprise Performance Reporting Cloud, Enterprise Planning and Budgeting Cloud, Planning and Budgeting Cloud, Profitability and Cost Management Cloud, Tax Reporting Cloud
• Strategic Workforce Planning Cloud (part of Human Capital Management Cloud)
• Sales Planning Cloud (part of Customer Experience Cloud)