Rather than highlight individual blog posts, this edition of the Best of the EPM Blogs is going to take a thematic approach. Sometimes an issue, problem, or feature can be addressed in a single blog post. There are also topics that are so big they simply cannot be handled in one post. Look below for this kind of work and consider what this means: a tremendous amount of knowledge freely shared, a tremendous learning opportunity for you, and quite possibly a tremendous amount of obsession on the part of the writers. Salut!
John Goodwin
John Goodwin covers the 11.1.2.3.500 patchset as only he can. I have actually seen a picture of the elusive John (John, how much begging do I have to do to get you to Kscope? Your fan base awaits.), so I am no longer convinced he is, in fact, a swarm of super-smart killer robots from the future. Unless, of course, the picture is just a ruse to fool us naïve humans.
The basics behind the patch and where to get it: http://john-goodwin.blogspot.com/2014/03/epm-patch-11123500-has-landed.htmlS
The new Vision Planning demo app: http://john-goodwin.blogspot.com/2014/04/11123500-sample-planning-application.html
The Finnish Hyperion Guy aka Henri Vilminko
I have an unnatural affinity for the Finns, I think mostly because I am a huge Sibelius fan. But my bias towards the composer of Finlandia has nothing to do with the excellent work that Henri Vilminko does. He, too, covered 11.1.2.3.500, but what I like about Henri’s blog is how he consistently follows the patching madness that is sometimes our EPM world. Henri is always the first non-Oracle site I turn to when there is a new patch. Here is but a sample:
Summer 2013 patch set: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2013/08/epm-patches-roundup-for-summer.html
FDMEE first patch: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2013/08/fdmee-receives-first-psu.html
Announcement of Smart View 11.1.2.5: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2013/08/smart-view-11125.html
11.1.2.x EPM Oracle Premier Support extension: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2013/09/oracle-extends-premier-support-for-epm.html
HFM 11.1.2.3 PSU: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2013/10/first-psu-out-for-hfm-11123.html
December patch o’rama: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2014/01/december-patch-set-update-bonanza.html
Essbase 11.1.2.3.500 release: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2014/03/essbase-11123500-released.html
EPM 11.2.3.500 release: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2014/03/patch-set-update-11123500-released-for.html
EPM 11.1.2.3.500 patch notes: http://hyperionfinn.blogspot.com/2014/04/quick-test-with-psu-11123500.html
Suomi!
Glenn Schwartzberg
Glenn is (in)famously my older-brother-who-really-isn’t-and-doesn’t-want-to-be, but what I write is not influenced by imaginary familial relations. Instead, Glenn has covered Smart View functionality more than just about anyone. I recently had to put together some Smart View demos for a training class and found myself coming back again and again to Glenn’s blog. You should, too.
Smart View and Studio drill-through: http://glennschwartzbergs-essbase-blog.blogspot.com/2013/08/smart-view-hangs-on-studio-drill.html
The weirdness of Smart View member display options: http://glennschwartzbergs-essbase-blog.blogspot.com/2014/01/smart-view-member-misnomer.html
Undocumented change to Smart View 11.1.2.5: http://glennschwartzbergs-essbase-blog.blogspot.com/2014/02/undocumented-change-to-smart-view-11125.html
Nicholas King
I don’t know Nicholas (Nick?) at all, but I have found that he has a humorous (surely humor in the face of seemingly capricious and viscous EPM bugs is the only sane way to live) take on EPM errors. Nick (do you see how we are now simpatico?) really digs into the issues and comes up with solutions. I have enough problems in my life; it is nice to see a few of them resolved.
Rather than give you specific examples, I will use the power of these new-fangled computers and use his blog’s categorization functionality.
Workspace/Reporting: http://epm-errors.blogspot.com/search/label/Reporting%2FWorkspace
Planning: http://epm-errors.blogspot.com/search/label/Planning
EPMA: http://epm-errors.blogspot.com/search/label/EPMA
Infrastructure: http://epm-errors.blogspot.com/search/label/Infrastructure
I encourage you to read this blog. Mr. King (we are back to formality here) is sharing a lot of very valuable information.
Sarah Zumbrum
Sarah has a newish blog. Her personal obsession seems to be working with EPMA. As someone who has been down that path a few times, I can sympathize. EPMA is an extremely powerful tool that can easily go all wrong if one doesn’t approach it in the right way. Read Sarah’s blog for insight on how to actually use this tool with a variety of EPM targets.
Sarah’s brush with EPMA-sourced insanity: http://technicallyoracleepm.blogspot.com/2013/11/how-to-drive-yourself-mad-with-epma.html
ASO EPMA deploy issues, part I: http://technicallyoracleepm.blogspot.com/2014/01/cannot-redeploy-aso-application-from.html
ASO EPMA deploy issues, part II: http://technicallyoracleepm.blogspot.com/2014/01/cannot-redeploy-aso-application-from_24.html
EPMA batch script: http://technicallyoracleepm.blogspot.com/2014/03/epma-batch-script-utility-error-handing.html
Yet another EPMA deploy error: http://technicallyoracleepm.blogspot.com/2014/04/essbase-error-1053025-solved.html
Tim German
Tim’s blog is an exception to this thematic review. I include it because it is so good. Really good. Good as in “I wish I was half that smart and a quarter that dedicated.” Yes, that good.
Tim has only written two blog posts thus far, but they have footnotes. These really aren’t blog posts; they’re more like very learned white papers. In case you cannot tell, I am huge fan of what he has done, and I have high hopes for his future work. Tim, the gauntlet has been thrown down!
How, exactly, does BSO block density get valued? http://www.cubecoder.com/reverse-engineering-block-density-statistics/
Web-launched EAS console with the right Java version: http://www.cubecoder.com/running-web-launched-eas-with-the-right-java-version/
Yr. obdnt. srvnt.
Yes, finally it’s the idiot writer’s turn to plug his work, but I do, in fact, think I have pretty comprehensively covered Hybrid Essbase, which I believe to simply be the biggest thing to happen to Essbase since ASO. Yes, that big. Of course, because it is a new tool, it has a lovely admixture of pain and pleasure.
Hybrid Essbase has arrived: http://camerons-blog-for-essbase-hackers.blogspot.com/2014_03_01_archive.html
Getting started with Hybrid Essbase: http://camerons-blog-for-essbase-hackers.blogspot.com/2014/04/getting-started-with-hybrid-essbase.html
11.2.3.500 patch pain: http://camerons-blog-for-essbase-hackers.blogspot.com/2014/04/epm-11123500-patching-woes-trials-and.html
Hybrid Essbase limitations: http://camerons-blog-for-essbase-hackers.blogspot.com/2014/04/limitations-in-hybrid-bso-essbase.html
Happy reading
I think you have enough content above to while away a few afternoons, evenings, or entire weeks. It is sometimes more than a little amazing to reflect how freely and openly valuable information is shared today. For those of you in the business long enough to remember how this worked before the World Wide Wobbly Web, you will reflect that it simply didn’t happen except at user conferences.
Speaking of which, there is this little-known Oracle user group conference called ODTUG Kscope14, and it is coming up fast. If you like the content you see above, most, if not all (except, sob, John Goodwin) will be at Kscope14. Blogs are fantastic ways of sharing information, but nothing, and I mean nothing, beats a live, in-person session. I suspect if you buy the above bloggers a beverage of their choice, you can probably chew the fat with them, too. What a deal, what a conference, and what an awful lot of work on my sessions I still have to do!