Oracle OpenWorld 2016 Cloud Services and Products Summary
4 Days (almost 7 for me) of Product Directors and Managers spinning as many plates in the air as humanly possible, all being tossed into the Cloud with a fervor only matched by the lack of compensation being provided for conventional technology stack sales, left me with some specific value-adds for my time spent (not including the Safe Harbor information, we can’t say anything about….sshhhh.)
Note: (I’m EBS-centric and we have very little budget for hardware, so while I was amazed at the new SPARC S7 processors with on-board encryption and J/SQL optimization, alas they didn’t make it into my summary pages this year.)
AD/TXK Delta.8
Oracle E-Business Suite Applications DBA and Technology Stack Release Notes for R12.AD.C.Delta.8 and R12.TXK.C.Delta.8 (Doc ID 2159750.1)
Configuring Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.x Using Logical Host Names (Doc ID 1968231.1)
e-Mail Notifications at Parent and Child Levels for Request Sets
Save and Re-use Concurrent Program Parameters (CP Templates)
Regex Support in Profile Option Values and FND_MESSAGES
Multiple OA Framework Windows and Tabs in Multiple Browser Windows
EBS Healthcheck Diagnostics
64-bit JDK’s on CM Tier
adop Improvements
Delta Sync Mode (syncmode=patch/delta) – changed rows only
Rsync support in phase=prepare
Custom module sync auto-supported (no custom drivers req’d)
What’s New in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control 12c Release 5 (12.1.0.5)
Oracle Cloud Management (Hybrid Cloud)
Database Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
Fusion Middleware Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
Cloud Management Plug-in 12.1.0.10 Features
Chargeback and Consolidation Planner Plug-in 12.1.0.7 Features
Virtual Infrastructure Plug-in 12.1.0.2
Oracle Cloud Management (Hybrid Cloud) – This enhancement is new in Enterprise Manager Cloud Control Release 5 (12.1.0.5).
Enterprise Manager Cloud Control now provides you with a single pane of glass for monitoring and managing both your on-premise and Oracle Cloud deployments, all from the same management console. By deploying Management Agents onto the Oracle Cloud virtual hosts serving your Oracle Cloud services, you are able to manage Oracle Cloud targets just as you would any other targets. The communication between Management Agents and your on-premise Oracle management service instances is secure from external interference. Support is provided for managing Oracle Database and Fusion Middleware PaaS targets, as well as JVMD support for monitoring JVMs on your Oracle Cloud virtual hosts.
Oracle Cloud Management includes the following key features:
Automated agent deployment and configuration
Database and Java PaaS instances monitoring
Incident management including notifications and ticketing integration
Configuration management including Search and Inventory, comparison between on-premise and cloud instances, configuration history, and compliance
Cloning between on-premise and Oracle Cloud
One-off patching of Oracle Cloud database instances
Database Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
Snap Clone Leveraging Sparse Clones on Exadata
You can now create a Test Master pluggable database (PDB) to use as the snapshot source for thin cloning on Exadata ACFS.
For functional testing scenarios, for example on development or testing systems, business IT users now have on-demand access to production data copies without incurring the penalty of multi-terrabyte storage.
Data Cloning to Oracle Cloud
With this release you have the following data cloning to Oracle Cloud options:
Like-to-like cloning: on premise to-from Oracle Private Cloud:
Enterprise Manager12c PDB to 12c PDB, assuming the containers exist on both sides
Regular non-container dedicated database to dedicated database
Like-to-unlike data migration:
Regular to PDB migration where the source is an on-premise non-PDB database and the data is migrated to a cloud based PDB
PDB to normal database migration where the source is a PDB on an Oracle PaaS cloud and data and schema are migrated to a non-container CDB on premise
Fusion Middleware Plug-in 12.1.0.8 Features
Generic JVM Provisioning for Private Cloud
This feature enables self-service users to provision non-Oracle middleware components as cloud services. It also uses Enterprise Manager’s chargeback and quota management capabilities to enable administrators to limit service usage based on organizational policies.
JVMD Support for PaaS
Enterprise Manager Cloud Control now enables you to deploy JVMD agents on your Oracle Cloud virtual hosts. These deployed JVMD agents can report to a JVMD engine deployed in your private network. This feature enables you to monitor the JVMs deployed on the virtual hosts running your Oracle Cloud services as well as the JVMs deployed on the hosts in your private network using a single console, for example Enterprise Manager Cloud Control deployed in your private network.
Middleware Self Service Portal Support for Virtual Java as a Service with Exalogic Systems
WebLogic services that have been provisioned on Exalogic systems using Service Manager can now be viewed in the Cloud Self Service Portal as part of the Exalogic Private Cloud service family.
MWaaS on Solaris SPARC
This project integrates MWaaS with the Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center. It provides the ability to dynamically add or remove the virtual hardware in a MWaaS cloud.
Cloud Management Plug-in 12.1.0.10 Features
Dynamic Scaling of PaaS Zone Through Integration with the Sun Solaris SPARC Ops Center 12c Adapter
Enterprise Manager 12c is integrated with the Ops Center through the Sun Solaris SPARC adapter. An instance of this registered adapter is used by the associated PaaS Infrastructure zone to provision or delete VMs on demand. The communication with the Ops Center server is achieved through the use of a client kit.
This integration enables customers to provide layered services capability in a private cloud, for example DBaaS using a Solaris VM based IaaS. Any spike in compute demand can now be handled instantly by cloud administrators.
DBaaS PaaS Provider Pools Integration with Ops Center
Administrators can now increase the capacity of a DBaaS pool by clicking a single button. Doing this transparently provisions a virtual machine or cluster through the associated Ops Center adapter attached to the PaaS zone. It also deploys the requisite software components, for example Enterprise Manager Agent, Grid Infrastructure, Oracle Database and so on, through the gold image provisioning or by cloning from an existing reference member of the pool.
Compute resource scarcity at PaaS provider level results in the failure of self service provisioning requests. This integration helps SSA administrators to respond to such failures promptly.
Clone to Oracle Cloud
Administrators now have the ability to create a full clone of an Enterprise Manager 12c pluggable database amongst existing container databases within the on-premise IT infrastructure or to an Oracle Cloud. Administrators can also clone a service from on-premise to Oracle PaaS and vice-versa. The cloning is supported in two broad categories:
Peer-peer clone: Clones directly from an on-premise target to Oracle Cloud.
Clone through the Software Library: Administrators can archive a gold image into the Software Library in one step and then deploy it in a separate step.
Chargeback and Consolidation Planner Plug-in 12.1.0.7 Features
Host Consolidation Support for Oracle Cloud Shapes
Oracle Enterprise Manager now provides host consolidation support for Oracle Cloud shapes. When creating scenarios for physical server to physical server (P2P) consolidations that target new or phantom destinations, you can choose physical machines configured in the Oracle cloud by selecting the cloud computing configuration, or shape, to use as the destination. Oracle provides a wide range of shapes to help you select a combination of processing power and memory for your instances that best suits your business requirements.
Virtual Infrastructure Plug-in 12.1.0.2
Dynamic Resource Provisioning Support
Through integration with Oracle Enterprise Manager Ops Center, dynamic on-demand resource provisioning enables Oracle Cloud and self service administrators to dynamically increase or decrease resources in their private cloud setup based on usage requirements. Resources can either be infrastructure resources such as hosts (based on virtual machines) or platform resources such as middleware and database Oracle homes. Resources can be dynamically added when additional service instances need to be provisioned due to high usage or decreased if existing resources are not being used.
Because my company asked for this, and I couldn’t find a readily available My Oracle Support document that is concise enough.
Based primarly upon:
Oracle E-Business Suite Release 12.2 Release Value Propositions (Doc ID 1580742.1)
With additions from notes by Steve Sutphin on LearningWerks.
Modules Being Covered in this Summary
Application Technology
Asset Lifecycle Management
Customer Relationship Management
Financials
Procurement
Human Capital Management
Not all modules are covered herein (e.g. Supply Chain, Project Billing, Project Management, Value Chain) simply because we don’t have them in-use, so I couldn’t validate the accuracy of those modules.
Applications Technology - User Interfaces, Infrastructure
Oracle EBS Release 12.2 Technology Stack
WebLogic Server (11.1.1.6) replacing iAS (10.1.3)
[10.1.2 stays for Forms and Reports]
Mobile Certification for OA Framework
iPad, iPhone, Android
Report Manager and Web ADI
Certified for MS Office 2010/32-bit
Integrated SOA Gateway
Now on WebLogic for improved integration
Online Patching
Editioned filesystem and DB objects allow side-by-side Production and Test codesets with minimal switchover downtime.
Numerous OAFramework User Interface Cosmetic and Usability Improvements
Assets (Asset Lifecycle Management, not FA) - Workflow, Productivity
Support for Asset Moves
Transactable Assets Allows Users To Move Assets In And Out Of Inventory, Transfer Assets From One Inventory Organization To Another, And Transfer Assets From One External Location To Another External Location
Extended Business Processes for Supplier Ship and Debit
Price Protection Agreements
Oracle Telesales
Visibility to Activities across Operating Units
Competitor Tracking at Product Level
Financials - Productivity, Controls
Cross-Module Enhancements
Multi-Org Access Control Security profiles that now support a list of operating units
Ledger Sets Ledgers sharing the same Chart of Accounts, Calendar and Period Type
Advanced Global Intercompany System (AGIS)
New Bank Account Model Single access point for defining and maintaining bank accounts in AP, AR, Collections, Payroll, CashMgt, & Treasury
Advanced Collections
Party (Customer) Level Bankruptcy Tracking
Support for Partial Disputed Transaction Amounts
Assets
Enh. Mass Additions I/F for Legacy Conversions
Automated Depr. Rollback for Selected Assets
Impairments/Unplanned Depreciation Visibility
Addl. BI Publisher Reports
Cash Management
Simplified Setup and Streamlined Bank Account Reconciliation
Reconciliation Success Rates for First Notice Items (FlexMatch)
Centrally-stored Balance History – Trends and Cash Positions
Flexible Cash Pooling
Maintain and Report on Authorized Signatories
Customer Data Hub
Tax Validation Management with Tax Geography Hierarchy
DQM Overview Dashboard
DQM public Application Programming Interface
Real-time Address Validation for Tax Purposes
e-Business Tax
Application of Specific Tax Configs to Business Entities
Tax Simulator and Determination Services
Customer Tax Information Import
General Ledger
Allocate Financial Data From One Or More Ledgers To A Different Target Ledger
Data Access Sets and Ledger Sets
Journal Batch Copy
Alternate Account UI
New Web-based Account Analysis & Drilldown
Flaggable As Non-Reversable Journal Sources
Integration to Hyperion DRM and Fusion Acctg Hub
Internet Expenses (iExpense)
Global Per Diem and Mileage Rates
Mileage Accumulation
Automatic Matching of Advance Payments
Flexible Application of Cash Advances
Payment Holds and Automatic Notifications
Enhanced Itemization Controls
New Audit Expense Report
Auto-Itemization of Expenses from Visa/AMEX
Parallel Approvals
New Header-level Document Attachments
Support for new iOS/Android Mobile Expenses
Payables
New User Interface For Supplier Entry And Maintenance
Centralized Bank Account Definitions (see Summary)
Improved Invoice Processing with Invoice Lines
Contract Financing, Retainage, and Progress Terms
Line-Level Invoice Approval Workflows
Self-Service Entry for Non-PO Invoices
Improved iSupplier Portal
Scheduled AP/AR Netting Batches
Receivables
Partial Period Revenue Recognition
Event-based Revenue Management
New Credit Card Error Handling
Improved Chargeback Reconciliation
Oracle Bill Presentment Architecture (BPA)
Customer Communication – Auto PDF Printing
New Sweep Invalid Distributions Report Details of the accounting exceptions that are holding the period close for review and action. If the amount involved is not material from the reporting perspective and resolving the accounting exceptions is likely to delay the period close, then the transactions with invalid accounting can be swept to the next open period.
Automated Auto Lockbox Processing (via CP)
API Support for Unidentified Receipt Assignments
Subledger Accounting
Enhanced Multi-Reporting Currency Functionality
Improved Reporting and Analysis with Supporting References
Treasury
New Automatic Floating Rate Reset for Bonds
Automated Cash Pooling Across Legal Entities
Automatic Bank Account Update for Redirecting Payments to a New Bank Account
Projects - Efficiencies
Project Costing
Labor Rate Schedules by Criteria
Enhanced Payroll Integration
Total Time Costing
Increased Control and Visibility for Multi-Funded Contingent Workers
Allocate Funding Based On Time And Expense Entry
Batch Processing of Mass Adjustments
Procurement - Efficiencies
iProcurement
Automatic Updates of Encumbrance Dates
Eligible Information Template Information Stored as Attachments
Override Employee Charge Account Preference
Dual Budgetary Controls (Encumbrance Acctg)
Item Master Attachments Support
Post-Approved PO Requisition Attachment Support
PO Import Process Can Use Account Generator Auto-generate Charge Accounts during Requisition Import (blank charge accounts)
Hi, I’m James Lui, a senior applications DBA working at Aramark Uniform Services. and I’m Bobby Curtis, a Solution Architect with BIAS Corporation, Oracle Platinum Partner.
[James] We just finished an Introduction to 12c New Features and Functionality. One of the reasons we wanted to bring this to the Users Group’s attention.is that out on the internet, we were Google-ing for the new Database 12c we wanted to find out, it’s not a general release right now; it’s not generally available. But there are Oracle Beta test partners out there looking at it, whacking it and trying to make it work. But what we did find was a little disturbing.There’s a lot of stuff dating back to early last year (2012) that partners that are on these Betas are blogging about features that may or may not be in the product. They’re putting SQL code out there that is wrong. That came to our attention when we were talking with other Oracle Partners out here (at Collaborate). What do we do about this? So our position on this was to try to start elevating the invisibility of what is happening out there with regard to NDA Beta Partners, like Bobby and I, who are are subject to… You can’t talk about it, or you can’t disclose stuff that isn’t real.
The feature sets in the final release are subject to what Oracle wants to try to present as a solid product that works to end-user customers. Not something that the wheels are going to fall off.just because they tried it (they put some spinners on it) and it ends up falling off and it’s a bad idea. The whole purpose for this idea is we don’t do GA on an unstable product. Let’s let experts hammer at this thing. See if it works, get an idea from a users group perspective (trying to represent as many people, as possible) what features work, what doesn’t work. and what needs to be fixed before the thing goes live.
[Bobby] That way the users understand what they’re really getting versus what the hearsay out there.. Because everything that’s been posted out there (on the blogs) violates the NDAs. and Oracle can pull things (features) out and nobody really knows it because they’re relying on older postings that were not authorized anyway. So this session was to provide the users groups with something based upon here’s what we’ve seen, and here’s what we think is going to be in there, but it’s not guaranteed.
[James] Realistically we do know that forward information is good. Telling people that the documentation that will be provided is more massive than ever before. It’s going to give you direction as a DBA, developer or manager trying to make a decision to adopt this product. There is more to read than ever (before.) There’s more room for books to be written than ever. There’s definitely more room for webinars about this product. They’re (Oracle’s) thinking about at least 500+ new feature functionalities that are really exciting stuff. And we covered maybe…
[Bobby] Like, 25 of them — the tip of an iceberg on this product.
[James] But in terms of what that final product ends up being, when Oracle decides it’s ready for market, we had the confidence as users group representatives (ODTUG, IOUG, UKOUG, Australia OUG) when we hammered it to death, these features worked, with the caveat of saying “Fix this ” then we’re (users groups) happy.
That’s the idea behind this session. Telling people that going forward, you may need to go back to the drawing board or to school to find out how to use this product in the best way.
But the exciting part is here at Collaborate, IOUG was able to give those who attended our session a preview of the future in a very substantial technical way.
[Bobby] And so we thought it would be a good idea, so okay there’s a lot of talk about it, everybody’s asking when’s it coming out, what’s going on? So from a users group perspective, let’s give everyone not so much a peek into it, but to say here’s what’s coming from what we know of, from looking at the Betas.
But, again at the same time letting everyone know that just because we say something’s coming, Oracle could pull the plug (on that feature) at some point-in-time and say, “That’s not going to be added in this release. “ So basically, this was a way to give to the users groups, who have been saying, “We’ve been talking about it for six months. But what’s really in it?” And as we alluded to earlier, we’ve only touched the “tip of the iceberg” – we only did 25 of them (the new features). And we didn’t do a Top-10 or anything like that. We just said, here are the 25 features we tested during Beta testing, and here’s what our thoughts are. So we think we gave the users groups a good base of understanding where it’s (Database 12c) coming from, and what can be potentially looked at, and what they could use. And from the reaction we got from the crowd, was actually pretty good.
[James] And Bobby represents the partner, implementer, system integrator world of the consultants that are out there who are going to be challenged with actually upgrading (systems), or doing the installations. I represent the existing customer base of Oracle, we’re an Applications e-Business shop; we want to know what does that roadmap affect for us. What does 12c give us to save money basically as an organization? So between the two of us, we actually do cover a big part of that world. and we were very heartened by the (experiences) during the Beta testing (we were Phase 3, probably the last (Beta) before General Availability), we’re pretty happy with the product. Perhaps, shockingly good?
[Bobby] This is actually by far the best release they (Oracle) have come out with on a first release. Because they’ve listened to the users groups, and took a lot of the things that we wanted, put it into it (Database 12c.)
[James] And by being part of the Beta Program, the people behind the Beta Program brought the user groups in confidence, to say you people represent key members of the user community. Hit this thing until it breaks and tell us what it’s going to need for this product to go to General (Availability).. And that’s what we felt we did. We did things that were very unexpected
[Bobby] Any time you get a (Database) developer standing behind your shoulder… because that was one of the really impressive things behind the Beta testing. You had 9 testers, and Oracle put 50 of their people in the room with us. and when we broke it, they literally pulled the code open and looked at it and said, “Here’s why it’s broken.” And that in-turn gave Oracle the insight to say, “Okay what did you guys do?” versus “How did it break?” So that way they can go fix the code and can be more responsive to what users are going to do out in the marketplace.
[James] And while it’s not a generally-accepted practice, nor a best practice idea, I as an e-Business Suite Customer ended up bringing in a live R12.1.3 version instance. Not certified. Not supposed to be certified. Certainly Oracle’s own (e-Business Suite) Development group behind Applications Technology does not certify you’re supposed to be doing (Database) 12c upgrades. But in the context of a Beta, for me this is the exciting way to do it. You take a sandbox instance, you take a copy of a live R12 instance and you try to do the upgrade. The only things that broke, was the stuff that Oracle told us would break, because they de-support those particular features. That was the guarantee that makes it whole.
[Bobby] They listened and they fixed it. So that when GA comes out, you can take it to Production if you want. I think that’s what a lot of people are going to be shocked about, because most organizations wait for Release 2, to be honest. But Release 1 of (Database) 12c, we think, from the user group perspective could be production-ready and be used.
[James] That’s better than most other software companies that try to be first to market with a new feature, and let the user community test it and find out where the bugs are. That was a different philosophy that we met (at Oracle). And we know the Beta 1 and Beta 2 release testings uncovered thousands and tens of thousands of problems that got fixed by the time we got our hands on it. The improvements that Oracle has actually made in that process That’s a good step in the right direction, and we would hope every software vendor actually does that same thing. Because IOUG being very agnostic about what the user community needs to make a business solution happen, having Oracle do that just makes their job easier.
If you Care a Little More, Things Happen. Bees can be dangerous. Always wear protective clothing when approaching or dealing with bees. Do not approach or handle bees without proper instruction and training.
Thoughts from James H. Lui 
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