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Oracle updates all Planning & Budgeting Cloud environments (PBCS/EPBCS) monthly to address defects and introduce new features. These updates are delivered automatically on specific dates scheduled by Oracle, during the mandatory daily maintenance window. Keep in mind that while you can configure your daily maintenance window time, you can't change the dates these updates are applied. Oracle announces next month's update dates via newsletter at the end of each month.

December 2018 updates are currently scheduled to be deployed in test environments on Friday, December 7 , and to production environments on Friday, December 21 , starting at 11 PM UTC. Any schedule changes are also announced via the newsletter, which is automatically sent to all cloud administrators (keep an eye out for Oracle emails with Enterprise Performance Management Cloud Services in the subject).

Here are the highlights of the December 2018 Planning & Budgeting Cloud update:

• Not sure if these new limits will ever be reached but here's a simple one. The Data Management Dimension & Attribute Column has been enhanced to accept 300 characters. Before this update, the max was 80 for the dimension. You can also import into 40 attribute columns now whereas the limit was 14 before.
• Oracle SmartView for Office now can open Oracle EPM dashboards. I am very interested in trying this out and seeing how it works although only grid and chart objects are supported.
• The Strategic Modeling and Planning using Data Maps enhancement discussed in the last release has been taken a step further. You cannot only define complex mappings using single or multiple dimensions, but you can also delete source combinations you no longer need. This will help in several ways including simplifying the mapping process, troubleshooting errors, and reducing storage capacity.
• To enhance the cloud experience and alleviate the learning curve when migrating from on Prem versions, Oracle has decided to push back the removal of two highly used features; Composite Forms & the Classic Dimension Editor . So, you still have time to get used to the new dashboards but do not expect any new enhancements to the forms. The dimension editor will still be supported. Oracle will give at least a 2-month notice before removing these features.
• A couple of honorable mention updates include:
  • Enhancing the HsSetValue function to set values from smart list, text, or date formats which will be very helpful.
  • The new HTML or PDF Preview drop-down list enables you to toggle between HTML and PDF output. Expanded members are maintained when toggling which eliminates some previous reporting frustration.

More details including a full list of defects fixed on the December 2018 Planning & Budgeting Cloud update can be found here .