The long awaited patch for Oracle EPM 11.1.2 just came out a few weeks ago. This means that customers should start considering going to 11.1.2 if they are starting a project.
One main feature of this patch is that it creates an upgrade path from prior versions to 11.1.2. There are numerous other "features" / issues that one must consider when upgrading. The patch notes are found at: http://download.oracle.com/docs/cd/E17236_01/index.htm.
At this time if you are an existing customer you should be on either:
- -system 9.3.1 (expires January 2012)
- -system 11.1.1.3 (with patches)
- -system 11.1.2 (with just released patch)
So, the real question is if you're on system 9, should you go all the way to system 11.1.2 or just move to 11.1.1.3.
I've worked on 11.1.2 on native Essbase (unix) and on Hyperion planning without any patches. While there were some "neat" features, at the time I would not consider to any customer to goto 11.1.2 without any patches. This patch makes things interesting. Are enough issues fixed? This is where having that extra test environment comes into play. If you don't have the time or resources available to stage up a 11.1.2 environment, this might be a great time to check out some of the cloud vendors. You could build your own on Amazon or rent one (really cheap) at http://www.full360.com/hosting. I spent some time tinkering with one of their virtual machines and was impressed that everything worked. I'm not sure if they have 11.1.2 patched up and running yet or not. I'll look into that.
Each customer should do their own due dilligence in order to make an informed decision. If you ask your consulting firm and they say no you should really think before overriding their decision. I know of a few customers that wish they had listened to such advice.
I'll keep my ears open listening for success stories and report back after I've heard about 5 customers moving forward successfully. Unfortunately I'm on a long term project on system 11.1.1.3 so I won't experience first hand a production environment on 11.1.2 patched.
hj
