Oracle EPM 26.04 - Part 1: Essbase 21c Saga + AI | What Happened & What You Need to Test
0:00 What's New in Oracle EPM Cloud — April 2026 Monthly Update
0:25 Why This Update Matters: 5 Months of Silence Explained
0:38 The Essbase 11g to 21c Upgrade: What Happened
1:01 The Rollout: October and November 2025
1:20 Calculation Accuracy Problems: Consolidation Numbers Not Tying
1:50 SET HYBRIDBSOINCALCSCRIPT, @CALCMODE, and @EQUAL Issues
1:59 Performance Slowdowns: Rules and Data Retrieval Degrading
2:14 Oracle Made the Right Call: Halting Production Updates
2:38 Timeline: November 2025 Through March 2026 — No Updates
2:56 Why It Took So Long: Year-End Closing Protection
3:20 April 2026: Everyone Moves to Essbase 21c
3:32 Which Applications Are Affected (Planning, FCC, PCM, FreeForm, Tax)
4:13 What You Need to Do Now: Testing Recommendations
4:38 FCC Testing: Compare Prod vs Test with Smart View
5:05 Check @CALCMODE, @EQUAL, and HYBRIDBSOINCALCSCRIPT Results
5:27 Check Refresh Database Time and Business Rule Performance
5:41 PCM Testing: Run Allocations in Prod and Test
5:52 skipUpdate Warning: You Must Use an SR, Not EPM Automate
6:10 Prod and Test Will Have Different Essbase Versions
6:36 Essbase 21c Saga Recap
6:49 Should I Care? Updates by Role (Admin, Dev, User)
6:59 AI in Oracle EPM Cloud: The Most Exciting Update
7:19 New Agentic AI REST APIs for Oracle EPM
7:33 AI Transaction Matching and AI Account Assignment
7:56 Gen AI Now Available in All OCI Regions
8:07 Three New REST API Commands for Agentic AI
8:32 Get Application Summary: AI Reads Your EPM Dimensions
9:01 Export Form Data: AI Handles Asymmetric Forms
9:58 Why These New APIs Could Be a Game Changer
Updated April 2026 | Originally published March 31, 2026
Oracle paused ALL EPM Cloud updates for 5 months. Here's exactly what happened with Essbase 21c, why it took so long, and what you need to test before 26.04 hits your production environment.
This is the first episode of my monthly Oracle EPM Cloud update series. In Part 1, I cover the full Essbase 21c saga — the timeline from October 2025 through April 2026, what went wrong, which modules are affected, and a hands-on testing checklist for Planning, FCCS, PCM, FreeForm, and Tax Reporting. I also cover the new Agentic AI REST APIs, AI Transaction Matching, and Gen AI expansion.
▶ Watch Part 2: Groovy, Smart View & Security → • Oracle EPM 26.04 - Part 2: Groovy, Smart V...
📋 Interactive Checklist — track your action items: https://fmepm.com/epm-update-april-2026
📎 MENTIONED IN THIS VIDEO
Arun Raj, AI & Account Reconciliation Coverage: https://www.linkedin.com/pulse/oracle...
🔗 ORACLE DOCUMENTATION
Oracle EPM April 2026 What's New:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas...
Essbase 21c FAQ (timeline, testing checklist, test vs prod):
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas...
EPM Cloud Readiness — All Releases:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas...
REST APIs for Oracle Cloud EPM:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas...
Essbase Functions Supported by Calculation Manager:
https://docs.oracle.com/en/cloud/saas...
🔗 ORACLE COMMUNITY
Customer Connect: https://community.oracle.com/customer...
Customer Connect — Dec 4, 2025 Session Recording:
https://community.oracle.com/customer...
Oracle ProActive Support Blog — Update Pause:
https://blogs.oracle.com/proactivesup...
🔗 FMEPM
Website: https://fmepm.com
Interactive Checklist: https://fmepm.com/epm-update-april-2026
LinkedIn: / fmepm
X/Twitter: / fmepm_com
👤 ABOUT
I'm Fred Mamadjanov, Oracle ACE and EPM Solution Architect based in Toronto, working with Oracle Cloud EPM, Vena Solutions, and NetSuite Planning & Budgeting worldwide. I work directly with every client. The expert you work with, not through.
📧 Work with me: https://fmepm.com/contact
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