Oracle PBCS is an Oracle Cloud product called Planning Budgeting Cloud Service which has been recently renamed as Planning and Budgeting Cloud. PBCS is the first Hyperion EPM product on cloud and it is an application based on Oracle Hyperion Planning that supports enterprise-wide planning, budgeting, and forecasting in the cloud. PBCS’s core functionality is the same as Oracle Hyperion Planning on-premises.
Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud offers integrations with Microsoft Excel, Word, Outlook and PowerPoint using the “Smart View” plugin for planning and financial reports; this means that users can view planning data forms from within Microsoft Excel with the same functionality as the web-based interface. Both interfaces support ad-hoc analysis of data where row, column and page dimensions can be pivoted to create different views of the same data.
Oracle PBCS Pricing
Data centers or cloud servers where PBCS is hosted are owned and maintained by Oracle. Since there is no CAPEX infrastructure cost, virtually no learning curve and minimal IT resources required, the PBCS solution can be used by a company of any size. The cost structure for PBCS is a per user per month license.
Maintenance Costs
Software versions are always up-to-date and maintained by Oracle, allowing clients to the latest and greatest version without requiring any downtime to upgrade. Oracle provides test and production environments for every PBCS implementation. Oracle updates test environments first and then gives notice for when updates are planned, what the changes are and the issues that are resolved in the new version.
Loading Data
Financial Data Quality Management Enterprise Edition (FDMEE) is also part of the Planning and Budgeting Cloud and is used to load data to planning BSO (block storage) and ASO (aggregate storage) cubes. Planning data can be moved from BSO to ASO cubes and other reporting data can also be loaded to ASO cubes directly. Data in PBCS can also be loaded through EPM Automate, a utility that enables you to automate certain common administrative tasks.
Deploying Oracle PBCS
Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud comes with flexible deployment options. Clients can choose to deploy the planning application on the cloud or it can be used in tandem with on-premise Hyperion Planning applications. It is a great tool for clients who already have on-premise Hyperion Planning as they can use PBCS to develop and test new applications on the cloud before choosing to deploy it on-premises.
We highly recommend that companies of all sizes consider using Oracle Planning and Budgeting Cloud (PBCS) if they are looking for a new EPM solution or are upgrading an existing planning solution.
For a complimentary consultation on how Oracle PBCS or EPBCS could help your company, contact us!
