Say Hello to FDMEE 11.1.2.3

To be honest, I feel bit sad when I think FDM is in his last days.

It´s been some years since I started fishing data from one customer to another but it´s time to talk about present and future.

Let´s start with a formula:

        FDMEE = Best(FDM) + Best(ERP Integrator)

When ERPI was firstly released (11.1.1.3) it didn´t have many FDM features included although everybody suspected what finally happened. Next releases were taking shape and several functionality started to overlap.

Yes, ERPI was a good but transition product (FDM > ERPI > FDMEE)

We thought ERPI was going to be restricted in terms of customization but then Source Adapter and Open Interface Adapter came up. Also new source systems were supported (SAP, JDE E1, etc.) ERPI was complementing FDM with really interesting functionality.

With both FDM and ERPI we had a robust solution to load data and metadata into our EPM applications including Drill-Through and Write Back capability.

But release 11.1.2.3 announcement was hot and it confirmed that FDM had his days counted and that ERPI was re-branded as FDM Enterprise Edition (aka FDMEE).

So what will happen?

• New 11.1.2.3 customers > FDMEE
• Existing customers upgrading to 11.1.2.3 > FDM Classic and/or FDMEE
• For 11.1.2.4, everybody in the house  ... > FDMEE

Tic Tac Tic Tac... time to migrate? Additional license fee NOT required

Are you afraid about all your custom FDM applications?

I´d recommend you not to stress yourself and let FDMEE grow.

For existing customers using FDM Classic and FDMEE in 11.1.2.3 they can still use FDMEE as source adapter of FDM like they did with ERPI:

Let me introduce you some of the new features and small piece of road map.

What´s new?

• ODI is now installed with FDMEE
• ODI folder created in MIDDLEWARE home

• ODI Console and ODI J2EE Agent are deployed in the FDMEE Managed Server

• Agent is automatically configured in ODI Topology

• Agent is started with FDMEE Windows Service

• No FDMEE client tool (all web-based)
• Master and Work Repository are created in the FDMEE schema (lot of tables...)

• Manual configuration in ODI Topology is minimum (only for source systems and multiple instances)

• New access in Workspace named Data Management

• FDMEE reports based on BI Publisher (no BIP license required unless you create templates with BIP). You can adjust templates with BIP Word Add-in aka BIP Desktop

• FDMEE application folder created from FDMEE System Settings (similar to FDM folder) Like in ERPI there are not FDMEE applications. This folder should be shared and have Write permission granted to Everyone.

• Batch Scheduler (We can also schedule Data Load Rules)

• No manual steps when using File data source
• Signage Enhancements (Absolute, Same As Source, Reverse From Source)

• SAP BW (InfoCubes) as source system

• New Security Roles (intermediate roles 2-9)

• Integrated with Shared Services (also Groups which are created from FDMEE Location Security)
  
  
  
  
  

• High availability
• LCM Support

• ...

What´s next?

• Standalone migration utility FDM > FDMEE
• Import Scripts, Mapping Scripts, Event Scripts, Custom Scripts ... Jython, SQL, bit of VB Script
• Excel templates
• HFM adapter functionality (Intersection, Journals, Cell Texts...)
• Batch Loader
• Controls Groups
• Object Security
• HFM and ARM Write-Back
• Data Synchronization
• New source and targets (ERP Projects, HPCM...)
• DRM Integration
• SAP BW Metadata
• ...

We will be playing with the new features in next entries.

Good bye FDM!
Welcome FDMEE!