The clients have spoken and Oracle has listened!

When I first blogged about Essbase 19c being available, I mentioned it was only BYOL (bring your own license) and mused that I would expect that to change. Later I heard that Essbase going-forward was really not available on a Cloud model (pay as you go) so the only option was for you to own Essbase+ (AKA “Essbase on-prem”) and BYOL your Essbase+ license to run it on Oracle cloud infrastructure (OCI). Edward, Ashish Jain (Oracle Essbase Product Manager), and I held webcasts to over 1,000 people over the last few weeks, and the number one concern was from the clients who had already converted to cloud in OAC, because they would have to rebuy on-prem to go to 19c.

Well customers called Oracle in droves to vent their frustration and desires and Oracle has listened. What does that mean?

Coming in early 2020 to an Oracle Cloud Marketplace near you will be an option to either get Essbase 19c as BYOL OR “License Included”. This new option will allow clients to migrate from OAC (or net new customers!) to go to 19c without having to rebuy Essbase+ licenses. From what I understand the price will be $1221 per OCPU. At that price, I believe it is in parity with OAC for small deployments and it gets better for larger deployments. I have heard Oracle is committed to making sure this is a positive experience for clients so make sure you work with your sales rep as every client is unique and they will make sure you are at cost parity or better in the transition to 19c.

I want to reiterate that this will not be Oracle managed: you will need to install and manage the infrastructure in OCI. From what I learned from doing it myself, there are a lot of prerequisites, options, and steps to go through in the setup. I recommend if you are planning on installing your first instance, elicit the help of someone who has done it.

I am glad that Oracle has given us a way forward and they listened (it’s a Hanukah miracle!). Since the new Star Wars has just come out, may the force be with you.

(Thanks Edward for editing the post to make sure I was accurate and coherent is what I was saying) 

Essbase Cloud is here (well sort of)

I figured they would release Essbase Cloud before Open World, so the other day I started stalking the Oracle Marketplace to see when it would show up. What, you say what do you mean, Essbase Cloud has been around for over two years in OAC. Yes, but if you live in a cave and have not heard, Essbase is being taken out of OAC and being sold stand alone from the Oracle Marketplace. The version of Essbase is new;19c, and it has features and bug fixes that are not in OAC, but it is basically the same product.

Well today is the day. when I searched the Cloud Marketplace I see it listed, there, but there are limitations. It looks like it is only for companies (so far) that want to use BYOL to migrate from
on-prem to Cloud. It is apparently easier if the company already has an cloud infrastructure, but you can sign up in the process.  I will show the screens, but have not yet actually provisioned an instance.
To do this I will need to get together with my infrastructure group and make sure I don;t mess it up. Unlike Essbase in OAC, it is customer managed and you have to configure everything yourself.

First  google Oracle Marketplace or just go to  Oracle Marketplace

and search for Essbase what I found was


I click on it and got

Notice it is 19.3 and the only option I got was BYOL (Bring your own license) which means I had to have an on-prem version.

I entered my compartment  and got the next screen where I changed the name from the default to what I wanted to name the instance.

When  I clicked next, I got all of the setup options. note it is multiple screenshots to  show all of the options you have to fill in. You will notice I did not fill them in. I'm just showing what needs to be done

I will work with my infrastructure consultant to get the settings correct. I would suggest you work with a competent consultant as well as the settings are not straight forward. When I have it installed, I'll post a new blog and perhaps talk about the enhancements like the outline editor UI.

Stop- suspend what you are doing

Just last week, I posted about being able to shape your instance HERE. I alluded there was more to come. Well this week, my instance had another change.  Please note, I'm referring to OAC  not OAC-Classic (Customer Managed).
 They are calling it START and STOP.  I'll call it Suspend and Un-Suspend.

 

Why do I call it something different than what Oracle calls it?  Because it is my understanding that it really does not actually stop or stat an instance. Instead, it turns off or on access to the instance. This has a couple of implications. 

1. If you really need to get your instance restarted because of a problem, This won't do it. You will still have to open an SR for it to happen 

2. When you "Stop" your instance, I have been told the billing does go to $0 but to a percentage of your billing rate. I've heard both 10% and 15% but have not been able to verify what the real amount is. 

3. Stop and start are instantaneous.  If you STOP (Suspend) your intance, it immediately turns off access. 

As I get more info I'll most likely update the post with the real percentage. Until then, this gives you an idea of what is happening.