Upcoming October System Outages for Oracle Financials Systems - FINDINI 4.0.10 Release

September 15, 2016

This October 2016 FINDINI 4.0.10 release will be available to users on Monday October 24, 2016.

This release will focus on getting the EBS environment 12.1.3 ready for Windows 10 and Microsoft Office 2016, and upgrading our Golden Gate Replication software to version 12.2.0.1. This release will also include Oracle's July Compliance Security updates for the standard software and database patching needed to keep the EBS, CPATH, & OBI Replication systems up to date with many industry security regulations and requirements. These will include updates for PSU, CPU, JDK, JRE, & Solaris Operating System patching. We are also addressing a few additional bug fixes and system enhancements from our current Product Backlog.

As we have written to you in past publications and other communications, the HUIT ATS Oracle Financials team has been working on the Oracle Financial Platform Improvement (OFPI) project. This phased project is helping us prepare and execute HUIT and the University to meet the goals of moving towards virtual servers on cloud based technologies for our Oracle Financial software. Some of the benefits we will gain will be cost savings to support and run our financial systems, stronger business continuity and disaster recovery, and enhanced performance and reliability as we move off of our current aging hardware. Our outdated server technologies that several of our custom applications, such as PCARD and Web Reimbursement function on, are expiring very soon. The current language that these functions are written in is also no longer viable or supportable. As part of 4.0.10, HUIT ATS has been in the process of rewriting and testing these functions to accommodate these needed changes in a supportable language (APEX) that would result in the least amount of invasive changes to the end users. PCARD users will see these changes completed in this October 2016 FINDINI release. This is a significant step to allowing us to move closer to having these custom applications run on our future cloud based virtual servers that we will deliver under the OFPI Project in the spring of 2017.

Outages:

The University's financial systems will be unavailable from Friday, October 21 at 6:00pm until the start of business Monday, October 24 at 6:00am to complete the installation of this release. The Oracle EBS Financial systems that will be offline during this time include Accounts Payable, Accounts Payable Adjustment Form for Assets, Accounts Receivable, Bottomline, CAPS, Cash Management (CMRA), Chart Security Maintenance Application (CSMA), CoA Validator, Collections, FedEx, General Ledger, GL Validator, Harvard Oracle Assets, HCOM, iProcurement, iReceivables, PCard, Vendor Request, Web ADI, and Web Reimbursement. Also, the CPATH (Capital Planning at Harvard), HDW/CREW & OBI environments will also be offline for a shorter period of time during this outage.

Pre prep work for this release will also result in some minor outages as follows:

October 2 6am – 11am:
Operating System Server patching for Oracle EBS - Oracle Financials will be unavailable

October 15 5am – 1pm:
Operating System Server patching for the HDW - CREW, IR Reporting and Ad Hoc environments will be unavailable

Next FINDINI Release:

The next FINDINI release 4.0.11 is tentatively planned for May 13, 2017. We are already actively planning and working on this next release which includes the final phase and delivery of the Oracle Financial Platform Improvement (OFPI) project. This includes:

  • Upgrading the EBS database to version 11.2.0.4 aligning with Oracle’s support requirements and readiness for future upgrades.
  • Moving the existing EBS platform to a Virtual Infrastructure at a Remote Cloud Data Center (relocate out of 60 Oxford St.), bringing us a step closer to aligning with HUIT’s cloud strategy.
  • Converting off of the end of life 10gAS server to a virtual web logic application server and completing the custom application conversions to APEX.
  • Developing an Automated Testing Framework using OATS (Oracle Application Testing Suite) which will be utilized for application functional/performance testing within this release and future projects/releases.

Additional Release Details for FINDINI 4.0.10:

The FINDINI 4.0.10 release will include a JRE update to 1.8.0_102. When logging in for the first time after October 24, users will be required to download this updated Java JRE. If users receive a popup message that a more recent version is available, they should NOT act upon the request. The CADM HUIT End Point team will also be pushing the Java JRE 1.8.0_102 update to all HUIT supported users with LANDesk who currently have Java 1.8.0_74 beginning on 10/24. It is highly recommended that non supported HUIT schools do the same where possible after 10/24. This latest version of the JRE will better support the various available browsers that have been upgraded as well.

Please Note:

Oracle Financials desktop standards can be found on site http://huit.harvard.edu/pages/computer-standards under the Enterprise Application Supported Desktop Configurations section. These desktop standards will be updated for this release.  Further helpful tips & release information can be found on site http://fss.finance.harvard.edu/popular-resources & http://oracle.fss.finance.harvard.edu/releases.

For questions please contact the HUIT Service Desk at ithelp@harvard.edu or call them at 5-7777.

Appendix:

FINDINI 4.0.10 Release Summary