Oracle continues to enhance its Oracle EPM Cloud platform with the August 2026 update. Rolled out from 7 August in test environments, followed by 21 August in production, this new release brings several improvements designed to modernise the user experience, strengthen artificial intelligence capabilities and simplify the administration of EPM environments.
An increasingly prominent Redwood interface
Oracle continues to extend its Redwood interface to new application pages. The Alias Tables and Variables pages (user variables and substitution variables) now benefit from this new user experience. The aim is to provide a more consistent, more intuitive and more cohesive experience across the platform.
Artificial intelligence continues to expand
This update also strengthens artificial intelligence-related features. Oracle is publishing more comprehensive documentation on implementing EPM assistants in AI Agent Studio, helping teams create and deploy intelligent agents.
In addition, new REST APIs now provide access to Insights generated from interactions with AI agents. These new interfaces facilitate the integration of artificial intelligence into automated processes and more advanced workflows.
New REST APIs to simplify administration
Oracle is also expanding its REST API catalogue with several new features for administrators.
It is now possible to generate an application diagnostic report on demand, customise its file name and choose the behaviour in the event that an existing report is overwritten.
Another important development is that the cube refresh API can now automatically generate this diagnostic report during process execution, thereby reducing manual operations.
Improved management of Data Integration jobs
Administrators now have a new setting called Max Parallel Jobs to control the maximum number of jobs run simultaneously in Data Integration.
This setting, configurable between 1 and 30 parallel tasks, helps optimise performance and prevent overloads during high-volume data processing.
A new EPM Integration Agent
Oracle is also releasing a new version of the EPM Integration Agent.
This version now requires Java 17 or later and adds support for Resource Scope for OAuth 2.0 authentication. Oracle recommends that administrators check their environment's compatibility before upgrading.
More flexible dashboards
Dashboards are becoming more flexible with a new option for creating scrolling dashboards.
This feature enables the creation of longer dashboards that can be viewed vertically, providing more space to display forms, charts and indicators without compressing them into a single view. This option is available only when creating a new dashboard.
A new Sankey chart makes its appearance
Oracle is also introducing a new visualisation type: the Sankey chart.
This type of chart makes it possible to visually represent flows, contributions and relationships between different data dimensions or members. It provides a new way to analyse movements and allocations within EPM models.
More robust calculations
Users can now enable a new grid property called Treat Missing as 0 in Formula.
This feature automatically treats missing values as zeros when formulas are executed, reducing calculation errors and simplifying formula design.
Oracle is also improving IPM Insights, Advanced Predictions and Auto Predict with support for new functions based on "sibling" members in a hierarchy, providing greater flexibility in predictive analysis.
Enhancements for Profitability and Cost Management
For Profitability and Cost Management (PCM), Oracle is introducing a new generation of the PCM Agent.
This new agent will gradually replace the current version starting with the October 2026 update. In particular, it will enable users to create and modify models, manage business rules, run calculations and administer POVs directly from workflows.
Oracle is also extending the allocation precision range, now set between -12 and +12, to improve the accuracy of financial calculations.
Smart View also benefits from several updates
The EPM Books and Narrative Reporting extensions for Smart View are also being updated.
Oracle recommends that users install these new versions to benefit from the latest enhancements and fixes.
Technical changes to plan for
The August 2026 update also includes several important announcements for administrators.
Oracle warns that versions of EPM Automate earlier than version 26.09 will no longer be compatible with Cloud EPM environments starting with update 26.12. Organisations will need to upgrade their EPM Automate client and generate a new encrypted password file (.epw) to avoid any authentication issues.
Another change to prepare for: Oracle will soon remove the ability to use IP addresses in connection URLs. Connections will now need to rely on hostnames to strengthen security and comply with the publisher's best practices.
An update packed with enhancements
With this August 2026 update, Oracle continues to evolve its EPM platform around three key areas: modernising the user experience, developing artificial intelligence features, and strengthening administration and automation capabilities. While some developments are primarily aimed at administrators, others will deliver direct benefits to business users through a more modern, more powerful and more flexible platform.
source: Paul Lewis, Oracle EPM Expert Consultant
