Navigating the EPM 25.11 Glitch

The Oracle EPM community is currently navigating uncharted waters. What started as a technical hurdle in the November 25.11 update—specifically tied to the Essbase 21c upgrade—has snowballed into a significant disruption for implementation timelines.

Oracle originally paused the 25.11 rollout to Production and signaled a return to normalcy in February 2026. However, the goalposts have moved again. There will be no new releases (26.02 or 26.03) until April 2026 (version 26.04).

This isn't just a delay; for many, it's a development deadlock. Here is why this situation is unprecedented and what you need to know to protect your project.

Currently, most Test environments are on 25.11 (Essbase 21c), while Production environments remain on 25.10 (Essbase 11g). This slight difference in version numbers hides a massive architectural chasm.

•   - Cloning is Suspended: The "Clone Environment" command is effectively useless for Test-to-Prod moves because of this version mismatch.
•   - Snapshot Incompatibility: You cannot simply take a snapshot from a 25.11 Test environment and import it into a 25.10 Prod environment. The Essbase versions are fundamentally incompatible.

Oracle’s suggested solution for many is to request a rollback of the Test environment to 25.10. While this sounds like a "reset button," the reality is much more destructive:

1. Complete Wipeout: A rollback is not an "undo" button; it is a return to a factory-provisioned state.

2. The 4-Month Gap: To get back to 25.10, you must upload a compatible snapshot. Since 25.11 hit Test pods in early November 2025, your last compatible snapshot likely dates back to October 2025.

3. The Consequence: If you have been in active development since October, a rollback means

If you are in the middle of a heavy FCC, Tax Reporting or Planning implementation and cannot afford to lose months of progress, the only viable path is often to request a Production upgrade to 25.11 via a Service Request (SR).

By moving Prod to 25.11, you align the Essbase versions and restore the ability to migrate artifacts. However, this is a risky maneuver. We are still seeing "misleading instructions" in the ecosystem, and we don’t yet know how these manually patched environments will behave when the 26.04 update finally arrives in April.

This is an unprecedented situation where Oracle is still learning how to support customers through an Essbase migration of this scale. To mitigate risk:

1. Audit Your SI: Ensure your implementation partner fully understands these version risks.

2. Regression Testing: Test every migration and every core business rule. Do not assume logic that worked in 25.10 will behave identically in 21c.

3. Secure Your Data: Keep offline backups of your October 2025 snapshots in case a rollback becomes unavoidable.

Navigating these version gaps requires a deep understanding of the EPM architecture and a clear strategy to avoid massive data or progress loss. If you are stuck between 25.10 and 25.11, or if you are planning a Go-Live before April 2026, don't navigate this alone.

Reach out to Nadia Lodroman at nadia@lodroman.com for expert guidance on stabilizing your environment and protecting your development timeline.