What happens when Oracle upgrades EPM from non-hybrid to hybrid Essbase?

The upgrade changes the Essbase version to one that supports hybrid BSO, but it does not automatically enable hybrid mode on your cubes. Your existing non-hybrid cubes continue to work as before. You need to explicitly enable hybrid if you want the performance benefits.

How do I check if my Oracle EPM environment is hybrid Essbase?

Go to Application, Overview, Activity Reports tab. Click View on the most recent report and look for Essbase Version supports Hybrid Block Storage Option. Yes means your Essbase version supports hybrid. Check Application Overview for Hybrid Enabled under Application Type.

What are the benefits of hybrid BSO in Oracle EPM?

Hybrid BSO provides reduced database size, improved cube refresh, faster data import and export, reduced AMW, improved business rules performance across allocation, aggregation, and custom rules, and the ability to define sparse dimension members as dynamic.

Oracle EPM: From Non-Hybrid to Hybrid

Oracle released February 2024 updates for Oracle EPM applications, and one of the key changes is the upgrade of all environments from a non-hybrid Essbase version to a hybrid Essbase version. This article clarifies the implications for existing non-hybrid applications.

What Changes

All new non-hybrid applications will have an Essbase version that supports hybrid BSO. With hybrid BSO you can take advantage of reduced database and application size, improved cube refresh performance, faster data import and export, reduced AMW (Aggregate Materialized View), improved business rules performance, and usability improvements across allocation, aggregation, OOB, and custom rules.

You can also define sparse dimension members as dynamic, which leads to reduced storage and improved aggregation performance.

How to Check Your Environment

From the Home Page, click on Application → Overview → Activity Reports tab. Click View against the most recent report and look for Essbase Version supports Hybrid Block Storage Option. If the value is Yes, your environment is on a hybrid Essbase version. If No, it's on a non-hybrid version.

Important: a Yes value does not mean your cubes have Hybrid mode enabled — it only means your Essbase version supports it. Enabling hybrid requires commercial authorization (the relevant subscription).

How to Check if Hybrid Is Enabled

From Home Page → Application → Overview → check if under Application Type you see Hybrid: Enabled. You should see hybrid-enabled cubes in Financial Closing, Custom Planning, Planning Modules, and FreeForm applications by default if you have an Enterprise subscription.

What You Should Do

Do thorough testing in a Dev environment. Fix all issues. Make sure all formulas and business rules work correctly and output remains unchanged. Be aware of the limitations of hybrid BSO and review best practices before implementing in Production.

Use the Essbase Outline Validation tool: Application → Overview → Actions → Pre-validate Outline. Review the report and fix any flagged member formulas before the upgrade.

Automating Clone of Production to Test with Groovy

Oracle EPM April 2026 — Essbase 21c Saga Continues