FCC Consolidation Status - "Completed" does NOT mean Successful

FCC has a similarity to Microsoft Excel on manual calc. Change data, then press F9 for the calculations/formulas to run. In FCC, the similar process is consolidation, just like it was in its predecessors MicroControl, Hyperion/Enterprise, and HFM. This process is central to how all four products work. Unlike those great products of the past, however, FCC consolidations have one big deficiency: the status reporting. Did the consolidation work or not? Without going to multiple screens, you don't always know.

Look at these two consolidation results from the Jobs listing. One of them failed and one succeeded. Can you tell which is which?

Looking at the details of one of the consolidations, can you tell now? No, you can't.

Actually, this consolidation failed. Clicking the word "Completed" shows that the consolidation didn't even run.

It could be that "Completed," internally, means someone started the process, the process started running the software code that Oracle told it to do, and the code reached the end of the process. Whether the process actually encountered an issue during that; well, that's up to you the user/admin to figure out. In my mind, this is like saying whether I have eaten. I start the process of eating: something goes in mouth, I chew, I swallow. Ok, I ate something. Did I like it, did I hate it, did I get sick, did I eat something poisonous and die, am I still hungry: who knows.

I posted an enhancement idea on Oracle Cloud Customer Connect on this over four years ago. Maybe everyone is okay with this level (I want to use other words here but am trying really hard not to) of status reporting. I'm thinking that Oracle can do better. If you want to upvote the idea - please do -  here's the link:

https://community.oracle.com/customerconnect/discussion/558521/consolidation-jobs-should-indicate-error-not-just-complete

Since FCC has been reporting consolidation status this way for so long, you'd think everyone would know about it. That's not true - I just had this conversation with a client today. The issue appeared in downstream processes: reporting was weird, data wasn't correct, etc. So if your consolidations run but you don't get the results you expect, unfortunately a little digging is required.

Did the FCC consolidation work?

You run a consolidation in FCC (or FCCS as originally known), wait, maybe wait some more, and then you go to the jobs list and see the status is complete. Great! But then you look and see data isn't there or the data status is unchanged. What gives?

A consolidation job status of "complete" DOES NOT mean success or fail. It means simply that the process has finished running. But what you really want to know is the success or fail status. Where do you find this?

In the job listing click on Consolidate to see the details.

Here, you will see some details about the POV and how long the job took. 

But you STILL WON'T know whether it succeeded or not (but if the time duration is really quick then failed is probably the answer). Click Completed at the top left by Job Status.

There, now you get to see whether the consolidation succeeded or failed. Whew!

If you think there should be a better way, can you do anything about it! YES! On Cloud Customer Connect there is an idea posted already. What you can do is to "upvote," meaning click the thumbs-up icon. After clicking, either add a comment if you want or click Skip. The more companies that like an idea, the more likely it will be considered. You can also lobby your Oracle contacts when you see them on calls, etc. Let your voice be heard! Here is the link - both as a link and as raw text for those who don't like clicking links.

https://cloudcustomerconnect.oracle.com/posts/8d62090b81

https://cloudcustomerconnect.oracle.com/posts/8d62090b81