Archived what's new in the platform in previous years

Important new features and enhancements were introduced in Sterling™ Order Management System Software in previous years.

4 October 2024 (Release 10.0.2409.1)

Enhanced download document: The instructions to download the entitled packages from IBM Passport Advantage are enhanced. For more information, see Downloading entitled packages.

Improved the getPersonInfoList API performance: The performance of the getPersonInfoList API is improved by changing the implementation to use shadow columns for case-insensitive searches. To enable the getPersonInfoList API for case-insensitive searches, in the customer_overrides.properties file, set the value of the yfs.api.getPersonInfoList.UseShadowCol property to Y. For more information, see Enabling case-insensitive searches.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see Resolved issues in 10.0.2409.0 release.

6 September 2024 (Release 10.0.2409.0)

Purge or delete the consumption data for inactive resource pools: You can purge or delete the consumption data that corresponds to the inactive resource pools without considering lead days. For more information, see Purge or delete the consumption data for inactive resource pools.

Log out of the Microsoft Entra account: A new property yfs.yfs.oidc.logouturl.autoclose is introduced with a default value that is set to false. You are now prompted to select your Microsoft Entra account to log out of the applications. For more information, see Configuring Microsoft Entra integration with Liberty.

Support for transactional Kafka sender: The Service Definition Framework (SDF) now supports the transactional Kafka sender. For more information, see Kafka sender transport component.

Stack upgrade

WebSphere Liberty to 24.0.0.6

Upgrade impact: No.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see Resolved issues in 10.0.2409.0 release.

2 August 2024 (Release 10.0.2406.2)

Issues were fixed in this release. For more information, see Resolved issues in 10.0.2406.2 release.

5 July 2024 (Release 10.0.2406.1)

Issues were fixed in this release. For more information, see Resolved issues in 10.0.2406.1 release.

7 June 2024 (Release 10.0.2406.0)

Install developer toolkit with PostgreSQL database: The developer toolkit now supports the PostgreSQL database as a database option. For more information, see Install developer toolkit with PostgreSQL database.

Podman support: In addition to supporting Docker, Sterling Order Management System Software supports Podman, which is an alternative to the Docker command-line interface that allows to run stand-alone containers. You can install the developer toolkit by using Podman on the CentOS or Ubuntu operating system. For more information, see Podman support.

Collect statistics data with the Prometheus endpoint: Sterling Order Management System Software provides the Prometheus metrics endpoint, which is included in the smcfs.war file, to scrape statistics from an endpoint into the Prometheus format. For more information, see Prometheus endpoint for statistics collection.

Configure Azure Active Directory: You can now configure Azure Active Directory Microsoft Entra as an identity provider. For more information, see Configuring Microsoft Entra integration with Liberty.

Stack upgrades

IBM Java™ SDK/JRE to 8.0.8.25
IBM MQ to 9.3.0.17
WebSphere Liberty to 24.0.0.4

Third-party library upgrades: Some third-party libraries are upgraded or removed to mitigate security vulnerabilities. For more information about these upgrades, contact IBM Support.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10024060.

3 May 2024 (Release 10.0.2403.2)

Issues were fixed in this release. For more information, see Resolved issues in 10.0.2403.2 release.

5 April 2024 (Release 10.0.2403.1)

Overriding the transfer schedule between nodes: The application is enhanced to support the default carrier service for Node Transfer Schedule capability. For more information, see Override transfer schedule between nodes.

Enhanced yfs.app.identifyconnection property: The yfs.app.identifyconnection property is enhanced to support the PostgreSQL database. For more information, see Implementation yfs.properties.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_fp_10024031.

1 March 2024 (Release 10.0.2403.0)

Apple M1 support: Support is available for developer toolkit in arm64-based macOS machines, such as Apple M1. For more information, see Overriding the default docker compose properties.

Kafka headers support: Support is available for Kafka headers in the Kafka Producer service definition component. For more information, see Kafka sender transport component.

Inventory Purge Enhancements

Inventory Purge is enhanced to support selective table purge. You can also configure to purge YFS_INVENTORY_SUPPLY, YFS_INVENTORY_DEMAND, and YFS_INVENTORY_RESERVATION records irrespective of quantity for Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility integrated environments.

For more information, see Inventory purge.

Third-party library upgrades: Some third-party libraries are upgraded to mitigate security vulnerabilities. For more information about these upgrades, contact IBM Support.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10024030.

19 January 2024 (Release 10.0.2309.2)

Stack upgrade: Struts is upgraded to 2.5.33.

FusionCharts not packaged with Sterling Order Management System Software: FusionCharts is no longer packaged with Sterling Order Management System Software. Therefore, the inventory charts in the Application Console and active coupons in Sterling Business Center are removed.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10023092.

6 October 2023 (Release 10.0.2309.1)

Availability of IBM® Sterling Call Centerfor traditional installation

You can now install the Sterling Call Center next-generation application as a traditional installation on the on-premises platform.

For information about the traditional installation of Sterling Call Center, see Installing Sterling Call Center - traditional file-based installation.
For customization of Sterling Call Center for the traditional installation, see Setting up development environment (traditional installation).
For information about building customizations, see Building customizations for traditional installation.
For information about deploying customizations, see Deploying customization in traditional installation.

Federated login for Sterling Call Center (on-premises deployments)

You can now set up federated login for Sterling Call Center next-generation application (on premises) for the developer toolkit and for traditional installation. For more information, see Setting up federated login for IBM Sterling Call Center.

1 September 2023 (Release 10.0.2309.0)

Added new external outbound integration capability for IBM Sterling Order Management System Software with Apache Kafka

Sterling Order Management System Software can now send messages to a Kafka topic by using the new Kafka transport component (sender mode) in the IBM Sterling Order Management System Software service definition framework.

For more information, see Apache Kafka.

Third-party library upgrades

Some third-party libraries are upgraded to mitigate high and critical vulnerabilities and for functional requirements. For more information about these upgrades, you can contact IBM product support.

Geronimo servlet jar upgrade to use servlet spec 3.0 V1.0

Stack upgrades

IBM JDK - 8.0.8.10 (1.8.0_381)

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10023090.

4 August 2023 (Release 10.0.2306.2)

The single sign-on is implemented by providing a class that implements the YCPSSOManager interface and by setting the yfs.yfs.security.singlesignon.enabled property to Y in customer overrides. For information about how to write your own class that implements this interface, see Javadoc. If this option is enabled, you cannot login with the username and password for the stand-alone Applications Manager and you must select the Passcode Login checkbox to obtain a passcode from the passcode URL.

For more information, see Launching the stand-alone Applications Manager and System Management Console.

This release contains issues that were fixed to make sure that the application functions smoothly. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10023062.

7 July 2023 (Release 10.0.2306.1)

Issues were fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp_10023061.

Attention: For Sterling Order Management System Software integrations with external applications, the start.jsp login is deprecated in the 10.0.2309.0 release.

2 June 2023 (Release 10.0.2306.0 - legacy release 10.0.0.41)

A continuous delivery license is mandatory for installing fix packs

Sterling Order Management System Software adopted Continuous Delivery support lifecycle policy effective from June 2022. For more information, see Adopting Continuous Delivery support policy. This update makes sure that the Continuous Delivery updates are applied to the traditional on-premises environments through the M0722ML part number for Sterling Order Management System Software V10.00 2022 license update from Passport Advantage. For more information, see Downloading entitled packages.

Third-party library upgrades

Some third-party libraries are upgraded to mitigate high and critical vulnerabilities. For more information about these upgrades, you can contact IBM product support.

Stack upgrades

IBM JDK - 8.0.8.0 (1.8.0_361)
IBM Liberty - 23.0.0.3
IBM MQ - 9.3.0.2

CDT serviceability logging enhancements

Configuration Deployment Tool command line logging is enhanced to add more details regarding handling of PERSON_INFO table, displaying a summary of tables, which has high number of records read, and display the number of records being inserted, modified, and deleted during the deployment phase.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp41.

5 May 2023 (Release 10.0.2303.2 - legacy release 10.0.0.40)

Enhancement to fix the infinite loop exception

Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced to remain unblocked for performing certain operations when infinite loop-detected exception is encountered. You can now successfully view the order in Order Hub or Application Console, cancel the order, and hold the order by using the changeOrder API when infinite loop-detected exception is thrown. This enhancement also allows you to automatically hold the order when the same exception is thrown.

The following properties are added to resolve the infinite loop exception:

yfs.payment.infiniteLoop.paymentHoldType
yfs.payment.infiniteLoop.allowViewingOfOrder

For more information, see Order management yfs.properties file.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp40.

7 April 2023 (Release 10.0.2303.1 - legacy release 10.0.0.39)

Enhancements for publishing refund and settlement details

All settlement and refund payment transactions are now mapped with order events, even when invoices do not exist. Comprehensive payment audit information for mapping order events and payment transactions is logged in the payment audit database tables.

For more information, see Publishing settlement and refund details.

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp39.

3 March 2023 (Release 10.0.2303.0 - legacy release 10.0.0.38)

Configuration Deployment Tool (CDT) enhancements

Environment-specific values can now be deployed or ignored in tables such as PLT_PROPERTY or YFS_COMMON_CODE and are not overridden when CDT is deployed from source to target.

The CDT UI is also updated to use the RecordFilter mode for deploying or ignoring the environment-specific values.

For more information, see Deploying and ignoring selective records while using CDT.

New utility to call Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility API in integrated environment

A new utility service is created to integrate with Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility outside of Sterling Order Management System Software - Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility adapter. For more information, see Calling Sterling Inventory Visibility API in integrated environment.

Database Query tool enhancements

Enhancements in the Database Query tool to tune the HADR timeout and the error message that is displayed when the HADR database is down.

Enhancements for property management

Support is provided for orphan custom property record deletion from the manageProperty API even when metadata does not exist.

Performance enhancements for real-time dashboards

Performance is enhanced for data-tier that is used for Order Hub metrics and the Store Manager dashboard.

Logging enhancements

The default Gzip compression of logs that are rolled over by RollingFileAppender.
Cache Drop WARN messages are now unavailable that can now be added as records in the statistics table.
Create traces with WARN and INFO trace levels in certain scenarios. Call the getTraceLevels API to verify.
The Default Template not found WARN messages are logged as DEBUG.

Third-party library upgrades

Some third-party libraries are upgraded to mitigate high and critical vulnerabilities. If you need any further information about these upgrades, contact IBM product support.

Stack upgrades

IBM JDK - 8.0.7.20 (1.8.0_351)
Db2 - 11.5.8
JBoss® Enterprise Application Platform 7.4 Update 8

Issues were also fixed in this release. For more information, see ../installation/omfp/c_DefectsAddressedInThisFixPack.html#fp38.

20 January 2023 (10.0.2209.2)

Date breakup feature migration from Inventory Visibility

Sterling Order Management System Software integration with Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility (inventory management system (phase 2)) now uses Availability by date breakup and Reservations by date breakup features that are available in Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility. Thus, improving inventory allocation for future inventory and time sensitive items.

For more information, see Order fulfillment by using Availability by date breakup.

Pricing enhancements

IBM Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced to prevent a fixed-price pricing rule or coupon from increasing the price of an item, if the existing price is already less than the fixed price. Additionally, the discount is distributed based on the fixed price of order line instead of order line weightage. It is applicable for unit price and price types. To use the feature, set the YPM_PREVENT_FIXED_PRICING_RULE_PRICE_RISE system rule for the organization. For more information, see Fixed price promotions.
The IBM Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced to allow a single pricing rule or coupon, based on the payment type, to handle scenarios where an order is associated with multiple payment types. To use the feature, set the YPM_IS_MULTIPLE_PAYMENT_TYPE_PRICING_RULE_ENABLED system rule for the organization.

Ability to update YFS_CHARGE_CATEGORY extension fields

The YFS_CHARGE_CATEGORY table is now extensible so that you can add new columns and update values in the database.

Order Hub enhancements

Applying holds to order lines
Holds can be applied to entire orders or now to individual order lines. For more information, see Applying order holds and cancellations.
Managing distribution groups
Create and manage distribution groups from within Order Hub. For more information, see Managing distribution groups.
Defining editable columns in existing tables
Update the buc-table-config.json file to define editable table columns with their configurations and options. For more information, see Adding columns and actions to existing tables

To know more about the issues that were fixed in Order Hub refer to Order Hub resolved issues.

September 2022 (10.0.2209.1)

Order Hub availability on premises

Order Hub is now available on premises, also known as a traditional installation.

Order Hub is an IBM Sterling Order Management System Software user interface that fulfillment and order management professionals can use to manage their fulfillment network. You can translate your business goals into actions within the fulfillment network by using the intuitive interface, contextual data, and key performance metrics that Order Hub provides.

Using Order Hub, you can view various metrics and to monitor nodes, orders, and shipments across your network. You can also define alert rules to identify SLA and progress risks and display alerts on your workspace.

For more information about Order Hub, see Order Hub overview.

For setup instructions, see Installing Order Hub.

Installing Sterling Store Engagement (Next-generation)

Sterling Store Engagement can now be installed on premises, also known as a traditional installation. For more information about the installation instructions, see Installing Sterling Store Engagement (Next-generation) using command line.

Export purge enhancements

A new getExportDataDetails API is added to retrieve single data from the YFS_EXPORT table based on the export key. For more information, see Javadoc.

September 2022 (10.0.2209.0)

Data compression enhancements

Enabling data compression for columns
Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced to provide a configuration to compress data of compression supported columns. By using the configuration, you can compress the column data anytime without having to customize, rebuild, and redeploy Sterling Order Management System Software. For more information about updated compression guidelines, see Guidelines for adding support for data compression for columns.

For more information about configuring compression properties, see compression properties.
History data compression support
A new property is introduced to enable data compression on all the compression supported columns when data is being written to history tables. The property ensures that the data that is written in history tables is compressed even if compression is not enabled for the compression supported columns in transaction table. For more information about configuring the property, see history compression property.
YFS_IMPORT and YFS_EXPORT tables compression support
Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced to support compression for MESSAGE column of YFS_IMPORT and YFS_EXPORT tables.

Order audit enhancements

Order Audit Delete Purge agent
The new Order Audit Delete Purge agent extends the capability of Order Purge agent by deleting the order audit records from Sterling Order Management System Software before the Order Purge agent purges the order. For more information about Order Audit Delete Purge agent, see Order audit delete purge.
Order Purge agent
The behavior of the Order Purge agent is enhanced to support configuration to delete the order audit data rather than moving it to history table, and publish the order audit data through a user exit. For more information about configuring delete of order audit, see order audit delete property.

For Order Audit Delete Purge and Order Purge agents, the Sterling Order Management System Software provides YFSBeforeOrderAuditPurgeUE user exit that publishes the order audit records being deleted from the application on purge of an order. Implement the user exit, if you want to store order audit records outside of Sterling Order Management System Software for future reference. For more information, see java API documentation.

Export purge enhancements

A new criteria parameter is added to ignore the status value and purge all records. For more information about IgnoreStatus, see Export table purge.
A new getExportDataList API is added to retrieve data from the YFS_EXPORT table. For more information, see Javadoc.

Trace component configuration enhancement

The traceable components now come with a time to live configuration and the tracing would no more happen indefinitely. While creating the traceable component configuration, you can pass the time to live (TraceTTL) attribute as part of the modifyTraces API. If this TTL configuration is not passed, it is defaulted to 10 minutes. For more information, see Extending trace expiry time for logs.

Upgrade impact: Yes.

When you deploy the Sterling Order Management System Software (version 10.0.2209.0), all your active trace components might stop because the default TTL to retain the trace is 10 minutes. You can enable the trace again. For more information, see Tracing a component.

July 2022 (10.0.2206.2)

No new features or enhancements were added in this release. For a list of resolved issues, see Release Notes.

June 2022 (10.0.2206.1)

No new features or enhancements were added in this release. For a list of resolved issues, see Release Notes.

March 2022

Log4j version 1 upgraded to Log4j version 2: The application uses the log4j2 (2.17.1) utility for logging. The log4j2 utility writes trace and debug information to a log file. You can modify the logging parameters in the log4j2 configuration file to control the location and level of the log files. For more information, see Migrating to log4j2 and Customizing log4j2.

December 2020

Node capacity considerations for procurements

By default, during procurement capacity is considered only at a procurement node. Now, you can configure a rule to consider capacity at both ship nodes and procurement nodes.

For more information about the node capacity considerations for procurements, see Node capacity for procurements.
For more information about configuring the procurement rules, see Defining forwarding or transfer rules.

June 2020

Node capacity resource pool for UOM "Line"

Note: To use this functionality, you must apply fix pack 15 or later.

As a Fulfillment Manager, in addition to configuring the node capacity resource pool for the UOM "Unit" or "Release", you can now configure inventory capacity for the UOM "Line" as well.

For more information about the node capacity functionality, see Node capacity.
For more information about configuring inventory capacity for UOM "Line", see Create a resource pool.

September 2018

Installing IBM Sterling Order Management System Software in Docker mode: The IBM Sterling Order Management System Software installer now supports installation of IBM Sterling Order Management System Software in Docker mode that can be used to set up a runtime for generating Docker images. Learn more...

Containerizing IBM Sterling Order Management System Software for deployment using Docker: Step-by-step instructions are provided for containerizing IBM Sterling Order Management System Software for deployment using Docker. These instructions help users deploy Docker containers into deployment patterns that are portable. In addition, IBM Sterling Order Management System Software provides Kubernetes scripts that enable auto-scaling to support variable business workloads.

Container-based integrated developer toolkit: The new container-based integrated developer toolkit helps to set up an environment for developing extensions without the need to install or configure middleware separately. For more information about using the developer toolkit to set up an environment for customization and other advanced uses. Learn more...

Data integration between IBM Sterling Order Management System Software and Watson Order Optimizer: IBM Sterling Order Management System Software is enhanced with the capability to integrate with Watson Order Optimizer through Universal Behavior Exchange, a common data-exchange platform. Learn more...

Inventory Allocation based on Segmentation: Inventory Allocation based on Segmentation feature allows creation of demands against a custom segment type to optionally consider the unsegmented inventory when segmented quantity is insufficient. Using this feature, you can create custom segment types and define whether the custom segment type can consume inventory from the unsegmented inventory or not. Learn more...

Sourcing Audit: Sourcing Audit feature is provided for effectively tuning and resetting sourcing rules to reflect the changing business priorities. You can enable the sourcing audit functionality to analyze the effectiveness of sourcing and scheduling configurations. By analyzing the audit data captured by the application, you can iteratively enhance the business outcomes of an efficient sourcing rule engine. Learn more...

Order Orchestration: This release introduces support for order orchestration of complex orders that have inter-dependencies within their child components, for example telecom order. This feature allows creation of an order that can be dynamically decomposed into multiple orders based on external business rules and process them sequentially. The new functionality also provides a data structure to store dependencies between related orders. This helps the product to work with complex orders in an efficiently. The application provides a custom API implementation and customizable service configurations for each component of the order orchestration process such as Validation, Decomposition, and Execution. Learn more...

General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) compliance

As part of this release, the IBM Sterling Order Management System Software is made compliant with GDPR laws of personal data protection. A set of Service Definition Framework (SDF) services are introduced to perform the following operations:

Retrieve individual's personal data and order history on request.
Delete an individual's personal data on request.
Stop processing customer data for an individual on request.

Support for GDPR is property-controlled and is disabled by default. If disabled, GDPR enhancements do not affect the existing functionality. Learn more...

Integration of IBM Sterling Order Management System Software with IBM Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility: The integration of IBM Sterling Order Management System Software with IBM Sterling Intelligent Promising Inventory Visibility service is enabled. This provides various benefits such as eliminating multiple copies and caches of inventory, deploys and load balances across multiple data centers, and so on. Learn more...

Agent and Integration Server Dashboard: Server Dashboard UI consisting of a Single Page Application is added to the System Management Administrator (SMA) to display the details of Agent Server and Integration Server. Using the dashboard, the customer administrator can view Agent Server/Agent Criteria Details or Integration Server and its details. You can start and stop or restart agent or integration servers. The dashboard also displays any active traces for the servers and how long they have been active. Learn more...

BOPIS capability: BOPIS deployment accelerator provides the basic configurations that are needed for organizations to provide Buy Online Pickup In Store (BOPIS) capability in their stores. Retailers can offer BOPIS service to their customers and can get additional benefits such as inventory optimization and fewer returns. Learn more...

Property management UI: The Property Management UI, which is bundled in the System Management and Administration (SMA) application, to manage properties in the database. Using the Property Management UI, you can search for a property, create a new property, modify property values and add overrides. For more information, see Managing properties in the database using the System Administration Console.

Watson Assistant Help is integrated with IBM Sterling Order Management System Software application

Watson Assistant is a cognitive help assistant embedded in the IBM Sterling Order Management System Software application. It aims to improve your information experience by answering questions related to the product usage. Watson Assistant is a handy ‘online help’ that reduces unnecessary navigation. It understands the natural language and responds with immediate and the most relevant results to your query.

To start chatting with Watson, click Watson Assistant Help on the user interface.

What's new in IBM Sterling Order Management System Software optional components: Data Driven Modeling (DDM) framework
As part of this release, support for data driven modeling technique is introduced in Visual Modeler and Sterling Omni-Configurator applications. This feature enables you to define configuration model (in Visual Modeler) with DDM properties and dynamically inject them into a model based on the data that is derived from other systems such as catalog, CRM,Watson, and so on. It also helps in reducing the maintenance cost by eliminating the manual process of constructing model components. Learn more...