New features and changes in version 12.0

Upgrade Paths

Fast Upgrade

Unica Campaign 12.0 supports the fast upgrade approach. This approach allows upgrades from version 8.6 onwards to version 12.0. This helps customers bypassing the multi-step upgrade. The Fast Upgrade approach is also useful in reducing upgrade downtime. The approach is provided for Unica Platform, Campaign, Optimize, Plan, Interact for upgrade from 8.6.x version onwards. For details, see the Fast Upgrade documentation released with version 12.0.

New third party softwares supported

See the Recommended Software Environments and Minimum System Requirements guide for more details.

Campaign and Optimize – replace GSKIT with OpenSSL

Campaign flowchart execution Email Notifications

Unica Campaign can now send email notifications to user's on-flowchart execution statuses.

Campaign REST API Support for Campaign objects like Campaigns, Session, Flowcharts, Process boxes, and swagger documentation

Campaign application has opened up APIs through REST, which can be used in any third-party application. Before using these APIs in any third-party tools users must generate the authentication token using the following Platform API. Its recommended that Unica Platform users consume these APIs.

For more details on the swagger documentation, see the Unica application Campaign Settings page > API Documentation.

On Swagger documentation, page authentication steps are not required as the user is already logged in Unica application:

PLATFORM AUTH_API with POST method -http://{host:port}/unica/api/manager/authentication/login

Request header

m_user_name:{platform_user_name} 
m_user_password:{platform_password} 
RESPONSE- Above API will return token which should be used in subsequent APIs 
Eg: CAMPAIGN_API : http://{host:port}/Campaign/api/campaign/rest/v3/campaigns/search 
Request Header for Subsequent APIs: 
m_user_name: {platform_user_name} 
m_tokenId: {platform_token_id} 
api_auth_mode: manager 
Content-Type:application/json 

Campaign and Optimize seamless integration

Unica 12.0 release comes up with seamless integration of Unica Campaign and Unica Optimize. Unica Optimize session management, execution, and clustering capabilities are introduced with v12.0. Prior to v12.0 Campaign administrators were required to switch from Optimize to Campaign several times. Campaign users were required to design Optimize session, come to Campaign flowchart and design a pre-optimization flowchart, navigate back to Optimize and execute the Optimize session. Design or navigate to post-optimization flowchart and run the flowchart. Unica Campaign and Unica Optimize seamless integration will help the users with session management, seamless execution, and clustering support to Optimize session execution.

Unica Optimize Session management using Campaign flowchart

Flowchart designer would be able to create, edit, copy Optimize sessions in Campaign flowchart Optimize process box. Optimize process box will have the capability to create new optimize session, add or edit optimization rules in the newly created session. Users can also edit the existing session and update the rules in it. User can also create a copy of the existing session along with rules in Optimize process box. While selecting Optimize session users can search for the sessions and assign in Optimize process box.

Optimize sessions created or edited from Optimize process box will be available on the legacy Optimize Session listing as well. There is no change in the existing Optimize session listing page capabilities.

Unica Optimize Session management Seamless execution

In Campaign flowchart – Optimize process box, a new option is provided “Yes! I want to run this session now”. Flowchart designer can select the checkbox to execute the Optimize Session along with Optimize session execution. This will help Campaign designers to merge Optimize pre-optimization and post-optimization flowcharts in single flowchart execution. Users are not required to keep a watch or write any script to run Optimize session after the completion of its respective process-box run.

There is no change in the existing flowchart designs or optimize session executions.

Clustering support to Unica Optimize Session execution:

Optimize session execution is not supported with clustering capabilities using Campaign listener. By implementing the back-end Campaign Analytics server on multiple physical machines, you allow for automatic load balancing of Optimize session execution using a round robin approach based on administrator-defined values for priority and weight. Campaign listener is now having “listenerType” configuration, which decides whether it will execute Campaign flowcharts, Optimize Session or both. Based on the ListenerType configuration value, Campaign Listener will pick up the execution requests. Prior to v12.0, all Optimize session execution happened on the single machine. With Optimize listener installation and with clustering support Optimize session execution will now happen on cluster listeners with “listenerType” as “Run Optimize Session” or with ListenerType as “Run Campaign flowchart and Optimize session both”.

This will eventually enable the users to run more Optimize sessions and reduce the execution time.

Existing Campaign listener clustering capabilities are used for Optimize sessions. This would not require any new cluster configurations. Existing Campaign listener configurations would serve both Campaign and Optimize session clustering support.

Campaign installer capabilities to install Optimize

Centralized Offer Management

Starting from v12.0, Unica is introducing a new product called as Centralized Offer Management. This product can be used as a central place for Offer Management. If you are planning to configure Centralized Offer Management, please see the Centralized Offer Management installation guide for more details.

Centralized Offer Management product is an additional component to start managing offers available in the Campaign Offer management. If you do not have Centralized Offer Management module installed or enabled, then Campaign Offer management will continue working as it is.

Once you install and enable Centralized Offer management, all offers information including (templates, attributes, offer folders, offers, offer lists) would become available in the Centralized Offer management. Centralized Offer management module can be turned ON and OFF based on configuration. This will not impact any offers data whether its created in Campaign Offers or in Centralized Offers Management module.

Out of the Box Reports with BIRT reporting tool

Campaign now supports BIRT as a reporting tool for reporting purposes. BIRT reporting tool would be by default bundled and available with Unica Platform. Campaign provides all out of the box support with BIRT reporting tool for system databases, such as SQL, ORA and DB2. BIRT or IBM Cognos reporting support would not be available for system tables such as MariaDB. This will not require users to purchase new licenses of IBM Cognos. Users would be able to use either BIRT reporting tool or Cognos, but not both at the same time.