IBM BPM, V8.0.1, All platforms > Create processes in IBM Process Designer > Enabling processes for tracking and reporting
Tracking IBM BPM performance data
To create customized and third-party reports in IBM BPM, you need to identify the data to track and send that data to the Performance Data Warehouse.
To track data in a business process definition (BPD), use autotracking, tracking groups, or both.
- Autotracking automatically captures data from tracking points at the entry and exit of each item in a BPD (for example, services, activities, and gateways).
- Tracking groups provide more control over tracked data. Use them to track a selected group of process variables across multiple BPDs or process applications and to store tracking points for a timing interval.
You can take advantage of both tracking methods in a single BPD.
If you use both autotracking and tracking groups, you can create a timing interval.
After you configure data tracking for your BPD, and each time you subsequently update your data tracking requirements, you must send the tracking definitions to the Business Performance Data Warehouse. When you send tracking definitions, either directly or as part of a snapshot deployment, the Business Performance Data Warehouse establishes the structure in its database to hold the data that is generated by the Process Server when you run instances of your processes. In IBM BPM, these tracking requirements are called definitions because they establish the database schema in the Business Performance Data Warehouse to accommodate the tracked data generated by the Process Server.
When you make any changes to your tracking requirements in Process Designer, you must send the definitions to the Performance Data Warehouse. So, when developing on the Process Center Server, be sure to send definitions when you makes changes. For process applications deployed in runtime environments, snapshot any changes and deploy the new snapshot to ensure that the data you want to collect is available in the runtime environment.
- Data tracking considerations
Before you implement data tracking in a process application, make sure you understand the supported data types and naming conventions, as well as any considerations for working with versioned data.- Autotracking IBM BPM performance data
Use autotracking if you want to capture data to quickly configure and publish reports using the ad hoc wizard, or if you want to capture data that automatically includes tracking points at the entry and exit of each item in a BPD.For example, use autotracking if you know that you want to compare the duration for each activity in a BPD.
- Tracking groups of process variables
Use tracking groups if you want to explicitly control your tracked data and tracking points.For example, you can group the variables that you want to track by type, strategically place tracking points in your BPD, and track variables across multiple BPDs. With tracking groups, your tracking points can also span multiple BPDs.
- Create a timing interval
If you want to analyze the amount of time that elapses between certain steps in your process, you can add tracking points to your BPD and then create a timing interval to capture the duration between defined start and end points. When you create a timing interval, you can create custom reports that enable you to calculate the duration of a process, or compare the duration of several processes.