WebSphere Lombardi Edition 7.2 > Simulating and optimizing processes


Reviewing results

Lombardi Optimizer presents analysis results in:

To see all views in the Optimizer, including the Smart Start view and the Recommendations view, select Full from the drop-down menu in the lower left corner of Lombardi Authoring Environment.

The following sections describe how to interpret these results.


Understand heat maps

The Optimizer displays a color-coded heat map to visually illustrate where bottlenecks and other problems exist in the processes included in your scenario, and how severe those issues are. The darker the halo around an activity, the closer it is to the high end of the scale or range that you specified in the Heatmap Settings view.

To display heat maps for other processes in the scenario, you can use the Smart Start view. Click an activity shown in the Hotspot list to go directly to the process in which that problematic activity resides. You can also click a process name shown in the Scenario Scope. However, some processes included in the scenario may not produce issues (halos around activities) or show results per the current Visualization Mode. Details about the Smart Start view are provided in a following section.

The following example heat map shows two activities identified as bottlenecks because their wait times all exceed the valued specified at the high end of the scale for the Wait Time Visualization mode (3 hours):

You can see details about the data used to render the heat map color coding by mousing over an activity that is surrounded by a halo. When you do, the Optimizer displays relevant data in easy to read charts and graphs. These same charts and graphs are also included in the Live Reports view.

For simulations, the Optimizer uses the default simulation data or the simulation values that you provided when creating simulation profiles to show you where bottlenecks are likely to occur. For historical analyses and comparisons, the Optimizer uses stored performance data to indicate problem areas in your processes.


Understand live reports

The data displayed in the Live Reports view depends upon the current editor and selection. For example, if you are examining a heat-mapped process diagram and you have selected an activity in that diagram, the Live Reports view shows data specific to that activity.

The following figure shows a live report for a process. To view such a report, click the process pool in a heat-mapped process diagram.

A live report for a process includes the sections shown in the preceding figure. The first two charts illustrate duration data for instances of this process and the final pie chart shows all processes that the users involved in this process worked on.

When you run a comparative analysis, the first two charts include data in red and blue where blue represents the performance of the favorable scenario.

The other sections and information include:

Section Information provided
Instance Analysis Shows the number of executing and completed instances as well as duration.
KPI Analysis Provides information regarding the Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) tracked for each activity in this process.
Activity Analysis Displays data for each activity in the process, including the number of waiting, executing and completed activities, and the minimum, maximum, and average waiting and execution times for each activity.

The following figure shows a Live Report for an activity. To view such a report, click an activity in a heat-mapped process diagram.

The first two charts displayed in a Live Report for an activity are the same charts that you see when you mouse over an activity in a heat-mapped process diagram. The final pie chart shows all activities that the users for this activity worked on.

The Details table for the activity includes different columns of information, depending on which Visualization Mode is currently set. For the example report shown in the preceding figure, the Visualization Mode is Wait Time.

You can click other elements in your process diagram to see live report data for those elements. For example, if you click on a path from a gateway, the Live Report view shows the process instances that followed that path.

When you select multiple activities or other process elements in a process diagram, the Detail table in the Live Report view includes data for each selected element. The same is true when you select a swim lane in a process diagram. Selecting a swim lane causes the Live Report view to show data for each process element in that lane.

When you run a comparative analysis, such as Simulation versus Simulation, the Live Reports view shows two Detail tables—one for Scenario A and another for Scenario B.

The Details table in a live report includes only the first 1,000 rows of available data. However, when you open the report in Excel, all rows are included. To open a report in Excel, click the Excel icon at the top of the report.


Reviewing recommendations

To get recommendations for a problematic Activity or other element in a process, click an element with a halo around it in the heat map. The following image shows an example Recommendations view from the Lombardi Optimizer:

To see all views in the Optimizer, including the Recommendations view, select Full from the drop-down menu in the lower left corner of Lombardi Authoring Environment.

The Recommendations view makes practical recommendations for addressing issues that are identified in your processes, and suggestions for how to optimize your process models. The recommendations may encourage you to examine other visualization modes to gain a better understanding of a particular pattern or behavior in your processes.

Resolving identified issues can involve questions such as:

Some recommendations are presented with a cheat sheet that guides you through performing the recommended actions, step by step. To open the cheat sheet, click Guide Me. Other recommendations provide instructions for refining your analysis or suggestions for improving process performance, such as prioritizing tasks, training resources, and so on.

The data displayed in the Recommendations view depends upon the current editor and selection. For example, if you run a scenario, the Recommendations view initially instructs you to select a haloed element or investigate hotspots. The preceding image shows an example of what the Recommendations view looks like after running an Analysis Scenario and then selecting a highlighted activity in a heat-mapped process diagram.

The cheat sheets in the Recommendations view provide three types of interactive Help:

Tell Me Provides step-by-step instructions for completing a task within the Authoring Environment graphical interface.
Show Me Provides step-by-step instructions that include actions to take you to the part of the interface where steps are performed.
Do It For Me Provides executable Help actions which, when clicked, perform a task or parts of a task for you.

The example in the preceding image shows the recommendations for an Activity that is bottlenecked. Review all the recommendations to determine which action would best address the bottlenecks for the Activity. For example, you may not have the option to add more resources to the Activity, so you would consider other alternatives that are presented in the Recommendations view.

Some recommendations include Guided Optimization. To learn more, see the section about using the Guided Optimization Wizard in Sample historical analyses and comparisons.


Use the Smart Start view

The following image shows the Smart Start view:

To see all views in the Optimizer, including the Smart Start view, select Full from the drop-down menu in the lower left corner of Lombardi Authoring Environment.

The Smart Start view directs you to the activities and processes that deserve a closer look based on the most recently executed analysis scenario and the current visualization mode. The Smart Start view enables you to directly access:

For example, if several activities in several different BPDs exceed a range that you establish in the Heatmap Settings, you can click each activity shown in the Hotspots list to go directly to the BPD in which that activity resides. The problem activity is shown in red in the heatmap of the BPD.

The available Hotspots in the Smart Start view are determined by the Visualization Mode you choose in the Heatmap settings. For example, if you choose Wait Time as the Visualization Mode, the Hotspots list includes:

However, if you choose Exception Path, Happy Path, or Path as the Visualization Mode, the Hotspots list shows paths that meet or exceed the criteria that you establish instead of activities.

The Scenario Scope in the Smart Start view includes:

Parent topic: Simulating and optimizing processes

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