WebSphere Lombardi Edition 7.2 > Simulating and optimizing processes
Run simulations, historical analyses, and comparisons
Before you begin
Before getting started, you should:
- See Configuration requirements for simulation to understand the configuration tasks required to run simulations.
- See Configuration requirements for optimization to understand the configuration tasks required to run historical analyses and comparisons.
- Access the Optimizer by selecting Optimizer from the drop-down menu at the top of Lombardi Authoring Environment.
The following image shows the views in the Optimizer that you will work with:
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 as shown in the preceding image. Select Simple from the drop-down menu if you want to hide the Smart Start and Recommendations views.
Run scenarios
- From the drop-down list in
the Analysis Scenarios view, select the mode that you want.
Available modes include:
Single Simulation Simulate the processes included in the Simulation Analysis Scenario that you select in the following step. Simulation vs. Simulation Simulate and compare the processes in one Simulation Analysis Scenario to those in another scenario per your selections in the following step. Single Historical Analyze the stored performance data for the processes included in the Historical Analysis Scenario that you select in the following step. Historical vs. Historical Analyze and compare the stored performance data for the processes in one Historical Analysis Scenario to those in another scenario per your selections in the following step. Historical vs. Simulation (How did I do) Compare the stored performance data for the processes in the Historical Analysis Scenario to the simulations for the processes in the Simulation Analysis Scenario per your selections in the following step. Simulation vs. Historical (What if) Compare the simulations for the processes in the Simulation Analysis Scenario to the stored performance data for the processes in the Historical Analysis Scenario per your selections in the following step. Run historical analyses using data from other configured environments
- Click the
Select button beneath
Selected Scenarios to select the analysis
scenario(s) that you want to run.
If you're running a comparative analysis, you must select a baseline scenario (B) and a sample scenario (A) to compare to the baseline.
- In the Heatmap Settings
view, click the currently displayed Visualization Mode to see a list of
available modes.
Visualization Modes enable you to establish the criteria for the heat maps and live reports that the Optimizer generates for the processes included in your scenario(s).
The Optimizer displays Wait Time, Execution Time, and Total Time only for those activities that generate end-user tasks. The Optimizer does not display Wait Time, Execution Time, or Total Time for activities that are implemented using sub-processes.
By default, the KPI thresholds used by the Visualization Modes are the thresholds from the current working version of your process application or toolkit. To use the KPI thresholds from the snapshot (version) of your process application or toolkit that was most recently executed and tracked, change the Optimizer preference setting (for KPI threshold values) to: Use the KPI threshold values from the actual version of the Process App/Toolkit. You can access preference settings from the main Authoring Environment File menu: Preferences > Lombardi > Optimizer.
Select the Visualization Mode that you want from the list:
Wait Time Measures the time that elapses between Lombardi generating a task and an end user opening that task. For example, the amount of time that a task sits in an end user's Inbox in Lombardi Process Portal before it is opened is considered Wait Time. Execution Time Measures the time that elapses between an end user opening a task and then completing and closing that task. For example, the amount of time that it takes an end user to fill in required data on a Coach form is considered Execution Time. Total Time Measures the time that elapses between Lombardi generating a task and an end user closing that task (Wait Time + Execution Time). Efficiency Compares the expected execution time established in the Execution Time Key Performance Indicator (KPI) to the actual execution time. For example, if the actual execution time for a task is 2 hours and the expected execution time set in the Execution Time KPI is 4 hours, the Optimizer displays an efficiency of 200%. You can set KPIs in the KPI tab for each activity. If you don't set values for each field in a KPI, Lombardi uses default values. You can open each KPI to see the default values. For more information,
Waiting Activities Displays the count or total volume of tasks generated by Lombardi that have not yet been opened by an end user. Executing Activities Displays the count or total volume of tasks generated by Lombardi that have been opened by an end user. Completed Activities Displays the count or total volume of tasks generated by Lombardi that have been closed by an end user. Happy Path Shows how often the happy paths (best case routes) through a process are taken. Exception Path Shows how often exception paths (alternative routes) through a process are taken. Path Displays results for all paths (Happy Path + Exception Path). SLA Displays results based on Service Level Agreement (SLA) violations Rework Displays results based on Activities that violate the Rework KPI. By default, an Activity is considered rework if it is executed more than once during a process instance. You can change the default settings for the Rework KPI in the KPI tab for each Activity. When you're running in a non-comparison mode (single simulation or single historical ) and you view resulting heat maps, items highlighted in red are problematic. When you're running in a comparison mode, items highlighted in blue represent the sample scenario (A) and items highlighted in red represent the baseline scenario (B).
- Edit the settings for the
Visualization Mode that you select.
For example, if you select Wait Time, set the measure, value, and scale that you want from the following specification:
Use measure, show me value, scaled from days:hours:minutes to days:hours:minutes.
The selections for measure include:
Clock time Includes all elapsed time. Calendar time Includes only business hours from the elapsed time. The selections for value include:
% of instances outside of range Shows the percent of process instances outside the activity threshold or fixed range that you designate. (You can designate activity thresholds using the KPIs tab in the Process Modeler's properties.) Average value Shows the average wait times within the scale that you designate. Total value Shows the total wait times within the scale that you designate. For the scale, you can specify the low and then high values of the range of wait times for which you want to check. For the Wait Time mode, specify the range in days, hours, and minutes.
- In the Analysis Scenarios view, click the Calculate button.
- Examine the results of the analysis as outlined in Reviewing results.
Parent topic: Simulating and optimizing processes