Conduct What-If Analysis

Using test cases, you can easily perform what-if analysis to see the results that different policy model versions yield. This is done by comparing the outcomes from before and after the rules change.

Tip: You can use Excel charts to create visual representations of the what-if analysis results. What-if analysis using test cases is demonstrated in the myBenefits and ServiceDelta example policy models that are installed with Policy Modeling.

To conduct what-if analysis:

  1. In your testing document, create your input data.
  2. Add columns for the actual values.
  3. Run the test cases. This will generate the actual results which will be shown in the Actual columns.
  4. Select each of the Actual columns and click Keep. This creates a new column for each outcome which is a copy of the actual results.

    A testing document in Excel showing actual columns which have been duplicated

    You can rename copied columns as required (you cannot, however, rename Actual columns).

    A testing document in Excel showing Kept columns that have been renamed
  5. In Policy Modeling, change the rules as required.
  6. In the testing document, run the test cases again. This will update the Actual columns which can then be compared with the previous outcome values (shown in the 'kept' columns), allowing you to see how changes in policy have affected the results.

    A testing document in Excel showing actual columns which have been updated with new values to compare them with previous values
  7. (Optional) Select each of the Actual columns and click Keep. This creates another 'kept' column which is a copy of the new results.

    A testing document in Excel showing two different sets of results

The Keep option can also be used with Results columns to keep track of results over time.

A testing document in Excel showing different sets of results over time

For example, the ServiceDelta example policy has an entity "the service", contained in the relationship "the services", with inferred relationships "the future services" and "the existing services".

The relationships for the Global entity in the Service Delta example project in Oracle Policy Modeling

The entity’s identifying attribute "the service" can only have four values, inferred in rules. Provided all four values of "the service" are defined on the entity sheet of the what-if testing document:

The four values for "the service" entity identifying attribute defined on the entity worksheet in a testing document

then the inferred relationships can be generated as actual outcomes:

The Test Cases in the Service Delta example project showing the actual outcomes defined.

The actual outcome values are the identifying attributes of instances who are members of the relationship.

Note: Values of other attributes on inferred entities cannot be generated using what-if analysis but can be tested through standard test cases.