6 Using Dashboards in Process Workspace

Users of Oracle Business Process Management Workspace (Process Workspace) can use and customize process monitor and standard dashboards—that is, the displays, graphs and drill-downs based on data previously computed in a process cube schema. Dashboards reflect the standard metrics gathered during the execution of a process.

• About Process Monitor and Standard Dashboards

• Using the Process Monitor Dashboard

• Using Standard Dashboards

• Creating Custom Dashboards

• Understanding Data Visibility Rules in Dashboards

6.1 About Process Monitor and Standard Dashboards

Process Workspace has two types of dashboards: process monitor dashboards and standard dashboards.

Process monitor dashboards enable you to monitor and optimize process execution by identifying bottlenecks and other performance problems.

Standard dashboards present the standard metrics gathered during the execution of a process as graphs and drill-downs. The information displayed is based on data previously computed in a process cube schema.

6.1.1 Accessing Process Monitor and Standard Dashboards

To access the Process Monitor dashboard, from the Process Workspace home page, select Dashboards, then Process Monitor.

To access the standard dashboards, from the Process Workspace home page, select Dashboards, then Standard Dashboards.

6.2 Using the Process Monitor Dashboard

Use the Process Monitor dashboard to monitor process execution performance and identify problems with processes and activities.

6.2.1 Process Monitor Dashboard

Use the process monitor dashboard to select the process to monitor, the time interval over which to view statistics, and to view information and see alerts that enable you to identify process issues that are affecting performance.

In addition, other activity performance statistics related to the activities in the processes are generated and accessible for inspection.

Figure 6-1 Process Monitor Dashboard

Description of "Figure 6-1 Process Monitor Dashboard"

The process monitor dashboard, as shown in Figure 6-1 includes the following controls:

• Process - select the process to monitor

• Time Interval - select the time interval to view. Choices include:

  • Last 24 Hours

  • Last Five Days

  • Last One Month

  • Last Six Months

  • Last One Year

  • All

• Completed Instances - the number of completed process instances over the selected time period

• Faulted Instances - the number of process instances that failed or had other faults

• Avg Time - the average processing time of process instances

• Processing time - deviation (plus or minus times) from the average processing time for process instances

• Zoom control

• Process diagram - interactive diagram of the process, including swimlanes showing roles.

• Restore Pane - displays the performance graphs

6.2.1.1 Identifying and Viewing Alerts and Other Activity Metrics

Activities that have processing issues such as bottlenecks, appear with a yellow or red halo around them, as shown in Figure 6-1.

Alert types include:

• Time Problem

• Queue Problem

• Major Increment From Average

• Bottleneck

In addition to alert details, you can view additional process and activity and statistics

• Metrics

• Human Task

See About the Activity Details Dialog for details on the fields available for each of the alerts and statistics categories.

The color of the halo reflects the type and severity of the processing issue:

• Yellow - the issue is a time problem or a queue problem

• Red - the issue is both a time problem and a queue problem and is therefore a bottleneck, or the issue is a major increase in the historical average processing metrics for an activity

6.2.1.2 Viewing Performance Graphs

To view performance graphs, click Restore Pane in the lower right corner of the process monitor dashboard. This opens the performance graphs pane as shown in Figure 6-2

Figure 6-2 Process Monitor Dashboard Performance Graphs

Description of "Figure 6-2 Process Monitor Dashboard Performance Graphs"

Two graphs are provided - Workload per activity, and Performance per activity. Click the graph elements to display more information about them. These are similar to the graphs discussed in Using Standard Dashboards.

6.2.2 About the Activity Details Dialog

Process monitoring information for activities clicked in the process diagram are displayed in a pop-up Activity Details dialog box.

To see the details for activities with issues, hover over the activity and click the information icon that appears, as shown in Figure 6-3

Figure 6-3 Activity With Processing Alert and Information Icon

Description of "Figure 6-3 Activity With Processing Alert and Information Icon"

Activity details are displayed in the Activity Details dialog. Select a different type of detail by selecting it from the drop-down list.

Figure 6-4 Activity Details Dialog

Description of "Figure 6-4 Activity Details Dialog"

You can view statistics for activities that do not have any critical issues. These include user tasks, and other activities that BAM is configured to collect event metrics for.

Different sets of metrics are displayed in the Activity Details dialog. Select the metrics to view from the drop-down. Choices depend on the activity type, and whether there is a processing issue or not.

The different metric types are discussed in the following section. Note that not all metric types are available for all activities.

Time Problem

A time problem is generated when the time an activity takes to execute a single instance is long enough to impact the overall execution time of the process.

For each process, both the elapsed time and estimated time to completion are calculated (as well as their average, maximum, minimum and variance). These are based on previously completed process instances that have followed the same execution paths as the in-progress processes.

Fields displayed include:

• Execution Time

• Completed Instances

• Active Instances

Queue Problem

A queue problem exists when the number of instances waiting to be executed cause an impact on the process execution time, even though the execution time for a single activity may be acceptable.

Fields displayed include:

• Execution Time

• Completed Instances

• Active Instances

Major Increment From Average

This problem is flagged when the execution time for an activity has increased significantly from the historical average. The analysis is not related to the process execution time per se, but is based on a comparison between how the process behaved in the past and how it is currently behaving.

Fields displayed include:

• Execution Time

• Completed Instances

• Active Instances

Bottleneck

A bottleneck appears when there are activities that are taking significantly longer than the execution time average, and there is a queue problem at the same time. In other words, there are many instances of an activity and the execution time for each of the instances is expected to be too long. As a result, process execution time is negatively affected.

The bottleneck detection algorithm considers the average execution time per activity and deviation from the average, and calculates a threshold value. When activities are over the threshold, they can impact the overall processing times. An estimate of currently running activities is calculated. The total execution time and deviation are calculated to give a threshold value. When total activity execution time is over this threshold, a queue problem is indicated.

Fields displayed in the Activity Details dialog include:

• Execution Time

• Completed Instances

• Active Instances

Metrics

These are generic metrics related to the number of instances that completed that the activity, including elapsed and estimated completion time statistics. This information is available for any activity that is gathering process metrics information.

Fields displayed include:

• Instances

• Avg Elapsed Time

• Max Elapsed Time

• Min Elapsed Time

• Std Dev for Elapsed Time

• Avg Time to Completion

• Max Time to Completion

• Std Dev for Time to Completion

Human Task

These are metrics obtained from the related task execution. This information is available for any human task.

Fields displayed include:

• Total Processing Time

• Total Waiting Time

• Total Unattended Time

• Expired Task

• Tasks Violating Deadline

• Total Time for <user> - the user name appears instead of the <user> placeholder

6.3 Using Standard Dashboards

Standard dashboards are the graphs and drill-downs based on data previously computed in a process cube schema. They reflect the standard metrics gathered during the execution of a process.

In each of the standard dashboards, clicking a bar graph in the left pane causes data to be displayed graphically in the right pane. Clicking an item in the right pane displays certain data in the Work Items panel in the lower pane. This section explains how each type of dashboard operates.

You can customize the presentation of the Work Items panel in the lower pane. For information on how to do this, see Customizing the Presentation of Process Instances in Process Workspace.

This section contains the following topics:

• Participant Dashboards

• Process Dashboards

6.3.1 Participant Dashboards

Two types of standard participant dashboards enable you to analyze:

• The workload of participants

• The performance of participants

6.3.1.1 Participant Workload Dashboard

Figure 6-5 shows an example of a participant workload dashboard.

Figure 6-5 Participant Workload Dashboard

Description of "Figure 6-5 Participant Workload Dashboard"

The left panel of a participant workload dashboard displays the total number of active instances waiting for completion for each participant across all processes. When you navigate into the chart for a specific participant, the right panel displays the total number of active instances waiting for completion by process for either the selected participant or the selected role. The last drill-down displays the active instances waiting for completion for either the selected participant or the selected role and process.

6.3.1.2 Participant Performance Dashboard

The left panel of a participant performance dashboard displays the average time taken by participants across all processes. When you navigate into the chart for a specific participant, the right panel displays the average time taken to complete instances by process for the selected participant. The last drill-down displays the list of completed instances for either the selected participant or the selected role and process.

6.3.2 Process Dashboards

Two types of standard process dashboards enable you to analyze:

• The number of process instances waiting for completion

• The average time taken per process

6.3.2.1 Process Workload Dashboard

Figure 6-6 shows a process workload dashboard.

Figure 6-6 Process Workload Dashboard

Description of "Figure 6-6 Process Workload Dashboard"

The left panel in the process workload dashboard displays the total number of active instances waiting for completion per process. When you navigate into a specific process, the right panel displays the total number of active instances waiting for completion for activities in the selected process. The last drill-down displays the active instances waiting for completion for the selected activity and process.

6.3.2.2 Process Performance Dashboard

The left panel in the process performance dashboard displays the average time taken per process. When you navigate into a specific process, the right panel displays the average time taken to complete by activities in the selected process. The last drill-down displays the completed instances for the selected activity and process.

Figure 6-7 shows a process performance dashboard.

Figure 6-7 Process Performance Dashboard

Description of "Figure 6-7 Process Performance Dashboard"

6.4 Creating Custom Dashboards

As with standard dashboards, custom dashboards are the graphs and drill-downs based on data previously computed in a process cube schema. They reflect the standard and user-defined metrics gathered during the execution of the process. They enable you to define new graphs using both standard metrics and user-defined metrics specified by using business indicators.

Note:

From BPM 12c onwards, users are encouraged to model any custom dashboards from BAM 12c composer to leverage the rich dashboard capabilities in BAM 12c.

Workspace 12c custom dashboards created using the participant dimension continue to display participant data with 11g compatibility. That is, for workload custom dashboards, the physical role corresponding to the swimlane for the user task is shown as a participant. For participant performance dashboards, only the last user who acted on the user task is shown as the participant.

For instructions about adding a custom dashboard, see How to Create a Custom Page in Process Workspace.

6.4.1 Specifying Graph Content

Graph content is specified by defining a data source.

For information about invoking the data source dialog box, see How to Add a Dashboards Panel to a Customized Page in Process Workspace.

Specify the following data source information:

• Name: Provide a data source identifier.

• Title: Provide the title used while displaying the data source.

• Graph Type: Select one of the following list of graph types:

  • Area

  • Percent Area

  • Stacked Area

  • Horizontal Bar

  • Horizontal Percent Bar

  • Horizontal Stacked Bar

  • Bar

  • Percent Bar

  • Stacked Bar

  • Line

  • Percent Line

  • Stacked Line

  • Pie

  • Pie Bar

  • Multiple Pie

• Process: Select the process from the list.

  All business indicators associated with the selected process become available for the data source definition.

• Data Type: Select one of the following supported data types:

  • Workload

  • Activity and Measurement Sampling

  • Process Level Sampling

Dimensions

• Series: Specify the dimension.

  Series variables categorize the data. The series variable values are displayed in the legend area labels in the chart.

  Use Range: Select to use ranges for dimensions with ranges.

• Group: Specify the dimension used to group the dimensions used in a series.

  Group variables also categorize the data. The group variable values are displayed as labels along one of the axis in the chart.

  Use Range: Select to use ranges for dimensions with ranges.

  Note:

  Group and Series variables can be used together to perform nested categorization of chart data, in which case, series values are displayed under each group. For example, Total revenue by customer (series) and by product (group).

• Drilldown to Series: Select a drill-down series variable which is propagated to a listening dashboard panel.

  As a result, a drill-down dashboard is displayed in the listening dashboard panel. For more information, see Establishing Communication Between Panels in Process Workspace.

  Use Range: Select to use ranges for dimensions with ranges.

Table 6-1 summarizes the standard dimensions available based on the Data Type selection. Additionally, all the process specific dimensions are available.

Table 6-1 Available Standard Dimensions

Dimension	Workload	Activity and Measurement Sampling	Process Sampling
Dimension: Series	RevisionRoleActivitiesParticipant	Revision Role Activities Participant Completion Date	Revision Completion Date
Dimension: Group	Participant	Participant Completion Date	Completion Date

Measure

• Variable: Specify the measurement.

  Table 6-2 summarizes the list of standard measurements available based on the Data Type selection. Additionally, all the process-specific measurements are available.

  Table 6-2 Available Standard Measurements

  Variable	Workload	Activity and Measurement Sampling	Process Sampling
  Variable	Instances Task Avg. Time Task Median Process Avg. Time Process Median Time	Task Time	Task Time

• Operation Type: Specify the aggregation functions to be applied on the measurement variables selected.

  Table 6-3 summarizes the operation types that can be used with various Data Type selections.

  Table 6-3 Allowed Operation Types

  Operation	Workload	Activity and Measurement Sampling	Process Sampling
  Operation Type	Avg Sum	Avg Sum Min Max	Avg Sum Min Max

• Value Type: Select one of the following values: Value, Day(s), Hours, Minutes, Seconds, or Percentage.

Note:

If a new process is deployed while you have a dashboards page open, the new process is not listed in the Data Sources dialog box until you log out of Process Workspace and then log back in.

Filters

You can add filter conditions based on the measure variables, series, and groups. You can add the filter condition only if a process is selected from the Process list. If "All" is selected in the Process list, then the Filters section is disabled.

Note:

If you add a filter for business indicators, that filter filters out the values initially based on the condition given. Aggregation—either the sum or the average—then applies to the resulting set of items.For example, if the user tries to compute the average of all business indicator values greater than 1000, the user sets a filter for this—for example: BI <Greater or equals> 1000 and set Operation type as "avg". The result is that the business indicator values greater than 1000 are collected first, and then the computation for the average calculation takes place.

6.5 Understanding Data Visibility Rules in Dashboards

Understand the data visibility rules that are applicable to dashboards in Process Workspace.

This section contains the following topics:

• Workload Sampling Data

• Activity and Measurement Sampling Data

• Process Level Sampling Data

6.5.1 Workload Sampling Data

The section discusses the restrictions applicable to workload sampling data and the application roles a user must have in order to view certain activities in Process Workspace. The restrictions are:

• The workload for activities and user task participants is seen by the member of the corresponding swimlane application role, processowner application role or bpmprocessadmin application role or BPMDashboardViewer application role.

• If a process is associated with an organization unit, the corresponding workload sampling data is restricted to organization unit members, bpmprocessadmin application role or BPMDashboardViewer application role members.

6.5.2 Activity and Measurement Sampling Data

This section discusses the restrictions applicable to activity and measurement sampling data and the application roles a user must have in order to view certain activities in Process Workspace. The restrictions are:

• Activities are seen by the member of the corresponding swimlane application role, processowner application role, bpmprocessadmin application role or BPMDashboardViewer application role.

• If a process is associated with an organization unit, the corresponding activity and measurement sampling data is restricted to organization unit members, bpmprocessadmin application role or BPMDashboardViewer application role members.

6.5.3 Process Level Sampling Data

This section discusses the restrictions applicable to process level sampling data and the application roles a user must have in order to view certain activities in Process Workspace. The restrictions are:

• If a process is associated with an organization unit, the process data is visible to the organization unit members or bpmprocessadmin or BPMDashboardviewer application role members.

• If a process is not associated with an organization unit, it is visible to all users.