1 Introduction to Oracle BPEL Process Analytics

Identifying Related Oracle BPEL Process Manager Processes

Identify a set of related business processes that need to be monitored as a single entity. One or more Oracle BPEL Process Manager processes are implemented to perform a business activity.

Capturing Events from the Oracle BPEL Process Manager Processes Using Sensors

The Oracle BPEL Process Manager sensor framework allows the capture of important events that occur during the lifetime of a Oracle BPEL Process Manager process. Use JDeveloper BPEL Designer to define the sensors on the Oracle BPEL Process Manager process. The output of these sensors is captured as events in Oracle BPEL Process Analytics.

Correlating Events into Meaningful Groups for Analysis

To perform meaningful analysis on the events captured, related event instances must be grouped together. To determine the average amount of time it takes to process a given loan application, for example, each instance of a loan request submission must be linked to its associated acceptance or rejection event.

Composite Events and Groups

Making links between events is referred to as correlating the events. Events that are grouped together in this manner are referred to as composite events.

A composite event can include one or more events, from one event source only. Events are correlated on the basis of a common event attribute (referred to as a correlation attribute), as shown in Figure 1-2.

A composite event group is a collection of composite events. Each composite event in a composite event group can be associated with a different event source. In a composite event group, events are also correlated on the basis of a common event attribute.

Figure 1-2 Composite Event

Description of the illustration xipug006.gif

Table 1-1 presents an example of a composite event for each of the event sources that Oracle BPEL Process Analytics supports.

Analyzing Events

Once the events are captured and grouped into composite events, they can be configured for analysis. The grouping and configuration process is referred to as modeling. Oracle BPEL Process Analytics provides wizards to help you create and model composite events into three key objects for analysis: metrics, key performance indicators (KPIs), and dimensions.

Presenting Data to Dashboard Users

Once an Oracle BPEL Process Analytics administrator models the data, that administrator can specify how that data is presented in the Oracle BPEL Process Analytics Dashboard. The Dashboard is the section of the Oracle BPEL Process Analytics Console for end users, typically business analysts. Modeled data can be presented in a variety of charts and tables to provide information about business activity, such as the following:

• A pie chart, such as shown in Figure 1-3, can show what percentage of loan requests were made, by car make and model, today.

• A bar graph, such as shown in Figure 1-4, can show the number of actual loan requests compared to budgeted values (also known as target values) for several days.

• A radar chart, such as shown in Figure 1-5, can show how the number of loan requests and loan offers, and so on, are tracking against target values.

  Note that some labels within a radar chart can be truncated. In this Figure 1-5, CountLoanOffers is truncated to CountLoanO and CountRecReject is truncated to untReqReject, and CountLoanOffers4BadCredit is truncated to CountLoanOffers4BadCr. Figure 1-5 shows that when the mouse is placed over a truncated label, a pop-up window displays the full name.

• The Real-Time Viewer, such as shown in Figure 1-6, presents events within a composite event instance as they occur in real time.

These are just a few of the charts that can be used to present business data. For more information about the types of charts that can be presented and how to read them, see Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide.

Figure 1-3 Sample Pie Chart

Description of the illustration loan_requests.gif

Figure 1-4 Sample Chart for Trend Analysis

Description of the illustration loan_requests_area.gif

Figure 1-5 Sample Radar Chart to Track Performance Against Target Values

Description of the illustration radar.gif

Figure 1-6 Sample Real-Time Viewer

Description of the illustration event_view4.gif

Identifying and Addressing Critical Business Conditions

The point of capturing and modeling events is to enable a business analyst to identify and respond to critical business conditions. This is accomplished using one or all of the following methods:

• The business analyst can review the real-time data as it is presented in the Dashboard, and monitor it for critical business conditions

  For example, a business analyst might review the prediction for a KPI, such as shown in Figure 1-7. This detail uses statistical analysis to predict a KPI value. By viewing this detail, the business analyst can either anticipate problems and take corrective action before problems arise, or can anticipate positive results and investigate the circumstances so that the positive results can be sustained.

  Figure 1-7 Sample KPI Prediction Table

  
  Description of the illustration kpi_pred_intro.gif
  
  

• A business analyst could also review the cause and effect table for a given KPI, such as shown in Figure 1-8. This table presents the KPIs which influence (cause) or are influenced by (effect) a given KPI. By examining these KPIs, the business analyst can further determine what might be causing a critical business condition.

  Figure 1-8 Sample KPI Cause/Effect Table

  
  Description of the illustration abbrev_cause_effect.gif
  
  

  For a complete description of the KPI Prediction table and the KPI Cause/Effect table, see Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide.

• An administrator can set up notifications, called explicit alerts, that are sent to the business analyst if a KPI or metric exceeds a predetermined threshold value.

  An explicit alert can be sent as an e-mail message, a phone message, a fax, a Short Message Service (SMS) message, a pager message, or as an Internet instant message.

  For a complete description of alerts and how they are defined, see Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide.

• If the administrator configures it into the Dashboard, the user can review the Alert View table, such as shown in Figure 1-9, that lists explicit alerts.

  The Dashboard user can click a link in the alert table to get detailed information about that alert.

Figure 1-9 Sample Alert View Table

Description of the illustration loan_alerts.gif

For a complete description of alert tables, see Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide.

After a critical business condition is identified, it can be addressed manually or programmatically, as follows:

• Programmatically

  For events that trigger explicit alerts, a Web service can be configured such that it is called to respond to the condition that caused the alert to be triggered. In the case of the loan flow process, for example, an alert could be defined such that a Web service is called to decrease the APR for car loans if the target number of car loans was not accepted for the preceding month. See Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide for more information about using Web services.

• Manually

  • The business analyst can use the variety of charts and graphs within the Dashboard to help determine the cause of, or anticipate, a problem and take action manually.

  • Upon receiving an explicit alert through an e-mail message, a phone message, or whatever method is used for explicit alert delivery, the recipient can take appropriate action.

Introduction to the Admin Console

The Admin Console, accessible by accounts granted the Oracle BPEL Process Analytics Admin User privilege, provides wizards and other tools that enable an administrator to:

• Specify connection parameters for the sources from which events will be captured

• Create composite events.

• Model KPIs and metrics

• Set up alerts to send a notification to one or more users to inform them that critical measurements are not meeting expectations

• Configure data for presentation to end users in the Dashboard

• Create user accounts and grant them privileges to view the event source data

See Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide for more information about the tasks the administrator performs using the Admin Console.

Figure 1-10 Oracle BPEL Process Analytics Admin Console Welcome Page

Description of the illustration welcome.gif

Introduction to the Dashboard Configuration Console

The Dashboard Configuration Console provides wizards that enable a user with Oracle BPEL Process Analytics admin privileges to specify how data modeled using the Admin Console should be displayed in the Dashboard. Tasks accomplished through the Dashboard Configuration Console include:

• Specifying the types of charts and tables to present to Dashboard users

• Creating Dashboard pages and specifying their layout

• Granting users access to Dashboard pages

Figure 1-11 shows a sample page in the Dashboard Configuration Console. See Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide for a detailed description of the tasks the administrator performs using the Dashboard Configuration Console.

Figure 1-11 Sample Dashboard Configuration Console Page

Description of the illustration welcome_dashconfig.gif

Introduction to the Dashboard

The Dashboard is the interface through which Oracle BPEL Process Analytics end users view and analyze modeled data. These users are typically business analysts or high-level business managers.

Using the Dashboard, a user views the data collected by Oracle BPEL Process Analytics and modeled by the administrator. The Dashboard interface presents the events and performance measurements, in real time, within tables and charts, for the business analyst to assess.

Figure 1-12 shows a sample Dashboard page. See Oracle BPEL Process Analytics User's Guide for a detailed description of the tasks the business administrator performs using the Dashboard.

Figure 1-12 Sample of Dashboard Charts

Description of the illustration bam_dash_intro.gif