Simulation Engine Guide Summary

What is Simulation Engine?

Simulation processing is an automated way of saving templates. This process re-computes and saves template data based on changes to the reference data or other global drivers. For example, salary is often referenced from the Workforce template in the department operating expense template. If there are any changes to employee position, the changes in the Workforce Planning template must propagate to its dependent template(s). The Simulation Engine processes templates automatically instead of manually opening and saving the templates in order of dependency.

When to Use Simulation Engine

• Use the Simulation process when the following occurs:

  • Change to Allocation Mappings

  • Changes in Segment Hierarchies

  • Change in Reference Templates

  • Change in Spreads

  • Change in Scenario Seed/Seed Scenario Changes

  • Completion of sub-line formula adjustments as part of the Seeding process (when using a Plan Scenario type)

The Simulation Engine processes templates automatically instead of manually opening and saving the templates in order of dependency. The changes made to the templates are permanent. If a template is marked "Complete" or "Forwarded", the Simulation engine will override these settings.

Why Simulation Engine is Needed

• After changing an existing template - when a template has been set up, deployed and budgeted to, and then changes are made to that template’s design / set up. The Simulation Engine will save each template’s data based on the new structure without having to open and save each template individually. For example, Budget Admin user changes a formula in a Calculation row of an existing template and needs the new formula results stored in the database.

• After seeding a new scenario - when seeding data from one scenario to another scenario, as soon as a template is opened the seeded data is pulled into the template but it will not be available for reporting until the template is saved. Once the template has been saved the seeded will be available for reporting.

• After changing the value of a Global Field - when a template has rows driven by Global Fields, changes to those values need to be “processed” at the individual template level. The Simulation Engine will save each template’s data based on the updated Global Field values without having to open and save each template individually.

• Large HR batches - when processing a large amount of employees an alternative solution would be to schedule a Simulation Engine process

• Template drivers – when you have templates that drive other templates, using the Simulation Engine may be useful in pushing updates from one group of templates to others.

• The Simulation Engine should NOT be run when users are budgeting!

• Plan Scenario - to trigger the Intelligent Seeding functionality. Admin users must schedule a simulation engine process to ensure all the data is transposed properly. In addition, Admin users must select the Enable Subline Processing setting and then run a simulation process. This is to ensure that the process runs for Main lines and Sublines together, when the process is run for the first time.

How to Create a Simulation Engine Process

1. Access the Simulation Engine Process List page by navigating to Maintenance > Rules >Simulation Engine. All current processes are displayed by scenario.

2. Select the scenario for which you want to process templates and click the Add button.

3. Enter a process code.

4. Enter a name for the process.

5. Select the planning area where the templates are located.

6. For Persistent Processing, if you select Yes, Simulation Engine will process to completion even when a failure is encountered for a particular template, scenario and entity combination. Navigate to Job Manager (Maintenance >Admin > Cloud Scheduler >Job Manager ) to view process details and the process status. The notification email will include details on the template, scenario, and entity combination that failed to process. You can also select the process in Job Manager and click the Detail Log button to view information on failures.

7. For Automatic Cube Refresh, select Yes to process the reporting cube automatically once Simulation processing completes. Available for Operational Planning and Revenue Planning.

8. Click Save.

How to Add Template - Entity Combinations to a Simulation Engine Process

Now that the process is created, you need to add template - entity combinations that you want processed.

1. Access the Simulation Engine Process List page by navigating to Maintenance > Rules >Simulation Engine. All current processes are displayed. Select the scenario and a process.

2. Click Setup.

3. Select the template you want to process in the Template list box. The entity hierarchy is displayed in the left pane and the associated entity is selected.

4. Click the forward arrow.

5. Continue to select templates and map template-entity combinations.

6. Optionally, click Entity Report to view all entities associated with the process by name, template name and template type.

7. Click Save.

How to Schedule a Simulation Engine Process via Cloud Scheduler

We recommend that you use Cloud Scheduler to run all Simulation Engine processes. If you schedule the process to run via the Simulation Engine page, scheduled Simulation Engine jobs may not run in order. This is due to server availability.

To schedule a Simulation Engine Process:

1. Access Cloud Scheduler by navigating to Maintenance > Admin > Cloud Scheduler.

2. Click Add on the Process Flow page.

3. Enter a code and name to identify the Cloud Scheduler process.

4. Click Tasks.

5. Click Add to add a task.

6. For Task Type, select Simulation Engine.

7. Select the scenario selected on the Simulation Engine Process Setup page.

8. For Process, all Simulation Engine processes associated with the selected scenario are displayed. Select the process.

9. Click Save.

10. Click Scheduler to schedule the start day and time in which the process will run.

Copying Simulation Engine Processes From the Default Scenario to Other Scenarios

One way to save time is to create all processes for the default scenario and then map them to other scenarios. To do so:

1. Access the Simulation Engine Process List page by navigating to Maintenance > Rules > Simulation Engine. All current processes are displayed. Select the scenario you want to copy processes to.

2. Click More, and select Copy From Default Scenario. The Process List page appears.

3. Select the processes you want to copy on the Process List page.

4. Click Copy.

Additional Features Available for Simulation Engine

Delta Simulation Engine Processing of Operational Planning Templates

This feature enhances processing time of Operational Planning templates by reusing history data. History data is reused when a change has not occurred for a specific Operational Planning template. Not having to process a template with data that has already been processed decreases Simulation Processing time.

Delta Simulation Engine Processing of Workforce Planning Templates

With this feature, you can opt to have Simulation Engine process only those Workforce Planning templates where a change or update has been made; reducing processing time by eliminating the need to process templates that have not changed.

See: Opt-In Features and Functions for detailed information on these features.

FAQs

What happens if certain entity/template combinations are mapped to a Simulation Engine process, but new entities are added to the application?

The simulation engine only processes the entity / template combinations defined. It is possible to map parent level Budget Entities to the process. In this case, new Budget Entities of that parent will be included. For the Simulation Engine to process a Budget Entity / Template combination that combination must be a valid mapped combination at the template level.

What happens if a template is marked “complete” and/or the entity has been forwarded?

If you manually go to those entity templates you cannot make any changes without sending the entity back and marking the template “not complete”. Even reference accounts are not updated unless you mark the template “Not complete”.

I would like to use the scheduling feature log of simulation engine. How I can open it?

1. Navigate to Maintenance, Admin, User Management and select the Navigation Role tab.

2. Select the role in the list and then click on Navigation Access.

3. Expand the hierarchy until you see the Schedule Manager link under Maintenance, Admin.

4. Check against Schedule Manager and then click on save.

5. Refresh the Planful application window by using F5 (Function F5 key in your keyboard) or re-login in to the application to view the link under Maintenance, Admin.

What is the limit of business entities that can be set up in a scheduled simulation engine?

There is no limit to the number of template-entity combinations you can process in a single scheduled Simulation process for all templates types.

Generating a high number of template-entity combinations in a single schedule may not be as effective as creating several individual Simulation processes when it comes to the overall turnaround of the process and eventual report delivery.

What do it I do if a Simulation Engine task has a very slow run time and/or crashes Internet Explorer?
It is important to ensure that you have deleted your temporary Internet files/cache.

Why, after seeding a scenario no data is showing for the new scenario in reports?

When seeding data from one scenario to another scenario, as soon as a template is opened the seeded data is pulled into the template, but will not be available for reporting until the template is saved. Once the template has been saved, the seeded data that was populated from the original scenario will be available for reporting.

Do summary templates need to be saved and the scenario processed before the seeded data can be viewed in reporting?

If the data is spread across multiple entity/template combinations the Simulation Engine can be used to automatically save the template for specific scenario & for selected budget entities. To do this, navigate to Maintenance, Rules, Simulation Engine and create a new process for the relevant entity/template combinations. Run the process and then process the reporting cube for the selected scenario. With these steps completed the data will be available in reports.

Can I use the same simulation process for multiple scenarios?
Setting up your processes within the Default scenario allows you to map the process to multiple scenarios. To map a process from the default scenario, select the scenario you wish to map it to from the drop down box within the Process List. Click the "Copy from Default Scenario" button. In the pop-up box choose the processes that you wish to copy from the Default scenario and click save.

If I am in edit or setup mode and save my template containing data for a scenario, will my data save to the destinations mapped?

No, saving the template in this mode will only save the structure. To write the data to the mappings you have created, you will need to save the template while in Input mode in the Planning Control Panel or run a Simulation Engine process for the template, scenario and entity combination(s).

How do I know if my Simulation Engine process has successfully completed?

• Process Log – the Process Log is available for Processes run locally

• Notifications – can be setup to provide email alerts for both successful and failed scheduled processes. By default, the user creating the process is notified, but other users can be added.