Overview

Utilities are the tools that are used to implement, maintain or support business processes within the system.  These include a scheduling engine for planning and executing CRM.COM processes in one flow, a data integration mechanism used for imports and exports, and an archiving utility for saving storage space occupied by unused data.

Archiving data to save space

Data used and generated by businesses increases exponentially.  Insufficient storage space on database servers is directly related to slower performance.  Consequently, the need to archive unused data (data created up to a certain date) is expanding.  

The archiving utility:

• Compresses data that no longer has financial or marketing impact.
• Saves the data in an archived structure in the database.
• Updates the existing entities still available in the system that are associated with the archived data. 

A record is created for every 'data archiving entity'.  The record is available for download and can be permanently deleted if no longer needed.  

Designated system users can execute the archive utility and delete archived data; the processes are password protected.

The following data can be archived:   

• Purchase customer events
• Spend request customer events
• Referral customer events
• Achievement customer events
• Financial statement customer events
• Provisioning requests
• Process run logs
• Rated billing items

When any of the above data is archived associated records are also archived, such as:

• Awarded events
• Spend reward transactions
• Provisioning request parameters
• Process run log entity
• Applied additive discounts

Archiving and managing archived data

To archive data you must set up an archive run definition. Through the definition is important to define the data to be archived and which subset of that data will be archived by providing the time period which the data should have been created in the: Archive Data Created X Months Ago. The minimum (and default) value of which is 12 months. Once you set up the definition,you should SAVE and SUBMIT.

After the utility is executed, the archived data can be accessed, downloaded or deleted from a dedicated screen. You can download or delete data which is no longer needed by using the respective actions.

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Scheduling

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Scheduling a task

Tasks which are used to handle more than one records in one flow are referred to as scheduler tasks, simply because they are sent to the scheduler for execution.

Even through they are called scheduler tasks they can also be executed instantly. When you are creating a task to be sent to the scheduler you will need to provide information with regards regard to the time that the process is to be executed. Additional to the option of executing instantly or at a time in the future, some scheduled tasks can be scheduled to be executed recurring, for example the billing run.

In the example shown in the image below you have the option to define

• Start Time
• Repetition settings
• End Time

Using the Scheduler

The scheduler is used to program and execute system tasks that are processed in one flow.  Each task consists of a series of steps involving the simultaneous handling of multiple entries, without the need for manual intervention.

Each time a run definition is submitted, a task is created and sent to the scheduler for processing.  The scheduler settings defined in the run definition determine whether the task is executed once and removed from the scheduler or whether it is recurring (executed and next one scheduled).

The scheduler can be in one of two states:

• 'Running':  All 'Effective' tasks that have a CRON Expression equal to the current time are executed. 
• 'Standby Mode': Scheduled tasks are not executed. 

You can Start and Stop the scheduler by using the respective buttons.

You can use the Scheduled Task filter to view

• Scheduled tasks that have not yet been executed
• Running tasks which are currently running
• Completed tasks

Detailed logs of results for the jobs that have been executed by the scheduler are available in the Batch Process Admin Board

Through the View Log you can access a daily log which can be filtered by day

You can delete scheduled tasks or stop running tasks from their data entry page by using the respective buttons.

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Importing and Exporting Data

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Business Flows

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borderColor Turquoise borderStyle dashed title Archiving of purchases borderStyle dashed
Scenario Aluxsat Co. wants to save space in its database through an annual cleanup clean-up process.  Data logged in the system regarding purchases that is more than 6 months old should be compressed and removed from the database. Solution Configuration An archiving definition run must be set as follows: Data Archiving Entity Archive Data Created X Months Ago Purchase customer events 6 User Process Authorized personnel (a super user) should access the run definition and submit the process to the scheduler each time the cleaning process must be executed. The archiving procedure will be password protected to ensure only authorized users have access to it.

 

 

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