Control-M Forecast

Control-M Forecast simulates future job and SLA service run and execution behavior based on the current job definitions, scheduling criteria, and Control-M Statistics Control-M Statistics calculate start and end time, execution time, and standard deviation estimations from records of past job executions that are saved on Control-M/EM, and can be refined with Periodic Statistics rules.. This enables you to determine how jobs are expected to perform, as described in Creating a Forecast, and why they will succeed or fail, as described in Creating a Why Analysis.

After you create a forecast, you can add one or more What-If Scenarios to simulate how future job runs and executions will perform under different circumstances, based on job definitions or scheduling criteria that differ from what is currently defined, as described in Creating a What-If Scenario.

Creating a Forecast

This procedure describes how to create a Forecast, which simulates future job runs and executions. This enables you to determine how jobs are expected to perform on the date that you define.

Begin

1. From the Tools drop-down list, select Forecast.

   The Forecast tab appears.

2. In the Date area, click the calendar date field and type or select a future date to simulate job runs and executions.

3. In the Attributes area, define the job or service attributes that apply to this Forecast.

4. In the Advanced area, define the advanced attributes that apply to this Forecast, as described in Advanced Forecast Attributes.

5. Click Run Forecast.

   The defined Forecast appears in the Forecast tab.

Creating a Why Analysis

This procedure describes how to create a Why analysis, which enables you to determine why one or more jobs fail to run or execute in a Forecast simulation.

Before You Begin

• Create a Forecast, as described in Creating a Forecast.

Begin

• From the Forecast tab, select a job that did not run or execute, and then from the Forecast toolbar click Why.

  The Why? dialog box appears with a simulated job log The activity log of a job, which lists every job status change, such as job execution start and completion times, and how the job ended. that enables you to determine why the job failed to run or execute.

Creating a What-If Scenario

This procedure describes how to create a What-If Scenario, which enables you to forecast how a job is expected to perform if different job definitions or scheduling criteria are defined.

Before You Begin

• Create a Forecast, as described in Creating a Forecast.

Begin

1. From the Forecast tab, click the What If drop-down list and select a What-If Scenario attribute.

   The What-If Scenario dialog box appears.

2. Define a What-If Scenario, as described in What-If Scenario Attributes.

3. (Optional) Click Add Rule to simulate additional changes to the job definitions and scheduling criteria.

Advanced Forecast Attributes

The following table describes the attributes that you can define in the Advanced area of the Forecast tab when you create a Forecast, as described in Creating a Forecast.

Attribute	Description
Job Execution Time	Determines the expected length of job execution time, based on previous job execution data saved in Control-M Statistics, as follows: Average: Each job is forecast to execute for an average of all its past execution times. Minimum: Each job is forecast to execute for its shortest recorded time. Maximum: Each job is forecast to execute for its longest recorded time. Control-M Statistics includes start time, end time, execution time (runtime), and standard deviation estimations from records of past job executions, which are saved on Control-M/EM and Control-M/Server. Runtime estimations are based on the average job execution time, but the two highest and lowest statistics are not included in this average, to remove extreme results and provide a more accurate estimate.
Use Published Calendars	Determines the calendars that are included in the forecast, as follows: My Checked Out: Includes all of my unpublished calendars in the forecast. All Checked Out: Includes all unpublished calendars in the forecast. All Published: Includes all published calendars in the forecast. For more information, see Calendars.
Servers to Use	Determines which Control-M/Servers to include in the forecast, as follows: Only Servers with Chosen Attributes: Decreases the time required to create a forecast when there are many Control-M/Servers. All Servers

What-If Scenario Attributes

The following table describes the attributes that you can define in a What-If Scenario, which enables you to forecast how a job is expected to perform if different job definitions or scheduling criteria are defined.

Attribute	Description
Resource Pool	Defines changes in Resource Pool availability, based on the number of resources and times that you define.
Job Execution Time	Defines changes to job execution times.
Time Frame (Job Run Time)	Defines changes to job run times.
Event	Defines new Events or Wait-for-Events.
Force OK	Defines which jobs users are expected to set to OK when these jobs end Not OK.
Confirmation	Determines when jobs are expected to receive a user confirmation. By default, the Forecast assumes that jobs which require user confirmation are confirmed at the average job execution time. You can change this setting with the ExecuteConfirmedJobs system parameter, as described in Control-M Forecast Parameters.
Job Priority	Defines changes to job priorities.
Skip Job	Determines the jobs that are skipped.
Downtime	Determines the times that one or more hosts or host groups are expected be down.