With interval synchronization, you can directly compare type 23, 30, 32, and 42 interval records generated by SMF with interval records generated by other requestors (such as RMF™). These other requestors can use the global interval and synchronization values that SMF provides to generate interval records whenever the SMF global recording interval ends.
For example, your installation might need to compare type 30 SMF records (user-level data) with RMF interval records (system-level data) to gain a more complete picture of system activity during a specified time period. If a performance problem occurred between 9:30 AM and 10:00 AM, you could easily compare RMF interval record data with type 30 SMF record data, because global synchronization allowed them both to be generated at 10:00 AM. Without synchronization, interval records are generated at different times. It is hard to compare records generated at different times because work units use resources unpredictably during an interval.