Enabling Critical Path Management

The Critical Path Management feature enables users working in Process Portal to identify different execution paths for a process instance and to analyze how long it will take to complete the process instance under different circumstances. Users can also change the process or activity due dates for the instance in response to critical path analysis results to better manage the process. Before critical path analyses can be performed in the Process Portal, the BPD must have the feature enabled in Process Designer.

Follow these steps to enable users in the Process Portal to use the Critical Path Management feature on your process.

1. Open the BPD in IBM Process Designer.
2. Click the Overview tab.
3. Ensure that the Allow Critical Path Management option is enabled in the Advanced section.

   All process definitions created in IBM Process Designer are enabled for Critical Path Management by default. If you import a BPD that was created using a previous version of IBM Business Process Manager, the imported process definition should be enabled for Critical Path Management automatically.

4. Due dates are calculated from the creation time of the process or task instance and can be set for the overall BPD as well as for the individual activities. Default values are provided, but you can modify them to reflect your specific process:
   1. To set the due date for the overall BPD, go to the Overview tab for the BPD.
   2. To set the due date for individual activities, select the activity in the diagram, and specify a due date in the Implementation tab under Priority Settings.
5. To allow the collection of historical data and the calculation of the most statistically probable path for process execution, select the Enable tracking field on the Overview tab of the BPD. If you are updating your tracking settings, you must send your updated tracking definitions to the Business Performance Data Warehouse before the data will be collected for your process instances.