Enable Autoscale for Case Management Studio

Overview

This page explains how to run your highest-volume Case Management Studio process models with autoscale enabled, so your case workflows keep pace when submission and task volume peaks.

This page is intended for low-code developers and system administrators who manage a Case Management Studio deployment.

Autoscale is an Appian Cloud capability that adjusts process execution capacity to match demand. Instead of running on the fixed process engine capacity in your environment, an autoscaled process runs on infrastructure that Appian expands when demand rises and scales back when demand returns to normal. You get throughput when you need it without permanently provisioning hardware for your busiest hour.

Case Management Studio does not ship with autoscale enabled, because the right configuration depends on your case volume. Starting with Case Management Studio v2.4, you can enable autoscale on the process models that carry the most volume in a case workflow.

Where autoscale helps most

Autoscale delivers the most value in three areas of a case workflow:

Workflow	What it covers
Case submission	All processing from the moment a case is submitted to the moment it is fully generated and ready to work in Workspace. Most valuable when high volumes of API calls trigger unattended case submissions.
Task completion	All processing from the moment a task is completed to the moment the next task becomes available to work on a case.
Task generation	All processing that generates the batch of tasks a case workflow requires.

These three workflows share a common set of process models, so you enable autoscale on the models rather than on a workflow.

Recommended process models

Appian recommends enabling autoscale on the following process models in the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application:

• CMGT_Automation_Evaluation
• CMGT_AutomationRules_ExecuteActionWrapper
• CMGT_AutomationRules_Role_Manage
• CMGT_Case_BulkUpdate
• CMGT_Case_UpdateProperty
• CMGT_Comment_CreateUpdate
• CMGT_Document_Create
• CMGT_RelatedCaseMap_Create
• CMGT_Role_Add
• CMGT_Role_Delete
• CMGT_Role_Manage
• CMGT_SUB_OpenNextTasks
• CMGT_SUB_ProcessUnchosenPathAndLoopBack
• CMGT_SUB_WriteTaskDetails
• CMGT_Task_Complete
• CMGT_Task_Complete_AutomatedTask_SendEmail
• CMGT_Task_Complete_AutomatedTask_WorkflowRouting
• CMGT_Task_Complete_AutomatedTask_Wrapper
• CMGT_Task_Complete_Wrapper
• CMGT_Task_Create
• CMGT_WorkflowPath_CreateUpdate
• Submit Case

Enable autoscale on all of these models rather than a subset. Because the three workflows share them, leaving some models on the standard process engine limits the throughput you gain.

Before you begin

Before you enable autoscale on a Case Management Studio process model, make sure that:

• Your environment has autoscale provisioned. Autoscale is an Appian Cloud capability that is separately licensed and available for the advanced and premium capability tiers. To provision autoscale for your environment, contact Appian Support.
• Your environment runs Appian 26.9 or later.
• You are running Case Management Studio v2.4 or later.
• You have administrator permissions on the process models in the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application.

Remove the exception timer from confirmation screens

The Submit Case and CMGT_Task_Complete_Wrapper models each contain a user input task that presents a case confirmation screen. Autoscale supports the user input task itself, but it does not support the exception timer configured on it.

Remove the exception timer from both models before you enable autoscale on them. If you leave the timer in place, you cannot publish the model, and it keeps running on its most recently published version.

To remove the exception timer from a confirmation screen:

1. In the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application, open the Submit Case process model.
2. Select the user input task that presents the case confirmation screen.
3. Go to the Exceptions tab.
4. Delete the exception timer configuration, and make sure no exception path remains connected to the timer.
5. From the process modeler menu, select Save & Publish.
6. Repeat these steps for the CMGT_Task_Complete_Wrapper model.

Confirm that both models save without errors before you enable autoscale on them.

Enable autoscale on a process model

Enable autoscale separately on each recommended model. To enable autoscale on a process model:

1. In the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application, open the process model you want to run with autoscale.
2. From the process modeler menu, select File > Properties.
3. On the General tab, go to the Autoscale row and select Use process autoscaling.
4. From the process modeler menu, select Save & Publish.
5. Repeat these steps for each recommended process model.

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Processes that started before you enabled autoscale continue to run on the standard process engine. Only processes that start after you publish a model run with autoscale.

Extend an autoscaled process model

Once you enable autoscale on a process model, the process modeler palette shows only the nodes that autoscale supports. If you extend an autoscaled model with a node that autoscale does not support, you cannot publish the model. The model keeps running on its most recently published version, so your change never takes effect.

Before you extend an autoscaled model, check which nodes are available in Process Nodes and Smart Services. If you need a node that autoscale does not support, build it into a separate process model without autoscale enabled and call that model with the Start Process smart service.

Configuration you make in the Control Panel, such as custom task types and automation rules, is data-driven and does not change a process model. That configuration is unaffected by autoscale.

Monitor autoscaled processes

Autoscaled processes do not appear on the Process Activity tab of the Monitor view. To review the Case Management Studio processes you have autoscaled, go to the Autoscaled Process Activity tab, which is available only in environments with autoscale enabled.

Because autoscaled processes generate large amounts of data, open the Monitor view from inside the CMGT Case Management Studio Base application. This limits the process models shown to the ones associated with that application.

To learn what the metrics on that tab mean and how to remediate errored nodes, see Monitoring and Fixing Autoscaled Processes.

Keep autoscale enabled through an upgrade

Because Case Management Studio ships with autoscale disabled, importing the base application again during an upgrade resets the setting on every model you enabled it on.

Before you import the base application, review which models you have autoscaled and plan to enable autoscale on them again after the upgrade. For the full upgrade procedure, see Upgrade Case Management Studio.

Performance expectations

How much autoscale improves throughput depends on your case volume, your environment's hardware configuration, and how many users work in Workspace concurrently. Autoscale delivers the most value in deployments where automated case submission or task completion volume spikes well above the daily average.

Before you enable autoscale in production, run performance testing in a test environment that mirrors your production configuration and case volume. Compare the results with and without autoscale enabled so you can size the capability against your own workload.

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