WFM Data Management

The complete WFM Data Management solution

Sability’s experts have nearly 100 years of combined WFM project experience and understand the pitfalls of other database archiving approaches. That’s why we developed Sability WFM Data Management: the industry’s only complete, long term archiving solution for Infor WFM and Workbrain databases.

Put your organization ahead of the curve by planning the full lifecycle of your WFM data, from the moment it is created until the moment it is taken offline.

Forming a Data Management Strategy

At a minimum, a WFM data management strategy should cover how data will be stored and for how long, how it will be moved, and how it will be accessed when it is needed. These decisions are constrained by available hardware, your organization’s data retention policies, and operational considerations.

An Online Archive database is the usual first step. This allows older WFM data to be moved out of your Production database in a way that still allows the end users to access it through existing online reports. But too often, this is where the strategy ends. Eventually the Online Archive database will reach its capacity too, and this point can arrive before your organization’s data retention policies allow you to purge the data permanently.

An Offline Archive database is a place to store data that no longer fits in the Online Archive database but can’t yet be purged. Typically the data in this database is several years old and is not often needed, making it practical to access it using report like database queries when it is needed. Sability has a library of Offline Archive database queries that can help; please contact your account representative for details.

Eventually, it is no longer necessary to retain the data in any database. At this point it can either be purged, or stored on magnetic or optical backup media.

Putting your Data Management Strategy to Work

Implementing your data management strategy is a straightforward process given the right software package and expertise. Common tasks include:

• configuring the server and network,
• defining the data to be archived or purged
• defining the Aging Date(s) controlling when data is archived or purged,
• installing and configuring Sability WFM Database Archiving, and
• scheduling Sability WFM Database Archiving to run during off-peak times.

Custom built solutions are also possible, although for all but the simplest data management strategies they are too limiting and not cost effective in the long run. When choosing your technology platform, be sure to consider:

• How does the solution guarantee referential integrity?
• Can the purge and archive operations be undone if needed?
• What is the effort to integrate with the Production database schema?
• Can the solution move data from an Online Archive database to an Offline Archive database?
• What checks and balances are in place to ensure that the expected data was purged or archived?

Sability WFM Database Archiving

Sability’s WFM Database Archiving software comes preconfigured to purge or archive core Time and Attendance tables for all versions of the Workbrain and Infor WFM products, from 3.1S through the latest 5.0 schemas. For lightly customized Infor WFM installations, a working solution can be up and running in just a few hours.

Purge and Archive reports are automatically generated after each operation, allowing you to validate the number of records archived. If there is a problem, you can also inspect every row of data to be archived before it is actually applied to the archive database or purged from production. WFM Database Archiving can also be configured to keep a copy of all purged and archived data in a format that allows the operation to be quickly and easily undone should the need arise.

Please contact sales@sability.com to arrange a demo or to obtain pricing and licensing information.