How does BPM handle high-volume transactional processes?
Quick Answer
A BPM never loads "all orders". It shows one interchange at a time: the events that a Log View groups under one key, such as one order, found with BPM Log Search. Volume therefore lands on logging and storage, not on the BPM drawing. You control it by logging at business milestones, bounding the Log View, sizing retention per Message Type, and watching totals with Non-Events Monitoring.
Nodinite doesn't publish throughput figures for BPM; size your installation from the Log Databases guidance and your own load tests.
Where Volume Goes
one per milestone] LE --> DB[fa:fa-database Log Databases
retention per Message Type] DB --> LV[fa:fa-hard-drive Log View
time interval, group by] LV --> BPM[fa:fa-project-diagram BPM
one interchange] DB --> NE[fa:fa-chart-line Non-Events
min/max volumes] style DB fill:#E47528 style LV fill:#2678BD style BPM fill:#93d16d style NE fill:#9E59BB
Storage (orange) carries the volume; the Log View (blue) narrows it to one interchange for the BPM (green); Non-Events (purple) watches totals.
Practical Guidance
Log at Business Milestones
Each BPM step needs one event that proves it happened. The Order-to-Cash demo logs about ten events per order across seven steps. Fewer, meaningful events mean smaller databases, faster searches, and clearer BPMs.
Search One Interchange by Its Key
Every event of an interchange must carry the Log View's group-by value, such as Application interchange id. Users search a business value, such as Order Number, and get one group on the BPM; if several match, they pick one. See How does BPM correlate events.
Bound the Log View
| Setting | Why it matters at volume |
|---|---|
| Time Interval Configuration | Limits the time range users can search, for example today or last 30 days |
| Auto Start Search | Runs the default search as soon as the page opens |
| Lock group by | Stops users from changing the grouping the BPM depends on |
| Use paging for events in a group | Improves performance for many groups or events |
The O2C demo Log View: a bounded time interval and Auto Start Search.
Then associate the Log View with the BPM.
Size Retention
Log Databases split automatically when they grow too large (SizeToSplitDatabaseOn) or too old. Retention is set per Message Type, with defaults from DaysToKeepMessageEventsDefault. You can drop payloads earlier than events with DaysToKeepMessageDataDefault. A BPM can only show events that are still kept.
Watch Volumes, Not Pictures
At high volume, nobody inspects every order on a BPM. Let Non-Events Monitoring alert when fewer or more messages than expected arrive, and use the BPM to investigate the order an alert or a customer points at.
Symptoms and Fixes
| Symptom | Likely cause | Fix |
|---|---|---|
| Search is slow or returns many groups | Wide time interval, no key in the search | Add a Time Interval Configuration; search by Order Number |
| One order splits into several groups | Group-by value missing on some events | Log the same key on every event |
| Old orders can't be found | Events past retention | Raise retention for that Message Type, or export in time |
Next Steps
Related Topics
- Business Process Model (BPM) - Main BPM overview
- How does BPM correlate events
- Non-Events Monitoring
- Order-to-Cash demo
- All FAQs - See all BPM FAQs