Hasso-Plattner-Institut
Prof. Dr. h.c. mult. Hasso Plattner
 

HPI Business Simulator

One well established method of measuring the success of companies are key performance indicators, whose inter-dependencies can be represented by mathematical models such as value driver trees.

While such models have commonly agreed semantics, they lack the right tool support for business simulations, because a flexible implementation that supports multidimensional and hierarchical structures on large data sets is complex and computationally challenging. However, in-memory column stores as the backbone of enterprise applications provide incredible performance that enables to calculate flexible simulation scenarios interactively even on large sets of enterprise data.

The HPI Business Simulator is a tool to model and run generic what-if analyses in an interactive mode that allows the exploration of scenarios backed by the full enterprise database on the finest level of granularity. The tool comprises a meta-model to describe the dependencies of key performance indicators as a graph, a method to define data bindings for nodes, and a framework to specify rules, that describe how to calculate simulation scenarios.

Contact: Stefan Klauck, Dr. Matthias Uflacker

Research Area: In-Memory Data Management for Enterprise Systems

From Research to Product

Validations with industry partners have revealed the high business value of flexible value driver modeling and real-time what-if simulation on large data volumes. Based on these insights, the HPI spin-off company Valsight is building a value driver modeling and simulation platform that extends the functionality for additional and more complex use cases.

Related Publications

  1. Lars ButzmannStefan KlauckStephan MüllerMatthias Uflacker, Werner Sinzig, Hasso PlattnerGeneric Business Simulation Using an In-Memory Column StoreDatenbanksysteme für Business, Technologie und Web (BTW), 16. Fachtagung des GI-Fachbereichs "Datenbanken und Informationssysteme" (DBIS)2015 BibTeX
  2. Stefan KlauckLars ButzmannStephan MüllerMartin FaustDavid SchwalbMatthias Uflacker, Werner Sinzig, Hasso PlattnerInteractive, Flexible, and Generic What-If Analyses Using In-Memory Column StoresThe 20th International Conference on Database Systems for Advanced Applications (DASFAA), Hanoi, Vietnam2015 BibTeX