Optimising automation schedules

Having enough time between schedules can improve performance

Automation schedules are powerful and can automate many routine processes, but running multiple schedules at once can hinder performance.

To prevent performance issues, automation schedules:

  • should not overlap with each other
  • should not run less than 15 minutes apart
  • should not have execution dates in the past.

Fixing schedules stuck in a loop

If the schedule interval is too short, the scheduled process can get stuck into a loop, where the time to run the process is longer than the time before the next process starts. This causes the Next Execution Date and Next Execution Time to be in the past.

To fix the issue:

  1. Stop the automation schedule.
  2. Run the scheduled process manually.
  3. Track how long the process takes to complete, then add some buffer time for potential growth in data volume.
  4. Use this total time to set a new schedule interval. You can do this on the Automation Schedules form (SM205020), using the Next Execution Date and Every fields.
    SetNewAutomationSchedule
  5. Restart the automation schedule.