Adding strategies to data flows

Reference Strategy rules to apply predictive analytics, adaptive analytics, and other business rules when processing data in your data flow. Build data flows that can leverage strategies to identify the optimal action to take with customers to satisfy their expectations while also meeting business objectives. For example, based on the purchase history, you can prepare a sales offer that each individual customer is likely to accept.

  1. In a data flow, click the Plus icon on a shape, and select Strategy.
  2. Double-click the Decision strategy shape to configure it.
  3. In the Strategy field, select a strategy that you want to reference in this shape.
  4. Select one of the following modes for running the strategy in your data flow:
    • Make decision - The strategy that is executed by the data flow is designed only to issue a decision. For example, the strategy selects the best proposition for each customer and passes this information for further processing in the your data flow.
    • Make decision and store data for later response capture - The strategy that is executed by the data flow is designed to issue a decision and you want to store the decision results for a specified period of time. You can use this data for delayed adaptive model learning and issuing a response capture at a later time. In the Store data for field, specify how long you want to store inputs passed to adaptive models and strategy results.
    • Capture response for previous decision by interaction ID - The strategy that is executed by the data flow is designed to retrieve the adaptive inputs and strategy results for the interaction ID.
    • Capture response for previous decision in the past period - The strategy that is executed by the data flow is designed to retrieve the adaptive inputs and strategy results from the particular period of time.
  5. Select the class where you want to store strategy results by selecting one of the following options:
    • Individually in <class_name> - Use the strategy result class (default option). Each result is emitted to the destination individually.
    • Updated in <class_name> - Use the input class of the strategy pattern as the output class. You can embed the strategy results in the top-level page.
    • Embedded in - Enter any other class to store your strategy results. You can embed the strategy results in a different class.
  6. When you change the default output class, map the properties from the strategy result class to the properties of the class that you select.
  7. Optional: To improve the performance of the strategy, in the Output properties section, select specific properties for processing.
    By limiting the number of properties that the strategy processes to a minimum, you increase the processing speed. The properties that you select are included in the strategy results and are available in the data flow.
    CAUTION:
    The system selects a number of default output properties. Pega recommends that you keep the default properties because clearing the selection may cause issues in your application.
  8. Click Submit.
Example: The strategy that is referenced by the Strategy shape outputs either the incoming data record to which it adds decision results, or just the decision result. For example, a data record contains information about a customer who we want to target with a marketing offer. When the best offer is selected by the strategy, the customer data record is updated with the information about the selected offer and the Strategy shape outputs the record for further processing in the remaining data flow shapes. Similarily, the strategy can be configured not to output the incoming data record but only the decision result. When the best offer is selected by the strategy, the Strategy shape outputs the decision result for further processing in the remaining data flow shapes.