Downsides of paused workflows in ACS? + Best practices

[user05283]

Hi all, 

I just want to preface this thread by saying I am a marketer so if any one replying could please keep answers simple with little technical jargon - that would be great!

So, I'm back using Adobe Campaign after some time. Previously when I was using Adobe Campaign Classic, I was told paused workflows would slow performance of the platform. As per this thread, the slower performance seems to relate to a strain on data tables/storage capacity - https://experienceleaguecommunities.adobe.com/t5/adobe-campaign-standard/importance-of-end-activity-...

I just wanted to confirm if this applies to Adobe Campaign Standard as well i.e. that pausing multiple workflows will slow down the performance of ACS for the end user e.g. navigating to new pages/creating subsequent workflows. The current practice of my new organisation is to pause every workflow after it has executed successfully.

Can anyone recommend what the best practice is for optimal performance and also explain the differences between 1. just allowing a workflow execute 2. allowing the workflow to execute then manually pausing the workflow 3. allowing the workflow to execute then manually stopping the workflow? I vaguely recall that there would be impacts on reporting based on what actions were taken but may be mistaken.  

Lastly, is it best practice to add an end activity in the workflow after a deployment of an email/comms activity?

[ShrawanSaxena · Accepted solution]

Hello,

The impact and recommendations which were there in ACC hold true in ACS as well.

However, in ACS, we have some more features for optimizing the performance.

For Example - Workflows that have been in pause or fail status for more than seven days are stopped to consume less disk space. The cleaning task is displayed in the workflow logs.

It is always recommended to ensure that the workflow ends properly, avoid leaving the last transition of a workflow on its own by using an End activity. So I would suggest using end activity or stopping the workflow if it is not needed.

I just wanted to know why do you want to keep the workflow in the paused state if it is executed successfully already. Workflow execution does not have to do with reporting, as indicators are mainly related to deliveries.

Request you please go through the below link to know more about workflow best practices in ACS

https://experienceleague.adobe.com/docs/campaign-standard/using/managing-processes-and-data/workflow...

[user05283]

Thanks so much for replying! Your answer was simple and easy to understand. 

I agree with your suggestion to add the end activity to the workflow /stop the workflow completely. 

I've been told that the team has been pausing the workflow (by suspending all components after successful execution) to prevent retriggering the workflow and resending an email by mistake. However, with the requirement to confirm before sending, this should already be a sufficient enough safeguard.