R3S Cloud - Workflow Manager

Overview Workflow Manager is a production environment for executing models developed in R3S Modeler, designed to separate development from production. It allows approved models to be uploaded and scheduled, with runtime parameters configurable for data, assumptions, or calculation needs. Workflows can run automatically from data upload to reporting, or be used for on-demand investigative runs. For enhanced scalability, reliability, and efficiency, Workflow Manager integrates with AWS services like Amazon EC2 and AWS Batch for compute, Amazon S3 for storage, and AWS Lambda for serverless tasks.

Workflow A permission-based workflow can be defined creating dependencies between inputs, models and result spreadsheets. Approval processes can be configured so models are submitted and approved prior to execution and a verification process can be configured so that results spreadsheets can be verified. Associated with these approval and verification processes when inputs, models or spreadsheets are invalidated, all dependent parts of the workflow are automatically invalidated. When the invalid input, model or spreadsheet is corrected, the dependent parts of the workflow can be automatically executed again.

Permission-Based Access To protect the integrity of the production process, Workflow Manager comes with an integrated security capability so that the production of models can be safeguarded and managed across all users throughout an organization. Access to Workflow Manager is managed through customizable user profiles and defined roles and permissions. Any aspect of usage within Workflow Manager can be enabled or restricted, giving maximum flexibility for application setup and control to those administering it. The system setup is traceable so the system administrator can monitor activities performed within Workflow Manager. This allows users to approve inputs and verify results before the next stage of the workflow can begin, meaning that the right people can perform the right tasks at the right time and so reduce levels of operational risk in performing the production runs.

Active Directory Integration Workflow Manager can interface with the domain to obtain domain user and group information. This allows for domain users to log in using their domain credentials and allows IT to manage users and groups via the domain rather than managing additional users and groups within Workflow Manager.

Automation When the same group of calculations must be performed regularly, the data linkage, model runs and report creation steps required can be defined as templates within a reporting period. These templates can then be used to define a series of processes that are needed from one reporting cycle to the next. The required recursion can be defined on the reporting period template so that a reporting period, with all the required steps, is automatically created and processed at the required interval with zero manual intervention if required. The automation can happen at the interval of your choosing, so either weekly, monthly or quarterly, for example. The flexibility is there to reduce the pressure when you need it most and to free up the valuable resource within the company to undertake tasks commensurate with their knowledge and training.

Cloud Distribution Increased demands for management information and regulatory reports in insurers are leading to increasing volumes of runs, larger data sets and reduced reporting time frames. As a result, more and more demands are made on the hardware available for running models. To address this need, R3S Workflow Manager can be deployed on a range of cloud infrastructures, enabling insurers to better manage their hardware, scaling up and down as required, and only paying for what they need. The immediate benefits of deploying R3S Workflow Manager in a cloud environment can include: • Increased hardware capacity beyond what is normally available within a company • Greater flexibility to scale up and down the available hardware as needed • Lower cost of hardware ownership • Reduced processing times due to increased processing power • Ability to perform more runs across more scenarios Workflow Manager can be deployed on AWS to address scalability and performance needs. Key AWS services include: • Amazon EC2 Auto Scaling for dynamic compute scaling • Amazon S3 for cost-effective and highly durable storage • Amazon RDS or Amazon Aurora for managed relational databases • AWS Glue for data transformation and preparation • Amazon QuickSight for business intelligence and dashboard reporting Benefits of AWS deployment include: • Elastic compute power with pay-as-you-go pricing • Automatic scaling to handle peak loads • High availability and fault tolerance across multiple Availability Zones • Reduced infrastructure management overhead • Enhanced security with AWS Shield, AWS KMS, and VPC configurations