Creating plans

To create a plan

1. From the Cost Management console, click the MLC Planning tool tab.

2. In the Actions pane, click Create Plan.The Create Plan dialog box is displayed.

   

3. In the Plan Name field, enter a name for the plan.
4. (Optional) In the Plan Description field, enter a description to identify the plan.

5. In the Usage Month field, click the calendarto browse the application server and select an available usage month cost model.

   Important

   The selection of the usage month automatically loads the name of the referenced cost table for the selected month into the Evaluation Cost Table field.

6. Select an Evaluation Cost Table for the plan.You must select a cost table that Cost Management can use for the cost evaluations in the plan. This cost table can be the same cost table that was active during the usage month or can be a different cost table. Your selection of the Evaluation Cost Table depends on the operations you want to perform in the plan.

   To make your selection, perform one of the following actions:

   • If you want the calculations of the exercises performed in the plan to be based on the same cost table that was used during the usage month, you do not need to change the selection. When you select the usage month, Cost Management automatically loads the name of the referenced cost table that was active during that month; consequently, you can skip to Step 7.

   • If you want the calculations of the exercises performed in the plan to be based on a different cost table, click the selector to display the Select Cost Table dialog box as follows:

     

     The dialog box lists all of the available cost tables. A check mark  indicates the current active cost table. The calendar indicates that this cost table was the active cost table for the selected usage month.

     From the list of cost tables in the dialog box, click the cost table you want to use and click Select Cost Table.

     The selected cost table is loaded into the Evaluation Cost Table field.

   Important

   For every plan, a baseline of the MLC product costs is always calculated from the cost table that was active during the selected usage month. This baseline of costs is unaffected by the selection of the Evaluation Cost Table.

   The baseline of costs is used so you can compare the actual costs of the month against the cost changes affected by the operations you perform in the plan.

7.  From the Workload Type list, select the workload type for the plan.For more information about workloads, see Cost-Management-workloads.

   Important

   The MLC Planning tool bases the list of Workload types on the selected Month Cost Model.

8. In the Plan Operation type field, click the type of plan you want to create.The plan operation type determines the operations that you can perform. You can select from the following plan types:

   • LPAR and Workloads – to perform operations on LPARs and CPCs
   • Job and STC – to perform operations relating to jobs

   For more information about the operations you can perform in each type of plan, see MLC Planning tool overview.

9. In the Select Plan CPCs field, select the CPCs you want to use for the plan.

   Important

   The list of available CPCs depends on the selected workload type.

10. When finished making your selections, click Create Plan.Cost Management creates the plan and makes it available for an exercise so you can explore potential reduction operations.

To modify a plan

1. On the Actions pane on the MLC Planning tab, click the plan that you want to modify.
2. Click modify plan properties  in the open plan to open Modify Plan dialog.  
3. Click Modify Plan to update the plan.
   Your modifications are saved and the plan reopens.          

4. The product automatically evaluates modified plans. If any plan steps have become invalid in the modified context, the evaluation fails. If this occurs, identify and remove these steps, and then evaluate the plan again. 

To copy a plan

1. In the Cost Management console, click the MLC Planning tab.
2. Open an existing plan on the Actions pane, and click Save a Copy.
   The Save a Copy dialog box is displayed.

3. In the field, enter a new name for the plan and click Save.
   ​​​​The system closes the existing plan and opens the copied plan.