Synchronize Phase from the Live VBS

Synchronize Plan Overview

When a Scenario Move Plan is created it copies all the building data to a Sandbox environment. Some changes from the VBS will flow through, however, they will not change the end state of your scenario. The scenario keeps track of what rows have been modified in the phase (currently this is a single phase).

Over time the Scenario Move Plans will become out-of-sync with the Live VBS and the common reasons are:

new teams are created.
teams are moved to the floor/building.
new floors are created.
existing team allocation changes.

If your Scenario Move Plan has become out-of-sync you can update it from the Synchronize Phase feature. This will update the Sandbox data from the Live VBS data.

This article covers the following:

Synchronize Plan Outcomes
Synchronize Plan Exceptions

Synchronize Phase

Be mindful when you make mapping changes to floorplans that have an active Scenario Plan. Changes to fit-outs that impact mapping (completed either through Floorplan Importer or the Spaces module) may not always synchronize into Scenario Planner if there are moves already planned against changed spaces.

We recommend that major mapping and fit-out changes are completed before creating a Scenario Plan, or, after publishing a Scenario Plan.

If there are active Scenario Plans, you could try the following:

Use the Scenario Move Plan screen, to clear the moves against the space/s that have been changed. Run a synchronization and your Scenario Plan will update with your mapping changes accordingly.
Publish as much of the Scenario Plan as possible before making mapping changes. After publishing the Scenario Plan update your floorplan and then publish the remainder of your changes.
Make your mapping changes, create a new Scenario Plan, and then recreate your moves.

Trying to synchronize new mapping changes into an existing scenario plan? Consider options 1 and 3, above.

We are currently working on adding support to synchronize common mapping changes into your scenario plan to simplify this process.

Before you complete this, we recommend that you read the information below so that you understand what happens when you synchronize the data.

Click the Scenario Move Plan icon.
Click the Synchronize Plan button. The Synchronize dialog displays.

3, By default Synchronize Phase(s) with Live Data option is selected, if you want to ignore the Live Data then select the Synchronize Phases (ignore Live Data) option.

4. Click the OK button.

Important to Remember

Teams with NO user generated Team Move in the Scenario then the team's data in the Scenario will remain the same from when the Scenario was created. For example, if you create a Scenario Move Plan today, make no changes and then open the scenario plan a week later, the Sandbox data remains the same. The only exception is where a cascade deletion has been done in the Live VBS data to a Team, Org, People, Floor, or Building.
Teams with a user generated Team Move in the Scenario then the:
- start position of the team will always reflect Live VBS Data. For example, From Location, From Workpoints.
- end position of the team will always reflect Scenario Data. For example, changes the user completed in Scenario.
If there is an existing Team Move for a team in Scenario, (for example a user made a change to a team), the Sync feature will NOT update that team, it will respect the user’s changes in the Scenario over the Live VBS data.
Also, this applies to new teams or existing teams¹ in Live VBS data that have been allocated desks that are referenced in a Team Move(s), the Sync feature will respect the usesr's changes made in Scenario over the Live VBS data. Therefore when the changes are pushed from Live VBS data into the Scenario, it will only do a partial sync. For example: A new team created in the Live VBS data is allocated 10 desks and 5 of those desk desks have been allocated/are referenced in a Team Move in a Scenario. When the sync is triggered for that Scenario, the new team is synced from the Live VBS to the Scenario however it will be shown as under-blocked by 5 desks because they are allocated/are referenced in a Team Move.

¹ Existing Teams

Existing teams refer to teams that exist both in Scenario and Live VBS data, however, in the Scenario this applies to the team(s) that do not have any Team Moves. For example, no user has moved/changed those teams.

Synchronize Plan Outcomes

Below details the effect on the Scenario when you sync from the Live VBS data.

No.	Situation	Sync	Outcome of Sync from Live VBS data
1	New team in the Live VBS data is allocated desks not belonging to any Team Move in the Scenario.	Full Sync	The new team will be brought across as is. Example In the Live VBS data: New Team B (stack of 5) is created and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 and a bunch of people is allocated to the desk or team. Post Manual Sync results in: Team B (stack of 5) is now visible in the Scenario and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5 along with the people.
2	New team in the Live VBS data is allocated desks belonging to a Team Move in the Scenario.	Partial Sync	The new team will be brought across however its allocation will not match the Live VBS data as some or all the desks have been allocated to a Team Move in the Scenario. This is because the Sync feature will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data. Example In the Scenario: Team A (stack of 4) is moved and is allocated desks 2, 4, 6, and 8 by a user. In the Live VBS data: A new Team B (stack of 5) is created on the same floor and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Post Manual Sync results in: new Team B (stack of 5) is now visible in Scenario VBS and allocated desks, 1, 3, and 5. The team displays a Under-Blocked Warning because desk 2 and 4 were not allocated because it was already allocated to Team A. It will now be up to the user to review the Scenario and resolve the exception.
3	Existing team in the Live VBS data is changed but the change(s) does not impact any Team Move in the Scenario.	Full Sync	As there is no impact to any Team Moves in the Scenario the data for the team will be updated so that the Scenario matches the Live VBS data.
4	Existing team in the Live VBS data is allocated desks belonging to a Team Move in the Scenario.	Partial Sync	The existing team will be updated however its allocation will not match the Live VBS data as some or all the desks have been allocated to a Team Move in the Scenario. This is because the Sync feature will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data.
5	Person allocation changes in the Live VBS data	Partial Sync	People allocation changes done in the Live VBS data will be brought across as is into the Scenario where possible. Basic Example In the Scenario, Team A (stack of 4) has: John assigned to desk 2 and James assigned to desk 4. Desk 6 and 8 are empty (Note: there is no Team Move for this team, remains untouched by the user). In the Live VBS data Team A is changed: Janet is added and assigned to desk 2. John is assigned to desk 4. James is no longer in the team. Desk 6 and 8 are still empty. Post Manual Sync results in: Team A person allocation will match the Live VBS data. If Team A was impacted in the Scenario i.e user increased the allocation but did not make any person allocation changes. Then the Post Manual Sync would result in: Team A person allocation will remain as is based on Scenario data. This is because there is now a Team Move associated with Team A (as it had the allocation changed) and therefore the Scenario will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data. Complex Example Bringing a number of different cases of syncs together (this is similar to Situation #2 except this also deals with People allocation). In the Scenario, Team A (stack of 4) has: Allocated desks 2, 4, 6, and 8. Desk allocation is John (2), James (4), Jimmy (6), and Jordan (8). These changes are actioned by a user. In the Live VBS data: New Team B (stack 5) is created and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Desk allocation is Amy(1), Alison(2), Alice(3), Aimee(4) and Alisa(5). Post Manual Sync results in: New Team B (stack 5) is now visible in Scenario and allocated desks 1,3,5 with Amy, Alice, and Alisa assigned to those desks. Alison and Aimee will be listed as floating occupants against the team because desk 2 and 4 do not belong to their team in the Scenario. The team displays an Under-Blocked Warning because desk 2 and 4 belong to Team A. Team A data remains as is (respects the Scenario's end state) It will now be up to the user to review the Scenario and resolve the exceptions.
6	New neighborhood in the Live VBS data is allocated desk not belonging to any Team Move in Scenario.	Full Sync	The new neighborhood will be brought across as is. Example In the Live VBS data: Neighborhood North is created and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Post Manual Sync results in: Neighborhood North is now visible in Scenario and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5.
7	New Neighborhood in the Live VBS data is allocated desks belonging to a Team Move in the Scenario.	Partial Sync	The new neighborhood will be brought across however its allocation will not match the Live VBS Data as some or all the desks have been allocated to a Team Move in the Scenario. This is because the Sync feature will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data. Example In the Scenario: Team A (stack of 4) is moved and allocated desk 2, 4, 6, and 8 by a user. In the Live VBS data: Neighborhood South (stack of 5) is created on the same floor and allocated desks 1, 2, 3, 4, and 5. Post Manual Sync results in: Neighborhood South (stack of 3) is now visible in Scenario VBS and allocated desks,1, 3, and 5 because desk 2 and 4 were not allocated to the neighborhood as the desks are already allocated to Team A. The reason why the neighborhood is a stack of 3 and not 5 is because with neighborhoods: STACKING = BLOCKING They are not like teams where your stacking can differ to blocking.
8	Existing neighborhood in the Live VBS data is allocated desk not belonging to a Team Move in the Scenario.	Full Sync	As there is no impact to any Team Moves in the Scenario the data for the neighborhood will be updated so that the Scenario matches Live VBS data.
9	Existing Neighborhood in the Live VBS data is allocated desks belonging to a Team Move in the Scenario.	Partial Sync	The existing neighborhood will be updated however its allocation will not match the Live VBS data as some or all the desks have been allocated to a Team Move in the Scenario. This is because the Sync feature will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data.
10	New space/floor	Full Sync	The new space/floor will be brought across as is. Example In the Live VBS data: new space/floor is created. Post Manual Sync results in: the new space/floor is brought across into the Scenario.
10a	Delete space	Full Sync	Changes to floorplans either via manual mapping or Floorplan Importer will be synchronized into existing Scenario Plans, so Scenario Plans can be kept up-to-date with any mapping changes if these occur while a Scenario Plan is being worked on.
11a	Space attribute changes are not referenced in a Team Move	Full Sync	If the space is not referenced in a Team Move then the changes made in the Live VBS data will be brought across to the Scenario.
11b	Space attribute changes are referenced in a Team Move	Partial Sync	If the space is referenced in a Team Move then the changes made in the Live VBS will not be brought across to the Scenario. This is because the Sync feature will respect the user's changes in the Scenario end state over the Live VBS data.
12	Floor attribute changes	Full Sync	Floor attributes will automatically flow through from the Live VBS data to the Scenario. This includes floors that are deleted.
13	Building attribute changes	Full Sync	Building attributes will automatically flow through from the Live VBS data to the Scenario. This includes buildings that are deleted.
14	Org Unit Changes	Full Sync	Org unit attributes will automatically flow through from the Live VBS data to the Scenario. This includes org units that are deleted either manually or via the Org Unit Import.
15	People attribute changes	Full Sync	People attributes will automatically flow through from the Live VBS data to the Scenario. This includes people that are archived either manually or via the Person Import.

Attributes

Attributes refer to the standard fields against the Person, Floor, Building, or Org Units forms and does not include unsupported fields.
Custom Fields, Tags, and Room Attributes are not supported in Scenario Planner and these are read-only.

Synchronize Plan Exceptions

When running a Sync from Live the outcome of the sync process will differ depending on the situation (see above table). There are only two occurrences where the Scenario Planner will always synchronize data into the scenario plan, regardless of changes that have been made.

They are:

Space Name Changes - If the name of a space is changed in VBS Live, when a Sync from Live is kicked off the scenario plan will be updated to reflect the new name of that space
Shape Data Changes - If the shape or physical location of a space is changed in VBS Live those changes will also be brought into the scenario plan.

For example, in a minor refit, the physical size of a meeting room might shrink from an 8 seat room to a 4 seat room. When the mapping changes are completed in Serraview (either through Spaces or Floorplan Importer) after a Sync from Live has been completed all scenario plans will be updated to reflect those changes that have happened in VBS Live.