Methods and apparatus for advancing time in a distributed business simulation

An apparatus to advance time in a distributed business process simulation, the apparatus comprising:

• a simulation server;
• a first client device communicatively coupled to the simulation server, the first client device (a) registering at least one output of a first simulation model with the simulation server and (b) executing a first portion of the business process simulation;
• a second client device communicatively coupled to the simulation server, the second client device (c) registering at least one output of a second simulation model with the simulation server and (d) executing a second different portion of the business process simulation;
• a third client device communicatively coupled to the simulation server, the third client device (e) registering at least one output of a third simulation model with the simulation server and (f) executing a third portion of the business process simulation, the third portion of the business process simulation having an indirect influence on the first portion of the business process simulation via the second portion of the business process simulation;
• and
• a software program executing on the simulation server, the software program (g) receiving simulation data sent from the first client device, (h) sending at least a portion of the simulation data to the second client device, (i) relaying first data from the third client device to the second client device, and (j) relaying second data from the second client device to the first client device, wherein the software program advances time in the simulation from a first breakpoint to a second breakpoint at a rate that is faster than real-time.