Operational workload refers to an application’s ongoing work and what it is being asked to do. When considering an operational workload, issues that are considered include what data is being processed, how that data is processed and whether it is in a structured or unstructured environment.

Other considerations to determine an operational workload can include the data volume during a specific period, how much effort has to be put into it and the time it will take to repeat that effort. Operational workload will look at duty cycles and working set sizes to make these determinations.

Determining the correct operational workload is important in order to create a more effective design and operation, while also optimizing the workloads.