You can add new business process flows to an application set. Add a new business process flow
You add a new business process flow by performing the following tasks:
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Defining the BPF, which involves naming it, giving it a description and controlling application, and identifying an owner•
Defining the data region, which involves defining which dimensions define the BPF data region•
Defining the timing, which involves setting the recurrence pattern, activation date and time, and notification time•
Setting up access rights, which allows you to specify which users or teams will be able to access the BPF•
Adding steps and substeps, which describe the general framework for the BPF•
Define actions, which involves identifying the tasks associated with each step and sub-step•
Enabling the BPF for the users who have been given access rights To add a new Business Process Flow1. From the Admin Console, select Business Process Flows from the navigation pane. 2. From the action pane, select Add a new business process. The Add a New Business
Process Flow assistant is displayed.
3. Define the new Business Process Flow. See Defining a Business Process Flow.
Defining a Business Process Flow
The Define BPF page allows you to name the BPF, give it a description and controlling application, and identify an owner.
The controlling application is the application whose Time dimension will govern the BPF. For example, if you select the Finance application, whose Time dimension is in Monthly increments, the BPF will use the monthly time grain.
To define a BPF
1. From the Setup BPF > A. Define BPF page of the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, enter the Business Process Flow name and description in the first two fields. 2. In the What is the controlling application? field, enter the name of the controlling
application.
3. In the BPF Owner field, enter a valid user name. You can click the lookup button to display a list of users. Select the desired user name, then click OK.
The user must have an email address assigned to them in order for them to own this BPF.
4. Click Save on the bottom of the window, then click Continue to Setup Task B. 5. See Define Data Region.
Define the data region
The Define Data Region page displays the dimensions associated with the controlling application (specified in the Define BPF page).
The data region defines the "base" region in which the BPF is designed. However, end users who run the BPF may select a different data region, as needed, to perform their process flow tasks.
The 'drive' dimension is a dimension that is common to all data regions that users might use in completing their BPF tasks. For example, if you select the Finance application, the drive dimension might be Category or Entity. The drive dimension must have the 'Reviewer' property defined.
The 'identity' dimensions are all the dimensions that will be used in a BPF. The Time dimension, used in all BPFs, is automatically selected.
To define the data region
1. From the Setup BPF > B. Define the data region page of the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, select the Drive dimension. The only options available are those that have a 'Reviewer' property defined for the dimension.
2. In the Identity Dimensions column, select all the dimensions that will be used in the BPF. 3. Click Save on the bottom of the New Business Process Assistant window, then click Continue to
Setup Task C. 4. See Define timing. Define timing
The Define Timing page is comprised of three sections: Recurrence pattern, activation date and time, and notification time.
To define BPF timing
1. From the Setup BPF > C. Define timing page of the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, select the desired frequency of recurrence in the Recurrence field.
Currently the only option available is Once. Additional options (Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, and Yearly) will be available in a later release.
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Once - To set a BPF to run once and not recur. The BPF will become inactive after it runs once and will not appear on the end user's action pane. However, it will remain on the Administrator's list of BPFs and may be edited for future use. 2. In the BPF activation date section, use the drop down menus to specify the date and time theBPF will become active. Prior to this time, it will not appear on the end user's action pane. 3. Automatic e-mail messages can be sent to BPF users to remind them to perform their appointed
BPF tasks. In the When should users be notified section, use the two drop down menus to specify a number of days prior to the start of, or after the start of the BPF frequency you specified in Step 1.
6. See Setting access.
Setting access
The Set Access page allows you to specify which users or teams will be able to access the BPF. Users not specified in this step will not see the BPF on their action panes.
To set access
1. From the Setup BPF > D. Set Access page of the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, in the View by field, select Teams to display team names or Users to display user names in the Available window.
2. From the Available window, highlight the desired users (or teams) and use the arrow buttons to move your selections into the Selected window.
3. Click Save on the bottom of the window.
4. Click Next to continue adding the BPF, or click Close to close and save the partial BPF for future editing.
5. See Defining steps and sub-steps. Adding a new step
Steps are general business actions you take in completing the business process. Each Business Process Flow (BPF) must contain at least one step.
Here are some properties of steps:
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Steps may or may not have sub-steps associated with them•
If a step has no sub-steps, it must have an action associated with it•
If a step does have one or more sub-steps, there can be no action associated with the step. Instead, an action is associated with each sub-step.•
Steps may be subject to approval before a BPF can be completed•
Steps must be completed in sequential order To add a step1. From the Define Steps/Sub-Steps task in the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, click Add. The Add New window is displayed.
2. In the What do you want to add field select Add a new process step. 3. In the Name field, enter the name of the step.
4. In the Instruction field, enter text describing the step. This instruction is displayed on the action pane for this BPF. It should give users a general description of this step.
5. In the Properties fields, use the check boxes to indicate if you want to:
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Enable alerts. Reserved for future use.•
Enable completion criteria. Completion criteria may be enabled if Work Status has been enabled in the controlling application of the BPF. If defined here, the selectedcombinations of members must be set to the specified work status before the step can be considered complete. See Managing work status.
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Enable reviewers. This allows reviewers (as defined in the 'Reviewer' property of the drive dimension) to review the step. If you want to define an action that the reviewer must perform in order to review the step, select Set/Modify Custom Review Actions. See Defining actions.6. If you selected to enable completion criteria, complete the Completion criteria section. For each dimension:
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Select the current view type: Member lookup, Inherit from CV, or Inherit from data region.•
Use the Work status drop-down menu to select an existing work status designation. See Managing work status.7. Click OK. The new process step is displayed in the hierarchy.
8. Repeat the above steps as needed to add all the desired steps. To change the order of the steps, highlight one and use the up or down arrow button (in the top right above the hierarchy window). You can also use the Delete button to delete a step.
9. Click Save to save the steps. To add sub-steps for a given step, highlight it and click Add. See Adding a new sub-step.
10. Click Next to display the Define Actions screen. See Defining actions. Adding a new substep
Sub-steps are used when you want to define one or more actions under a single step. Here are some properties of sub-steps:
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Each sub-step has an associated action•
Sub-steps are not subject to approval in the BPF•
Sub-steps are not subject to completion criteria•
Sub-steps need not be performed in sequential order•
They may be assigned to one or more users. To add a sub-step1. From the Define Steps/Sub-steps screen of the New Business Process Assistant window, highlight the step for which you want to create a sub-step. and click Add. The Add New window is displayed.
2. In the What do you want to add field select Add a new sub-step. a. In the Name field enter the name of the sub-step.
b. In the Instruction field enter text describing the sub-step. The instruction will be displayed in the action pane shown to the user when the sub-step is selected.
3. Click OK. You are returned to the New Business Process Assistant window. The new sub-step appears in the hierarchy.
4. Repeat the above steps as needed to add all the desired sub-steps. To change the order of the sub-steps beneath a step, highlight one and use the up or down arrow button (in the top right above the hierarchy window). Use this for organizational purposes only; the order of the sub- steps does not affect the processing of the BPF. Multiple sub-steps may be performed
concurrently. Sub-steps are not sequential. You can use the Delete button to delete a sub-step. 5. Click Save to save the sub-steps.
6. Click Next to display the Define Actions screen. See Defining actions. Defining actions
An Action is an individual task performed in BPC as part of a BPF. Actions can be assigned to the following items:
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A step that does not contain sub-steps•
A sub-step•
A custom review action (this allows the reviewer to perform an action required to review a specific step)An action could be something like opening a schedule or publishing a report. In previous versions of BPC, actions were driven by EV functions or MNU functions.
To define an action
1. From the Define Steps/Sub-steps screen of the New Business Process Flow assistant, highlight the sub-step for which you want add an action. You may also highlight a step if it has no sub-steps. Click Next. The Define Actions page is displayed.
2. In the Action Name section, the sub-step (or step) name appears as the default action name. Click Add to add additional action names. The Add New Action window is displayed. Enter the action name and click OK. You are returned to the Define Actions page. The first action in the list is the one that will automatically display when the user selects the action.
3. In the Detail section of the page, use the drop-down menus to specify the BPC interface and task to associate with the action. In the Parameter Value field, if any, enter valid parameters for the specified interface/task. Certain parameters allow you to browse the file system for a parameter name.
4. In the Current View section, use the drop-down menus to specify the application associated with the specified action. Use the drop-down menus in the Member column to specify the source of the values used for each dimension. Alternatively, you may click the look button to display the Member Lookup dialog.
5. Click Save to save the actions.
6. Click Back to return to the Define Steps/Sub-steps screen, if you want to create more steps or sub-steps. Click Next to progress to the BPF Finish screen.
Finishing a Business Process Flow
You can finish a BPF after the first three general steps have been completed. The Finish page shows a summary of the BPF for your review, and allows you to make the BPF available to users immediately, or hold it aside for future use. If you make it available, the BPF will appear on the action panes of the specified users.
To finish a BPF
1. From the Setup BPF > D. Finish page of the Add a New Business Process Flow assistant, review the BPF information.
2. To enable the BPF for immediate use, select the Enable this BPF for users box in the lower left corner of the screen. Deselect the check box if you do not want the BPF to be available at the present time.
3. Click Save to finish the BPF, then click OK. 4. Click Close to close the assistant.
Deleting a Business Process Flow
You can delete a Business Process Flow (BPF) when you want to remove it from the application set entirely.
As an alternative to deleting, you can disable a BPF. A disabled BPF does not appear in any end- user action panes but does remain on the administrator's list. It remains available to copy and modify in the future. For detail on disabling a BPF, see Finishing a Business Process Flow. To delete a Business Process Flow
1. From the Admin Console, select Business Process Flows. The list of existing Business Process Flows is displayed in the hierarchy. Also the Manage Business Processes action pane is displayed.
2. From the hierarchy, select the BPF that you want to delete.
3. Under the Process Flow Tasks section select Delete business process flow. A confirmation message appears. Click OK.