A few weeks back, we introduced the Cireson Decision Engine, which is in essence, a Solution Accelerator that we use internally by our Professional Services team to help deliver a dynamic experience to our customers in their Service Manager and Orchestrator projects.
Below, please find the outline from this presentation as well as the download link for the Decision Engine Solution Accelerator!
The Problem:
- Service Manager lacks built in functionality for dynamic workflows that change based upon questions/decisions that are made at required points in the workflow process.
Example:
- Within your ‘Request Computer’ workflow the question must be asked as to whether the user travels or not in order to determine whether they need a laptop or a desktop machine. If the user does not travel, IT must requisition a desktop and follow a separate setup process than if they do travel, where a laptop would be required.
Solution:
- The Cireson Decision engine allows you to use a manual activity within a workflow as a branching decision activity based upon a ‘yes’ or ‘no’ answer to the question posed at that point in the workflow.
How It Works
- The solution is comprised of three customized components
- Custom extension to Manual Activity class
- Custom PowerShell workflow run by Orchestrator on Manual Activity updates
- User created Sequential Activity templates
Process
- User creates a set of SA templates that use a specific naming convention to identify the workflow they pertain to and the stage in the process where they should be applied
- User then creates a regular SR workflow that contains the root SA template where they require a decision
- Once the workflow hits that stage in the process, the Analyst can answer the question posed by the activity as ‘yes’ or ‘no’
- Based on that response the corresponding SA template containing the new set of activities will be appended to the existing SA
Pros
- Provides decision functionality
- Can be added to and expanded by the user without PS/Scorch skills
- Very low overhead
- Can be easily removed if necessary without issues
Cons
- No ability to answer the question through Cireson Portal (Yet!)
- Activity must be active for the workflow to run and work against it, so if the Analyst completes the activity when setting the decision it will not work (custom class will solve this problem)
- User customizable template design can become complicated/confusing for large workflows with large numbers of decisions
Download this Solution Accelerator
- You can download this solution accelerator with documentation here: http://1drv.ms/1yH5sH4
Please be advised:
THE “SOFTWARE” (CODE, CODE SNIP-ITS, SCRIPTS, RUNBOOKS, INTEGRATIONS OR OTHER DERIVED DEVELOPMENT PRODUCT) IS PROVIDED “AS IS”, WITHOUT WARRANTY OR SUPPORT OF ANY KIND, EXPRESS OR IMPLIED, INCLUDING BUT NOT LIMITED TO THE WARRANTIES OF MERCHANTABILITY, FITNESS FOR A PARTICULAR PURPOSE AND NONINFRINGEMENT. IN NO EVENT SHALL CIRESON BE LIABLE FOR ANY CLAIM, DAMAGES OR OTHER LIABILITY, WHETHER IN AN ACTION OF CONTRACT, TORT OR OTHERWISE, ARISING FROM, OUT OF OR IN CONNECTION WITH THE SOFTWARE OR THE USE OR OTHER DEALINGS IN THE SOFTWARE.
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