Business Processes

Note We do not recommend using approval policies and business processes in Service Manager Service Portal to manage approval requirements because Service Manager Service Portal cannot synchronize approval policies and business processes to Service Manager.

Concepts

Business processes tailor the approval policies to business needs. A business process along with its parameters make an approval policy. The system provides the following out-of-the-box business process definitions:

  • Simple Manager Approval — A simple approval process that requires manager approval.
  • Simple External Approval — An external approval process that is controlled in an Service Manager Service Portal supplier. This process requires a supplier with external approval support.
  • Manager Approval with Reminder — An approval process that requires manager approval and has a reminder email sent periodically to the approver.
  • Conditional Approval — A more complex approval process with the usage of a condition.
  • Parametrized Conditional Approval — A complex approval process similar to conditional approval. The start activity has a price property in the form to avoid hard-coding a price in the process.
  • Advanced Approval — A more complex approval process with the usage of a sub-process, timer, and conditions.

Note It is highly recommended that you immediately clone the Service Manager Service Portal out-of-the-box business process definitions to new names and only edit those copies.

The Organization Administrator uses the Business Processes application to manage, customize, and create new business process definitions that Service Manager Service Portal can use for its approvals.

The Business Processes application is generally used within Service Manager Service Portal in the following order:

  1. The Organization Administrator uses the Business Processes application to manage the business process definitions that Service Manager Service Portal uses for its approvals. The business process definitions must be published before they can be used.
  2. The Organization Administrator uses the Policies application to create approval policies from business process definitions. (See Policies.)

  3. The Organization Administrator uses the Catalogs application to associate an approval policy with a catalog and publish it to the Service Manager Service Portal for consumer fulfillment. (See Catalogs).

    The Organization Administrator can also use the Catalog Items application to associate an approval policy with specific items if a different approval policy is desired than for the catalog as a whole. (See Catalog Items).

  4. The consumer uses the Shop application to request catalog items for fulfillment and to place the order.

    Note If requests require approval from Service Manager Service Portal users—alone or in conjunction with downstream fulfillment approvals—approval policies must previously be assigned to the catalogs or catalog items.

  5. When items are ordered, a Business Process instance is started to manage the approval process. The items in the order are approved (or denied) according to the designated business process. The process may require more than one approver.

 

Tasks

Available tasks: