Process Automation - Process Backlog¶
The Process Backlog is a list of all previously evaluated processes for which the Project Owner (the logged-in user) is responsible.
Processes, which have been created directly in Process Management, that is, which were not evaluated first, are not created in the backlog of the project owner. You can find an overview of the two ways to create a Process in the chapter of the same name.
You can see at a glance which processes are to be automated or have already been automated, and the ranking and status of the processes.
Buttons enable you to start or reject the automation of a process and to open a process.
Once a process automation has been started, you can also find the Process in Process Management.
Project Owners are initially defined in Process Evaluation using the function Approve. You can change these in the Process Management module using the function New Project Owner.
Privileges for the Process backlog¶
In order to use the Process Automation Application, you must have the Privilege Process Automation Open.
To start automation, you also require the Role Project Owner, and to assign a project owner, you require the Privilege Change Project Owner.
Process Backlog¶
After approval of the Process in the Process Evaluation, the Process is displayed in the Process Backlog of the project owner. It now has the status Approved.
Data representation in the Process Backlog¶
The data contained in the process backlog is displayed in a list with a linked graphic.
Columns of the list Process List (Process Backlog)¶
Process Name¶
The name of the Process
Qualifiers¶
Figure for automation capacity of process between 1 (cannot be automated) and 5 (high automation capacity). You can find more detailed information on the calculation of the value Qualifiers in the Chapter entitled Qualifiers.
Benefits¶
Figure for usefulness of automation of the process between 1 (not very useful) and 5 (very useful). You can find more detailed information on the calculation of the value Benefits in the Chapter entitled Benefits.
Costs/month(€)¶
Costs of the process per month in euros (€). You can find more detailed information on the calculation of the value in the Chapter entitled Costs.
Effort/month(€)¶
Effort spent on the process per month in format [hh:mm:ss]. You can find more detailed information on the calculation of the value in the Chapter entitled Costs.
Status¶
Status of the process. The processes go through the status Created, Approved, Design, Build and Test right up to Production. From status Approved, the process can also transition to status Rejected.
Action¶
Icons that, with the click of a mouse, trigger actions that are relevant to the status of the Process.
Start Automation¶
If you believe that a process can and should be automated, you can start the automation by clicking on the icon . For more information on this, see the Section entitled Starting automation of a process.
The icon Start Automation is only displayed if the Process has the status Approved.
Reject¶
If the project owner cannot or does not wish to edit the approved Process, he can reject it. The Process is removed from the user’s backlog and appears with status Rejected again in the Process List of the Process Evaluation.
The icon Reject is only displayed if the Process has the status Approved.
Open Process¶
If you click the icon Open process, this opens the Process in its current automation phase.
The icon Open process is only shown if the Process has either the status Build, Design, Test or Production.
Project Prioritization¶
To the right of the Process List, you can see the graphical representation of the rankings of all the processes displayed in the list.
Each process is displayed as a black dot in the graphic. The position of the dot is given by the combination of its qualifiers and benefits values. The benefits value is shown on the x axis, the qualifier value is shown on the y axis.
The costs of a process are not reflected in the graphic.
Dots may lie on top of each other. If you hold the mouse over a dot, the name of the processes localized there are displayed as a tooltip.
Selection of processes for automation¶
To enable you to recognize at a glance whether you should automate a process or not, the background of the coordinates system features a color transition from red to yellow to green. The greener the region in which the process is located, the more effective it is to automate the process.
Also compare the costs of processes of the same ranking to optimize the sequence of automation.
Display of all processes with the same ranking¶
If you click on a dot in the graphic, only processes with this ranking are displayed in the process list. The dot is no longer black but gray. To display all processes once more, click on the dot again.
Starting automation of a process¶
If you believe that a process can and should be automated, you can start the automation by clicking on the icon .
The view Create Project opens.
Project Datasheet
You can find a more detailed description of the entry fields of the project datasheet in the Chapter entitled Creating a New Project.
Saving the project¶
Save the Process by clicking on the button Save on the lower right of the screen.
Information to the team members
When the newly created project is saved, an e-mail is sent automatically to all team members.
Then the Process Backlog opens again automatically.
Clicking on the button Open Project in the Action column of the Process in the backlog opens the project, that contains the Process, in its current phase. The first phase the Process goes through is the Design phase.
Clicking the button Cancel interrupts the automation operation without saving. Then the Process Backlog opens again automatically.