transcript
Everest v4.2 SP1 Admin Session 4Work Status: Lesson
Objectives
Describe a typical customer scenario for Work Status.
Describe how to set Work Status.
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Managing work status involves specifying who can make changes to
data in the database and who can change the work state on a data
set. Default work states are Unlocked, Submitted, and Locked. You
can add new work states if you need more flexibility.
After your work states are defined and your ownership dimension is
set up, end users can use the work states to apply a label to a
specific current view intersection for the purpose of locking data
so it can be reviewed, approved, etc. For example, your month-end
close business process requires that a specific set of data is
locked down so that accurate month-end reports can be
created.
After a data submission, the owner sets the work state to
'Submitted.' This locks the data intersection from subsequent
submissions.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
What is Work Status?
Work states allow submitted data to be tracked, approved and locked
using customizable work state definitions that suit your business
needs.
You use work states to approve data so that it can be locked.
For example, at a month-end close, after all data is submitted,
your business process might require that you lock the data so that
you can create accurate month-end reports.
*
To use work state tracking you must specify the hierarchy (H1, H2,
H3, ..., Hn) within the owner dimension for which you want to use
work status. You specify the hierarchy in the APPROVALORG field on
the Setting Application Parameters page.
The use of Work Status is to prevent data changes to a region
within an application (cube) using a specified criteria – the end
result is a locking of a region within a given application (similar
to data-slices in Business Planning and Simulation (BPS) and
Business Intelligence (BI-IP).
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Work Status Description
Work Status has multiple functions to give far more control to a
customer in customizing the process.
Selection of application dimensions to define the controlling data
region.
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Any changes to the Work Status definition will remove all existing
Work Statuses set by the users for all applications in an
application set. Work Status is NOT process flow management and is
optional for the customer. Work Status is independent of Business
Process Flows however, the functionality can be incorporated within
a Business Process Flow.
If a new child is added to a hierarchy, and the parent of this new
child is locked, the new child is not locked.
The default method for managing work status is bottom-up. That is,
the status of a parent cannot be higher than the status of its
children. For bottom-up behavior, the maximum state a parent can be
set to is the lowest state of its immediate children. You can set
work status to top-down in the TOPDOWN field in the Application
Parameters.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status – Month-End Financial Example
LOAD
Review
Report
Start the review
Perform final analysis
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This is a typical example about how the Work Status can be used by
the customer in real life.
At month-end, data is loaded and further adjusted by authorized
end-users based on their member access profiles).
Upon completion of the month-end data submission, the responsible
user (Owner/Manager) can set the Work Status as defined by the
administrator. Owner = Base member User ID. Manager = Parent member
User ID
The data is locked at the responsibility center. In financial
situations this is typically a subsidiary.
A manager and/or a high level group processor, will start the
review and consolidate the data (specific calculations/logic
execution).
After the group consolidation is run, the data can be locked from
changes so that the reporting group can create accurate month-end
reports.
At any time, the end user may submit supporting documents or
comments (annotations) during the process to further support the
month-end results. (assuming documents or comments are not
locked.)
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Owner, Reviewer & Manager Concept
US WW Pete Pete
Entity Dimension:
A manager is the owner of a parent-level member. The owner of a
parent level
Member is the manager of all its descendants.
*
The owner of an entity can set the work state to any state
designated as an Owner state.
The manager of an entity can set the work state to any state
designated as a Manager state.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status End-to-End Process(1 of 3)
Create Work States at the Application Set level :
At the application set level, you need to determine:
The order in which the levels must occur.
The various levels of Work Status.
The lock settings of each level, for each interface.
The person or people who control each level of Work Status.
The Interfaces include:
DM: Data Manager
JRN: Journals
MAN: Manual entries (i.e. data submissions via BPC for Office and
the Web
COMM: Comments
Owner – only the owner of the entity in
the data region can perform task
Manager – only the manager of the
entity in the data region can
perform the task
*
For example, your month-end close business process requires that a
specific set of data is locked down so that accurate month-end
reports can be created. After a data submission, the owner sets the
Work Status to ‘Approved.' This locks the data intersection from
subsequent submissions.
If work state is submitted, the owner of the entity can create a
journal. The Manager of the entity can change the work state to
approved or from Approved
You can define one set of specific current view values for each
application. It is possible to have different OWNER dimensions per
application.
You can assign multiple users to a dimension member as the
owners.
Each non work state dimension requires a valid member in the member
validation. This is just a requirement made by the programmer to
complete the screen and does not serve any business purpose.
(revised in NetWeaver release)
You can change the work status settings for each application.
Changing the work status settings involves identifying three to
five 'work status dimensions,' and then defining specific members
for the remaining non-work status dimensions used for validation
purposes. The dimensions you select as the work status dimensions
are the variables in your business process. For example, the
entity, category, and time might change based on who is submitting
data, but the account,
data source, reporting currency, etc., remains static. (Typically,
Time is a work status dimension since data is usually segregated
based on time.)
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status End-to-End Process (2 of 3)
Ensure that the controlling owner property is populated on the
dimension you want to drive ownership of Work Status locks (such as
Entity).
Setup Work Status Settings for each Reporting Type
Application:
Owner: the dimension will be used to determine the approval
organization and hierarchy.
Yes: the dimension will be used to track work status.
Work state dimensions become the variables in your work status
processing!
No: the dimension will be excluded from work status tracking.
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The "Owner" property is used when you are using the work status
feature. You add the property to the dimension that drives the work
status flow. For example, if your business process dictates that an
entity is the differing factor when it comes to entering data, then
the Entity -type dimension is the work status driving dimension. If
your business process dictates that a department name is the
differing factor, then Department dimension would have the Owner
property.
The dimension you select to drive work status must have more than
one hierarchy, and the hierarchy is specified in the APPROVALORG
field on the Setting Application Parameters page. The Owner
property takes user and team names as values. You can enter
multiple names and teams separated by commas. You must also include
the domain or server name in the path.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status End-to-End Process (3 of 3)
Specify the “APPROVALORG” hierarchy in Web Admin for the OWNER
dimension.
*
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Application: Work Status configuration
Dimension WorkState Member Value
Time Yes determine later
If not a work state, a valid member
is required
Example of a User setting a ‘work state’ for data region
Actual/Conregion/2008.Total:
Excel > eSubmit > Modify Work Status
If you attempt to input data in the above data region, the
System Message is ‘submission status does not allow it’
Data
Region
Work Status Big Picture
The three work state dimensions determined at the application level
are ‘determined later’ aka they act as variables.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status Tips
You can take advantage of the Work Status to lock users out of a
Category for a specific time period.
For example, lock the Actual category for a specific time period
after the month-end close.
Use this approach instead of developing a complex security model
that would need to change frequently.
Assign multiple users to entities where needed.
You may want to add the Administrator as an additional Owner of the
entity members to assist in the locking process.
Ensure that your Work Status levels and their order will work for
all applications.
You define the levels and order only once, at the application set
level.
Ensure that you define and order your Work Status before users
begin updating their own statuses.
If you make changes to Work Status you can lose all user-specific
information related to Work Status.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status Excel Report
M03 Status Report 1:
The M03 Status Report 1 is delivered with ApShell. It uses the
EVLCK function. It is located in: eTools > Open Dynamic
Templates > eExcel > Reports > Manager.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status Web Report
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Work Status: Lesson Summary
Describe a typical customer scenario for Work Status.
Describe how to set Work Status
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DEMONSTRATION
Develop – Business Process Flows
Understanding and Creating Dimensions
Modeling and Creating Applications
Set up Security
Define Work Status
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Business Process Flows allow you to pre-package and sequence
application tasks for different departments within your
organization. Any of the available features within BPC Web, BPC for
Office, and BPC Administration can be utilized by a business
process flow.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Business Process Flows: Lesson Objectives
After completing this lesson, you will be able to create a business
process flow which will facilitate the coordination and status
checking aspects of performing planning or consolidations
activities.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Definition: Business Process Flows
Allow you to pre-package and sequence application tasks for
different departments within your organization.
Any of the available features within BPC Web, BPC for Office, and
BPC Administration can be utilized by a business process
flow.
For example, your Budgeting process may require input from a number
of business managers, review from another group of managers, and
final approvals.
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Using the intelligence of BPC data regions, you can set up a single
business process flow that can be used across applications within
an application set. A data region serves as a key for opening a
single instance of a business process flow. For example, an
'Allocate Expense' business process flow could be running for the
same entity and time, but different categories.
Business process flows can also be integrated with work states to
offer an additional level of intelligence and integration with your
company’s regulatory processes.
Using an Explorer-like interface that is accessible from BPC Web
and BPC for Excel, end-users are guided through pre-defined
sequential tasks that span across the different areas of BPC.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
BPF Data Regions
BPFs utilize data regions, which allow you to set up a single
business process flow that can be used across applications within
an application set.
A data region serves as a key for opening a single instance of a
business process flow.
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Business Process Flows
Allow managers to:
Automatically send e-mail notifications to participants at
predetermined times to expedite progress.
Coordinate required approvals for each step in the process.
Assure consistency and uniformity.
Adding a New Business Process Flow
From the application set hierarchy, click Business Process
Flows.
From the Action Pane, click Add a New Business Process Flow.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Adding a New Business Process Flow
Is accomplished through four general steps:
Controlling application: the application whose Time dimension will
govern the BPF.
Owner: a user who will be notified when a step is completed.
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. Continue to Setup Task
B.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Define Data Region
Displays the dimensions associated with the controlling
application, and defines the "base" region in which the BPF is
designed.
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.
The drive dimension must have a 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.
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 'identity' dimensions are all the dimensions that will be used
in a BPF. The Time dimension, used in all BPFs, is automatically
selected.
The 'Drive' Dimension:
- A dimension that the process 'revolves' around and is present in
all applications in the bpf.
- You need one drive dim and only one in a bpf.
- A drive dim must have the reviewer property.
- Is it used to provide a user who can 'approve' the bpf in
practice.
- If you enable reviewers to review a step ... That person is
derived from the drive dimension.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Define Timing and Set Access
Define Timing allows you to set:
Recurrence pattern: Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Quarterly, Yearly, or
Once.
Activation date and time: specify the date and time the BPF will
become active. (Prior to this time, it will not appear on the end
user's Action Pane.)
Notification time: Automatic e-mail messages can be sent to BPF
users to remind them to perform their appointed BPF tasks.
Set Access: (not shown) 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.
BPF’s do not have due dates.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Steps, Sub Steps, and Actions
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, the action is associated
with each sub-step.
Steps may be subject to approval before a it can be
completed.
Steps must be completed in sequential order.
Work status steps can be set to require a certain status before it
can be completed.
BPF with Reviewer & Completion Criteria in Run Mode:
The actions in step 1 are bold blue hypertext because they are the
only two possible actions while step 1 is incomplete.
Steps are general business actions you take in completing the
business process. Each Business Process Flow (BPF) must contain at
least one step.
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:
· 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
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Define Steps & Sub Steps (1 of 2)
BPF with Reviewer & Completion Criteria in Build Mode:
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Define Steps & Sub Steps (2 of 2)
Only the name is required at this
point … this is the definition of
the step or sub-step, actions are
yet to be determined.
Designate a process as either a step or sub-step. The description
appears when user executes the process. Enable Alerts is not
currently available.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Enable Reviewers
This allows reviewers (as defined in the 'Reviewer' property of
the
drive dimension) to review (approve) the step before it can be
completed!
In Action:
Enable Completion Criteria
Completion criteria may be used if Work Status has been enabled in
the controlling application of the BPF. If defined here, the
selected combinations of members must be set to the specified work
status before the step can be considered complete.
The dimension values may be inherited from the data region … this
means the data region can be determined when the BPF is executed.
Member lookup means that the dimension member is provided as a
default in the BPF. Dimensions members may also be inherited from
the current view when the BPF is executed.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Define Actions
A step or sub-step can have one or more actions.
The tasks vary depending on whether they are for the first or
subsequent actions.
Tasks for Action2:
The first action is defaulted in by the system and cannot be
deleted if it is the only one.
The data region can be filled in below the task and therefore not
require the user to change their current view. It’s a way to
provide useful default member values.
In the import file action, a specific package and file can be fully
specified in the BPF.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Finish
can prevent users from accessing
them.
prompt you to save.
Tips on BPF’s
You can reset BPF instances back to step one. We recommend using
this with caution, however, because when you reset the BPF, you are
resetting all instances of the BPF for all users.
An instance in this case refers to a data region that has been
processed in a BPF such as 2009.Total, Budget, Con Region.
For reporting there is a Standard BPF and a Step report.
You can generate two different types of BPF reports: a standard BPF
report and a BPF step report. Both reports allow you to specify the
business process flow, time frame, associated data region, and page
orientation.
The standard BPF report lists the steps and sub-steps in the right
column, and the status of each step or sub-step in the left column.
The BPF step report lists the entities for which the report is run
in the rows, and the status of each step and sub-step in the
columns.
From the Admin Console, you can prepare a standard-type report
only. To prepare a standard BPF report from the Admin Console,
expand Business Process Flows, select the BPF for which you want to
report on, and select BPF status report. See steps 4 and 5 below to
complete and display the report.
SAP AG 2008, SAP BPC / *
Entity Dim: Implied
US WW Pete Pete
Task Profile:
Status
Data Region:
And 4a, Nadine reviews
The report (4b) on the %Change and approves it!
Pete Locks the Budget category by setting the work status to
‘Approved’ for Store1, 2009.Jan
Work Status
Data Region:
Submitted Locked Owner Owner All All Both
Reviewed Locked Manager Locked Locked Locked Manager
Approved Locked Locked Locked Locked Locked Manager
BPF, Work Status, Security Integration