Setting Up Business Rules
To define business rules, use the Business Rules component (IT_RULE_DEFN).
This topic provides an overview of business rules and discusses how to define business rules, business rule subtypes, and add comments to business rules.
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Page Name |
Definition Name |
Usage |
|---|---|---|
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IT_RULE_DEFN |
Define business rules for IT asset reconciliation. |
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IT_RULE_STYPE |
Define the asset subtypes that map to the business rule. |
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IT_RULE_COMMENTS |
Enter the reason or explanation for defining the business rule. |
Business rules enable you to establish instructions and definitions for reconciling IT assets stored within your database and the IT assets discovered in the third-party database. You set up the attributes and operators to reconcile IT assets and invoke processes to occur when a comparison of these IT assets fails.
You define business rules within a certain framework provided by the system. This framework is restricted to certain predefined attributes and operators. The attributes provide a simple way of representing record names and field names. For example, Repository Custodian is an attribute. Behind the scenes, this translates to the ASSET_CUSTODIAN.CUSTODIAN table and field name combination. The system also provides the capability to enter free-form SQL where clauses.
Once you have defined your business rules, the reconciliation process evaluates the IT assets in the third-party database and the PeopleSoft IT Asset Management database. If an exception occurs, an action is defined to handle the exception.
For example, if you establish a business rule criteria of Dept ID:ARM <> Dept ID:Disco and Business Unit:ARM = US001 and the action of Update ARM, Email Custodian, and route to the Role of Finance Dept, the system suggests the actions for IT assets in the ARM business unit US001. The actions include notifying the custodian with an email, explaining the difference, updating the ARM directly, and routing it to the Finance department to transfer the asset.
The rule only suggests the actions and does not execute them during the comparison process, unless the actions are set to execute.
Note: If no action is selected for a business rule, an error occurs.
Warning! Any additions or changes to business rules are considered a customization and must be tested thoroughly before deploying into the production environment.
PeopleSoft provides standard business rules as system data. If the rule is system maintained, you cannot change the Reconcile Attribute or the first rule in the rule set. The System Maintained check box is unavailable. You can add, delete, or change actions in the action set.
Note: Only the value Software is system maintained.
The Software business rule works in a different way from the other rules. The software rule can only be activated or deactivated in the business rules component. The SQL is not viewable and the logic is based on attributes that are defined in the software definition. All software rules are defined in Software Attributes.
If you choose not to use the business rule, change the status to Inactive.
PeopleSoft provides the following predefined business rules:
Note: The predefined business rules are not delivered to automatically execute the Action Set.
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Rule ID |
Rule Description |
Action Set |
Apply To |
|---|---|---|---|
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Business Unit |
The business unit for the Serial ID of a discovered asset does not match the business unit in the asset repository. |
Route to Finance |
Route to Role applies to financial assets. |
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Dept ID |
The custodian department ID for a discovered asset does not match the department ID in the asset repository. |
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Empl ID |
The custodian employee ID for a discovered asset does not match the employee ID in the asset repository. |
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All three action options apply to both financial or nonfinancial assets. |
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LOCATION |
The location for a discovered asset does not match the location in the asset repository. |
Update Asset Repository. |
Update to the ARM can apply to both financial or nonfinancial assets. |
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MFG ID |
The manufacturer's ID for a discovered asset does not match the manufacturer's ID in the asset repository. |
Update Asset Repository. |
Update to the ARM can apply to both financial or nonfinancial assets. |
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Model |
The model number for a discovered asset does not match the model number in the asset repository. |
Update Asset Repository. |
Update to the ARM can apply to both financial or nonfinancial assets. |
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Serial ID-ARM |
An asset appearing in the asset repository does not appear in the discovered assets. |
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Serial ID-Disco |
A discovered asset does not appear in the asset repository. |
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For the Reconcile Attribute Serial_ID_Disco, there is no information about the intended status of the asset. Since it has yet to be added to the Asset Repository, there is no financial status associated with the asset yet. For that reason the action applies to all assets for this attribute. |
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Software |
Unauthorized software |
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All three actions apply to both financial and nonfinancial assets. |
Use the Business Rules – Definition page (IT_RULE_DEFN) to define business rules for IT asset reconciliation.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Business Rules - Definition page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Note: Business rules and the comparison process only apply to IT hardware assets. This criteria is not included in every Business Rule; rather, it is hard-coded in the processing.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Rule ID |
Enter the unique rule name or ID for this business rule. |
Status |
Set the status to Active or Inactive. Inactive rules are not processed by the reconciliation process. However, the Status field could be leveraged as a tool in a phased implementation approach. For instance, you could deploy Serial ID, model, and manufacturer matching in the first phase, and deploy other rules to target specific issues/problems. |
Reconcile Attribute |
Select the primary attribute for reconciliation from the list of valid values or one of the user-defined fields. Remember that the user-defined attributes must be defined first and the user defined fields must be activated prior to defining the user defined attribute. |
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Click the View SQL button to view the SQL criteria created from the rule set. |
Rule Sequence |
The order in which the rules are compared. |
System Maintained |
This is a display-only field. PeopleSoft IT Asset Management provides rules that are fundamental to the business process. For example, the rule for software is defined as a system maintained rule. If the rule is system maintained, you cannot change the Reconcile Attribute or the rule set. However, you can configure actions and update the description of the rule. |
Financial Impact |
Select to display asset financial data in the pagelets. If this check box is deselected, the pagelets will not display financial data for this rule. This option is only visible when Financial Impact Analysis is enabled from the Installation Options - Asset Management page. Further, the check box becomes available for use when the business rule employs a Reconcile Attribute that matches discovery assets to the Asset Repository (ARM); specifically, only those rules that can identify assets that are not in the ARM. In such cases, the page displays: Found in System: Repository Only. Note: This check box is visible only when the Financial Impact option is selected from the Installation Options - Asset Management page. Note: When Financial Impact is selected, an action of Route to Finance should be included. If that action is not included, there are no available actions from which to select in Manage Exceptions when submitting actions for financial impact. |
Trend Analysis |
Select this check box to enable trend analysis tracking for the Manage Exceptions Over Time trend chart with respect to the business rule. See PeopleSoft Enterprise IT Asset Management 9.1 PeopleBook, Managing Exceptions, Viewing Manage Exceptions Trend. |
Define Rule Set
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Seq |
Displays the system-assigned number that denotes the sequence in which that row of data was entered into the grid. |
Attr1 Type |
Select the value to define your rule set. Values are: Attribute: Select to define the attributes for the rule set. You populate the corresponding fields with specific values, which define the criteria for reconciliation of the IT assets. SQL: Select to create custom criteria for the rule set. Note: If you select SQL, the corresponding fields in the row are not available. |
Attribute1 |
Select to define the rule set conditions. Attributes are user-friendly terms used in lieu of record names and field names. |
Operator |
Use in conjunction with Attributes to create your criteria. Valid values are: =, <>, >, >=, <, <=, Like, and Not Like. |
Attr2 Type |
Select the attribute type from the list. Values are: Attribute: Select to populate the corresponding Attribute2 field with additional criteria. Value: Select to populate the corresponding Value field with additional criteria. |
Attribute2 |
Select the value to define the rule set conditions. Attributes are user-friendly terms used in lieu of record names and field names. Note: This field is dynamic and is available only if you selected Attribute from the Attr2 Type list. |
Value |
Enter a value to define the reconciliation rule set. The system reconciles by the value defined. |
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Click the SQL button to enter the custom reconciliation criteria. Note: The icon only appears if you select SQL from Attr1 Type field. Warning! You must test the SQL statement before moving the rule to production. |
Note: Special considerations for date evaluations: When using an attribute field that references a date or datetime field, that attribute can only be compared to another date, or datetime attribute. A value cannot be inserted for a date in the Value column. In order to use specific dates, use the SQL attribute.
Note: Special consideration for the Value field: Values entered are automatically changed to uppercase, causing an invalid rule for some attributes such as MODEL. This causes incorrect implementation of the Business Rule; therefore, Manage Exceptions will not show the desired result. To avoid this problem, modify the Business Rule by adding a SQL statement that contains the correct lower case or mixed case value or values. Save the rule and review the value to make sure the appropriate case is reflected properly.
Define Rule Action
Business rule sets establish the attributes and operators to reconcile IT assets; action sets suggest the processes to occur when a comparison of these IT assets fails. Additionally, the process can automatically process most actions. To enable this, select the execute switch on the action. If an IT asset is discovered based on the rule set, you establish a set of options for that rule set. Action sets can include notifying the asset manager that an IT asset needs to be updated with the correct custodian, adding the discovered asset to the asset repository, or sending an email asking the custodian to verify if the discovered IT asset is being used by someone else.
Note: The action is the focus of the business rule; applying the correct action to the appropriate assets dramatically reduces errors.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
Option |
Select one of the following values: Update ARM: Updates the asset repository. Add Asset: Adds the asset to the ARM. Retire Asset: Retires the asset if it is a nonfinancial asset. Move to Inventory: Moves the asset to inventory. This asset is now available for reuse. Email Custodian: Sends an email to the custodian. You can select the message in the message catalog that you wish to send. Email Manager: Sends an email to the manager. You can select the message in the message catalog that you wish to send. Email Primary User: Sends an email to the individual who is using the IT asset. You can select the message in the message catalog that you wish to send. Email Primary User Manager: Sends an email to the manager of the individual who is using the IT asset. You can select the message in the message catalog that you wish to send. Email Group Owner: Applies only to software. Emails the group owner of the authorization list of the software title. Route to Role: Select to route to a particular role. For example, to transfer an asset, select Route to Role for a transferable attribute. The discovered IT asset information is routed to the finance department to complete the transfer. |
Execute |
Select to enable automatic reconciliation of selected actions for a given business rule at reconciliation time, thus eliminating the need to review the related exceptions on an regular basis. Note: The Execute check box is disabled when the Reconcile Attribute is Serial_ID_ARM and the action Option is Update ARM. If an automatically-executed action ends in failure, it is available to be executed again. Otherwise, the action is not available from Manage Exceptions. Note: Actions such as Update ARM or Add Asset directly correct the exception, whereas actions such as Route to Role or the Email options do not directly correct the exception. The actual correction in these cases depends upon whether the recipient of the routing or email takes corrective action. However, regardless of the action, the exception is considered to be processed, even though the exception may not have actually been corrected as yet. When the Execute option is enabled, there is a slight possibility that an exception may not be reconciled, despite execution of the actions. In this rare instance, an exception may not be identified and fixed. It is considered best practice to periodically disable the Execute check box and review the exceptions that are generated by the comparison process. |
Apply To |
Select one of the following values to prevent illogical action selections and specify whether this action line applies to : Non-Financial assets. Financial assets. Both financial and nonfinancial assets. N/A indicates that the action does not apply to assets. Note: The available selections for Apply To are dynamically set based off of the action option that is selected: When selecting the action option of Retire Asset, the only available Apply To option is Non-Financial since you can only retire nonfinancial assets from ITAM. When selecting the action option of Route to Role, the only available Apply To option is Financial since additional financial information is needed in order to effectively retire the asset. The N/A option is the only Apply To option available when evaluating the financial status is not logical; for example, when adding an asset, there is no information of what the future financial status of the asset could be. |
Role Name |
Select the role to receive the notification. When there is a financial impact on a transaction for a discovered IT asset such as: add asset, retire asset or move to inventory, the route to role becomes an option. This option routes the discovered IT asset information to the appropriate department for processing. Note: This field is dynamic and is only available when you choose Route to Role in the Options field. |
Msg Set and Msg # |
Select the message set and number that you wish to send when you select an email option. Note: The Message Set and Message Number are validated against the message catalog when the page is saved. |
Description |
Enter the description for the option. The description displays on the Confirm Actions page of the Manage Exceptions List. |
Use the Business Rules – Subtype page (IT_RULE_STYPE) to define the asset subtypes that map to the business rule.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Business Rules - Subtype page. You can find definitions for the fields and controls later on this page.
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
All Subtypes |
Select to search for IT assets in all subtype categories. All Subtypes is the default setting for all business rules. Note: If selected, the Subtype List grid will be hidden. Deselect the All Subtypes check box to define individual subtypes you wish to discover. |
Subtype List
Field or Control |
Description |
|---|---|
IT Subtype |
Select the subtype for the business rule defined. The asset's subtype is the only attribute that is actively changed by the comparison process. Even though there is no rule to control the attribute, the attribute will be automatically updated whenever the subtype differs between the ARM and the third-party inventory database. |
Use the Business Rules – Comments page (IT_RULE_COMMENTS) to enter the reason or explanation for defining the business rule.
Navigation:
This example illustrates the fields and controls on the Business Rules - Comments page.
Enter comments you wish to capture for this business rule.