Connect

Access to different Connect functionalities is permission-controlled, which is configurable in the System Settings > Permissions to Role screen and is driven by the Workgroup level assigned to the source system at any given time. Therefore, users may find that some of the screens explained in this document are not visible to them, or that they are unable to perform their assigned role for a particular source system. Request access through your ControliQ admins or Centre of Excellence.

The data required by ControliQ is relatively simple in nature and can be expressed as Core Task Volumes and Staff Member Time data.

Core task volumes are subdivided into Work Out, Work In and Work in Progress:

• Work Out = Volumes of Core Task items completed by each staff member per day

• Work In* = Volume of new Core Task items received per day for the team or department

• Work In Progress* = Volume of outstanding Core Tasks per day for the team or department

Staff Member Time is subdivided into the following categories:

• Diverted Activities: Time spent by each staff member each day in core activities such as meetings, training etc

• Down Time: Time spent by each staff member away from work such as Sickness or Annual Leave / other time off etc

• Resource data: Time spent by each staff member on over time, Flexitime, total working time (Staff Complement), or time lent to other teams.

A Source System is the originating application from which data will be uploaded to ControliQ such as completed work (Work Out), Work-In Progress or Work In, Diverted activities, Downtime and Resource data. When setting up a Source System, you can create and define the unique characteristics of the incoming data, as well as determining how data should be handled once in Connect.

Connect offers a simple and easily managed way to both execute and automate the data transfer process into ControliQ. Connect works using easily generated comma-separated value (.csv) files, XML or Microsoft Excel (.xlsx) files with simple structures, referred to here as the Feed Files.

Feed files are files uploaded to Connect to provide details of work completed and time spent on activities. Connect uses the Feed File in combination with a Source System set up and Mapping File, to translate data into information that can be recorded against the tasks and categories defined in ControliQ.

Multiple source systems can be used for uploading data. Source Systems may have data for work queues (Work-In-Progress or Work In), work completed (WorkOut), time spent in diverted or downtime activities, resources, or planned future activities. Examples of source systems that could provide data include:

• Workflow tools

• Transaction processing applications

• HR systems

In ControliQ, all latest versions of Excel from 2008 are accepted. The maximum file size allowed for any manual data uploads is 20 megabytes (MB).

To map the source system’s feed column names using an existing feed file as a template, select Template in the Feed Columns Setup pop up. You can then browse to the location of the feed file in your own system and click Define.

Figure 10. Using a template to define column headers

Once defined, the same screen will appear as in manually defining feed column headers, however, there will now be drop-down menus provided with the column header options from the feed file. You can then map the column headers from the uploaded file to the standard Connect column headers using the drop-down list.

Only data that is at or beneath the Owner level of the Source System can be mapped to that source system. For instance, if you Assigned the Owner of the source system to Department B in figure 1 then data belonging to Department C could not be loaded using that source system.

Figure 1: Source systems set at team or department

Considerations when setting up the source system include whether there is a likely hood of loaning and borrowing resources from other parts of the organisation. If the resources that are being borrowed belong to a part of the organisation that is not at or below the level of the owner, then it would not be possible to include them in the mappings for that source system.

If you want to load data for both Department B & C using the same source system, and mapping tables, you will need to set the source system Owner at Department A, as in figure 2.

Figure 2. Source system set at highest level.

Setting the Owner at the highest level in the hierarchy gives maximum flexibility in mapping, However, there are two things to consider. First, by not limiting the scope of the source system, the available options to map to increase, thereby increasing the possibility of errors. Additionally, if you are manually loading files, you will also need to grant whomever is loading the files the permissions for that level of the hierarchy, increasing their access to unrelated Source Systems.

If you are manually loading for just one Team, for instance Team 4 in figure 1, and you have no need to consider loaning and borrowing from other teams, setting the source system owner to Team 4 would allow any user with Connect permissions for Team 4 to load the feed file, without visibility to any other Source Systems, eliminating potential confusion.

Other considerations include the use of Department level Tasks. As WIP or Work In for department level tasks are counted at the Department level, source systems to load this data would need to be set up at the Department level rather than a Team level.

When creating a new source system, make sure the Workgroup in the navigation menu is set at the level of or above where you will be assigning the Source System Owner. To change workgroup, select the current workgroup located under your Name in the top left of the screen and use the hierarchy or search to find and select the required workgroup.

Once the appropriate workgroup is selected, navigate to Admin > Data Integration > Source Systems. *Note, if you do not have the Admin menu, this would indicate that the appropriate role permissions have not been assigned to you to set up connect for the selected workgroup.

Select the ‘+’ icon, to add a new Source System. The follow the steps below to give ControliQ the instructions on how to handle the Feed File, as indicated below.

To manually type in the source system’s feed column names, click Form on the Feed Columns Setup pop up. Connect displays the screen shown below, allowing you to type in the feed column names in the provided fields, as they relate to the standard Connect column headers. The Feed Column setup below has been completed for the example feed file in Figure 8. above.

When you first use the Form option to set up your feed columns, values will be populated with default values under each of the connect categories e.g., ItemID1, ItemID2 etc, you should replace these values with the column headers that will be provided on your feed file. You should clear the default values from any of the fields you will not be using otherwise you will encounter an error when you load your feed files.

Deciding on how many source systems you will require is dependent on the format and content of the data that you are creating, and how you wish the data to be treated for each of your separate feeds.

If you are loading data for Workout from two different systems and the column headers are different, for instance for the Tasks or Units, then you will need two source systems, as the directions for reading and handling files are unique for each Source System.

It is possible to have the same source system to load Work Out and Work-In-Progress / Work In, even if these are presented in different feed files. However, there are a couple of key considerations:

You will need to ensure that you either include a Team Identifier in the data or provide the WIP data with a blank entry for the staff member in the staff member column(s). If you load core task data without a staff member included, Connect will treat this data as Work-In-Progress [or Work In for Work In tasks]. See table 2.

Work-In-Progress and Work In data is typically fed on less frequent intervals than Work-Out and may also be set up to Replace rather than combine. If your work-out feed needs to be set up to Combine but the WIP needs to be set to Replace, then you will need two source systems.

1. Begin by selecting a Source System, using the drop-down arrow.

2. Click the + button to create a new map.

    

   Ref ID's Description ControliQ Category Adjust RTM Core Time ControliQ Name Ignore Ref ID's enter the reference ID(s) from the feed file. When using multiple reference IDs, these must be entered in the order of the column headers defined in the Source System setup. Description This can be useful to either provide additional fields to sorting and filtering mapping exports or to provide additional context for others who are viewing mapping decisions. ControliQ Category Select the ControliQ Category to which it corresponds. Mapping links a data reference in the feed file to a specific ControliQ Category and ControliQ Name. ControliQ Categories are below: Adjust RTM Core Time Only visible when mapping Diverted or Downtime (figure 12 below). If you are using Connect to feed Diverted Tasks or Downtime and you are also using RTM to capture data, this feature allows you to decide how you would like to account for the time loaded via Connect . If you check the Adjust RTM Core Time box ControliQ will reduce Core Time equivalent to the time loaded via connect for that specific mapping. If you do not check this box Core Time will remain unaffected and the total time worked will increase equivalent to the time loaded via connect against that mapping. ControliQ Name ControliQ Names will be available for mapping based on the items, teams, and staff members assigned at or below the level in the hierarchy of the Source System Owner. Each source system reference ID, that will be received from a feed file, needs to be linked to the associated ControliQ Name to avoid exceptions when loading the feed file. Source system reference IDs can be associated with any ControliQ category listed above. Ignore Often there are references within a Feed File that do not need to be mapped. If no mapping is found, they will report as an error. It is always best to minimize the number of ignored references from the Feed File to improve processing. However, when required, it is important to map all references, and actively choose to ignore those references that should not be counted in ControliQ. This will keep exception reporting clear to ensure mapping is always accounting for all values found in the Feed File.

    

   Hit save. Repeat the process for all remaining references from the feed file.

    

   Include Unassigned Staff Members: Only visible when mapping Staff Members. Rarely needed, but on occasion it is necessary to make a map before a staff member starts or after the staff member has moved teams or left. In this case, clicking the include unassigned staff members will add any unassigned staff members in ControliQ to the list of possible mapping references in the ControliQ Name dropdown when mapping to a Staff Member category.

Begin by downloading the mapping Template(a) and ControliQ Names(b) from the top right of the mapping screen.

Figure 14. Mapping from a template resources in ControliQ

Within the Mapping Template Assign each source system reference ID to the ControliQ Category and Name. Indicate whether the Ref ID should be ignored. (Yes to ignore, No to load).

Using the Demo System data from before, you can see how the Reference IDs from the source system are mapped to the Categories and Names in ControliQ.

When you have completed your mapping template, upload the template using the import mappings (c) button on the top right of the mappings screen.