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Understanding IMSMA Workflows and Business Rules

70 bytes removed, 17:36, 17 September 2013
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Rather than establishing one workflow that all programmes must use, IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} allows information managers to establish their own programme-appropriate workflows and business rules to better support their specific needs. To document their programme-specific workflows, information managers describe the processes undertaken on each object in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} and the outputs or products from the processes. Typically, these workflows relate to the various categories of land and activities, but they can also be applied to other IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} items as appropriate.
During this step, information managers map the process that each land goes through as it is cleared or its impact is otherwise reduced. Using a combination of the relevant land types, status values and relationships, information managers design an information workflow that will be implemented as standard operating procedures (SOPs) for data entry and analysis. Some programmes may have only one process for all categories of land while other programmes may have three or more processes.
This workflow map identifies the activity that is used within the programme and can be mapped in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} to track the clearance of land. Because IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} supports customisable workflows, it can be used to track different workflows for different objects. For example, a programme may have a separate abbreviated workflow for spot UXO tasks that involve only the identification of the UXO hazard (object) and a clearance of the land (process) without additional surveys or steps. This process should also be mapped for implementing in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>{{IMSMANG}}.
===Business Rules Updating Structure===__NOEDITSECTION__
====Status Changes====__NOEDITSECTION__
Along with a workflow map that describes the relationship between the various types of objects and processes in a workflow, the status changes or outputs from the process are critical in adequately mapping the land clearance process. IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} uses the status value of items to track where the object or process is in its workflow. Objects and processes in IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} can have different status values. For example, land can be defined as "Active", "Worked On," or "Closed," while activities that are more process-oriented can be "Planned," "Ongoing," "Completed," "Suspended," or "Aborted." Defining a set of status values for each item provides the capability to:
* manage workflows according to status
* display items on the map with different symbols based on their status
Some IMSMA<sup>NG</sup> {{IMSMANG}} items may have many status values. For example, process-oriented items such as activities and quality management likely have many status values, but land and other object- or output-oriented items typically have only the three status values listed above. Some items like victims and accidents may not need status values depending on how information is used. Defining the possible status values for each object in the workflow as outputs of the processes conducted on them provides a set of business rules for information management that govern how information should be entered and analysed.
====Example Workflows with Status Changes====__NOEDITSECTION__
===Progress Reporting Structure===__NOEDITSECTION__
Once the land/activity relationships and workflow are defined and documented for each type of land, the next step is to define how progress data for the land clearance processes is collected. Traditionally, incremental progress data is collected using progress reports. These reports are typically linked to the overall clearance operation and are used to collect the incremental progress for a reporting period, usually, the number of mines/UXO cleared, area cleared and hours worked. In IMSMA<sup>NG</sup>{{IMSMANG}}, each progress report is stored as a new activity and linked to the clearance. As a result, individual progress reports can be queried to determine how much progress was made during a given reporting period. In addition, aggregate progress information can be queried for each clearance (for example, the total mines that have been reported cleared for a given clearance operation).
An alternative approach to storing progress information is to collect incremental progress reports and reconcile them as updates to the clearance using the combine option during reconciliation. Using this method, progress reports do not create independent activity items; rather, their information is combined with, and added to, the clearance information collected to that point. This approach simplifies the reconciliation step for progress reports as well as provides a simple summary of clearance data on each land in the Summary. It may, however, become slightly more complicated to determine progress during individual reporting periods. Information managers should assess which approach better meets the needs of their programs when selecting an approach to tracking progress.
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