gt eforms™ framework highlights - gideon taylor

Copyright © 2018 Gideon Taylor Consulting. This is an unpublished work protected under the United States copyright laws. This work contains proprietary and confidential information of Gideon Taylor Consulting. Use, disclosure, or reproduction without the express written authorization of Gideon Taylor Consulting is prohibited.

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GT eForms™ Framework Highlights

Workflow, Electronic Forms, and Custom eApp Toolkit

Copyright © 2018 Gideon Taylor Consulting. All Rights Reserved. Company Confidential. 1528 W 3400 N, Pleasant Grove, UT 84062-9036 P 801.434.7260 F 801.225.3040 E [email protected]

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

Table of Contents ............................................................................................................................................ 2 GT eForms™ Features ...................................................................................................................................... 3

Business Owner Control .............................................................................................................................. 3 Managing Business Process Complexity ...................................................................................................... 3

Where to Store Your Complexity? ........................................................................................................... 4 Easy-To-Use Form Designer / Builder Tool .................................................................................................. 4

Creating and Managing Pages, Segments, and Fields ............................................................................. 5 Workflow/Form Routing ....................................................................................................................... 12 Notifications .......................................................................................................................................... 12 Action Items .......................................................................................................................................... 14 Downloadable Copy .............................................................................................................................. 14 Query Records ....................................................................................................................................... 15 Developer Tools ..................................................................................................................................... 16 PeopleSoft Security ............................................................................................................................... 16

eForms in Action........................................................................................................................................ 17 WorkCenter ........................................................................................................................................... 17 Form Presentation ................................................................................................................................. 17 Attaching Notes or Comments .............................................................................................................. 18 Attaching Documents ............................................................................................................................ 19 Workflow ............................................................................................................................................... 20 Updating PeopleSoft and Other Applications ....................................................................................... 25 GT eForms™ Admin Tool ....................................................................................................................... 25

GT eForms™ Add-Ons .................................................................................................................................... 27 GT Action Center™ .................................................................................................................................... 27 GT Analytics™ ............................................................................................................................................ 28

My eForms ............................................................................................................................................. 30 Currently in Error ................................................................................................................................... 31 Age from Last Action ............................................................................................................................. 31 Age from Origination ............................................................................................................................. 32 Error Rates ............................................................................................................................................. 32 Form Type Distribution.......................................................................................................................... 33 Cycle Time ............................................................................................................................................. 33 Average Response Time ........................................................................................................................ 34 Correction rates ..................................................................................................................................... 34

Conclusion ..................................................................................................................................................... 35 Powerful Solutions, Unparalleled Flexibility .............................................................................................. 35 Contact Us ................................................................................................................................................. 36


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GT eFORMS™ FEATURES

GT eForms™ is a bolt-on toolset for creating workflow-enabled electronic forms and custom self-service applications in PeopleSoft. As a PeopleTools-based bolt-on, GT eForms™ enables PeopleSoft customers to build powerful, flexible solutions that meet their unique requirements…without customizing delivered PeopleSoft.

With configuration-based form creation, GT eForms™ empowers business analysts to configure complete form solutions. GT eForms™ are presented to users as PeopleSoft pages. Pages, segments, and even individual fields can display conditionally based on any criteria, including the role of the user, the action being taken, or the department initiating the form. The eForms route themselves automatically to approvers; allow users to take actions such as Approve, Deny, or Recycle; and ultimately enter their data into delivered PeopleSoft components. While the toolset can be entirely configurable, the GT eForms™ also supports full PeopleTools development to meet even the most complex business requirements.

Using GT eForms™, companies can take any paper form and turn it into an efficient, secure and effective electronic form. Following are some of the exciting and effective features of GT eForms™.

Business Owner Control GT eForms™ lets business owners and business analysts, who understand the business process best, arrange how the form will unfold to the user with intuitive setup pages. This allows for the design of easy-to-follow, wizard-like eForms that guide the user through to completion. The steps the user follows can branch conditionally, letting the user see only the fields, segments, pages and information that pertain to them.

As a result, our clients have reported compelling improvements in usability and end-user satisfaction, and drastically lower error rates.

GT eForms™ allows approval routes and workflow (using native integration with PeopleSoft’s Approval Framework or AWE), email templates and email content, notification triggers, routing and email filters, conditional branches and overrides and much more to be defined by functional users (business owners and analysts) in the online application. Changes and extensions can be implemented by functional users online and in real time.

Managing Business Process Complexity Most organizations do not have the luxury of getting rid of all the complexity in their business processes. Most of it is there for a good reason – you need it! Hiring a salaried administrator has to be different than hiring a part-time hourly employee. A funding change in one department may have a good reason to require different fields than a funding change in another. Changing a major (program) for a graduate student might be different than changing a major (program) for an undergrad. The easiest way to organize a crowded workshop is to throw everything away, but then you’ve defeated the purpose.

“Implementing GT eForms™ was a home run for our organization. We were able to decentralize PeopleSoft [entry] and greatly reduce the manpower required to process payroll. We were able to eliminate faxes, emails and phone calls, and replace them with an efficient workflow.”

- Anthony Longo, PeopleSoft Programmer/ Analyst Wakefern Food Corp.


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With GT eForms™, you build solutions that store your business process complexity in a logical setup table structure, like shelves in the workshop. When the complexity is organized and well defined, it can be managed by business analysts, and more importantly, it can be hidden from the end users! The eForms can follow their defined paths and branches without requiring the end user to know about the branches, or even know they exist.

Figure 1 – Different conditions display different pages

For example, in Figure 1, the Job Change eForm can respond dynamically to the location the Initiator works at, and the department the Form Subject works in, to display conditional pages with only the fields necessary for the given location and department.

Where to Store Your Complexity?

As we’ll discuss, GT eForms™ has several levels of definitions that allow you to organize a business process of any complexity.

• Form Type – Create separate forms for discrete business processes. If two processes have very little in common with each other, it makes good sense to separate them. Remember that doing so increases the options end-users must choose among.

• Form Condition – Major divisions or paths through a given Form Type. This could distinguish among divisions, between exempt and non-exempt, etc. If a characteristic changes both workflow and pageflow, it is a good candidate for a Form Condition.

• Form Task – Defines what pageflow, form messages, and notifications a given user will see.

• Visual IF – A “Yes or No” question to turn on or off a step in the workflow, the pageflow, form messages, notifications, and more.

Easy-To-Use Form Designer / Builder Tool

Conditional Pages

Form SubjectsInitiatorsForm Type

Job Change

Todd PronounField Office

Will QuoteIT

Field OfficesIT

Mika AuxiliaryAdmin Office

Rebecka XedHR

Admin OfficesHR


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GT eForms delivers a Forms Engine, a Logic Engine, and a Workflow Engine that work together with delivered PeopleTools features to automate a business process.

• The Forms Engine enables both configuration-based eForm creation as well as custom eForm segments built as subpages in App Designer. The Forms Engine provides a range of field and data types; column and grid segments; configurable field properties; advanced form searches; security at Form Type, Condition, Task, and row levels; valid-value lookups; related description displays; data pre-population and dynamic value defaulting; dynamic field behavior; and field, segment, and form-level PeopleCode hooks.

• The Logic Engine allows functional users to construct complex logic statements using form data, PeopleSoft or SQL Query results, or PeopleCode methods nested to any level. The resulting logic statements, called Visual IFs, can control form field properties, page navigation, segment display, conditional workflow routing, action item display, and Form Condition-setting.

• The Workflow Engine extends the delivered PeopleSoft Approval Framework with enhanced routing display; robust, functionally-configurable User Lists using set logic; conditional routings driven by Visual IFs built in the Logic Engine; and an enhanced Notification framework to generate e-mails and worklist items.

The powerful GT Logic Engine and features like Visual If™ are examples of features that empower business analysts to implement complex logic through user-friendly setup pages. These extra software features extend additional functionality, allowing greater control, better solutions, smarter development, cleaner look and feel and more power to the business owner.

Creating and Managing Pages, Segments, and Fields

eForm pages can be reused and repurposed by conditionally managing how the fields appear on the page in different circumstances. For example, at one location the Salary Admin Plan may need to be gathered on the form, while at a different location it can always be defaulted. Using the Logic Engine, the same page can be used in both cases, and the Salary Admin Plan field conditionally hidden for the location where the user doesn’t need to see it.

The Pages tab (Figure 2) of the Form Type table provides a great example of the breadth of functional configuration capabilities in GT eForms™. The Pages tab is used to define the parts that make up a form. Conditional logic can be added into a field, segment, page or form condition to determine in which order pages and page elements are displayed, when or if they are displayed, and to whom. In this example, we see that a condition labeled ‘Student’ has been added.


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Figure 2 - Functional configuration of pageflow and conditions

When the employee being hired is a Student, the form will conditionally display an alternate ‘Job Data Student’ page rather than the standard ‘Job Data’ page used for other employee types. That alternate page can have different fields, segments, logic…elements that reflect the difference in requirements when hiring a Student vs. other employee types.

This conditional branching is easily configured by business analysts. The standard Job Change pageflow is defined as the ‘Default’ Condition and the alternate pageflow is the ‘Student’ Condition. The business analyst only needs to create the pages and see that the appropriate Condition is set. The form then determines which path of pages to show the user. The pageflow can change dynamically as the user changes the Condition values.

Figure 2 shows an example of configuring the pages used to approve or deny a form to show as a single page, while the pages used to create the form are broken down into many pages. The form configuration is setup to match the needs of the user based on the action.


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Figure 3 - Functional configuration task variation

The result is an eForm that only shows the appropriate fields to the user, unfolding naturally as they enter information. The complexity of the different possible paths is completely hidden from the user, and they are guided through the appropriate path based on the business process laid out by the business analyst.

In a similar example diagramed in Figure 4, the Add Task pageflow shows how different fields are needed for an Hourly as opposed to a Contract employee. To accomplish this, we create two different Compensation pages, one with the Hourly fields and one with the Contract fields. The appropriate Comp page is chosen conditionally, depending on the values chosen on the first page. The Evaluate Task also illustrates how a different first page is displayed for Hourly and Contract employees.


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Figure 4 – Conditional branching in pageflow

Hourly Comp Hourly Rate Account Code

First Page Empl Group Location

Contract Comp Contract Amt Pay Periods Per Period Amt Account Code

Submit Page Comments Action Buttons

Results Page What happened Nav Links

Eval Hourly Empl Group Location Hourly Rate Account Code Comments Action Buttons

Results Page What happened Nav Links

EVALUATE TASK

ADD TASK

Eval Cntrct Empl Group Location Contract Amt Pay Periods Pay Period Amt Account Code Comments


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Configurable Instructions and Help Sections

When you need or want to provide instructions and ‘help’ options for users, GT eForms™ includes the ability to incorporate rich text, help links, images, and related content throughout the form to aid the user in completing whatever task they’re executing.

Figure 5 – Click on the ‘Instr’ icon to enter rich text on a page or segment

The Form Type Table has a Step entry for each form page. When you select the Descr button you can enter the instructional text you want to appear when a user brings up the form. Using the Condition feature in the Form Type Table, you can even have different text appear in different contexts on the same page – for example, instructions for graduate student changing a major (program) could be different than those for an undergraduate student, even though they are using the same eForm and the same page!

Create/Reuse Segments

Fields can be organized into a grouping on a page. These segments can be saved and re-used across pages and forms. Segments can conditionally show and hide using the powerful Visual If configuration tool. Pages can have both configuration segments and custom-built segments. Each segment can be displayed in a column format or a grid.


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Figure 6 – Segment setup page

Field Settings

The designer has a number of options available to configure each field to meet the business requirement. Figure 7 shows the high level field settings.

Figure 7 – Defining field attributes

• Select a field – Use a delivered Peoplesoft field or create a new field on-demand.

• Set field type – Code, date, integer, large number, long text, medium text, short text, two decimal.


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Clicking the ‘Field Details’ icon will open the Segment Field Configuration page shown in Figure 8.

Figure 8 – Configuring field details

• Set the display type – Make the field display as a button, checkbox, date, dropdown, edit, link or prompt.

• Display Only – Each field can be set to editable, display only, or it can conditionally change based on user configured logic.

• Required – Each field can be set to editable, display only, or it can conditionally change based on user configured logic.

• Show – Each field can be set to editable, display only, or it can conditionally change based on user configured logic.

• Prompt – A magnifying glass appears next to the field. When clicked configuration will define what valid values can be selected.

• Related Display – Set a description to show next to a field based on the contents

• Populate data – eForms can be configured to pre-populate fields. Additional configuration-based logic within the form can also automatically update fields when other field values change. For example, if the user changes the Position Number, other form fields related to that Position Number within PeopleSoft will automatically change to reflect the values associated with the new selected Position Number.


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Workflow/Form Routing

GT eForms™ enables business analysts to define the necessary workflow routing within the form designer, so that the form knows where to go and what to do with each user action (e.g. Submit, Approve, Recycle, etc.). Functionally-defined, conditionally branching, reusable Approval Routes guide eForms to the right people and eventually into the target system. These Approval Routes can use PeopleSoft security roles, department security, position reports-to structures, and many other routing constructs, and through conditional branching, can manage routings of any complexity.

Powerful GT configuration tools, like Rosters, Visual If’s, and conditional overrides expand a Business Analyst’s ability to implement complex requirements without technical assistance. The GT Logic Engine is integrated into definitions, paths and steps. This tool opens up the ability to configure conditional workflow routing to any fields within the system. Rosters are used to easily build complex routing criteria in a purely functional way. These lists are used to define possible approvers (Participation Roster) or email recipients (Distribution Roster).

Approval Routes can use PeopleSoft security roles, department security, position reports-to structures and many other routing constructs. By applying conditional branching, GT eForms™ can manage routings of any complexity. Changes and extensions to routing behavior can be implemented by functional users online and in real time. The form designer can use Visual Ifs, as shown in Figure 9, to define logic to route the form to certain approvers under certain conditions.

Figure 9 – Configuring conditional approval step with Visual If

Notifications

Notifications and worklist reminders are an important part of the approval workflow process. The notifications tab of the form builder provides the ability to configure notifications that can be triggered based on very specific business requirements. The online configuration includes the ability to setup


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notifications at specific steps in the approval process, based on specific form actions, recipient rosters and worklist descriptions.

Figure 10 – Form Type Notification setup

GT eForms™ allows functional setup of Email Templates with dynamic text inserts that customize the recipient message. Direct links back into any task of the form can be included using configuration options.

Figure 11 – GT Email Template setup


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Action Items

The action item section in a form shows action items that require acknowledgment by the current user. Action items are loaded based on form type, condition, task, and visual if. They are displayed as a list of items that must be acklowledged before navigating away from a page. An audit log tracks each time a user acklowledges the item(s). They can require a user to either check a box to show acceptance or provide a comment. Figure 12 shows the setup pages used to define action items to meet the specific business requirement.

Figure 12 – Action Item setup

Downloadable Copy

The goal of an eForm is usually to store it electronically in the framework where it can be retrieved as needed. However, sometimes there is a business need that requires a way for the form to be downloaded into a printer-friendly copy (e.g. PDF). With GT eForms, this is a configuration-based option that can be quickly added using the BI Publisher tool. When Reports are setup, GT eForms users will have access to Print the report from the View and Evaluate task of the associated Form Type. Figure 13 is a sample report that was generated from a wage statement form.


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Figure 13 – Printer-friendly report

Query Records

The PeopleSoft query tool can be used to report on all data stored in the forms. Users configure the name of the record where the data is stored so it follows naming convention requirements.

Figure 14 – Query Records: After Creation


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Developer Tools

As a 100% PeopleTools application, all GT eForms™ development is done in the same PeopleTools application development tool used by your team for PeopleSoft development: PS Application Designer. The resulting PeopleTools solutions built with GT eForms™ can be maintained and extended with skill sets already familiar to your staff, including App Designer record, page and component design, PeopleCode, App Engine, etc. Moreover, we provide full access to the GT eForms™ source code and objects, so your in-house technical staff can explore, troubleshoot, modify and expand not just the eForms built with GT eForms™, but the toolset itself!

When form requirements go beyond what configuration can do, technical tasks can extend the form without having to abandon or modify the configuration-based tool. GT eForms™ enables easy integration of custom logic, pages, and segments into the existing form without sacrificing functionality.

• Write PeopleCode-based SmartSources and Visual Ifs – These PeopleCode methods define data sources and logic statements that self-register so they can be used in configuration to drive form behavior.

• Create Custom Segments and Pages – When page segments need to be custom, they are developed in App Designer as subpages. They can be mixed on a form page with configuration-driven segments. Following our coding standards, field properties for custom segments can still be managed online by business analysts!

• Custom Search Records and Lookups – Search and field lookups can use custom-developed records and views.

• Configure Integration Objects – To push form data back into delivered PeopleSoft components, the developer creates a Component Interface and the code to populate it. To simplify the development of web service-enabled, Component Interface-based integrations into PeopleSoft, GT provides:

• IB Handler – This tool handles most of the work of moving the form data across the web service through Integration Broker, updating form status and sending notifications.

• CI Wrapper - This PeopleCode class makes working through a Component Interface easy.

• Template Objects – Again, delivered templates of the integration objects make it much easier for developers than starting from scratch.

PeopleSoft Security

As a native PeopleTools toolset, GT eForms™ and applications built with it use PeopleSoft security directly, without building new security interfaces or exporting or duplicating security information. GT eForms™ directly leverages:

• PeopleSoft’s identity architecture – Users log-in using their existing PeopleSoft User ID and password. GT eForms™ can also directly access the user’s associated information, including person data, employee, vendor, applicant and customer information.

• Native PeopleSoft Roles – As a native PeopleSoft bolt-on, GT eForms™ uses the same Role-based security setup that PeopleSoft does. No exports, interfaces, duplication or synchronization is necessary – PeopleSoft security is GT eForms™ security. That means that access to eForms pages


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are managed in the same way access to other PeopleSoft pages is managed – using PeopleSoft Security.

• Row-Level Security – GT eForms™ applications use native PeopleSoft security to determine who can see what data, so when the Public Works department administrative assistant chooses an employee to start a pay increase eForm for, he or she only sees the employees in the Public Works department.

Additional PeopleSoft-Based Security – GT eForms™ can also natively use other PeopleSoft security data, including supervisor and reports-to structures, tableset controls and custom PeopleSoft security data.

eForms in Action The form building tool was created with the Business Analyst and Developer in mind. The goal was to make their job easier. However, the form will only be great if the end user experience matches. GT eForms™ will give users a custom experience that only shows them the inforamton they need to see in a consistent and reliable format. The parts that makeup the user experience are described in more detail below.

WorkCenter

Although eForms can be deployed in a variety of ways, the default approach is enabling users to access them through a GT (PeopleSoft) WorkCenter, a one-stop shop to initiate, view, update and approve any eForms that the user is authorized to initiate, view or approve. When an eForm is ‘activated’, it automatically registers on the GT WorkCenter, making it available to any users that have the security to view and use the form.

PeopleSoft’s WorkCenters enable streamlined, user-oriented desktops that can be configured by task (e.g. Time & Labor, ePerformance) or by role (e.g. Payroll Representative, Department Administrator). In addition to providing quick and easy access to eForms, WorkCenters can provide one-click navigation to frequently used websites, documents, PeopleSoft applications, and other items in order to optimize navigation and simplify day-to-day tasks.

Form Presentation

The forms are presented in a clean, consistent format that unfolds for users as information is entered. Even for complex processes, forms can be designed to walk a user through the process one step at a time, simplifying the process, minimizing confusion, and avoiding errors. A consistent look-and-feel makes it easy for users to become familiar with what to expect on a form regardless of what the form is about.


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Figure 15 – Sample Form Display

Attaching Notes or Comments

Notes can easily be added to any eForm using the Comments feature. Comments can be used to communicate with other participants in the form’s workflow, explaining the reasons for a change or otherwise note information that doesn’t belong in any of the form’s standard fields. Comments are stored permanently with the form.

Figure 16 – Notes in the Comments and Comment History fields


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Attaching Documents

GT eForms™ supports uploaded electronic and scanned document attachments to eForms. These documents can either be stored in the PeopleSoft database itself, on network-addressable file system storage, or on a third-party Enterprise Document Management (EDM) system.

Attachments are easily included for any eForm. The user simply clicks Add File Attachment, navigates to the location of the file, and chooses Upload. A freeform description can be added.

Figure 17 – File Attachments

Users with access to evaluate or view the eForm can view and download the associated attachments. A permanent link is maintained between the uploaded attachment and the original eForm request it was attached to. The link is the unique Form ID, which traces directly to the original eForm.

GT eForms™ also integrates easily with full-featured document management systems (DMS). GT eForms™ can store uploaded attachments directly to the DMS, store links to the DMS-based documents with the eForm, and retrieve the attachments from the eForm with a click.


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Figure 18 – Process flow for GT Attachment Repository

Workflow

Most organizations have approval routings that have varying levels of approval. Here is an extreme example:

The University of Oklahoma at Norman had an established routing protocol for personnel action forms (PAFs) that included twenty-four possible approval stops. After careful review, they wanted to keep all the steps in their new automated ePAF™ system.

GT streamlined the process from a possible twenty-four sequential steps down to a maximum of ten, by:

• Moving some Approvers out of the critical path by making them Reviewers, for whom the form didn’t wait.

• Combining a group of Approvers into a simultaneous pool who all receive the form at once. All must approve before the form moves on.

Workflow for any form can be designed to enable certain approvers to add or edit data at any point in the process, and routings and workflow rules can be reused by other forms.


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Configurable Approval Routing

GT eForms™ adds a configuration-based UI to the delivered PeopleSoft Approval Framework, enabling business analysts to define the necessary workflow routing within the form designer, so that the form knows where to go and what to do with each user action (e.g. Submit, Approve, Recycle, etc.). Functionally-defined, conditionally branching, reusable Approval Routes guide eForms to the right people and eventually into the target system. These Approval Routes can use PeopleSoft security roles, department security, position reports-to structures, and many other routing constructs, and through conditional branching, can manage routings of any complexity.

The form designer can use Visual Ifs, as shown in Figure 19, to define logic to route the form to certain approvers under certain conditions.

Figure 19 – Configuring conditional approval step with Visual If

Workflow for any form can also be designed to enable certain approvers to add or edit data at any point in the process, and routings and workflow rules can be reused by other forms.

Ad Hoc Reviewers and Approvers

Both administrators and workflow participants can enable ad hoc routing. Click on the in Figure 20 to open the ad hoc window. The “Insert Additional Approver ” window pops up allowing users to select an ad hoc participant from a predefined list. Both the visualizer and the audit log clearly show that a step was acting in an ad hoc role.


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Figure 20 – Adding an ad hoc approver

Electronic Signatures

Gathering and storing electronic signatures is a key feature of GT eForms™. GT eForms™ provides multiple electronic signature modalities. Generally User ID- and password-based electronic signatures are appropriate for electronic transactions, as evidenced by millions of legal and financial transactions that take place over the internet every day. These include:

• Identity-Verified Actions – Every user action on an eForm is automatically tracked and stored in a signature transaction log, including the user name and ID, the PeopleSoft security role they are acting in, and a date-time stamp. In this way, everything they do is signed electronically – it was done while they were logged in with their unique user name and password, and we stored what they did and when.

When eForm users click Approve or Deny, they are electronically signing that they are taking that action.

• Click-to-Agree Signatures – Our Form Messages feature can require a click to acknowledge a statement or message before the accompanying eForm can be signed, like initialing a statement on a paper form.

• Click-to-Sign Signatures – For extra emphasis, GT eForms™ can require a Click-to-Sign signature. These are employed in the GT Paperless I-9™ solution. The user is required to re-enter their user


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name and password, firmly establishing their identity and that they are still in control of the user session. The Click-to-Sign button is then replaced with a graphic representing the electronic signature.

Figure 21 – Click to Sign

Tracking an eForm

check its progress. Progress can be viewed by form, by employee ID, by time outstanding, or any number of other custom search criteria.

Progress is displayed in an easy to understand, graphical tool called the Process Visualizer (Figure 22). Combining the Process Visualizer and the GT Formlog on one page allows users to easily see all the past, present, and future participants in the process; shows how long the form was in process at each step; and indicates who can perform the next task.

GT eForms™ proactively notifies requested participants via email as the form progresses. Setup-configurable notifications allow functional users to define who gets these FYI emails.

GT eForms™ applications keep everyone involved in a business process active and informed of its progress. Users from any area or department that have security access to view an eForm process can


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Figure 22 - Process Visualizer

Automatic Audit Record

Everything that happens to an eForm is automatically audited and logged. As shown in Figure 23, audit data includes date/time stamp, the role acted in, the User ID and description, the form action taken, and the resulting form status. This audit record is permanently stored with the eForm, and can be checked by anyone with appropriate security access.

Figure 23 – Transaction / Signature Log

Out-of-Office Routings

GT eForms™ provides several approaches to make sure work doesn’t stop when someone is on vacation.


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• eForm Admin Tool – This powerful tool allows an administrator to move a form to someone else’s worklist, or simply add backup or ad hoc approvers to the form, which sends emails and adds appropriate worklist items for these approvers.

• Delegation Framework – GT eForms™ checks PeopleSoft’s delivered Delegation Framework Workflow User settings, which individual users can set using Self Service. Using this, when a user goes on vacation, he or she can redirect their workflow emails and worklist items to an alternate recipient. (The alternate must still have appropriate roles and security to work the forms.)

• Pooled Worklists and Equally Authorized Roles – Pooled worklists allow multiple people who share a role and security settings to manage a workload together. Whoever in the pool works the form first, the step is complete and the form is removed from everyone’s worklist. Equally authorized configuration can allow people to be authorized to work a form at a certain step without having to normally receive emails and worklist items, but when the form is routed to them by an administrator or another user, they can work it.

• Manage Personal Workflow eForm (separate eForms Library solution) – Developed for the University of Utah as a custom solution in place of the PS Delegation Framework, this eForm provides a workflow user with robust features to manage workflow proxies and delegates.

Updating PeopleSoft and Other Applications

GT eForms™ applications can easily update PeopleSoft using the gold-standard Integration Broker / Component Interface method. Any other application can be updated through Web Services or legacy integrations. See the Gideon Taylor publication, “GT eForms-Peoplesoft Integration Highlights”, for a detailed discussion of GT eForms™ integration capabilities.

To push form data back into delivered PeopleSoft components, GT eForms™ uses Component Interface, the gold standard method of updating PeopleSoft. This occurs over PeopleSoft’s Integration Broker.

The developer creates a Component Interface and the code to populate it. To simplify the development of web service-enabled, Component Interface-based integrations into PeopleSoft, GT provides:

• IB Handler – This tool handles most of the work of moving the form data across the web service through Integration Broker, updating form status and sending notifications.

• CI Wrapper – This PeopleCode class makes working through a Component Interface easy.

• Template Objects – Again, delivered templates of the integration objects make it much easier for developers than starting from scratch.

GT eForms™ Admin Tool

The powerful eForm Admin Tool (Figure 24) that is delivered with GT eForms™ enables an administrator to manage an individual eForm in many ways. The eForm Admin Tool enables convenient access to view the status and workflow of any eForm, and provides business analysts with powerful, intuitive ad hoc functionality. The analyst can recreate many workflow commands from the Admin Tool, including:

Update/Resubmit for approval Set to Executed Recycle the eForm to the originator Authorize


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Deny Withdraw View

Figure 24 – GT eForms™ Administration Tool


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GT eFORMS™ ADD-ONS

GT Action Center™ Available as part of the GT eForm Library, the GT Action Center™ provides a powerful tool to review and process many forms at once. Instead of having to go into each individual form to review and take action, the Action Center provides a summary view of all of the forms in an approver’s queue. From the Action Center list, the user can choose which forms to take action on, and what action to take.

Each form is represented by a bar on the list (or table), with enough summary data to allow the approver to take action, whether that’s to approve, deny, recycle, hold or another action. Actions can be taken on a single form or on many forms at once, and they don’t all have to be the same action. Individual actions can be selected for each form.

The Action Center in Figure 25 shows 4 different form types in the approver’s queue: Job Change, Hire, Change Employment Status, and I-9.

Figure 25 – GT Action Center™


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The GT Action Center™ also provides the ability to sort and filter forms in the approval queue by a variety of criteria, including form type, status, department or other keys. The user can quickly and easily prioritize their work and focus on those forms that are of greatest importance or have the highest urgency.

Figure 26 – GT Action Center filter option

GT Analytics™ Another solution within the GT eForm Library, GT Analytics™ provides an efficient way to monitor the status and performance data associated with eForms. This powerful tool searches eForms based on criteria such as form type and status, date ranges, participants, etc. and shows summary charts and eForm details of the search results. Charts give a visual picture of your automated processes, with graphical comparisons to the broader organization.

Users access the reports from the GT eForms Workcenter, which is also where forms are created and managed. Depending on access levels, users can see reports for forms they created or admin level forms.


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Users can click on the chart to drill into form details.

Additional prompts can be accessed by clicking on the gear icon under the form heading and selecting Prompt.

The following general reports are delivered with the GT eForms framework. Customized reports can be added to meet specific business needs.


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My eForms

Shows all forms originated by the current user by form status. The report can be filtered by form status, form type, or date range.


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Currently in Error

Shows the count of forms that are currently in an error by form type. The report can be filtered by form type and date range.

Age from Last Action

Shows pending forms grouped by the amount of time since the last action was taken. The report can be filtered by form status, form type, age filter, and date range.


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Age from Origination

Shows pending forms grouped by the amount of time since the form was created. The report can be filtered by form status, form type, age filter, and date range.

Error Rates

Shows percentage of eForms that have been in an Error status at some point, including forms that are no longer in an error status. The report can be filtered by form type and age range. Forms with a high percentage could indicate an issue that may need to be addressed in the Component Interface.


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Form Type Distribution

Shows total form count by form type. The report can be filtered by form type, form status, and date range.

Cycle Time

Shows average length of time for forms from origination to execution by form type. The report can be filtered by form type, days elapsed, and date range.


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Average Response Time

Shows average length of time the forms is at one step before it is completed. The report can be filtered by form type, days elapsed, and date range.

Correction rates

Shows the total number of times a form is denied, withdrawn, resubmitted or recycled by form type. The report can be filtered by form type, action, and date range. A high count in one of these areas could indicate a need for more training or an updated form design.


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CONCLUSION

Gideon Taylor revolutionizes business by helping organizations customize, automate, and extend their PeopleSoft experience with custom bolt-on solutions. We enable our clients to transform inefficient, paper-based processes into streamlined electronic forms and custom self-service applications, delivering unique solutions that are simple, effective, efficient and flexible.

Powerful Solutions, Unparalleled Flexibility Organizations reliy on the flexibility and configurability of GT eForms™ to efficiently and effectively automate processes ranging from simple to complex. Only GT eForms™ delivers the combination of:

• Native PeopleTools-based integration enabling direct access to valuable PeopleSoft data, including employee, finance, and student data – without having to develop and maintain external integrations;

• Rules-based automation to effectively manage transactions and data based on your organization’s unique business rules;

• Extensive configuration-based form functions to empower business analysts to design and manage:

o Page design and field layout;

o Approval routing and workflow;

o Conditional business logic (e.g. which pages, segments, fields and valid values are displayed to which users under what conditions);

o Conditional field behavior (e.g. when to hide or display, which fields are required, etc.);

o Auto-population of form data based on your organization’s business rules and the specific action being taken;

o Dynamic dependencies to dynamically change the values of fields based on the values entered in preceding fields;

• Integration with existing PeopleSoft system edits and the ability to create custom edits to ensure that users are completing the form properly by validating data at the time that it’s entered;

• Native integration with PeopleSoft security to ensure that forms, data and processes are only available to the appropriate users, including guest users (e.g. parents);

• Automatic form tracking and transaction logging to provide ongoing visibility of the form in-process and a permanent record of all users who interact with the form and the action they take (e.g. submit, approve, withdraw, deny, recycle);

• SOA-based integration with non-PeopleSoft data stores and applications, including on-premise and hosted services;

• Auto-creation of custom tables for storage, query, and reporting of any forms-related data, both PeopleSoft and non-PeopleSoft;

• Automatic updates to PeopleSoft without having to create and maintain third-party integrations and interfaces.

With features like these, GT eForms™ can help you meet and exceed the goals of any electronic forms initiative.


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Contact Us We can offer you:

• Powerful Electronic Forms Toolset for PeopleSoft (GT eForms) The most powerful eForms tool for PeopleSoft applications that enables the creation of customizable electronic forms with minimal to no technical intervention.

• Custom Applications for PeopleSoft (Custom Solutions) A broad library of customizable PeopleSoft application templates that let you do business your way.

• Business Process Automation Services (Consulting) A focused team of consulting experts who heal business process pain points by simplifying complex processes, automating data entry and radically improving efficiency.

Gideon Taylor can also perform a live webcast for your organization to demonstrate GT eForms™ and any of our business process solutions. Please contact us at [email protected] or 801-434-7260 to schedule.

“If you have a need to make your work processes more efficient and effective, you owe it to yourself and to your organization to talk with Gideon Taylor.”

- Julius Hilburn, Associate Vice President / Chief HR Officer University of Oklahoma

mailto:[email protected]