User

All Users requiring access to Front Office or used in the request process must exist in the system. The User Maintenance area is available to maintain individual user settings that control access permissions, account status, user default values, associated divisions, user group membership and request field default values.

It is also possible to change the user’s password and set ‘out of office’ approval backup from the User List. Normally an approver would configure ‘out of office’ details in their About Me page but an administrator could set up the details here if the approver has forgotten to do so. Access to About Me is controlled by an access right. 

Users can be created via the user interface, imported using a CSV or Unicode text file, or imported from Active Directory. Active Directory imported fields include User ID, User Name (choice of mapping from AD Full Name or User Name), and Email Address. An import profile can contain one or many organizational units or groups. A profile can be assigned a cost center, an access profile, a language, and a status. The profile can be assigned to one or many Front Office user groups (which must already exist).

The quick search option is a wildcard search on User ID, User Name, Email address, and User GUID.
Additional filters within the search are Status and Access Profile. Activated status also includes the statuses: Account Locked, Expired and Password Reset.

This article covers the following topics

• Creating a User
• Editing a User 
• About Me

Creating a User

To create a user via the user interface, select the User > Add option within the Organization category

Settings tab

Each user must have a unique user ID that is used to access the system. Additional fields required are User Name, Email Address, Cost Center, Status, and Access Profile; the latter determines the areas of the system to which they will have access. A valid email address is used primarily to send automated emails to the requester or request approver.

Three statuses are available when creating a user: Activated, Deactivated and Dormant. The Dormant status can be used for users who only need to be recognized as ‘Requested For’ users in the request process but will not actually ever login to the system. Dormant users can only be created; activated users may not be moved to that status.

Note: A user must have an ‘activated’ status before they can be selected within the Approval Matrix.

Other settings include language, time zone and currency defaults; the user may edit language, time zone and currency settings from within My Account, if System Configuration Settings allow. IT is also possible to maintain some core data which will be referenced by the approval matrix: Line Manager and Approval Level of the user.

Upon creation of a user, a system-generated user Globally Unique Identifier (GUID) is created. This value isused through the core database tables and, in isolation, is not identifiable as belonging to a specific user.

If entry to the system is via the login page, new users should use the Forgotten Password functionality to determine their password.

Other tabs are available to set additional user information:

Divisions tab

Divisions listed here are used for determining which requests are available under the View All Requests access right and for restricting the cost centers that can be selected when creating a request. The parent Division of the user’s associated Cost Center will be “selected” as default, but other divisions can be selected.

Groups tab

User Group membership for the user is managed here. A user can be linked or unlinked to groups.

Defaults Tab

The Defaults tab enables user defaults to be set against the request fields used in request types. This ensures easier request completion for users by defaulting their specific information into request fields and so avoiding retyping for each request raised, e.g., contact email address, contact telephone number etc. The associated Request Field default is displayed for reference.

Integration Tab

If an Integration Setting (Admin > Settings > Integration Settings) has been designated as overridable for or by a user, the setting will be displayed here. The Integration Setting may have been designated as accepting only pre-defined values.

Editing a User

All user details can be edited via the user interface by selecting the User > View option within the Organization category.

Should a user’s ID need to change then it must be managed carefully, and consideration should be given to outstanding requests and assigned approvals. Although the User GUID is used throughout the database, all touchpoints to external systems are likely to still use User ID, so a change to this field may impact in-flight requests.
If the user has locked their account after too many unsuccessful login attempts, their account may be reset by selecting the ‘Activated’ status.

Deactivated users may be ‘anonymized’, to allow compliance with the EU General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). This action will reset the User ID, User Name and Email Address fields to the User GUID, and can be done via the User List or by means of the scheduled task. This task uses the System Setting (Number of days before deactivated users will be anonymized) to determine which deactivated user to consider.

About Me

The About Me link on the menu bar allows users to amend certain settings.

The user can change the language Front Office is presented in, assuming more than one language is available, and the user is given permission to change (via system setting). The currency in which prices are displayed can also be changed, depending on whether exchange rates are maintained for Front Office; data will always be stored in the system base currency and converted only for display. The time zone which reflects the user’s location can be edited, if the user is given permission, via system setting; the user’s time zone should be accurate as this affects how data is saved i.e., data is stored in UTC.

The user’s default delivery and/or invoice address can be amended if the appropriate access rights If any Integration Settings have been designated as ‘editable by user’, they will be displayed here. Valid values are typically included also.

The user’s ‘out of office’ date range and substitute assignee can also be set here. This practice should be encouraged where the user is a nominated approver or fulfillment task assignee, so that workflows can move quickly. The user can request to still receive notification emails during the out-of-office period. Note: ‘out of office’ substitution is only made once the approval stage becomes active, i.e., once previous stages are complete.

The user can also change their password here, assuming they can remember their existing password. If not, the Forgotten Password facility on the login page should be used, or if that is not possible, an administrator can change a password via User Maintenance.

Exceptionally, where a list has been filtered by the user, e.g., Request List or Inbox, and the data becomes invalid for whatever reason, the saved filter/search parameters can cause the list page to time out and crash. If this occurs, the user can be instructed to click the Clear Searches button. This would allow work to continue.
System Configuration Settings:

• Enable Multi-Currency in catalogs/requests
• Enable user selection of Time Zones
• Enable users to select their preferred Language
• Maximum number of records to show in list views
• Number of days before deactivated users will be anonymized