Build Your Workflow

Create a Workflow

ASM ships with a predefined Change Workflow. All you need to do is update it to reflect the settings you need (Status, assignments, etc) to support your specific Change Process. You can find out more about workflows here.

A workflow is the logic you build to support some level of automation of a request. The request then, is merely the container. It houses all the details of what the user is asking you for; a Change, some software or hardware, or something else they may want or need. The real powerhouse is the workflow itself. In the workflow are all the tasks, AKA "Work Items" or "Ticket", that form the body of work required to fulfill the request. Because of this, you don't actually action or work a request, rather you work the tasks that it contains. Some tasks may be automated, and some might be manual. There are 17 task types available for you to use.

The task options are displayed in the task palette at the top of the diagram when you are in Action mode. Configuring the tasks is easy and intuitive.

Best Practice: Carefully consider the number of email messages you send during a given workflow

Many tasks contain fields that only display whilst in the workflow template. Alemba recommends you do not hide these fields because you will need to configure them in the template. For example, Request Status on Completion is only visible when working with the task in the Workflow template.

Available Task types

Icon	Name	Use	Automatic/Manual
	Standard task	A basic task type when none of the specific tasks are appropriate	Automatic
	Approval task	Creating an approval that requires an officer to reject or approve it. Depending on the approval status, other linked tasks are executed.	Automatic
	Messaging task	Sending out email and pager messages to various people	Both – Automatic by default
	Conditional branching task	Creating conditions and then performing actions based on the conditions. A Conditional Branching task consists of one or more rules	Automatic
	Manage CMDB task	Performing transactions on CMDB items (CI, service, service action, service bundle) and People such as creating, updating, deleting CMDB items/people (also fields associated with CMDB items/people), and links between CMDB items and/or stakeholders. Asset management transactions can also be executed.	Automatic
	Create Request task	Creating a request as a result of this task being completed	Automatic
	User Approval task	Creating approval that is sent to a user via the Self Service Portal	Automatic
	Delay task	Creating a delay in a workflow, this task remains open until a certain time is reached, and is then closed and moves on to the next point in the workflow.	Automatic
	Activation task	Creating an activation checkpoint in a workflow, providing the ability to wait until a certain amount of “activation points” have been generated before the task is activated.	Automatic
	Closure task	Marking the end of a request	Both - Manual by default
	Define Change window	Defining change windows to be applied to the CMDB items liked to a request	Manual
	Run External Procedure	Automatically running an external procedure, i.e. an application outside of ASM, optionally with parameters passed to it.	Automatic
	External Supplier task	Creating tasks to be completed by external officers on the portal	Automatic
	SLM Start task	Starting or resuming events on the SLA that is currently linked to the request. This is equivalent to the button on the Request Service window.	Automatic
	SLM Stop task	Suspending events on the SLA that is currently linked to the request. This is equivalent to the button on the Request Service window.	Automatic
	Outbound Action task	Outbound actions for integrating ASM with a third party application	Automatic