Automating ESS User
Management
By Nogalis
What is covered?
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Why you should automate ESS user management
General overview of methodology
How-to demo (Basic)
How-to overview (Comprehensive)
The bells and whistles
Q&A
Why?
• Delay in creating new employee accounts
• Delay in deactivating termed employees security
risk
• Huge IT maintenance issue cluttering up the
ticketing system
• Lack of accountability for account creation and
timeliness
• IT access to HR data
• Potential for errors
Normal Process
• New employee is hired
• HR sends a report to IT or creates a ticket for each
employee to be added.
• IT personnel
o Create an AD account for the user
o Enter each employee individually into Lawson security
o Notify HR the task has been completed
• Email instructions are sent to employee …
When
• New employee account creation
• Terminated employee account deactivation
• Transfers and LOA
How to Automate (basics)
• Use ProcessFlow (LPA, IPA ..)
• Query the database for changes using SQL node
o Newhires
o Terms
o Transfers
• Decide what needs to be done using the Branch
node
• Use the RM query and RM update nodes to make
changes to the Resource
• Send notifications about update and log event
Add Quality
Detect
Prepare
Process
Detect
Prepare
Process
Custom
Query Lawson and
create tasks using
pflow
POWERSHELL
Pflow updates RM
Custom
Custom
Step 1 – Record selection and task creation
Note: This logic will be performed by processflow
a. Query the Lawson database for the types of
changes that you want to track.
i.e. Find New Hires; Find Terms, Find Status Changes
…
b. Determine the type of RM change requires for this
change (ADD, DELETE, UPDATE)
c. Insert a record into the custom table based on this
logic (Potential for overwriting existing records exists
since the table is now outside the Lawson DB)
Employee
Query to find
relevant records
Logic to determine the
type of operation (Add,
Delete, Update)
Detect
Insert into
Custom table
(status 0)
Custom
Step 2 – LDAP updates
Note: This program/script reside on a windows
machine that can run powershell scripts
a. Query the custom table for all status “0” records
b. Perform the LDAP action with the given
information on the record
c. If update was successful, update the record with
status of 1, other wise with status of 2
Custom
Query to find Open
records (Status 0)
Perform Action based on
Action_type
Prepare
Update the
record status
based on success
(1) or fail (2)
Custom
Step 3 – RM Updates
Note: This logic will be performed by another
processflow
a. Query the custom table for all status “1” records
(See next slide for optional feature)
b. Perform the correct RM action based on Action
type
c. When completed, update the record status to 9
(Closed)
Custom
Query to find
success records
(Status 1)
Update RM record based
on Action_type
Process
Update the
record status to
closed (9)
Custom
Step 4 (Optional) – Error handling
Note: This logic will be performed by another processflow
a. Query the custom table for all status “2” records
b. Create an error log and send via E-mail to relevant IT personnel
c. When notification is completed, change status to 4 (Error Reported)
Custom
Query to find
success records
(Status 2)
Send Notification to
relevant IT Personnel
Update the
record status to
closed (4)
Custom
Scheduling
• The four steps outlines above can be performed as
often as required and in any order. However the
following recommendation is made:
o Step 1 to run nightly (1 time) after business hours (i.e. 10pm)
o Step 2 to run following step 1 (i.e. 10:30 pm)
o Step 3 and 4 to run after step 3 (i.e. 11 pm)
• If the process is run multiple times in a day, the
following might occur
o Step 1 will continue to attempt to insert the same records into the Custom
DB. This will result in an error each time from the DB which is as designed
and harmless. This is mainly due to the fact that the Custom DB resides on
another database and we cannot join the query from the Lawson db to
determine if the record already exists
Maintenance
• It is recommended that status 9 records be purged
from the Custom DB periodically to avoid future
changes to the same employee from being
ignored. (this can be added to the flow as well)
Infor 10x Upgrade
Bootcamp
June 18
www.nogalis.com/bootcamp/
@nogalisinc