Automating ESS User Management

By Nogalis

What is covered?• 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 nodeo 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

Custom

Pflow updates RM

Custom

POWERSHELL

EmployeeQuery to find

relevant records

Custom

Logic to determine the type of operation (Add,

Delete, Update)

Insert into Custom table

(status 0)

Step 1 – Record selection and task creation

Note: This logic will be performed by processflowa. 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)

Detect

Query to find Open records (Status 0)

Custom

Perform Action based on Action_type

Update the record status

based on success (1) or fail (2)

Custom

Step 2 – LDAP updates

Note: This program/script reside on a windows machine that can run powershell scriptsa. Query the custom table for all status “0” records b. Perform the LDAP action with the given

information on the recordc. If update was successful, update the record with

status of 1, other wise with status of 2

Prepare

Query to find success records

(Status 1)

Custom

Update RM record based on Action_type

Update the record status to

closed (9)

Custom

Step 3 – RM Updates

Note: This logic will be performed by another processflowa. Query the custom table for all status “1” records

(See next slide for optional feature) b. Perform the correct RM action based on Action

typec. When completed, update the record status to 9

(Closed)

Process

Query to find success records

(Status 2)

Custom

Send Notification to relevant IT Personnel

Update the record status to

closed (4)

Custom

Step 4 (Optional) – Error handling

Note: This logic will be performed by another processflowa. Query the custom table for all status “2” records b. Create an error log and send via E-mail to relevant IT personnelc. When notification is completed, change status to 4 (Error Reported)

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 occuro 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)

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