Automate the recovery task in the plan

  • Release version: Washingtondc
  • Updated April 16, 2024
  • 5 minutes to read

    • Automate the manual recovery task within the business continuity plan. You can classify the manual recovery task as an automated task first and then attach an automated flow to it.

    Before you begin

    Role required: admin for the Flow Designer, sn_bcm.admin, sn_bcm.program_manager, or sn_bcm.planner

    About this task

    Administrators or low-code developers are responsible for building the automation flow. Users with the BCM planner or above role then attach the automation flow to the recovery task. The Flow Designer is used for this purpose, requiring a local developer persona due to permission restrictions. The Flow Designer role does not require any extra licensing. However, it requires some special roles. For more information on the Flow Designer roles and permissions, see User access to Flow Designer.

    The flow setup involves the following steps:
    1. User defines the permissions to ensure the appropriate access and control and creates a subflow to handle the automation process.
    2. User then defines the inputs to provide necessary information for the automation flow.
    3. The automation process includes actions to automate the manual task and update its completion status.

    Automated tasks are executed sequentially until a manual task is encountered. If an automated task fails, manual intervention is required to trigger it again. In case of a failure in the automation process, it can be retriggered to ensure completion. If a task fails, the backup assignee is notified via email and must perform the necessary manual actions to address the failure. This ensures that the recovery process continues smoothly even in the event of automation issues.

    Procedure

    1. Navigate to Workspaces > Business Continuity Workspace and select a plan record.
    2. On the Recovery tasks tab, select a manual recovery task that you want to automate.

      You can automate a manual recovery task in the business continuity plan.

    3. Open Flow Designer and select Create new subflow.
    4. On the form, fill in the fields.

      For more information on creating a customized subflow for automating the tasks in the BCM application, see Create a subflow form.

      For more information on creating a subflow, see Create a subflow in Flow Designer.

      The properties for the subflow are filled in.
    5. Select Submit.
      The subflow is designed to automate the task. Within the Actions section of the subflow, the Action, Flow Logic, and Subflow tabs are displayed.
    6. Create the subflow inputs to specify the data available to the subflow when it starts running.

      To establish a reference to the record linked to the task, you can specify the name and type for the input in the Inputs & Outputs section of the subflow. By defining the inputs, you can create a reference to the task responsible for executing the automation.

      Reference to the task.

      1. Select the label for the input in the Label field.
        Within the subflow, there is a special variable known as the Current variable. When the Current variable is chosen in the Inputs section, it is automatically substituted with the task that triggered the automation. This allows for dynamic referencing and processing of the specific task within the subflow.
      2. Select the name for the input in the Name field.
        The Name field is where you must define the variable name to be current (all lower case). The Type must always be Document ID.Event task.
      3. Select the type for the input in the Type field.
        For example, you can select Document ID.Event task as the type of the input.
      4. To mark the input as mandatory, select the Mandatory option.
        For information on creating subflow inputs and outputs, see Create a subflow in Flow Designer.
      5. Select + to add a new input.

      Once you create the flow variables, you can access them on Flow Designer. For information on creating subflow inputs and outputs, see Create a subflow in Flow Designer.

    7. In the Actions section, select Send Email.
      Expanding the Send Email section displays the fields as shown in the following example. The fields on the form are described in the table. Revised subflow.
      Table 1. Send Email fields
      Action Name of the action for the subflow.

      Default: Send Email
      Target Record Associated task record that is used for the subflow.
      Table Name of the table where the task resides. For example, event task [sn_recovery_event_task].
      Include Watermark Option to add a watermark in the file that is associated with the task.
      To Email addresses of the recipients that should be addressed directly.
      CC Email addresses of the copied recipients. They can view the list of the recipients that are directly addressed in the email.
      BCC Email addresses of the copied recipients whose names are not displayed in the email.
      Subject Subject of the email that describes the issue and reason for sending the email.
      Body Description and action steps about the issue.
    8. Select Done.
      Once the automation is triggered, the task is considered complete. In this particular scenario, the email is automatically sent to the user that has been selected.
    9. Select Update record in the Actions section of the subflow.
      You can update the original plan task to be completed by updating the record section of the subflow. Update the record.
      1. In the Action field, select Update record.
      2. In the Record field, select Current.
      3. In the State field, select closed complete.
      4. Select Done.
        The state of the record moves to Completed.
    10. To publish the workflow, select Publish.
      The changes are applied to all instances where the subflow is used. Similarly, you can define new flows in the subflow that can be run as an automation.
    11. Navigate to the Recovery tasks tab in the plan with the sn_bcm.program_manager role and open the manual recovery task that was being edited.
      The recovery task form is displayed.

      Tasks in the Automated flow field.

    12. In the Task classification field, select Automated to change the manual task to an automated task and select Save.
      After saving the form, the flow variables are displayed.
      When you select and save the task, the variables associated with the automated flow are displayed in the Variables field of the recovery task.Variables for the automated flow.
    13. In the Assignment details, confirm that the Backup assignee field is filled in.

      When converting a manual task to an automated task, the Backup assignee field is displayed on the form. In the event of an error causing the automation flow to fail, an email notification is sent to the backup assignee. This email informs them about the failure of the automated flow and the need for manual intervention to resolve the task. The backup assignee can then take the necessary action to complete the task and ensure its successful resolution.

    14. Select Save.
      The Recovery task form now includes a Task classification column where the automated tasks are displayed. These automated tasks are executed automatically by the system as part of the plan.