Megan,
There are a couple of options that will meet your use-case. One would be to have the salespeople send an e-mail with the request, with either a file attachment (such as an Excel spreadsheet) or the message body using a text template where each line has a key/value pair where the key identifies the field and the value is the specific value. This e-mail would be sent to an address dedicated to the EnterWorks application, which would retrieve the e-mail and extract the information from it. The less rigid the data structure, the more likely an internal person would need to be involved to populate an actual repository record from the message contents.
Another option would be to implement a submittal form on whatever internal portal you have that would take the contents of a request and submit it to EnterWorks in some form that EnterWorks can accept, such as: CSV or Excel file for Scheduled Import, Launch of a work item using an HTTP request where the information from the request form would be passed as either parameters in the URL or within an HTTP post body. The actual mechanism for the transmission can either be the REST API or possibly an older JSP request for launching a work item in a workflow.
One of the things to consider with any type of implementation is how likely is it that a salesperson may try to add a product that already exists, but they didn't use the right search parameters to find it? For some customers, any such new product request would go through workflow and the first step taken by an internal user is to determine whether the requested product is already defined. The second step might be to determine whether or not the requested product SHOULD be added (unless, of course, the salespeople are the ones that determine it).
A key advantage to either of the above approaches is that the salesperson doesn't need to log into the EnterWorks application nor receive any special training beyond whatever the submittal mechanism is, which should be fairly simple.
-Brian
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Brian Zupke | Senior Technical Support Engineer
Winshuttle North America | 9099009179
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Original Message:
Sent: 06-04-2021 23:55
From: Megan Van Hall
Subject: URL to new record (skip homepage/dashboard)
Thank you John for your suggestions. Unfortunately, the users we are talking about are salespeople out in the field and the only reason they use MDM is to request a new product get set up. They really don't have appetite to be trained on such a simple need! And we do want to make things as simple as possible for them. I will definitely keep your guidance in mind for other training needs, thank you!
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Megan Van Hall | Sr Program Manager
Core and Main | 8134280678
Original Message:
Sent: 06-03-2021 08:46
From: Jonathan Varo
Subject: URL to new record (skip homepage/dashboard)
Hi Megan,
That is a really good idea: a URL to bring people directly to a record creation page. In my mind, this definitely would help on-board people into using the PIM better.
On our end, when PIM was first brand new, many people didn't know how to use the system. We gradually trained our colleagues as we assisted them with getting their data into the system. It was a bit of a lift for our team but now, years into our PIM experience, many people no longer need our help getting around. We're also planning on creating a PIM Basics course through our HR Department in which we can train more people in a classroom setting.
For our non-data governance colleagues, we've provided spreadsheets with pre-populated data so that they can create their records using those files. Unfortunately, that opens another can of worms. Happy to share some strategies with you if you'd like.
Winshuttle also has the Smart Template Pro option which is a solution that's similar to a pre-populated spreadsheet but interacts directly with the PIM database in real time. If something is entered incorrectly, the user will receive an error directly in the sheet itself.
Hope that gives you some options while a new feature is built in the PIM based on your suggestion above.
Best regards,
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Jonathan Varo | PIM Lead
Fender Musical Instruments | 480-845-5823
Original Message:
Sent: 06-02-2021 23:11
From: Megan Van Hall
Subject: URL to new record (skip homepage/dashboard)
We would like to publish a URL that users can go directly to to create a new record, while skipping the home tab.
For example, 'https://myenableserver/enable2020/item/10166/0'
We've learned from EW support this is not a supported capability, but does anyone have any good workarounds?
We have a form for our field users to submit requests for new product. They are not familiar with EnterWorks and we want to make things as simple as possible for them (minimize clicks and confusion)-- this is a big issue for our non data governance users.
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Megan Van Hall | Sr Program Manager
Core and Main | 8134280678
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