Service Pack 2.0 (SP2) for Visualization Solutions by Nakisa (VSN) 3.0 is due out fairly soon. As usual I’ve put together a brief blog on the features in SP2.
SP2 is really focused on creating stability, optimizing performance and fixing some of the bugs caused by the transition from .NET to Java. As a result, it doesn’t see many end-user enhancements, although from an SI perspective there are enhanced features to enable better implementations.
Some of the new features in SP2 include:
- Enhanced AdminConsole
- Position Cost Center inheritance
- Help Panel customization
- Templates for Print/Exports
- 60 rules for DataQualityConsole
- CareerPlanning no longer requires TREX
- Preferred Jobs displayed in SuccessionPlanning
- Various bug fixes
Enhanced AdminConsole
Like with the major 3.0 and SP1 releases, a lot of work has been put into making the AdminConsole easier to use and features easier to configure. The first thing you will notice is that the AdminConsole options have been changed – more of the key options are now available from the main menu:
The box with the arrow next to “Save & Publish current build …” allows you to collapse the list of options.
Some of the other features that are new in the AdminConsole include:
- Application-wide Settings
- Print and export paper sizes can now be configured
- Print/export templates can be configured (like Chartbook templates in SP1)
- Security Settings
- The data element and fields for user population are now available from drop-down lists
- Data Center
- SAP RFC’s can now be used, including customer RFCs
- Custom extractor classes are available, although this might not offer too much to most users
- OrgChart
- New OrgChart’s can now be created in the OrgChart section from various sources (HR-OCI, NakisaRFC
- OrgChart’s can now be deleted
- OrgChart structures can be created and added to
- Object colour can be defined for each hierarchy in each orgchart (including displaying the colour selected)
- Default styles are available for each hierarchy in each orgchart
- The Details Panel can be selected (more on this later)
- Print/Export templates can be configured for each hierarchy in each orgchart
- Listing
- Listings are now configured in their own section
- New listings using SAP RFC can now be created (NakisaRFC option is still available in Data Center)
- The Details Panel can be selected (more on this later)
- Chartbook
- Chartbooks are now configured in their own section
- Detail Designer
- A new concept from SP2 is that Details Panels are created as individual objects, meaning that they can be used by a number of different objects in the application, such as an orgchart or a listing (for example using the same details panel for both Organization Structure and OrgUnit Listing)
- New Details Panels or Profiles can be created
- For each Details Panel the user can see where it is used and can also set it as the Details Panel for a hierarchy in an orgchart
- XHTML has been introduced to allow external content to be embedded
- Preferences
- The default date format can now be set
- The default number of panels used when the application opens can now be set
Position Cost Center
Position Cost Center assignment and inheritance is now a standard feature. Previously position’s displayed the cost center of their OrgUnit, but now this has been changed to take into account directly assigned cost center’s as well as inherited cost center’s.
Help Panel customization
The Help Panel that was customizable in all versions prior to 3.0 can now be configured. The file is now stored as an XSL file in the Templates folder.
Templates for Print/Exports
Like for Chartbook in SP1, pre-defined and user-defined templates can be created. This is particularly useful for organizations that have different brands and presentation schemes.
DataQualityConsole improvements
There have been many enhancements and improvements to DataQualityConsole. These include:
- 60 rules by standard that cover OM, PA and Competency Management
- 2 new orgcharts based on company code and position reporting
- The new position reporting orgchart includes 2 views to provide data errors based on severity
- Rules with rule scores enable quick evaluation of data quality and include a weighting to determine the overall impact of the errors found using the rules
CareerPlanning no longer requires TREX
From SP2 CareerPlanning no longer requires TREX to perform the Job Search. This posed a problem in 3.0 and SP1 because normal users (i.e. those without a 741 relationship for Area of Responsibility) could not use this search.
Preferred Jobs displayed in SuccessionPlanning
Preferred Jobs are now displayed in SuccessionPlanning for Employees (Talents). This is a nice addition and integrates with CareerPlanning. I certainly feel it helps the Talent Management Specialist during the Succession Management processes.
Various bug fixes
Various bugs in SP1 have been fixed in SP2. Most of them are minor, but there are some useful changes that have been fixed, such as:
- Cost centre inheritance icon on details panels and views (OrgChart)
- Colour coding now works in Flex (OrgChart)
- Help Panel cannot be opened if closed (OrgChart)
- Chartbook and Log print output and Export to Image output is blank (OrgModeler scenarios)
- Export to XML errors (OrgModeler scenarios)
- Employee is not displayed in Silo tab of Employee Details Panel (OrgModeler scenarios)
- The application now correctly writes back the Potential score for the previous year instead of the current year (SuccessionPlanning)
- Deleting a job family record from the Details panel now correctly removes the record (SuccessionPlanning)
While there’s not a whole load of features to write home about, there are certainly more improvements in SP2 that demonstrate Nakisa’s commitment to enhancing their products on an ongoing basis. The AdminConsole has become more logical from a user-perspective and DataQualityConsole now offers even more value.
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