Launching a new APIA version: APIA 3.1

Summary:

The new version of Apia has been being used in the ITIL system since January 2015, to offer clients the assurance that it has been implemented and tested on STATUM itself. We have been working on it since mid-2014, following a release timetable of approximately a new version every six months. Such versions have new functionalities and/or corrections in relation with the previous ones. 

New functionalities of Apia 3.1

• For the management of hierarchical organizational units:Three new functionalities were created so that the work on one branch will not affect the work of another. These are new organizational units that allow defining the roles in the organization (groups of profiles and groups) in order to later associate them to the users of each particular context. As a result, for example, the commercial area will not remove the permissions of the users in charge of the sales area.  This new feature is one of the most important incorporations of new version of Apia and is used quite frequently in public bodies.
   
• For creating customized parameters:There is a new functionality for assigning values to application parameters. The user can create a new parameter called “maximum number of clients” and give it a value. Once this solution is created, it will also be possible to modify it in a separate structure. Therefore, just like in the management of hierarchical organizational units, there is greater independence between functions and users can have wider interaction with the tool.
   
•  Sending personalized messages (e-mails): Even though it was already possible to send e-mails, these had to be written at the time of sending them. The platform was similar to a basic notepad. On the contrary, now the user has more sending options and the possibility to personalize the message with new text formats, colors and title options. The body of the message can also be modified; it is possible to add personalized variables depending on the recipient (headings and signatures) and there are also new options to replace text (enter names and other relevant data for the recipient). There are new features for translating languages and, in short, for creating more personalized e-mails depending on the recipient, with the aim of reaching a greater wealth of information.
   
• Chat improvements:The chat platform has been widened so that it can be used in Call Centers. It allows a chat request to be sent to a group of people and to each of them to receive a notification on their phones. If someone wishes to communicate with the Support Department to get help, instead of waiting to be assisted, the communication request will be distributed to the different Apia operators. With this method, queues are avoided and the feedback process is streamlined.
   
•  For modifying alert dates of overdue processes and tasks:It is possible to configure the alert modes of the different Apia processes. For example, if ten days pass, and the task is still pending, the person will be informed. The person can be notified via e-mail, chat or by displaying a notification explaining that there is an unfinished process. If a particular process or task is extremely important, you can select to be notified when four days pass instead of ten.
   
• Specifying the documents that can be uploaded to a process or an entity at design level:Apia allows attaching diverse documents (.PDF, .DOC, etc.) regardless of their format. With the Apia 3.1 version, it is possible to request only .DOC or .PDF files to be attached within a process, classifying the file conglomerate. With this new feature, tasks are streamlined and structural problems are avoided.
   
• Uploading and downloading groups of excel files to the system:In the previous Apia version, files had to be uploaded one by one. Now, it is possible to create a file (an Excel file, for example) with a list of 40, 400, 1000 groups. Thus, instead of uploading one group at a time, this mechanism allows this file to be absorbed by Apia and to be created in a matter of seconds.
   
• Levels of visibility for Dashboard panels:A level of visibility was added for the groups, so that the same Dashboard can be associated to the desired users. Therefore, depending on the group they belong to, they will work on the corresponding panels. When accessing the system, instead of seeing all the existing groups, the user will only find the group he or she belongs to. For example, in a big organization such as a public agency, this feature can be used to separate the different departments and, depending on where the person has logged in, the options corresponding to that area will be displayed.
   
• Update of the text editor version:A newer text editor version that allows having a much closer appearance to 3.0 was added. A company was responsible for this component. They did not only modify the appearance of the editor, but also corrected eventual errors and implemented improvements. For example, they made Apia work faster, use less memory and prevented it to get blocked, among other things.
   
• Ajax business class:Now, when clicking on buttons, instead of reloading the whole screen, only a specific fraction of it will change. It is a much more technical aspect, related to the granularity, that is, the detail level of where you wish or do not wish this technology to be executed.
   
• For modifying the information of the parameter update date (both of the local and database memories):This can be used, for instance, in a public agency where, given its size, it is not possible to work only with Apia, as the system would crash with thousands of users logging in at the same time. For this reason, it should have many servers pointing to the same database server. With the 3.1 version, parameters that remain in the memory and database can be modified without the latter “finding out”. Therefore, the update of the parameters is already available, taking into account the last modification date.
   
• Binding of entities:By having an Input or a ComboBox, it is possible to load the relevant fields. One of the most frequent examples is the ID card number of a person, through which, other data such as his or her address and telephone number can be obtained. This feature is called binding. The ID card number is a reference that is already stored in Apia and has more information, that is to say, the ID card number is the identifier for the rest of the data. This feature in particular was also improved and runs through AJAX.
   
• Documentation of Layout of forms for BPMN processes:In the process functionality or when designing them, there appears a button that generates a file with the picture of the process, and adds more information for each particular task, for example, the name and the group where it can be executed. In this new Apia version, the information regarding the forms with these tasks and the group that executes them has been added along with a small picture of the form that will be displayed to the user.