NAKISA Org Chart Requirements

[Former Member]

Hello,

We are implementing NAKISA SOVN 4.3 for a client and currently in requirements gathering phase. We have showed the demo to the EE and based on that client has asked the following enhancements. I understand that  NAKISA standard doesn't support that but I need your expertise on whether the requirements can be customized.

1. The demographic dashboards don’t provide a drill down to list reports. The user wants to see the actual employees against the head counts on the detailed page. May be as a new tab, next to the Direct/Indirect tabs in details page for each analytic.

2. Expand and collapse by levels - Standard supports only one level to downward and upward. User requires to expand all levels in one click. I saw a comment from Stephen Burr as to be expected feature from Nakisa. Is this possible in customizing?.

On OrgModeler

3. In the scenario approval process, is it possible to configure a notification email to the Approver from Nakisa.

Thanks,

Soujanya

[StephenMillard · Accepted solution]

Hi Soujanya.

1. Details Panel

In the same way as the details panel can list peer positions on a tab in OrgChart, you could theoretically enhance OrgChart to display a list of other things.  You might want to be clear on if it is a list of positions, a list of incumbent employees or some combination of the two (which might get a little more complicated with multiple incumbents).  Whatever you choose it wouldn't be a trivial enhancement and if this is your first Nakisa project then it would certainly be quite difficult for you to deliver against.

2. Multi-level Expansions/Collapse

No this is not yet possible even through customisation/enhancement.  It is intrinsically linked to the design and function of the interface.

Personally I'm always a little suspect when this is asked for.  Most sizeable organisations would not fit on a print out/export or prove anything other than incredibly painful to navigate if all levels were expanded.  My questions back would always be around why would this be of benefit for you and would your perceived benefit really be delivered by something so cumbersome?  Drilling down and the ChartBook feature are often more valuable to a client once they understand how everything functions.

3. E-mail Notifications from OrgModeler

I don't believe that OrgModeler currently supports this.  I think from a query I had about their M,A&D product that Nakisa envisage only chat style notifications within the app and any longer e-mail based ones outside the app - including trigger notifications.  ChartBook does however support SMTP notifications for generation completion, so it is not beyond the realms of possibility that this may appear in a future release and I would certainly welcome that as I think this would be really useful.

It would be wonderful to think that at some point there might be an option to link it into other chat and messaging services such as Skype for Business, SMS, Slack, or even for other notification services such as PushOver.

Hope that helps.

Regards,

Stephen.

[Former Member · Accepted solution]

Hi Stephen,

Thank you so much for your immediate helpful response.

This is my third Nakisa project and had good experience on developing custom org chart hierarchies, custom analytics etc... I think I can work on the details page/demographic page enhancements too.

Regarding the Expand/Collapse and Email notifications in Org Modeler, it was a common requirement for many customers since they needed a glimpse of the whole structure in one click and a more real time approval process in case NAKISA supports email notifications to the approver.

Also many customers asks for fixed approvers or role based approvers (like in SAP), instead of the scenario creator chooses who is the possible approvers even though NAKISA supports role based restrictions.

Thanks,

Soujanya

[StephenMillard · Accepted solution]

Hi Soujanya.

No problem and I certainly agree with you with regards to the approval process and notifications.  However I still don't see the one click structure need myself .. perhaps you can change my mind?  Here's my thoughts...

Pretty much any organisation that needs a tool like OrgChart or OrgModeler is at a scale such that anyone looking at the overall chart would be incredibly hard pressed to make immediate sense and deliver supportive action based on it.  Rather I believe that they would be focussing on a particular area at any moment - a natural drilling in and focus of attention which is actually the user interface basis for the apps.  I think where design and review activities are involved the use of analytics and KPIs best applied as these are succinct in visualisation and translate into direct and accurate comparisons.

For the sake of discussion, let's take a small example organisation.  We'll give it 500 positions across 100 org units.  That's 600 nodes to view.

How big a screen would you need to view all of those nodes at once (clicking and drilling wouldn't be such an issue if you were focussing on particular areas and search allows you to jump in at a particular node) and who can take in 600 nodes of information in a scan and glance?

Even if such a chart (or probably illegible content) gave you a sense of scale in areas, this would still be available and I might suggest quicker and more accurate to reconcile when presented with actual figures.

I'm not saying that there isn't a scenario where someone could not make use of a full org chart that is opened in one click, but I've yet to be shown a solid reason for needing it and how it would be viewed in practical terms that wasn't already better served by what's already provided.  I'm certainly more than happy to switch my point of view if a compelling reason is put forward  to do so

Regards,

Stephen.