Business Engagement¶

Purpose¶

The Clarity Transform Business Engagement screen tracks the approval requests sent for a migration event. Its subtitle reads: "Track approval emails, read receipts, and meeting bookings per application owner across your migration event."

Approval requests are not created here. They are sent first from Plan → Move Groups, by selecting one or more move groups, then Actions, then Send Approval (see Send an approval request). Business Engagement then shows, for each item in those move groups, whether its owner has opened the email and what they decided. From here you can also:

record an owner's decision by hand, for example one given in a meeting;
send the owner a calendar invite for a planning meeting, or mark a meeting as booked.

Sending approval requests needs an SMTP profile or Teams notifications, and sending meeting invites needs an SMTP profile. Both are set up on Settings → Communications (see Communications). For the whole route, from setting up the emails to locking the event, see the Business Engagement and Approvals workflow.

Where to find it¶

Plan → Business Engagement

What you see¶

Filters¶

Event: All Events, plus each migration event.

Until you choose an event, the page shows "Select an event" and "Choose a migration event from the dropdown above to view business engagement status."

If the selected event has no approval requests, the page shows "No data for this event" and "No approval requests found. Send approvals from the Move Groups page first."

Cards¶

Three cards count, for the selected event:

the items approved;
the items overdue, labelled Overdue (2+ days): requests with no response after 2 working days;
the planning meetings booked. A meeting covers an owner's items for one application, so each booked meeting is counted once, however many rows it covers.

Columns¶

The grid has one row for each item in an approval request. In the approval data checked for this build, a move group that held applications and servers produced device rows only. Rows stay on the grid when a device later leaves the move group, so the grid can show more rows than the move group now holds.

Event
Move Group
Entity: the item's name. A warning icon shows when the owner field is not a valid email address. Its tooltip reads "Owner field '...' is not a valid email address", with the stored value.
Type: Application, Device or Database.
Application
Owner: the owner's email address, as an email link. A value that is not a valid email address is shown as plain text.
Approval Sent: the date and time the request was sent. A clock icon, with the tooltip "No response after 2 working days", marks an overdue request.
Email Opened: the read receipt. It shows the date and time the owner opened the approval email, or Not opened. It is blank when no request was sent.
Approval Status
Rejection Reason
Meeting: the planning meeting's state.

The last column holds the row buttons for planning meetings (see Actions).

Values¶

Approval Status:
- Pending: sent, with no decision yet.
- Overdue: sent, with no decision after 2 working days.
- Approved or Rejected: the owner's decision, or one recorded by hand.
- Skipped - invalid email (with a warning icon): no request could go to the owner, because the owner field is not a valid email address.
Rejection Reason: the reason given with a rejection. The reasons you can record by hand are Decomm, Unknown VM, Unknown Owner and Yes - Future Event.
Meeting:
- Requested by owner: the owner has asked for a meeting, and no meeting has been arranged yet for that request.
- Requested: a meeting has been requested, and no invite has been sent yet.
- Invite Sent: a calendar invite was sent with Schedule Meeting.
- Booked: the meeting is booked.

Actions¶

The grid toolbar has:

Refresh: reloads the selected event's data.
Record Approval: records a manual approval for the selected rows.
Record Rejection: records a manual rejection for the selected rows.

Record Approval and Record Rejection are greyed out until you select at least one row whose request was sent and is still awaiting a decision (Pending or Overdue). Rows that are already Approved or Rejected, or were skipped, can't be selected: selecting one deselects it at once.

Each row can also have these buttons:

Schedule Meeting (tooltip "Send calendar invite to app owner"): opens the Schedule Planning Meeting dialog to send a calendar invite to the owner. Once an invite has been sent, the button reads Reschedule (tooltip "Update or resend the calendar invite"), and it updates the same meeting. The button shows only when the approval request was sent, the item is not yet Approved or Rejected, the meeting is not Booked, and the owner has a valid email address. Calendar invites need SMTP, because Teams cannot send them: without an SMTP profile the button is greyed out, with the tooltip "Calendar invites require SMTP. Configure an SMTP profile under Settings → Notifications to enable this." The SMTP profile is set up on Settings → Communications.
Mark Booked (tooltip "Mark meeting as Booked (no invite sent)"): opens the Confirm Meeting Booked dialog. The button shows when a meeting has been requested and is not yet Booked.

Dialogs¶

Schedule Planning Meeting reads "A single calendar invite (Accept/Decline) will be sent to the owner, covering this application's outstanding approvals in this event." It shows the owner and the application. Its fields are:

Meeting Date & Time: a date and time, required. It starts at 10:00 tomorrow. Without it, the message reads "Please select a meeting date and time."
Duration: 30 minutes, 1 hour, 1.5 hours or 2 hours. The default is 1 hour.
Notes (optional): free text.

The buttons are Cancel and Send Invite. After sending, Clarity shows "Calendar invite sent. Waiting for owner acceptance." The Migration Planning Meeting email template is the one described as "Sent when a migration planning meeting is scheduled with an owner" (see Email Templates).

Confirm Meeting Booked reads "Mark this meeting request as Booked? This will update the interview status to Meeting Booked." It has no fields. The buttons are Cancel and Mark as Booked. After it, Clarity shows "Meeting marked as Booked."

Record Approval opens from the Record Approval button. It reads "Record a manual decision for the selected rows - for example a verbal decision obtained in a planning meeting. No email is sent; the decision is logged and rolls up to the move group status." It also says how many selected rows will be marked Approved. Record Rejection is the same dialog, titled Record Rejection, and marks the rows Rejected. Its fields are:

Rejection Reason: shown only in Record Rejection, and required there, with the placeholder "Select a reason…". The options are Decomm, Unknown VM, Unknown Owner and Yes - Future Event. Without one, the message reads "Please select a rejection reason."
Note: free text, always required. Without one, the message reads "A note is required to record a manual decision."

The buttons are Cancel and Record Decision. After it, Clarity shows "Recorded approved for N item(s)." or "Recorded rejected for N item(s)." and reloads the grid.

How to¶

Track the approvals for an event¶

Send the approval requests from Plan → Move Groups: select the move groups' rows, then Actions, then Send Approval. See Send an approval request.
Go to Plan → Business Engagement.
In Event, select the event, or All Events.
Read Email Opened to see who has opened the email, and Approval Status for the decisions.
Select Refresh to load the latest responses.

Chase an overdue owner¶

Go to Plan → Business Engagement and select the Event.
Look for rows with Overdue in Approval Status, or Not opened in Email Opened.
Select the address in Owner to write to the owner from your own email program, or arrange a meeting with Schedule Meeting (see Schedule a planning meeting).

Fix a skipped request¶

A row shows Skipped - invalid email when its owner field does not hold a valid email address.

Note the item in Entity and the value in Owner.
Correct the owner on the item's record in Discover → CMDB, in the field the Migration Approval Request template's Email Recipient names, for example Device Owner on a Device.
Send the approval request for the move group again from Plan → Move Groups.

Record an approval by hand¶

Go to Plan → Business Engagement and select the Event.
Select the rows to approve. Only rows still awaiting a decision can be selected.
Select Record Approval in the grid toolbar. The Record Approval dialog opens.
Enter a Note. It is required.
Select Record Decision, or select Cancel to close the dialog.

No email is sent to the owner. The decision is logged.

Record a rejection by hand¶

Go to Plan → Business Engagement and select the Event.
Select the rows to reject. Only rows still awaiting a decision can be selected.
Select Record Rejection in the grid toolbar. The Record Rejection dialog opens.
Choose a Rejection Reason and enter a Note. Both are required.
Select Record Decision, or select Cancel to close the dialog.

No email is sent to the owner. The decision is logged.

Schedule a planning meeting¶

Before you start, set up an SMTP profile on Settings → Communications. Without one, Schedule Meeting is greyed out.

Go to Plan → Business Engagement and select the Event.
In the item's row, select Schedule Meeting (or Reschedule if an invite was already sent). The Schedule Planning Meeting dialog opens.
Enter the Meeting Date & Time (required), choose a Duration, and add Notes (optional) if you need them.
Select Send Invite, or select Cancel to close the dialog.

The owner gets a single calendar invite covering their outstanding approvals for that application in the event.

Mark a meeting as booked¶

Use this when the meeting has been arranged without an invite from Clarity Transform.

In the item's row, select Mark Booked. The Confirm Meeting Booked dialog opens.
Select Mark as Booked, or select Cancel to close the dialog. Meeting then reads Booked.

Troubleshooting¶

What you see	Why	What to do
"Select an event" and "Choose a migration event from the dropdown above to view business engagement status."	No event is chosen.	Choose an event, or All Events, in Event.
"No approval requests found. Send approvals from the Move Groups page first."	No approval request has been sent for the move groups of the selected event.	Choose another event or All Events, or send the requests from Plan → Move Groups (see Send an approval request).
"Failed to load business engagement data."	The page could not load the event's data.	Choose the event again, or reload the page.
Skipped - invalid email in Approval Status, and a warning icon in Entity	The owner field is not a valid email address, so no request was sent for the item.	Correct the owner on the item's record, then send again from Plan → Move Groups (see Fix a skipped request).
Owner shows the address as plain text, not a link	The value is not a valid email address.	As above.
Record Approval and Record Rejection are greyed out	No selected row is awaiting a decision.	Select a row whose request was sent and whose Approval Status is Pending or Overdue.
A row deselects itself as soon as you select it	The row is already Approved or Rejected, or was skipped. It can't take a manual decision.	Nothing to record. A skipped row needs its owner fixed first.
"A note is required to record a manual decision."	Note is empty.	Enter a Note.
"Please select a rejection reason."	Rejection Reason is empty in Record Rejection.	Choose a reason.
Schedule Meeting is greyed out, with the tooltip "Calendar invites require SMTP. Configure an SMTP profile under Settings → Notifications to enable this."	No SMTP profile is set up. Teams cannot send calendar invites.	Add an SMTP profile on Settings → Communications → SMTP Configuration.
No Schedule Meeting button in a row	The request was not sent, the item is already Approved or Rejected, the meeting is Booked, or the owner has no valid email address.	Only rows still awaiting a decision, with a valid owner and no booked meeting, can have a meeting scheduled.
"Please select a meeting date and time."	Meeting Date & Time is empty.	Enter a date and time.
No Mark Booked button in a row	No meeting has been requested for the row, or it is already Booked.	Schedule the meeting first, or leave it if it is already booked.
"Failed to record decision.", "Failed to schedule meeting." or "Failed to update meeting."	The server did not accept the change. It may show its own message instead.	Select Refresh, check the row's current state, and try again.
A message refers to Settings → Notifications	The SMTP and Teams screens are under Settings → Communications.	Use Settings → Communications.

Questions people ask¶

Does recording a decision by hand email the owner? No. The dialog says "No email is sent; the decision is logged and rolls up to the move group status."

Can I change a decision once it is recorded? Not on this screen. Rows that are Approved or Rejected can't be selected for Record Approval or Record Rejection.

When does a request become overdue? When there is no response after 2 working days. The Approval Sent date then has a clock icon, and Approval Status reads Overdue.

Does an owner with several items get several emails? The Migration Approval Request template's description says it "Groups all entities per owner into a single email". A planning meeting invite covers the owner's outstanding approvals for one application in the event.

Can Teams send the meeting invite? No. Calendar invites need an SMTP profile. Approval requests can go by email, Teams or both.

Is there a reminder button? No. To chase an owner, use the email link in Owner, or arrange a meeting with Schedule Meeting.

Does Mark Booked send anything? No. Its tooltip reads "Mark meeting as Booked (no invite sent)". It only records that the meeting is booked.

Why does the meetings card show fewer meetings than there are rows marked Booked? A meeting can cover several rows, and the card counts each meeting once.

Who else gets a copy of the approval emails? Project contacts ticked for Include In Migration Approval Request on the Project Directory.

Business Engagement and Approvals: the end-to-end approval route, across all the screens involved.
Move Groups: where approval requests are sent from (Actions, then Send Approval).
Events: the migration events offered in Event, and Lock Event, which can send the migration confirmation email.
Communications: the SMTP and Teams setup that approvals and meeting invites need, and the email templates they use.
Project Directory: the Include In Migration Approval Request, Include In Migration Approval Confirmed and Include In Approved Migration Plan checkboxes, which add project contacts to these emails.
Activity Log: approval events such as ApprovalRequestSent, ApprovalItemsDecided and ApprovalItemsDecidedByOperator.