Order guides design by department

[zynsn]

Hello,

We are trying to recreate order guides for new hires by department. From architectural perspective, is it better to have a separate order guide for each department compared to having a single order guide and then use client scripts to manage software access variables?

A potential downside of using a single order guide is that it may require a large number of variables to handle these requests. I am unsure of the best practices for the number variables on a order guide.

[jcmings]

It really depends on how different the onboarding process is for each department. Also, how many departments are there? How unique are the needs of each department? How many steps overlap, regardless of department? I would recommend jotting all of that down and identifying the similarities/differences. That will help you make your determination. 

[zynsn]

We have about 80 departments. The unique needs of the department are just different software access. And hiding certain software items on the order guide depending on the department. The only step that overlaps is every department submits the same order guide.

[-O-]

Well, order guide is not the best tool to replace shopping cart.

If the number of items that can optionally be included is big, it is hard to work with.

I possible hack could be to add a special catalog item called software, where one would present a List collection where software can be selected.

Of course with a reference qualifier to reduce the item to the department specific list.

Upon submission the Flow (or Workflow) for this special catalog item could create a Requested Item for each selected software.

Thus if any of the selected option require special fulfillment flow, it will still be executed, like approval for license, or clearance, or whatever.

Another hack could be to create - as much as possible - baseline, department specific bundles and let the requester only select for inclusion special software items that are not part of the base bundle, but still meant for the selected department.