Introduction

In an upcoming ConnectALL's release, Logic Gate Adapters will be available to use for any user of ConnectALL's Value Stream Management Platform. Keep an eye out on the 2.11 release notes to see when these adapters are available. 

These unique adapters are used when you want to control the flow of information through your value stream. This governance is useful to stay consistent with internal business processes, manage the movement of records, and maintain compliance.

Logic gates work similarly in concept to Flow Filters, in that they are used to establish qualifying logic for the flow of work in your value stream. These adapters take that a step further by allowing for the evaluation of multiple data points prior to taking an action. You can use these new adapters to add business workflow logic into your value stream that depends on multiple inputs. 

There are two types of Logic Gates. They work the same way but use different logic:

AND Logic Gate

OR Logic Gate

The first section on this page will describe how to add Logic Gates to your value stream. The next two will then define the two types of Logic Gates and an example use case showing you how they work.

Do not think that the use cases we describe in this article are exhaustive. There are many different ways to use AND / OR Logic Gates, so please feel free to experiment with these Logic Gates based on your personal business processes. We would love to hear how you are / would like to use these adapters.

Setting Up Your Logic Gates

Setting up an automation that includes a Logic Gate works the same way as any other adapter. See more about that procedure by clicking here.

The details on the Connection tab will look different for Logic Gates compared to other adapters as there are no credentials that you need to give. Provide a unique name, assign a group and team if desired, and give the name of the queue that this Logic Gate will be connected to.

Once you have made it to the Entity Mapping screen, use the Operation dropdown to choose the purpose of this Logic Gate. This is based on whether the automation is feeding information into the Logic Gate or if it is considering it.

There are two options:

  1. Input - Use if this automation is providing inputs to the Logic Gate
  2. Evaluate - Use if this automation is taking an action based on inputs from other applications

If Operation is set to Evaluate, then set the Flow Filters for your Logic Gate based on the fields that are relevant to the business logic you'd like to implement in your value stream. Be sure that these are fields that are available to be mapped under "Field Mapping" for the other applications. Skip this step if Operation is set to Input.

Once you are finished, connect the other relevant connections that feed the relevant data into the Logic Gate. Be sure to map the fields that are relevant to the Flow Filter you've set up.

Below is an example of how a completed Logic Gate relationship may look, with information from Rally and Micro Focus ALM required to trigger an action in ServiceNow:

AND Logic Gate

The AND Logic Gate adapter is used to manage the flow of information based on multiple inputs all being true. This gate will prevent an action in one application from occurring unless all of the other applications feeding into it have met certain criteria based on the logic you have added to the Flow Filter. 

Below is an example scenario around release governance that outlines how you could use this adapter:

Our organization uses ServiceNow to formally trigger releases related to change requests. However, we rely on multiple systems to confirm that a release is ready.

  • Rally: Confirm that any development activities related to our feature are 'Done' on our kanban board.
  • Micro Focus ALM: Ensure that the status is 'Passed' for this feature by our testing team.
  • SonarQube: The conditions related to relevant security scans have all 'Passed.'

Once we have confirmed all of these settings, only then can we use ServiceNow to submit the official change request.

In this scenario, we would set up an automation to connect an AND Logic Gate adapter to ServiceNow. We would then use a Flow Filter to set up the logic, which could look something like this: 

and(key) { (ALM:status="Passed"),  (Rally:state="Done"), (SonarQube:status="Passed") }

From here, create an automation to connect each of the other applications (Rally, ALM, SonarQube) to the AND Logic Gate, being sure to complete the field and value mappings for any relevant fields based on your Flow Filter logic.

This particular use case is not the only way to use the AND Logic Gate adapter. Please feel free to experiment with these Logic Gates based on your personal business processes. Let your ConnectALL team know how you are / would like to use these adapters!

OR Logic Gate

The OR Logic Gate adapter is used to manage the flow of information if any one of multiple inputs is true (irrespective of the others). Unlike the AND Logic Gate, where all criteria must be met, this gate will trigger when any one of the individual criteria that you have set in your Flow Filter are true.

Below is an example scenario around monitoring outlining how you could use this adapter:

Our rapid response team (RRT) needs to be immediately alerted if and when there is an issue that could radically impact our customers. There are two scenarios leadership has identified where we need to engage with the RRT:

  • The bug's status in our Jira environment is 'Critical' or 'Blocker'. Either of these settings, which are both above 'High,' means that we've identified in triage that our customers' production environment is at high risk and must be fixed ASAP.
  • The bug is added to a project called 'Business Critical Platform.' Though we have a variety of products, this platform is the foundation that supports everything we do. Any issue, no matter how small, must be addressed quickly and carefully.

We've created a dedicated channel in Slack (#RRT) that should alert the team when either of these two scenarios occurs.

In this scenario, we would set up an automation to connect an OR Logic Gate adapter to Slack. We would then use a Flow Filter to set up the logic, which could look something like this: 

or(key) { (ALM:status="Passed"),  (Rally:state="Done"), (SonarQube:status="Passed") }

From here, create a multi-project automation to connect your Jira environment to the OR Logic Gate, being sure to complete the field and value mappings for these relevant fields based on your Flow Filter logic.

This particular use case is not the only way to use the OR Logic Gate adapter. Please feel free to experiment with these Logic Gates based on your personal business processes. Let your ConnectALL team know how you are / would like to use these adapters!