Information Technology Reference
In-Depth Information
Purchased
Operational
This state machine includes both
the operational status of the
handset and its servicing status.
Fault
Fixed
Broken
Fixed
ToBeFixedByManufacturer
UnableToFix
Disposed
Under Repair
Unfixable
FIGURE 2.9: The handset state machine.
be issued a loan phone while her own is being dealt with. The roles involved
are the user, phone repair provider, logistics provider and phone supplier. The
Phone Repair community has other roles, but they are not directly involved in
this process.
Several of the flows in this figure are marked as referencing a user handset
as an artefact, shown as an
«
EV Artefact
»
; the flow from the Request Repair
step is one example. In this specification, we have chosen to use an artefact
reference to highlight the fact that the flow is associated with the physical
transfer of the handset concerned between roles. After the request repair step
not only does the process flow transfer to the phone repair provider, but also
responsibility for the broken handset is transferred. Note that the artefact
is decorated with its assumed state [broken]; this state is drawn from the
state machine defined for handsets (see figure 2.9). In places where the state
is uncertain, such as on the return of the loan handset, this decoration is
omitted.
The steps in this representation of the process are comparatively coarse
grained. Thus, for example, the detail involved in saving the user's state and
SIM is subsumed into the Handle Request step when the phone is first received,
and the restoring of this state forms part of the Prepare Return step. These
details are important in ensuring the user receives a high quality experience,
but the choice of exactly what order the necessary actions are taken in is not
of concern to the user or customer roles.
2.6.2
Refining the Process
The behaviour shown in figure 2.8 is generic; it applies to all repair ac-
tivities in the organization and is expressed in terms of the roles shown in
figure 2.2. It can be refined by each branch independently, in ways that suit
their local situation.
Figure 2.10 shows one such refinement, defining the
