Task Manager Comparison: Dovetail vs. Clarify

June 20, 2016

I’ve received a few questions asking how Dovetail Task Manager compares to Clarify Task Manager. So let’s cover that here.

First, a quick refresher on what Task Manager is.

 

Task Manager Overview

Task Manager is an optional module that allows actions to occur automatically when a task set is selected from a case.
The most common action is creating a subcase.

For example, when the New Employee Task Set is run:

1. Create a General subcase for setting up the employee’s network account and dispatch to the Network queue.
2. Create an Administrative subcase for ordering business cards and assign to a specific employee.
3. Create a General subcase for creating the user’s account in the CRM system, and dispatch to a queue based on auto-destination rules.

Dovetail Agent can work with either Clarify Task Manager or Dovetail Task Manager.

 

High level comparison

	Clarify	Dovetail
Task evaluation	Tasks are evaluated within the Clarify Classic Client itself, or via the Task Manager executable (tskmgr.exe).	Tasks are evaluated within Dovetail Carrier.
Actions	Create Subcases Create Action Items	Create Subcases Customizable to perform other actions
Applications involved in Task Manager	Clarify Classic Client Rulemanager Task Manager executable (tskmgr.exe)	Dovetail Agent Dovetail Carrier Dovetail Admin Dovetail Rulemanager
Schema	cls_group cls_factory stage_task task_set cls_factory cls_opn cls_ref	dt_task dt_task_set dt_property_template dt_configured_property prop_name
Workflow	None Assign to specific user Dispatch to specific queue Auto Dispatch Auto Assign	None Assign to specific user Dispatch to specific queue Auto Dispatch Auto Assign
Customizability	Limited	Unlimited

 

Clarify Task Manager

Clarify Task Manager is an optional module that allows subcases and action items to be automatically created when a task set is selected from a case.

 

Clarify Task Manager and the Clarify Classic Client

Within the Clarify Classic Client, this process is started by clicking the Jobs button on a case, and then selecting a Task Set to be executed.

The Clarify Client then evaluates the task set and creates the subcases and action items as needed.

 

Clarify Task Manager and Dovetail Agent

Within Dovetail Agent, this process is started by choosing the Workflow – Run Task Set menu item on a case, and then selecting a Task Set to be executed.

User’s must have the Task Manager privilege in order to see this menu item.

Dovetail Agent itself does not evaluate the task set and create subcases. Instead, Dovetail Agent creates a time bomb, which fires the a business rule.

Rulemanager processes this business rule which calls out to Clarify’s tskmgr.exe.

 

 

Administration of Task Sets for Clarify Task Manager

Task Definitions and Task Set Definitions are setup using the Policies and Customers module within the Clarify Classic Client.

 

Customizability

Most of Clarify Task Manager is essentially a black box that can’t be customized.

You can add additional properties to a task manager task definition.  For example, being able to set the subcase type. It’s a bit tricky, but it can be done.

That’s pretty much the extent of the customization story.

 

Dovetail Task Manager

Dovetail Task Manager is an optional module that allows subcases to be automatically created when a task set is selected
from a case. Dovetail Task Manager is also extensible using customization, allowing it to perform other actions, within the Clarify/Dovetail system itself, or even as a mechanism for integrating with other systems.

 

Process

• Within Dovetail Agent, this process is started by choosing the Workflow – Run Task Set menu item on a case, and then selecting a Task Set to be executed.
• Dovetail Agent creates a time bomb in the database
• Rulemanager picks up this time bomb, and executes the Run Dovetail Task Set business rule, which sends a message to Dovetail Carrier.
• Dovetail Carrier receives the message, which tells it which Task Set to execute
• Carrier retrieves the Task Set and related Tasks from the database
• For each task in the set:
  • Retrieves Task from database
  • Resolve each Task Property
  • Create subcase (or perform custom action)
  • Perform workflow (assign/dispatch/auto-dispatch/etc.)

 

 

Administration of Task Sets

Tasks and Task Sets are setup within Dovetail Agent.

 

Customizability

This is where Dovetail Task Manager really shines.

For tasks, you can add additional properties, just using the UI. No coding necessary.

You can also add custom code for doing almost anything

• Customize what happens when a subcase is created, such as looking up data and relating the subcase to a custom entity
• Add a custom action for a task, including interfacing with other systems, such as calling a web service
• Add a custom type, allowing Carrier to perform a custom action, completely independent of Task Manager.
• Start task processes outside of Dovetail Agent and Rulemanager, such as from a custom executable or web service

Now that you have hooks for adding custom code, the options are limitless.

 

Migrating from Clarify Task Manager to Dovetail Task Manager

Dovetail Agent ships with a script for converting Clarify Tasks/Task Sets/Properties to Dovetail Tasks/Task Sets/Properties.

This makes it easy to transition and to phase out the old Clarify Task Manager.

 

Summary

So that’s a quick Task Manager comparison.

If you have more specific questions, feel free to contact me, and I’ll be happy to help.