Task Lifecycle
Every task follows a state lifecycle from creation and approval to execution and completion. Some state transitions are governed by user button clicks, others are system-driven as a result of the Runbook state transitioning. Therefore, although a task can potentially be in numerous states, only a few are invoked by direct user intervention. There are subtle differences in the state transition depending on the phase in which the task resides, these are highlighted in forthcoming sections.
Pre-Implementation Phase Tasks
The state transition path for Pre-Implementation tasks is the shortest, as these are tasks that must be completed before the actual implementation can commence. Typically this happens in the days and weeks leading up to the actual change. Pre-Implementation states are:
- Review state is for a task entered and ready for review and further implementation progression
- Pending illustrates a task is approved
- Available shows a task approved and ready for activation
- Active highlights the user has activated the task and (should be) executing the work
- Complete indicates all the work detailed within the active task is complete.
Implementation Phase Tasks
The state of tasks in the Implementation Phase is mainly governed by the state of the Runbook, i.e. once a task is approved, its transition onwards to Scheduled, Committed, Pending and Available is driven by Runbook state transitions. Implementation tasks statuses are:
- Review shows task is ready for review
- Approved once a task has been reviewed and the task approved
- Scheduled highlights an approved task is within a scheduled/approved Runbook
- Committed highlights an approved task is within a Committed Runbook
- Pending illustrates a task is approved but not yet ready for activation
- Available shows a task or tasks are approved and ready for activation
- Active highlights the user has activated the task and should be executing the work
- Complete indicates all the work detailed within the active task is complete.
Post-Implementation Tasks
New Task state following Approval in the post implementation phase is largely governed by the state of the Runbook as illustrated above (identical to the state transitions for Implementation Phase). The statuses are:
- Review shows task is ready for review
- Approved once a task has been reviewed and the task approved
- Scheduled highlights an approved task is within a scheduled/approved Runbook
- Committed highlights an approved task is within a Committed Runbook
- Pending illustrates a task is approved but not yet ready for activation
- Available shows a task or tasks are approved and ready for activation
- Active highlights the user has activated the task and should be executing the work
- Complete indicates all the work detailed within the active task is complete.