Demand Management

This topic walks you through the major components and features in Demand Management.

Introduction

Demand Management is the component of Project and Portfolio Management Center (PPM) that manages requests from creation to implementation. Each request is processed using a workflow that is represented graphically in the user interface. Demand Management provides tools and configurable processes to deal with these requests. Data is captured by prompting for process-specific information to ensure that the required information is collected and validated at the right time in the process.

Demand Management can follow complex business rules by using different approval methods. Email and pager notifications can be generated as the request passes through the various workflow steps. Prioritization and delegation features allow requests to efficiently advance through the workflows applied to them, routing them to the relevant department, group, or individual.

Where to start

The Demand Management enables you to do the following actions:

Action	Description
View requests	In Demand Management, requests are the means by which actions and processes are initiated and driven. Requests contain the information required to take a series of actions that move requests through a workflow. For details, see View request details in tabs or sections.
Create requests	You can use Demand Management to submit several different types of requests, from simple software defect requests to project scope change requests. For details, see Create requests.
Process and manage requests	You process and manage a request after the creation. Demand Management provides reports and portlets to help you manage requests. For details, see Manage requests.
Monitor requests	Demand Management provides a preconfigured page and portlets for demand managers to monitor and manage requests. For details, see Monitor and analyze requests.
Integrate requests and projects	If you have both Demand Management and Project Management, you can integrate Demand Management's request tracking capability with Project Management's deliverable date and actuals tracking capabilities. For details, see Integrate requests and projects.

Major components

A Demand Management system is a request resolution system. The main components of a request resolution system are requests and workflows.

Component	Description
Request	Request is the fundamental work unit in Demand Management. You can create a request when you ask for help, report a problem, or want something to happen. Each request has an associated request type, such as the Bug request type and the Enhancement request type. A request type determines the basic features of the request, such as the fields it includes, its participants, and the workflow it follows. Demand Management provides preconfigured request types that you can modify to meet your business needs. Request status is a summary indicator of the current state of a request. Request status is assigned automatically as the request moves through its workflow.
Workflow	After a request is created, it must follow a process to reach its conclusion. A workflow is the process that a request takes from the beginning to the end. Workflow steps are the events that are linked together to form a complete workflow. Demand Management uses these types of workflow steps: Decisions, Executions, Conditions, and Subworkflows. For details, see Create workflows.

Component

Description

Request

Request is the fundamental work unit in Demand Management. You can create a request when you ask for help, report a problem, or want something to happen.

Each request has an associated request type, such as the Bug request type and the Enhancement request type. A request type determines the basic features of the request, such as the fields it includes, its participants, and the workflow it follows. Demand Management provides preconfigured request types that you can modify to meet your business needs.

Request status is a summary indicator of the current state of a request. Request status is assigned automatically as the request moves through its workflow.

Workflow

After a request is created, it must follow a process to reach its conclusion. A workflow is the process that a request takes from the beginning to the end.

Workflow steps are the events that are linked together to form a complete workflow. Demand Management uses these types of workflow steps: Decisions, Executions, Conditions, and Subworkflows. For details, see Create workflows.

Demand Management on a multilingual instance

If you work with Demand Management on a PPM instance that has a multilingual user interface (MLU), consider the following:

When you create an entity, your session language (the language you selected at login) is the definition language of the entity. After an entity is created, it can only be modified in its definition language.
If an entity's definition language is different from your session language, you need to change its definition language before you can modify it.
If you copy an entity from the PPM Workbench, and the entity's definition language is different from your session language, you can copy the existing translations for that entity.
Notification recipients see the notifications in their session languages. If a notification recipient's session language is not supported on your PPM instance, then the notification's definition language is used.

For details about session languages, definition languages, and translating Demand Management entities in a multilingual user interface (MLU), see the Multilingual User Interface Guide.

Next steps:

Create requests