Mass Maintenance

Use External Data Roles in Request Processing

In addition to the Data, Review, and Post roles, Mass Maintenance has a role type called External Data.

A user assigned to an External Data role receives a spreadsheet with columns for adding (or in the case of validation failures, updating) request data.  Using an External Data Role can streamline request data entry: the user does not have to log in to Mass Maintenance, but instead works in a spreadsheet that contains only the required columns. When the spreadsheet is submitted, it has to pass basic validations to reduce errors and processing time.

When a user creates a request based on a template with an External Data role, Mass Maintenance sends an email with an Excel file attached to the external contact designated for the External Data role.

This file contains current request data. The user with the External Data role updates the data in the spreadsheet and emails the file to the External Data Email Account set up in Mass Maintenance. If the data in the spreadsheet passes validations, Mass Maintenance imports the data into the request automatically and continues processing the request.

NOTE: An External Data role can also be used in External Request Scenarios. Refer to Use External Request Scenarios and Set External Role Contacts for an External Request Scenario for more information.

To use External Data roles in request processing: