3.5.2

The following changes are available to all licensed users of Align. Instructions to configure these options are discussed in each topic. Examples are also provided.

Align 3.5.2 New Features

Item

Description

1

Sandbox vs. Production

Align customers now receive new Align releases to their registered sandbox environments one week before the production environments are updated.
2 Align Settings Object Align introduces a Settings object to store global and Field Force-specific settings. The first setting is the “Inactive Accounts” feature.

3

 Inactive Accounts This feature provides the ability to instruct Align on recognizing recently inactivated Accounts. Align needs to end-date all remaining active assignments for those Accounts. (Subsequently, the CRM Integration removes the assignments in CRM.)

4

 Account Assignment Exclusions

Align supports excluding Accounts from aligning to a Territory. The types of exclusions supported are global, Field Force and territory.

5

 Product Metrics Product Metrics can now be imported from Veeva CRM and used as Account Assignment Rule Criteria.

Align Settings

Align introduces a new Settings object allowing either global or Field Force-specific settings. The Align Settings tab is nested below the new Align Admin tab. These two new Vault Tabs are disabled by default and must be configured before users can view and access the tabs.

To enable the tabs:

  1. Select Admin.
  2. Select Users & Groups.
  3. Select Permission Sets.
  4. Select the user group for users should manage Align Settings.
  5. Select Tabs.
  6. Enable the Align Admin and Align Settings tabs.
  • Align settings are considered enabled when the status__v field is set to Active.
  • The Settings object does not support custom fields, custom page layouts or custom list views. Any adjustment made to these areas can be overwritten in a subsequent release.
Global Settings

Align permits a single Global Setting record applying to all entities without a Field Force-specific setting record. A settings record is considered global if the Field Force field is not populated. Only one global settings record can be active.

Field Force Settings

Field Force settings apply to an entire Field Force and always supersede a global setting record. For example, a setting’s value is A but the setting has an active Field Force value of B. The system uses a value of B.

Each Field Force can have only one active settings record.

Account Inactive Values

Users can specify when to treat an Account as inactive without deleting the Account from CRM. For example, the customer_master_status__aln field on the Account__aln object is set to an inactive value by an import from CRM or through the Data Loader. Align identifies the Account as deactivated. Align automatically end-dates all territory assignments for the Account and prevents the Account from being assigned to territories until the customer_master_status__aln field value is no longer inactive.

To enable Account Inactive Values:

  1. Navigate to the Custom Field Mapping section of the CRM Orgs screen.
  2. Map the customer_master_status__aln field on the Account__aln object to a field with an equivalent status in CRM. The CRM field must govern the active/inactive status of an Account.
  3. Navigate to the Account Inactive Values section of the Align Settings screen.
  4. Manually enter the required values in the account_inactive_values__aln field. Enter the values as they are imported from CRM and separate each distinct value with commas.

Account Exclusions

Users can prevent Accounts from aligning by creating Account exclusions. These exclusions can be configured to prevent an Account from being assigned to a specific Territory, to all Territories belonging to a specific Field Force, or to all Territories globally. Exclusions can be created from the Account page, the Territory page, or the Field Force page. They are active only between the indicated start and end dates. Exclusions end date previously created assignments at the next rules run once their start date is reached.

Assignments prevented by exclusions are visible on the Assignment Preview page through the Exclusions tab:

Exclusions prevent users from creating manual assignments between Accounts and their excluded Territories or globally excluded Accounts.

Self-alignments between Accounts and excluded Territories or globally excluded Accounts are imported from CRM and can be data loaded into Align but are end dated at the next rules run.

Align supports custom picklist values in the exclusion_reason__aln field on the Account_exclusion__aln object.

Product Metrics

Align allows users to import Product Metrics records from a data load or directly from CRM and use those records to filter rule-based Territory assignments. This provides Align users the added flexibility to incorporate product-based attributes within the Align Rules Engine. For example, a Field Force may have an Account Alignment Rule to only aligns HCPs with are a Decile 8, 9 or 10 for any or certain products.

To import records from the CRM Product Metrics object (Product_Metrics_vod):

  1. Ensure the following fields are on the Align CRM Orgs page layout:
    • import_product_metric__aln

    • product_metrics_where_clause__aln (if needed)

  1. Set the Import_Product_Metric_aln field to Yes if Product Metrics records should be imported from CRM; set the field to No if not.
  1. Filter which Product Metrics records are imported if record volume is a concern. Add a valid SOQL WHERE clause in the Product Metrics WHERE Clause field if imported Product Metrics records should be filtered.
  • Do not include “WHERE” in the syntax. The system automatically includes it.
  • The following example imports Product Metrics records for which the Account has been segmented for two specific products:

“Segment__c != null AND (Products_vod__r.External_Id_vod__c = 'cholecap' OR Products_vod__r.External_Id_vod__c = 'labrinone')

  1. Add newly loaded Product Metrics records to Account Assignment Rules.
    For example, a user can assign all affiliated HCPs to a Territory meeting certain Account criteria, located within the Territory’s geographical area, and either Segment A or Segment B for Products aligned to the Territory.
    Users can list Products individually in a rule or use the special operator “matches territory’s products” to include a list of products without entering them individually. This special operator works similarly to the “matches territory’s geographies” operator.


Users can also add Product Metric records to Align with the Align Data Loader.

The respective Account and Product records must exist in Align before loading Product Metrics records.