The purpose of this document is to guide users, especially Platform Owners and Architects, in utilizing the Debt Manager view. It explains the importance of the write-off functionality, its impact on technical debt, and how to manage write-off exceptions. The document ensures users understand how the customized views functionality works and how they can effectively govern their platform with this tool.

Impact #

By leveraging these features, the Debt Manager view helps identify, track, and justify the technical debt value and manage write-offs when needed. It also can help improve platform governance by controlling who can access certain views and manage issues and write-offs. Its possible to analyze the performance of the teams and to plan future work according to the different phases in the project useful for Architects and Release Managers.

Having multiple customized views at the same time boosts productivity and decision-making, ultimately leading to more efficient and effective technical debt management.

Optimizing team productivity is possible by assigning work at different levels. You can share specific views with your team members and use the tagging functionality to assign tasks accordingly.

Description #

Pre-requisites #

• Prerequisites: Debt Manager view should be enabled.
• Not necessary but recommended: Quality Gate.

What is the Debt Manager view?  #

• Platforms available: ServiceNow, Salesforce, or Office365 instance.
• Users that have access: Normal user, Customer Admin, and Project user.

The Debt Manager view is an enhanced version of the previous Debt Manager, providing advanced functionalities and customization options.

Key Features:

• Customizable Views: Create and edit views with personalized filters to tailor the information display to your needs, including specific column selections and orderings, for easier access to your ideal workflow.
• Customizable Access Permissions for Views: Define specific access permissions to determine who can view and interact with each customized view.
• Quick Access with Pinned Views: Save your custom views for immediate access upon logging into the portal.

This view classifies the issues/violations detected after a scan due to non-adherence to best practices, configurations (Adoption), and customizations (Adaption). 

It presents the issues that directly impact the technical debt value and requires analysis to decide which actions must be taken to reduce this KPI. Within the Debt Manager view, users can manage issues using the write-off functionality, which allows you to skip certain issues on succeeding scans and helps to focus merely on the issues of importance to you. 

In addition to the ability to create and edit views using personalized filters, the system includes several default views: Open, Open Write off pending issues, Closed (written off issues), and Closed (fixed).

View screen details #

When opening any view, inside its tab we can see the following details: 

• Issues count – it counts the total issues displayed in the table (with filters applied). 

• Technical Debt – it sums the total time (in hours) it will take developers to fix all those issues (with filters applied). 

• Filters – a basic set of filters are displayed by default and additional ones can be added by selecting them from the ‘Manage Filters’ button. Learn how to use filters.

• Table configuration – permits users to modify and personalize the columns displayed in the issues table. Users have the flexibility to add or remove columns based on their preferences. This change will be applied to the other views created by the Debt Manager.  Learn how to use table configuration. 

• Scan details – shows the when was the last time a full scan was launched.

• Export to XLS – enables users to save and download data from the system in XLS (Excel spreadsheet) format (Exports with more than 5,000 issues are now sent via email for enhanced accessibility, with a maximum export limit of 60,000 issues).

• Export to SARIF – allows users to save and download data in the Static Analysis Results Interchange Format (SARIF) (Exports with more than 5,000 issues are now sent via email for enhanced accessibility, with a maximum export limit of 60,000 issues).

• Bulk selection of specific issues by using the checkbox will enable 2 different actions:
  • Write-off functionality – displays a modal to input the reason, description, and expiration date. This action will move the issue to the Closed – written-off issues as approved.  
  • Manage tags – The user can create or add tags to the selected issues.

Default vs customizable views #

To open existing views (either default or custom).

Default views #

The default views are the ones already in the system and cannot be removed or customized from the list (the table’s columns can still be configured). 

• Open – Open issues: Shows the active issues after a full scan. 
• Open – Write off pending issues: Open – Write off pending issues: issues that have a write-off requested and are pending to be approved/rejected. Click here to learn how to manage write-offs.
• Closed – Written off issues: Shows issues that were requested for a write-off but do not require approval, have been automatically approved.
• Closed – Fixed issues: Once an issue is fixed (usually by developers), it appears in the Closed (fixed) section after running a Full Scan again.

The default view when opening the Debt Manager view is the ‘Home’ page. The only pre-applied filter is Status = Open.

Creating Custom views #

Customizable views are created from the ‘Home’ page by applying filters and then clicking the ‘Create View’ button located at the top right corner of the screen.

• Shared views: the views that are shared with specific users and views that are generally available for all users using the Debt Manager. Maximum 5 per Customer Admin per instance.

• Private views: the view I am the only one have access to. Maximum 5 per instance.

Learn how to manage views by using the three dots on the view.

Filters #

This view includes several filters. Click here to learn the meaning and use of each one.

Columns #

This view includes several columns on the table. Click here to learn the meaning and use of each one.

Issue Detail drawer #

Clicking on a specific issue will open a window displaying detailed information about the issue, best practice, affected elements (such as CE type, CE name, and last update), write off details and in which other instance has been spotted in.

This drawer in grouped into 3 taps:

OPERATIONAL USE #

Within the Debt Manager view you can take the following actions:

• Using customized views:
  • Customize filters 
  • Create a new customized view
  • Edit a customized view
  • Manage Access Permissions for Views
• Managing My Views
• Configure table layout 
• Use write-off functionality
• Add existing views
• Bulk actions
  • Request a write-off
  • Manage tags
• Launch a full scan
• Exporting actions

Using customized views #

1. Customize filters

Use filters to see the issues you are looking for. 

The default filters in the ‘Home’ page are Status, Area, and Severity. These filters follow a cascading method.

Cascading filters refers to a sequential application of multiple filters, where the output of one filter serves as the input for the next filter in the sequence.

Their combined effect results in a cumulative filtering action which is used to achieve a desired filtering effect that a single filter might not accomplish alone.

→ Use the button to add or remove filters.

→ Use the button to restore the filters to their original state.

2. Create a new customized view

After applying at least one filter to the ‘Home‘ page (or any of the existing views), the ‘Create view’ button placed at the top right side of the table box will be enabled. When clicked on, a pop-up modal will be displayed for the user to input the view details.

→ How to create a new customized view?

1. Open the Debt Manager view.
2. On the ‘Home’ page or any existing views apply filters.
3. Click on ‘Create view’.
4. A pop-up will appear. Add the following:
   1. View details:
      1. Name (mandatory) – limit of 40 characters
      2. Description (optional) – limit of 255 characters
   2. Share details:
      1. Private (default) – View is only visible to you.
      2. Public – View visible to all users with access to the Debt Manager dashboard.
      3. Pick Users – View visible to selected users only.
5. Click on ‘Create View’.
6. The view will be automatically created and opened in the view as a new tab.

3. Edit a customized view

Users can edit existing views without needing to create a new one. 

→ How to edit an existing customized view?

1. Open the Debt Manager view.
2. Go to any existing views, use the + button.
3. Apply filters.
4. Click on the ‘Save Changes’ button.

A double confirmation pop-up will show to confirm the changes made. This double confirmation is only created for the Customer Admins with sharing permissions.

4. Manage Access Permissions for Views

→ How to manage access permissions when creating a customized view?

1. Open the Debt Manager view.
2. Go to the the ‘Home’ page and apply filters.
3. Click on ‘Create view’.
4. A pop-up will appear. Add the following:
   1. View details:
      1. Name (mandatory) – limit of 40 characters
      2. Description (optional) – limit of 255 characters
   2. Share details:
      1. Private (default) – View is only visible to you.
      2. Public – View visible to all users with access to the Debt Manager dashboard. Maximum 5
      3. Pick Users – View visible to selected users only. Maximum 5
5. Click on ‘Create’.

Managing My Views #

The user can manage their existing views via the 3 dots placed at the top right corner of the tab.

Opening and Managing Views

To manage existing views, you need to open the view on a tab using the + button.

• Close View: Closes the displayed view. This action only removes the view from your screen and does not eliminate it.
• Pin/unpin View: Provides a quick way to access views by pinning or unpinning them.
• Edit View Details: Allows you to edit the details for existing views. This action is limited depending of user permissions.
• Delete View: Permanently deletes the view. This action cannot be undone, so proceed with caution.

User Permissions

• Customer Admin: Can edit and delete both private and shared views without needing to be the owners of the views. When making changes, a double confirmation message will appear to ensure accuracy, as the changes will be visible to all users with access to the view.
• Normal and Project Users: Can only edit and delete private views.

Table configuration functionality #

The Table Configuration feature allows you to customize the grid layout to display specific information about issues, with changes applying to all previously saved views.

Here’s how you can use this feature for:

• Enable or disable columns as needed (Column Selection)
• Click and drag columns to reorder the grid layout (Ordering)

This functionality can be used in bulk. 

These changes (column selection and ordering) can be saved in the Saved Views feature, automatically preserving your selected columns and order. This ensures that every time you open a saved view, the data is displayed in the format that suits your workflow. This brings consistency, efficiency, and improved productivity by automatically saving and displaying data in the format that best supports your workflow

See all possible columns here

→ How to use the Table Configuration functionality:

1. Go to the Quality Clouds Main Portal.
2. On the top, select the dropdown called ‘View’.
3. Select Debt Manager view.
4. Go to one of your views.
5. Select the ‘Table configuration‘ option to customize the grid.
6. Enable/disable the columns you want to view.
7. Click and drag the column to reorder the layout of the grid.

Write-off functionality #

Within the Debt Manager view you can manage request and manage write-offs when needed.

→ How to request a write-off?

1. Go to an Open Issues view in the Debt Manager view (default or custom).
2. Select one or more issues.
3. Click on ‘Write-off section‘, and a window will appear.
4. Select the reason. The list of reasons can be configured by customers.
5. Provide a short description to clarify why the issue needs to be written off.
6. Provide an expiration date for when the issue, if not resolved, will return to the ‘Open’ tab.

→ How to manage write-offs?

1. Go to the Open (Written Off Pending Issues) view in the Debt Manager view (default or custom).
2. Select the issue or issues you want to manage.
3. Click one or more issues.
4. Select ‘Bulk Edit Selected Issues’.
5. Chose between approve, decline or reject and add a description.
6. Include a description and click on ‘Edit‘.

Only users with approver permissions can manage write-offs.

→ To decline a write-off exception:

1. Go to the Closed (Written Off Issues) view.
2. Select the issue or issues you want to decline a write-off exception.
3. Click on ‘Actions‘.
4. Click on ‘Bulk Edit Selected Issues’. 
5. Decline the write-off exception. Include a description and click on ‘Edit‘.

The write-off exception is now visible in the ‘Open tab’ in the Debt Manager view.

→ How to modify expiration date from a write-off:

1. Go to the Closed (Written Off Issues) view.
2. Select the issue or issues you want to decline a write-off exception.
3. Click on ‘Actions‘.
4. Click on ‘Modify Expiration Date. 
5. Change expiration date to:
   • Never
   • 1 day
   • 1 week
   • 1 month
   • Specific date
6. Click on ‘Change Date’.

Add existing views #

To open a new view, the user needs to click on the “+” button, and the list of views will be presented, and select the one they want to access. 

After adding a view, the user can close them by clicking on the “X” of the tab, placed next to the view’s name. This action will not delete the view, it will only close it from the tabs section. 

Views are grouped by: 

• Default Views
• Shared Views
• Private Views

You can add up to 14 views: 5 private views, 5 shared views, 4 default views, plus the home page. This capability allows you to compare multiple views with different information, providing valuable insights into decision-making.

Bulk actions – write off/manage tags #

Open – Open issues

• Writting issues off.

• Manage tags.

Open – Write off pending issues

• Bulk Approve/Decline/Reject issues with write-offs. 

• Manage tags.

Closed – Written off issues

• Bulk decline written-off issues.

• Manage tags and/or modify their expiration date.

Closed – Fixed issues

• No bulk actions are included in this table. 

• Also, table columns differ from other views as they will show the closed date and the age (days).

Launch full scan #

Click on the Launch Scan icon to start a full scan and begin using the Debt Manager view. Completing this action will display the most recent issues found.

Export data #

Note: Exports with more than 5,000 issues are now sent via email for enhanced accessibility, with a maximum export limit of 60,000 issues

USE CASES #

• The improvements in the Debt Manager view allow the visualization of scenarios to prioritize work and make decisions for the Architect and the Release Manager.
• It is possible to increase productivity levels with the optimization of technical debt results by improving levels of work organization.
• Architects and Release Managers can plan future work to optimize resources in different stages of a project.
• If an error occurs while requesting a write-off or the write-off is not longer needed, the write-off request for those issues must be declined (the issue will appear on the Open Issues tab). 

Check out more use cases here. These can provide further insights and help you better understand the various applications.