Setting up GCA

Introduction

Government Clause Automation (GCA) is as flexible as any application developed on the Appian Platform. To make sure your application remains scalable and aligns with best practices, we have provided instructions to guide you through some of the most common changes.

After you have installed GCA, there are several configurations you will likely perform to customize the application for your organization’s processes.

This page outlines the order we recommend for configuring the default application to work for your organization after installing GCA. However, all of these instructions can be used to modify the application at any time.

Updates in Appian Designer should be done with caution by someone familiar with Appian development.

Step 1: Configure user groups and security

Configuring user groups and security is a good place to start.

You will need to know:

• If your organization has any additional business roles that are not covered in the default business groups.
• What users should be members of each business group.

For more information on groups and security, see Groups Reference Page.

Step 2: Configure fields and UI text

Likely, certain fields and UI text throughout the set up process will not exactly match the terminology your organization uses for its clause automation process. You can modify the solution to fit your organization's processes and data requirements by configuring a number of the fields and labels.

The following fields and UI text are configurable:

• Create clause set wizard labels.
• Contracting personnel labels.

If you need to perform a mass update of the UI text, you can perform a bulk update by creating a custom bundle file that overrides the values in the default bundle files. When you create a custom bundle file, GCA will retain the values during future upgrades. See Modifying UI Text for more information on performing this bulk operation.

Alternatively, if you need to modify a small number of UI text for your GCA solution, these modifications are best done using the Solution Customization Suite. You can find more information about customizing UI text for your solution in the Solution Customization User Guide.

Step 3: Configure templates

After you configure your solution, you can create templates for use during the create clause set process. The template you select will determine which clauses will be automatically assigned to the clause set when each clause set is initiated.

You will need to know:

• What templates are needed
• What clauses should be added to the templates

When users start a new clause set, they can select from the available templates listed in the first step of the Create Clause Set wizard.

Step 4: Configure questionnaire and questionnaire rules

After you configure your solution, you can create questions and questionnaires for use during the create clause set process. The questions selected for use in the questionnaire will determine the questions asked when each clause set is started.

You will need to understand your organization's current clause selection processes including:

• What categories of the questions can occur.
• What questions or group of questions will help narrow the clause selection process.
• What clauses should be added to the clause set for question answers.

Step 5: Set up Acquisition.gov integration

Next, you will need to set up Acquisition.gov integration, which allows you to retrieve FAR and DFARS clause data and FAR Smart Matrix data from Acquisition.gov.

For instructions on how to do this, see Setting Up Acquisition.gov.

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