Operating Context

Operating Context tells EcoTech: In what capacity are you acting right now? This is one of the most important ideas in the EcoTech operating model. The same person may participate in several businesses, organisations and roles. EcoTech therefore needs a reliable way to distinguish between: You acting personally You acting for a Business You operating inside an Enterprise and You acting within another authorised role Operating Context provides that distinction. Why Operating Context Matters A single EcoTech user may be connected to: Their own Business Another Business An Enterprise A Publisher profile An organisation A project A department or A branch The identity of the person does not change. But the capacity in which that person acts may change throughout the day. EcoTech therefore needs to know which context is active before important work takes place. One Person, Multiple Contexts A simple example may help. You could be: Conrad as an individual then switch to: Conrad acting for Business A then later: Conrad operating inside Enterprise B The person is still the same person. The authority is different. The documents are different. The commercial records are different. The permissions may also be different. That is why context matters. Kaya and Operating Context EcoTech Kaya remains your personal operating environment. From Kaya, you may access the relationships and businesses connected to you. Operating Context determines which of those relationships you are actively using. A useful way to think about it is: Kaya = where you operate Operating Context = who you are operating as Personal Context When operating in your personal context, EcoTech understands that you are acting as yourself. This may be appropriate for: Your personal profile Personal Publishing Your own documents Relationships Your ERT and other individual activity. Actions taken here should not automatically be treated as actions of a business. Business Context When you switch into a Business context, EcoTech understands that your actions relate to that particular business. This may affect: Business Profile management E-Store CloudFeed Commercial enquiries QI Documents Publishing and other business activity. The active business becomes the source of the action. Enterprise Context Inside an Enterprise, the context becomes deeper. EcoTech may need to understand not only which Enterprise you are operating, but also: Which branch Which department Which role and What permissions you hold For example: Enterprise → Finance Department → Authorised Finance User is a much more specific context than simply: Logged-in User Operating Context and QI Operating Context is especially important in QI. A quotation or invoice must belong to the correct business. If you operate several businesses, EcoTech should never guess which one is issuing the document. The correct flow is: Choose or confirm Business Context → Create QI Document This helps ensure that the quotation or invoice carries the correct: Business identity Tax information Currency Document numbering Customer relationship and Commercial record Operating Context and Documents Documents also depend on context. A document may belong to: You personally A business An Enterprise A department or another authorised environment. Operating Context helps EcoTech store and retrieve the document in the right place. This reduces the risk of mixing personal and business files. Operating Context and Shared With Me A shared document may be available to you personally or because of a role you hold. Context helps EcoTech understand where that shared information belongs. For example: A supplier quotation may belong to the Finance context of a business you operate. A personal letter may belong to your individual context. Both may appear in Documents, but they should not be treated as the same type of information. Operating Context and Publishing Publishing context matters too. You may publish: Personally or On behalf of a Business or Organisation That distinction should be clear before the content is published. A personal opinion should not accidentally appear as an official company statement. Likewise, a formal organisation article should not appear as personal content. Operating Context helps preserve that separation. Operating Context and CloudFeed CloudFeed activity should also come from the correct source. If a business distributes a product, service or campaign, the system should understand which business is responsible for that content. This keeps distribution connected to the correct Business Profile and E-Store. Operating Context and Echo Operating Context is particularly important for Echo. Echo may have access to different information depending on the context you are using. For example: In your personal context, Echo may work with your personal Documents and relationships. Inside a Business context, Echo may work with authorised business Documents, QI and commercial information. Inside an Enterprise context, Echo may work with information allowed by your organisational role and permissions. This creates the principle: Same person. Different context. Different authorised information. Context Must Not Override Permissions Switching into a context does not automatically grant access to everything inside it. You must still have the appropriate relationship and permission. Operating Context tells EcoTech: Where you are operating Permissions tell EcoTech: What you are allowed to do there Both are required. Context Can Be Persistent For practical day-to-day work, EcoTech can remember the context you selected. This allows you to continue working without constantly reselecting the same business or Enterprise. For example, if you are working in: Business A that context can remain active as you move between: Documents QI Echo and other connected tools. This makes the platform feel like a continuous workspace rather than a collection of disconnected pages. But Context Must Remain Visible Persistent context should never become invisible. The user should always be able to understand: Which context is active before performing an important action. This becomes especially important when a person operates more than one business. A clear context indicator helps prevent mistakes. Switching Context When you need to work somewhere else, you can change the active Operating Context. For example: Personal → Business A Business A → Business B Business B → Enterprise The context changes. Your identity does not. Your permissions may change according to the new environment. Why Context Reduces Repetition Operating Context also supports one of EcoTech’s broader goals: Do not ask users to repeatedly enter information EcoTech already knows. If EcoTech already knows which business you are operating, QI should be able to use that business information. Documents should understand where files belong. Echo should understand the relevant business context. Publishing should know the organisation you are representing. The context should travel with the work. A Practical Example Imagine you operate two businesses. You switch into: Business A You open QI and create a quotation. EcoTech uses Business A’s details. You open Documents. The issued quotation is stored in Business A’s document environment. You ask Echo about the quotation. Echo works within Business A’s authorised context. Later, you switch into: Business B The information and permissions change accordingly. You remain the same person throughout. Operating Context Connects the Platform Operating Context is what allows several EcoTech capabilities to work together coherently. It connects: Identity Relationships Business Profiles Enterprise QI Documents Publishing CloudFeed and Echo around the capacity in which the user is acting. The Key Principle The simplest way to understand Operating Context is: Identity answers: Who are you? Relationship answers: What are you connected to? Permission answers: What may you do? Operating Context answers: In what capacity are you acting right now? Your Next Guide 21. The Complete EcoTech Business Loop The next guide brings the major EcoTech capabilities together and follows the full journey from Business Profile and E-Store through CloudFeed, customer enquiry, QI, Documents and Echo. Still Need Help? If you are unsure which context you should use, why a quotation or document belongs to a particular business, or how context changes what Echo and other EcoTech tools can access, use the SupraMinds booking link to schedule a discussion.