Operators

An operator defines a unique identifier, password, preferences, and personal information for a user. Create
operators so that people and processes can access your application.

For example, in an application for reviewing loan requests, you can create operators for customer service
representatives (CSRs), reporting managers, and an administrator to manage the application from the
technical side.

By creating operators you provide access for users and processes to your application so that processing
work can happen, and so that business processes can reach successful resolution. You can create operators
not only for users, but also for automated, unattended processes. Unattended operators are robotic
automation virtual machines (VMs). The system generates unattended operators for each registered VM in
a robotic process automation (RPA) solution. Creating unattended operators increases the automation of
your business processes, lowers costs, and speeds up work resolution.

Creating operators gives you the following benefits:

Increased security
Every operator can have a unique password with which to log in to your application. As a result, you
protect your data and operations from inappropriate or random users.
Improved routing of work
Every operator has an individual queue of assignments to complete that Pega Platform refers to as a
worklist. Additionally, you can give an operator access to a work queue that groups assignments that
are available for members of a specific team. For every operator, you can specify the level of relevant
skills, for example, you can indicate that an operator is a highly advanced Java developer, or speaks
French fluently. Grouping assignments and defining skillsets improves the routing of work and ensures
that an application assigns tasks to the most appropriate users. For every operator, you can also
define periods of unavailability and a substitute worker or work queue to ensure continuous case
processing.
Relevant access type
You can define which data and operations an operator can access and perform in your application. For
example, you can ensure that only a manager can approve or reject new job candidates, or that a CSR
can access all information that a case requires to reach resolution. Consequently, the users of your
application can perform only relevant actions and process their work faster.

The following figure summarizes the options that are available for operators in Pega Platform applications:

The characteristics of an operator

Clusters and operator IDs

After you save a new, or update an existing operator ID instance, the change might not be reflected on
another node in a cluster until the Pega-RULES agent on that node performs the next system pulse —
typically after no more than 60 seconds. Unlike instances of most other Data- classes, the system saves
operator ID instances to the rule cache. As a result, until the next time that the rule cache is synchronized,
one node might access a stale copy from its rules cache.

Bulk operator load

To save time, you can create operator ID instances by importing a comma-separated values (CSV) file, such
as a Microsoft Excel spreadsheet.

Operator ID property
After a requestor logs in, the operator ID identifier is available on the pxRequestor page as the
pxUserIdentifier property.

Operator IDs and external identity providers

If you implement authentication by using an external identity provider (IdP), the login process accesses IdP
for authentication and ignores the password in this operator ID instance. However, the system still requires
an operator ID data instance for each user.

Operator passwords
The system saves passwords for operator IDs as hashed values in the PegaRULES database, by first salting
the clear text password value and then hashing it using the default bcrypt algorithm. The system uses two
property types when changing the password: Password type for the New Password field, and Text type for
the Confirm Password field. The Data-Admin-Operator-ID.pyPwdCurrent property stores the hashed
password after the password passes validation.

Enabling, disabling and deleting operators

Bcrypt hashing algorithm for Password property types

Understanding Requestor Type data instances
Fields for operator contact information and application access
Defining security information for an operator

Security