Siemens IT Solutions and Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd ITSM 7.6.4 Training Manual
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Transcript of Siemens IT Solutions and Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd ITSM 7.6.4 Training Manual
BMC Remedy ITSM 7.6.4
User Training Manual
BMC Remedy ITSM 7.6.4
User Training Manual
Siemens IT Solutions and Services South Africa (Pty) Ltd Page 1
Table of contents
LOGGING INTO REMEDY USER VIA THE WEB......................................................................................................... 5
LOGIN................................................................................................................................................................................... 5
OVERVIEW OF HOME PAGE BUTTONS (SERVICE DESK) ........................................................................................................ 7
Customising your Home Page ......................................................................................................................................... 7
How to access ITSM modules and applications .............................................................................................................. 9
OVERVIEW OF THE ITSM 7.6 SUITE ........................................................................................................................... 10
APPLICATION ADMINISTRATION CONSOLE .......................................................................................................... 11
RESETTING PASSWORDS ..................................................................................................................................................... 11
WORKING WITH THE OVERVIEW CONSOLE.......................................................................................................... 12
SEARCH OR CREATE RECORDS FROM THE OVERVIEW CONSOLE.......................................................................................... 13
USING THE ‘VIEW BY’ BUTTON........................................................................................................................................... 14
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT........................................................................................................................................... 15
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT PROCESS.......................................................................................................................... 15
INCIDENT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE ........................................................................................................................ 15
KPI TAB ON THE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE ........................................................................................................ 16
OPENING THE INCIDENT REQUEST FORM ............................................................................................................................ 18
Quick Actions................................................................................................................................................................. 18
Submitting an Incident................................................................................................................................................... 19
To create an incident request record using the Best Practice view............................................................................... 20
Adding or modifying a customer profile ........................................................................................................................ 27
First Call Resolution ..................................................................................................................................................... 27
Re-assigning Incidents................................................................................................................................................... 30
Recording Effort and Time Spent on an Incident........................................................................................................... 31
WORKING WITH TASKS ....................................................................................................................................................... 34
Adding tasks using task templates ................................................................................................................................. 34
Creating ad hoc tasks .................................................................................................................................................... 35
Accepting task assignments ........................................................................................................................................... 36
SLM Status..................................................................................................................................................................... 37
USING THE NAVIGATION PANE BUTTONS............................................................................................................................ 38
View Audit log ............................................................................................................................................................... 38
Financials ...................................................................................................................................................................... 38
Categorizations.............................................................................................................................................................. 39
Reminders...................................................................................................................................................................... 40
Email system.................................................................................................................................................................. 40
Paging ........................................................................................................................................................................... 41
Decision Trees ............................................................................................................................................................... 42
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Scripting ........................................................................................................................................................................ 42
Impacted Areas.............................................................................................................................................................. 42
Assignment Scripting ..................................................................................................................................................... 42
Advanced Searches........................................................................................................................................................ 42
RESOLVING AN INCIDENT ................................................................................................................................................... 43
CLOSING AN INCIDENT........................................................................................................................................................ 44
FILTERING RECORDS..................................................................................................................................................... 45
FILTERING OPTIONS ON THE INCIDENT MANAGEMENT CONSOLE ....................................................................................... 45
SERVICE TARGET TIME RENEGOTIATION ............................................................................................................. 46
HOW TO LOG AN IMACD CALL ................................................................................................................................... 46
ROLES IN CHANGE MANAGEMENT...................................................................................................................................... 48
The Requester ................................................................................................................................................................ 48
The Change Manager .................................................................................................................................................... 49
The Change Coordinator............................................................................................................................................... 49
The Task Implementer ................................................................................................................................................... 49
Change Approvers and the CAB.................................................................................................................................... 49
LIFE CYCLE OF CHANGE MANAGEMENT ............................................................................................................................. 50
THE NORMAL LIFE CYCLE OF A CHANGE REQUEST CONSISTS OF FIVE MAJOR STEPS: ........................................................... 50
STAGES AND APPROVAL PHASES OF A CHANGE REQUEST (STATUSES) ................................................................................ 52
Review Phase................................................................................................................................................................. 52
Business Approval Phase............................................................................................................................................... 52
Implementation Phase ................................................................................................................................................... 53
Close down approval Phase .......................................................................................................................................... 53
Final Review Complete Phase....................................................................................................................................... 53
STATE TRANSITIONS OF CHANGE REQUESTS........................................................................................................................ 54
Additional status values for change requests ................................................................................................................ 55
CREATING A CHANGE REQUEST ......................................................................................................................................... 55
Change Management Console and its Functional Areas............................................................................................... 56
Initiating a Change Request .......................................................................................................................................... 56
SEND CHANGE FOR APPROVAL........................................................................................................................................... 61
Approval Phases............................................................................................................................................................ 64
Approving using the Approval Central.......................................................................................................................... 66
Using the Process Flow Status bar to approve requests ............................................................................................... 67
PLANNING AND SCHEDULING ............................................................................................................................................. 68
IMPLEMENTING THE REQUEST ............................................................................................................................................ 72
CLOSING A REQUEST .......................................................................................................................................................... 73
VIEWING THE AUDIT LOG................................................................................................................................................... 74
USING THE CHANGE CALENDER ......................................................................................................................................... 75
Filtering options on the Incident Management Console................................................................................................ 79
Searching all records..................................................................................................................................................... 79
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Save Searches ................................................................................................................................................................ 80
Recall Saved Searches ................................................................................................................................................... 81
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Web Reporting ............................................................................................................................................................... 81
Logging into Remedy User via the Web
Note: Your AR System user name and password are space and case sensitive.
Enter your user name and password, and then click Login. – This brings you to the Home Page – see
Home Page.
Login
You start Remedy by clicking on the start button of your computer.
Click on the Programs option, select the Action Request System value and then you click on the BMC
Remedy User Icon.
This opens the Remedy User Tool, whereby the login details are displayed. The two fields displayed
are the Username and Password. Fill in both fields and click on the ok button to access the system.
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1. When you use the Remedy application for the first time, you will be prompted to change your
password to one that suits you.
2. On the right upper side of the screen, you will find the change password button for future
purposes.
3. You need to fill in your current password and then select a new password.
4. You are required to confirm your new password by re‐typing in the new password.
5. Click on save to confirm
6. The system prompts you with the note: Your password has been changed.
7. Click on OK to dismiss the confirmation note.
8. The system opens the home page
On the right‐hand upper corner of the screen, you will see the logout button. It is important to logout
to free the floating licence you are using. If you do not log out, the license will be held for an hour
and you will prevent another user from working.
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On the left hand side of the home page there is the applications list.
Overview of Home Page Buttons (Service Desk)
The list of Entry points on the Home Page will differ with each profile or set of permissions you have.
1. Approval Central – Used by Approvers of a Change
2. Application Administration Console – Configuration detail
3. Consoles – Primary links from where all other consoles you have permission to will be accessed.
Once you are logged in to Remedy, you are met with the Home Page. (The out‐of‐the‐box landing point is a view of all your calls via a view of the Overview Console.
You can customise your own Home Page with up to 4 separate windows to display any number of graphs or tables. This can be changed and updated at any time.
Customising your Home Page
1. Click on the + button (add content to Layout button) in the top right hand corner of you Home
page
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2. This will add four additional windows to your Home Page layout.
3. From the ‘Show’ dropdown buttons you can now select the conten you want to add to your home page. (The content show is available le out of the box, and additional views can be generated by you Remedy Specialist)
4. After selecting content for you four different screens, you can edit at any time. You can also
remove and add windows at will. (Four is the maximum)
5. Please remember to SAVE your preference. Available also in the top right hadn corner.
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How to access ITSM modules and applications
1. In the left hand corner of your Home Page screen you can maximise your access point menu
by clicking on the Applications tab.
2. From here you can access all the modules you have permission to.
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Overview of the ITSM 7.6 Suite
The BMC ITSM suite consists of five applications that are integrated with one another but can also
function on their own.
These are:
BMC Remedy Asset Management
BMC Remedy Change Management
BMC Remedy Problem Management
BMC Remedy Incident Management
BMC Remedy IT Service Level Management
BMC Remedy Release Management
BMC Remedy Service Request Management
These applications help you to manage your IT assets, activities and processes, as well as handle
customer requests.
The BMC Remedy Asset Management assist you in tracking and managing your Configuration Items,
where the BMC Remedy Change Management assist in implementing, creating and managing your
company’s change items and requests.
BMC Remedy Incident Management and BMC Remedy Problem Management (Also known as the
Service desk), is used to track and manage any interruptions (Incident Management) in the
organization.
You use the BMC Remedy Problem management to proactively prevent the occurrence of such
incidents or errors and other problems. With BMC Remedy Problem management you can investigate
and determine the actual root cause of the interruption in your organization. You can then initiate
actions to correct these problems. With BMC Remedy IT Service Level Management is used to
review, enforce and report on the level of service of an IT organization.
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The applications in the ITSM suite runs on AR System Server 7.0 or higher and it also share a common
database.
Application Administration Console
Resetting Passwords
1. Open the Application Administration Console, and use the Custom Tab.
2. Click on People, Reset Passwords to open the Password Console.
3. Start the resetting process by typing a new password and following the on screen prompts.
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Please note that in order to change another user’s password, you would need the SECURITY
permission added to your people profile.
Working with the Overview console
The Overview console is the primary interface for support staff. It provides quick access to the
information you need and to the procedures that you perform most often. Please note that all the
functionality of the Overview Console is NOT available from the view on your IT Home Page. This is
just a view of the Overview Console. In order to access all the functionality, go to Foundation
Elements, and then Overview Console.
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Navigation pane Provides display filters, links to functionality.
Assigned Work
area
The Assigned Work table lists different types of records. The types of records
that you can select depend on the BMC Remedy applications that are installed.
Each type of record is identified by a specific prefix:
CRQ Identifies change requests.
TAS Identifies tasks.
INC Identifies incidents.
PBI Identifies problems.
PKE Identifies known errors.
SDB Identifies solution database entries.
PR
RLM
Identifies purchase requisitions.
Identifies release requests
Refresh Button After you create or modify a record, click the Refresh button to see the latest
changes in the Assigned Work table.
Search or Create records from the Overview console
From the Overview console, you can create or search records from the various ITSM applications
installed on your system. The types of records you can create or search depend on the applications
you have installed.
1. To Search / Create on the Overview Console, Click on the Search for Ticket hyperlink or the
Create button.
2. The Select Request Type dialog box appears.
3. From the Request Type list, select the type of record for which you want to search / create.
4. Click Select.
5. A search form appropriate to the type of record for which you are searching appears.
6. Enter search criteria needed to search the record on the opened ITSM module form.
You can also use the View By and Company fields at the top op the Overview Console to filter the
calls you see in your overview console. (By having the Company field ‘blank’, that will show ALL the
companies’ calls)
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Using the ‘View by’ button
‘View by’
field
The console view fields populate the Assigned work area:
All Shows all the records
Submitted by Me
Shows all the calls that were logged by you.
Assigned to Me All the calls where you are the assignee
Assigned to my
selected groups
All the calls assigned to your selected support
groups (you can filter to view only 1 out of your 4
groups for example)
Assigned to All
My Groups
Shows all the calls assigned to all the support groups
you belong to
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Incident Management Incident Management Process
Incident Management Console
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Functional Areas:
Navigation Pane – Quick overview on the Incident counts, Defined Searches and functionality
Incident Console area – Show, Filter By and additional filters to filter the results in the Incidents Table
Incidents Table – Requests assigned to you
Incident Detail and Tasks – Detail of the highlighted request
Navigational Pane:
Functions:
Incident Counts ‐ Unopened, Unassigned, Unacknowledged and
Breached
Defined searches –You can run a series of predefined searches
New Incident—Create a new incident request record
Search Incident—Search the database for current incident request
records
My Profile—View or edit your profile
Application Preferences—Set your application preferences and
application
options.
Reminders—View and create reminders
Reports—Create and run custom reports, as well as out‐of‐the‐box
Crystal reports, or any other reports that was developed for your
company
Manage CIs—Search for information about specific CI types and gives
you access to the CI records.
Manage Inventory—Access the Manage Inventory form of BMC
Remedy Asset Management.
KPI’s‐‐‐Here you can view or
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KPI Tab on the Incident Management Console
Click the KPIs link under the Functions Menu to select and to view the incident management
flashboards. In the navigational area you can select.
You can “drill down” to see the actual requests in a modify window. You might not have modifying
rights on the requests, but you will be able to view the requests.
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Opening the Incident Request form
Quick Actions
View Broadcast – view any new broadcasts
submitted
Assign to me – Assigns the Incident to current
user
Auto assign – Follow the assignment rules
Broadcast Incident – Broadcasts a high priority
incident (You need a functional role to broadcast)
Create relationship to –
Create Related Request – Create a related ITSM
request (Incident, Change, Problem etc)
Customer’s Incidents – Display all the open
incidents of the current user / client / customer)
Incident Matching – match current incident with a
previous recorded incident. You can also related
duplicates from here.
Process Overview—View the incident
management process as a diagram
Select Operational and Select Product ‐ the
submitter can select operational and product
categorizations for the Incident
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Submitting an Incident
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Field Name Requirement
Incident ID This is the unique number that is assigned to each and every record logged.
Company Company the call is logged for
Service Here a service CI can be related. What service (i.e. Payroll is affected by an
outage for example.)
Note: This field can be made optional on the Incidents Rules, depending on
company rules.
CI What CI, linked to that specific service, is responsible for the outage (if
known).
Impact The combination of the value selected in Impact field and Urgency will set
the Value for Priority field.
Only Service Desk and Service Management team are to have permission to
change this field.
When this field is changed by the Service Desk (after submit), a Work Info
entry “Priority Change” must be auto created.
Field Name Requirement
Urgency Only Service Desk are to have permission to change this field.
Priority The valued selected in Impact field and Urgency field will set the value for
the Priority field.
Incident Type User Service Restoration. Use this service type for typical service restoration requests (for example, a request to restore printing services).
User Service Request. Use this service type if the incident request is a simple question or a request for information (for example, a request for “how to” information).
Infrastructure Restoration. Use this service type if the incident request is more focused on the restoration of infrastructure service. Typically, these types of incident requests are reported by system management tools (for example, if an incident is detected on a piece of network infrastructure by system monitoring software).
Infrastructure Event. Use this service type when a system management tool registers an event that does not require infrastructure restoration.
To create an incident request record using the Best Practice view
1. On the Incident console, click Create or the New Incident option on the navigation pane.
2. Select the company from the Company list.
3. In the Customer or Contact field on the new Incident
Request form, type the Customer’s or the contact’s
information. Note: Make sure the customer’s profile
has an email address.
Depending on how the Customer and Contact fields
are configured, you can search for a customer based
on Corporate ID, First Name, Last Name, Internet
Email, or Phone Number.
Clicking the plus button (+) to the right of the
Customer and the Contact fields opens the People
form, where you can create a customer profile record, if one does not exist. The minus
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button (‐) to the right of the Customer and the Contact fields clears the fields contents. It does
not delete the customer profile.
4. Type the incident request details in the Notes field.
5. Type a brief description in the Summary field. In the template field, select the template you
are using.
6. Select the CI from the CI list where applicable. IF there is no CI related to the user, you can
always create a normal CI relationship to the Incident.
7. Once the CI has been selected, you need to select the Product and the Operational
Categorisation. This is available from the Quick Actions menu to the left of the incident
screen.
Click on Select Operational. The following window will appear.
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You can sort the list, or use the keyword search to select the correct operational
categorisation. Highlight the one you want to select, and click on select.
Click on Select Product Categoristion. The following window will open:
You can use the 3 tier dropdown to narrow your results list, or use a keyword search.
Highlight the product categorisation you want to select, and click on select.
To check your categorisations, or as an alternative menas of inputting the information, under
the links tab, click on Categorisation.
The following window will open:
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9. Select values from the Impact and Urgency lists.
10. Select the incident type from the Incident Type list.
11. Assign the incident to a specific support group or vendor group, whichever is applicable. You
can also use the ‘type ahead’ functionality when selecting an assignee group.
12. Click Save.
The Work Detail tab
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The Work Info form is used to insert regular updates pertaining to the incident.
Field Name Description
Notes Free text field where detail description of the work info can be
captured
Attachment 1, 2 and 3 Any electronic file format can be attached to the work info.
Attachments Any electronic file format can be attached to the work info.
Locked If a work information entry has been locked, no one can edit it
after it has been submitted.
Work Info Type Drop down menu where you can select what type of note or
additional info you are adding to the ticket
View Access Internal – only viewable by support organisation
Public – viewable by support organisation and end users that
have access to the application
How to add a work info entry
1. Open the incident request record.
2. On the Work Details tab, click the Create icon.
3. Type the information in the Notes field at the bottom of the tab.
4. Click the button to the right of the Attachment field.
5. The Add Attachment dialog box opens.
6. Click Browse and then navigate to the file you want to attach.
7. Select the file, click Open, and then click OK.
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8. The file name appears in the Attachment field.
The Relationships tab
By defining and maintaining relationships among records, you can create a sophisticated overview of
the connections and interdependencies among the current record and additional service issues being
tracked by BMC Remedy Incident Management.
An incident can be related to any of the following record types:
Configuration item
Another incident
Solution database entry
Release
Known error
Problem investigation
CI unavailability
Infrastructure change
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Figure 1 : Incident Form - Relationships
To define a relationship
1. Open the incident request record.
2. In the Quick Actions area, click the arrow beside Create Relationship to.
3. From the menu, select the type of record to you want to relate the current record to.
4. In the Search field of the dialog box that opens, type a search string. For example, if you are
creating a relationship to an incident request about a printer that regularly goes off‐line, you
might type printer off line. The search scans multiple fields in each record looking for a
match, and returns a list of records that contain the phrase "printer off line" in one of the
scanned fields.
5. From the search results table, select the specific record to which you want to create the
relationship.
6. From the Relationship Type list at the bottom of the search dialog box, select the type of
relationship you want to create.
7. Create the relationship by clicking the appropriate relationship type button at the bottom of
the dialog box.
The Date / System tab
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On this tab you can view all the dates pertaining to the incident. Also, who the submitter was, who
last modified the incident and who the Incident Owner is.
Adding or modifying a customer profile
1. Before you can record an incident, the customer must be listed in the People database.
Customers are usually added to the People database by your administrator. However, if a
customer is not listed in the database, you can add a customer’s profile from the Incident
Request form.
2. You can also modify the customer and the contact phone number and site directly on the
Incident Request form. (This is subject to certain system permissions)
3. To update the People database permanently, you can open the People form from the Incident
Request record, as described in the following procedure. Click on the button next to the large
4. To ADD a new contact, click the search button to the right of the Customer or Contact field
5. To update the Customer or Contact phone and site information, click the double arrow link
above the Incident ID field. This toggles to an area that opens these fields.
6. Click the pencil icon beside the field you are modifying. In the resulting dialog box, make the
required changes. Click OK to save the changes and to close.
First Call Resolution
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1. Before you assign an incident request, determine if you cannot resolve the incident yourself.
To do this, use the BMC Remedy Incident Management’s Incident Matching feature, or the
BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application, or your knowledge of the environment.
2. If you have access to it, to look for matching, or similar, incident requests, problem
investigations, known errors, and solution entries. You can also do first call resolution without
doing the above, like for example a password reset to a system you have access to.
If you cannot resolve the incident request, assign the incident request to a specialist. This would
be a normal assignment to a support team that would handle that request. If there are auto‐
assignments setp up, you can click on Auto Assign, or save the request without and assignee
group. This will then trigger the auto assignment if it is available.
Incident Matching
1. Open or create an incident request.
2. Use one of the following methods to search for a solution:
Incident Matching feature. To use this method, continue with step 3
BMC Remedy Knowledge Management application.
3. Open the Incident Matching dialog box from the quick actions menu.
4. Select the appropriate check boxes to search for incidents, problem investigations, known
errors, or solution database entries.
5. To search using the incident’s operational categorization, in the Search By Operational
Categorization area, click Current Operation.
6. To search using the incident’s product categorization, in the Search By Product Categorization
area, click Current Product.
7. To further filter the search results, you can specify the other fields in the search criteria pages.
8. Click Search.
Matching incidents, problem investigations, known errors, and solutions appear in the
tabs at the bottom half of the dialog box.
9. To view details of a matching record, perform the following steps:
a. On the bottom half of the form, click the appropriate tab, such as the Known
Errors tab.
This tab lists matching records, such as matching known errors.
b. Select the appropriate record.
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c. On the top half of the form, click the appropriate Search and Solution tab, such
as the Known Error Search and Solution tab, then within that tab click the
solution tab, such as the View Known Error Solution tab.
This tab displays details of the selected record.
10. If the matching record resolves the current incident, from the Relationship Type list, select
Resolved by.
11. To relate the record and copy the solution to the resolution of the incident, click
Relate with Solution. Alternatively, to relate the record without the solution, click Relate
without Solution.
Searching for similar incident requests
A tool you can use for finding similar incident requests is the Advanced Search feature that is
available when an incident request record is open.
1. With the incident request record open, from the Navigation pane, choose Advanced Functions
> Advanced Search.
2. In the Advanced Search Selection dialog box, select the type of search you want to perform,
then click Select.
Search incident request by Work Info: Searches for incident request using fields from the
Work Info tab.
Search incident request by Relationships: Searches for incident requests using fields from
the Relationship form.
Search Incidents by Assignment Logs: Searches for Incidents using fields from the
Assignment Log form.
3. On the search form, provide as much information as possible, and then click
a. Search.
4. View the incident requests that match the search criteria in the table that appears.
Relating Incidents as duplicates
It does sometimes happen that a duplicate incident might be logged. (Please keep in mind that this is
not the same as multiple incidents, logged by different people for the same incident!)
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You can relate an incident request to another as a duplicate. The original incident request resolves all
its duplicates. When someone resolves or closes the original incident request, its Operational and
Product Categorizations and Resolution fields are copied to the related duplicates, marking them
with a status of Resolved.
1. Open the incident under investigation.
2. Click the Relationships tab.
3. From the Request Type list, select Incident, and then click Search.
The Incident Relationship Search dialog box appears.
4. Enter the search criteria to find the original incident, then click Search.
Incidents matching the search criteria appear on the form’s bottom half.
5. Select the duplicate incident according to the following choices:
If the current incident is a duplicate of the original incident, from the Relationship
Type list, select duplicate of.
If the current incident is the original incident, from the Relationship Type list, select
Original of.
6. Click Relate.
The Incident Relationship Search dialog box closes. The incidents are related as duplicate and
original. The status of the duplicate incident is Pending, with a status reason of Pending
Original Incident
Re‐assigning Incidents
You can re‐assign an incident to either an individual or a support group. It is recommended to rahter
assign to a group, than an individual.
To re‐assign to another support group:
1. Open an incident.
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2. Select the required Support Organisation and Assigned Group from the list. (3 tier menu)
3. Add a descriptive work info entry
4. Click Save
Recording Effort and Time Spent on an Incident
You must keep track of the time that you spend working on an incident request.
If the incident request record is open on your desktop while you are working on it, you can use a
timer to keep track of the time. Or, you can enter the time manually.
If you receive assistance from someone else, you can also keep track of their time through the
Incident Assignment Log. The Incident Assignment Log contains a record of who created the current
incident request as well as individual records for each group and person who was subsequently
assigned to the request. Each record contains the total effort duration for each assignee (that is, the
amount of time each group or person worked on the incident request), as well as other information.
You can also update the amount of time you spent working on an incident request after it has been
assigned to another assignee.
To record your time
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1. Open the incident request record.
2. In the Work Detail area, click the clock graphic beside the Assignee field to open the Effort
Time Spent window.
3. Next, click on the Update assignment log button.
4. Select the Support Company, Support organisation and the Assigned group you belong to, and
yourself as the assignee.
5. Click on the ADD button.
6. Enter the time you spent on the incident request in the Effort Time Spent (Minutes) field.
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7. Highlight your entry, and on the update assignee effort duration, add the time you spent and
click the + button.
8. You can use the automatic timer to keep track of your time anytime you work on the incident
request while the incident request record is open on your desktop. To start the timer, click the
Stopped button (the text on the button changes to Started —the button’s text reports the
timer’s current status). When you finish working on the incident request, make sure you click
the Started button (the text on the button changes to Stopped).
9. Click on save.
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The Effort Time Spent Minutes field is a data entry field only. When you click Save, the time value that
you provided in Effort Time Spent Minutes is written to a database field called Total Time Spent, which
totals the time spent on the incident request for the current assignee. After the BMC Remedy Incident
Management writes the time value to Total Time Spent, it resets Effort Time Spent Minutes to zero. If
you reassign the incident request or resolve it, the cumulative time is written from Total Time Spent to
the Assignment Log and Total Time Spent is reset to zero.
Working with tasks
You can assign tasks to one or more people without changing the assignment of the incident. A task is a unit of work that needs to be completed as a step in resolving an incident request. If the
solution to an incident request involves more than one action, procedure, or process, consider
dividing the solution into separate tasks. Dividing the solution into separate tasks can help you to
better manage and to monitor the incident request as it moves toward resolution.
You can assign the tasks to the same person, to several people, or to a support group.
The person or support group to whom the task is assigned is the task implementer.”
When the group coordinator sets the task status to In Progress, the task implementers are notified of
the tasks assigned to them by email, BMC Remedy Alert, pager, or some additional means. After a
task is assigned to the task implementers, they can log their progress as they complete each task.
You can use a task template to add a task to an incident, or you can add an ad hoc taks. Task
templates are predefined tasks that you can quickly add to an incident.
Adding tasks using task templates
To save time, you can use a task template to add a task to an incident request record.
Task templates are created by your system administrator. A task template is a predefined task;
usually for the most commonly performed tasks that your service desk handles. Because the Task
form is predefined (that is, the fields are already completed), you do not need to spend time
manually completing the form.
The following are the types of tasks that you can add to an incident request record when using
templates: Task Template” and Task Group Template.” Task templates associate a single task to the
incident request record. Task Template tasks can be either Manual or Automatic. Manual tasks must
be performed by a person.
Automatic tasks are performed by a computer or automated system, but you must still assign
automatic tasks to a person, so there is someone to monitor the task.
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1. Open the incident request record.
2. From the Navigation pane, select Links > Tasks.
3. From the Request Type list, select either Task Template or Task Group Template, and then
click Relate.
4. From the list of tasks in the Select Template dialog box, select the template for the task you
are adding, and then click Relate. When you click Relate, the Task form closes.
5. Repeat the steps to add more tasks
6. Redefine the numeric sequence if necessary
7. Click Close, and SAVE the Incident.
Creating ad hoc tasks
Ad hoc tasks are tasks that are not predefined by a task template and, therefore, must be created manually.
1. Open the incident request record.
2. From the Navigation pane, select Links > Tasks.
3. Click Relate. The Create Task form appears. Certain fields in the form are already filled in with
the data for the incident.
4. In the upper region of the form, fill in the following required fields:
■ Name—Enter a descriptive name of the task.
■ Summary—Enter a brief description of the task.
The Type field is set to Manual by default when you create an ad hoc task.
5. On the General tab, fill in information about the company. The Company field defaults to the
contents of the Incident Location field in the Incident Request form. Your task can be assigned
to an different department or a different company.
6. On the Requester tab, fill in information about the person creating the task
(Requester) and the intended target of the task (Requested For).
Some information is set by default from the Requested By information of the incident.
7. On the Classification tab, fill in information about the product and operational
categorizations.
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8. In the Assignment/Dates tab, assign the task by completing the following fields:
■ Assignee Group—Optionally, select a task implementer group from the list.
■ Assignee—Optionally, select a task implementer from the list.
The BMC Remedy Assignment Engine automatically assigns the task when the task is created
according to how the administrator has configured BMC Remedy Incident Management, but
you can override this if necessary.
■ Scheduled Start Date—Optionally, enter an estimated start date.
■ Scheduled End Date—Optionally, enter an estimated end date.
You can set the Start Date and End Date to be different from the dates of the parent incident.
9. On the Relationships tab, search for and then relate configuration items that are needed with
this task.
You can perform quick actions that are with the task, for example, get related relationships.
10. When you finish creating the task, click Save. The task information form closes and returns
you to the Incident Request form. The task management subsystem enforces the
dependencies between tasks. These relate to any Sequence order you might have specified in
the Incident Request form.
11. Click Save on the Incident Request form.
Accepting task assignments
You receive notification of assigned tasks by way of BMC Remedy Alert, email, and so on. You can
also use the Overview console or the Incident Management console to view all tasks assigned to you.
Tasks are identified by the TAS prefix. To access the Incident Management console, the task
implementer must have Incident Master, Incident User, Incident Submitter, or (at minimum) Incident
Viewer permissions.
1. Open the incident request record.
2. From the Navigation pane, select Links > Tasks.
3. Select the task that you want to accept.
4. Click View
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SLM Status
You can view request‐based service targets that have been attached to incident requests. This
enables you to see whether the service target has been met, missed, or is in a warning state.
To view the service targets related to Incident Requests
1. From the Incident console, open the relevant incident request record.
2. View the BMC SLM Status icon from the Navigation pane.
No service target was attached.
Attached ‐ SLA’s connected are still within compliance.
Warning ‐ Service Target is at risk.
Breached ‐ At least one service target was breached.
The status gauge on the SLM:Integration Dialog form shows
the current status of the selected service target.
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3. Depending on the SLM Status, click Details or the icon to display the SLM:IntegrationDialog form to
see in depth information about the incident in relation to the applicable service targets.
Using the Navigation Pane buttons
View Audit log
Form Audits Tab ‐ A log of changes on a ticket can be viewed from the Audit Log. The fields that were
changed are listed on the left hand side with a date and time stamp. On the right hand side the
changes are visible.
Notification Tab – All the notifications that went out are listed.
Financials
Financial data can be kept on the financials tab.
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Categorizations
Adding operational and product categorization to an incident record
The product categorization fields are automatically filled out based on the business service CI (Or
Asset CI) you select in the Service field or the CI field. This reduces registration time and ensures the
correct information is used to determine the assignment of the incident request.
1. To view, record, or update categorizations (Operational Categorization and Product
Categorization), click Categorizations in the Links area.
2. This opens a dialog box where you can enter categorization information.
3. Alternatively,. You can click on the links in the Quick Action block in the top left hand corner
of your screen.
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Reminders
Use reminders to create notes for yourself and others. You can send
the reminders by email or by BMC Remedy Alert, and can specify
when they are sent. You can create generic reminders, or you can
create reminders that are associated with a specific request.
Email system
Support Persons can send an e‐mail from the Remedy application. The e‐mail and content will be
stored as a Work Info entry on the ticket. You can use this function to send email to any valid email
address. This might include an SMS recipient or a wireless PDA user, if you can send email to the
device.
To send an e‐mail:
1. Open the incident form
2. Select “Functions” from the Incident navigation menu
3. Select “Email System”
4. A Work Info entry for this e‐mail will automatically be inserted.
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You will be able to view incoming emails related to the incident in the Email log.
Paging
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You can page individuals or the on‐call member of a group about the current record using the Paging
System feature. If SMS integration is built in, this can be used to send SMS’s to a valid cellphone
number.
Decision Trees
When Submitting a request, Decision trees and Scripting can be used.
A decision tree takes you step‐by‐step through a questionnaire, and,
based on your answers, completes part of the form for a new incident.
Each element in the decision tree displays a list of items. Your final
selection completes part of the incident.
Scripting
Scripts are detailed instructions that have been set up at your company to help you record important
information about an incident. You have access to scripts that have been set up for your support
group. Scripts might include a list of questions to ask the customer. These questions can assist you in
resolving or assigning the incident.
Impacted Areas
The Impacted Areas dialog box gives you a place to show the region, site, location, and so on, that are
affected by the content of the record. Use the following procedure to indicate the impacted areas.
Assignment Scripting
These scripts need to be pre set‐up. Select an assignment script when you assign or reassign an
incident after you indicate the assignee. The assignment scripts correspond to the group to which you
are assigning the incident.
Advanced Searches
As discussed earlier by Work Info, Relationships or Assignment logs
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Resolving an Incident
The main purpose of this activity is to make sure that the incident has successfully restored the service to the
customer and that the customer is satisfied with the outcome. When the customer agrees that the incident can be
closed, review the incident record for completion and, if appropriate, create a solution database entry.
1. Click on the ‘Resolve’ button at the bottom of your incident screen
2. The resolution window will open up.
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3. You need to populate the Resolution, the status reason and the cause field.
Closing an Incident
The main purpose of this activity is to make sure that the incident has successfully restored the service
to the customer and that the customer is satisfied with the outcome. When the customer agrees that
the incident can be closed, review the incident record for completion and, if appropriate, create a
solution database entry.
1. Fill in the Status Reason
2. Select the appropriate Closure Source
3. Select Status Closed and Click Save
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4. If the incident was broadcast, the broadcast is removed.
Filtering Records
Filtering options on the Incident Management Console
Both the navigation pane and the Search Criteria provide options to filter the Assigned Work on the
console, as summarized in the following table.
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Option Explanation
Company If you support multiple companies, leave this field in the navigation pane
blank to display work for all companies, or select the appropriate company to
display work for a single company.
Console View This menu in the navigation pane provides you with options to look at the
Personal view for work assigned to you, or to view work assigned to your
support groups. You can display work assigned to all your support groups or to
selected support groups.
Status Instead of viewing All Open Incidents, you can view all incidents, or all that are
pending, resolved, or closed. When you view All Open Incidents, you view
incidents available for you to work on, which includes assigned, in progress,
and pending incidents.
SLM Status To view incidents regardless of SLM status, leave this blank. Otherwise, select
the appropriate SLM status.
Dates You can view incidents that were opened Any Time. You can also restrict the
display to incidents opened within the selected time, such as within the last 24
hours.
Role You can view incidents for which you are the Assignee, the Owner, or both at
the same time.
Advanced
Search
You can specify one or more values on the form to search for specific
incidents.
Service Target Time Renegotiation
This functionality is still available on an incident that adheres to the necessary criteria. (Being a Request for
Service call, with more than one service target attached.)
To access the functionality, select the SIS Requests link.
How to log an IMACD call
The task template that has been used for IMACD calls is still available for selection. This process
remains exactly the same. You can add a task template (or ad hoc task) at any point in the Incident’s
life cycle.
1. Under ‘Links’ click on tasks.
2. Next, you need to select ‘Task Template’
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3. Click on Relate
4. Select the necessary template, and click on the Relate button. You can search for the template
in the ‘Name’ column. (The workflow for IMACD’s is set to fire when a task’s summary
contains the word ‘IMACD’)
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5. Remember to check if the assignment of the task is correct.
Change Management
Change Management Process
Infrastructure change is required to permanently resolve the incident, you should initiate the change
management process. If the Change Management application is installed and you have permission to
use the Change Management application, you can create an infrastructure change from an incident.
Roles in Change Management
The Requester
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This is a user who submits a Request for Change (RFC) to the support staff. While any user can enter
change requests into the system, change requests are likely initiated by a change manager or
coordinator or support staff. (Please note that line manager approvals will be based on the support
group you belong to)
The Change Manager
This is the member of the support staff who is responsible is to oversee the planning, tracking, and
implementation of the change request.
The Change Coordinator
This is the person that belongs to a support group responsible for planning, implementing, tracking
and closing assigned changes.
The Task Implementer
This is a support person or group responsible for executing the tasks that make up a change request.
This role is most likely going to be fulfilled by the Change Assignee.
Change Approvers and the CAB
The Change Advisory Board (CAB) should approve all changes to the IT infrastructure. The CAB is a
cross‐functional group that is set up to evaluate change requests for their business need, priority, and
cost benefit, and other potential impacts to systems or processes. In BMC Remedy Change
management, approvers are notified of change requests that require their review.
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Life cycle of Change Management
NOTE: The cycle shows assignments given to multiple change implementers, but in a smaller
company, the same person could function as change manager, approver, and task implementer.
The normal life cycle of a change request consists of five major steps:
Step 1
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Initiate — In the Initiate stage the requester must classify the change request, add relevant
information, and assign the request to a support group or change manager. When change requests
are assigned to them, support staff members are notified. When the request moves into a new
status, the application generates notifications to the assignee group.
The need for a new change request can arise in several ways.
Problem managers can create a change request from a Known Error.
Using the SRM, a user can request a service that generates a change request.
The discovery process detects that a system does not have the latest patches loaded.
BMC Remedy Asset Management determines that the company has exceeded the maximum
number of installed applications under an existing software license contract.
A technician needs to make changes to a database server during non‐work hours.
BMC Performance Manager can automatically generate a change request if it detects that a
mirrored web server has failed and needs to be replaced.
If the change request requires tasks, the requester can create and schedule tasks at this stage.
Step 2
Review and Authorize — Change requests bypass the Review & Authorize stage, if no approvers are
mapped. But if the application administrator added approvers, each level of approvers must review
the request and approve it before it can move to the next stage. After the request is approved, the
change coordinator can move the change request to the Plan & Schedule stage.
Step 3
Plan and Schedule — The change manager uses collision detection tool to verify if there are other
change requests scheduled for the same CI related to the change, after resolving such conflicts plans
a forward schedule of changes (FSC) . The manager opens the Change Calendar and views the current
schedule of change activities and business events. And then blocks out a time segment to work on
the change request by targeting the scheduled start and end dates. The change manager then assigns
the change to a change coordinator. If the change request needs additional tasks, the change
manager can create and schedule these tasks.
Step 4
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Implement — The change coordinator, receives notification that he is assigned to the change
request. The coordinator logs their progress as they work to implement the change request and the
tasks that comprise it. When a task is completed, the implementer for the task with the next number
in the sequence is notified of their task assignment. Task implementers can calculate the cost of
implementing their tasks.
When the requester has verified that the change request was resolved satisfactorily, the requester
can set the change request to Closed. If the requester does not close the change request, the request
is auto‐closed after a preconfigured time. The change manager for the next change request in the
sequence is notified if the closed change request is part of a dependent sequence.
The Actual start and Actual end dates need to be entered by the change manager or the change
coordinator before the change can move out of the Implement stage. They will also have to assign
performance rating to the work done on the change.
Step 5
Closed — The change request enters the Closed stage. The change manager must verify that the
change request was completed. The manager might analyze key performance indicators (KPIs), for
example, whether the change successful, or how many incidents were eliminated by the change
request. Reviewers should also analyze the accuracy of the BMC Atrium CMDB.
Stages and approval phases of a change request (Statuses)
Draft:
Verify that all the required fields to create the change request are entered in the Change form. When
a change request is in Draft status the change is still not submitted to the Change Management
process. That means only the requestor of the change knows of that change request.
Review Phase
Request for Authorization:
Change is in the Review approval phase. If it is approved, only then does it move forward to the
Review & Authorize stage.
Business Approval Phase
Request for Change
Change is in the Business Approval phase. Enables approvers to review the request and authorize it.
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Planning in progress
Tasks can be created and assigned to the task implementers.
Scheduled for Review
Change Manager reviews and validates the change plans.
Implementation Phase
Scheduled for Approval
Change is in the Implementation Approval phase. Each level of approvers must review the change
and approve it.
Scheduled
Change is included in the Change Calendar.
Implementation in Progress
Task implementers can now start working on the tasks as the first task is in status In Progress/
Pending.
Close down approval Phase
Completed
Change is in the Close down Approval phase. The change has been completed but needs approval for
it to be closed.
Final Review Complete Phase
Completed
Reviewers verify change was implemented and all required tasks have been completed.
Closed
Post Implementation Review has been completed and any necessary Closedown Approvals have been
granted. No further activities can be performed on the change.
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State transitions of change requests
Stage Role Approval Phase Status
Initiate The requester submits a
request
Review Draft
Until approvers approve. Request for Authorization
Review &
Authorize
Change manager makes
risk assessment and
determines the impact of
the change.
Business
Until approvers approve. Request For Change
Plan &
Schedule
Change Coordinator Plans
the whole change move it
to next stage
Implementation Planning in Progress
Change manager reviews
change before it goes for
approval
Until approvers approve Scheduled for Approval
Implement Change Coordinator work
on the request. And all
Task Implementers work
on pen tasks until last
task is completed
Implementation in
progress
All Approvers – to ensure
tasks went as planned
Close Down Completed
Final review is completed Completed
Closure Closed
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Additional status values for change requests
Rejected
The whole change request is in status rejected if it was rejected by an approver at any approval
phase. Please note that it can be setup to revert back to draft status.
Cancelled
The change is no longer required.
Creating a Change Request
From the IT Home Page, click on the applications tab, and hover over Change Management. Then
click on Change Management Console.
The Change Management Console provides a dedicated workspace for managing change requests.
This console enables change managers and change coordinators to use BMC Remedy Change
Management to plan their days more effectively.
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Change Management Console and its Functional Areas
Change console header Assigned work table
N
Initiating a Change Request
When a Change request is created, some information gets copied from the original request (Eg.
Incident record) The Coordinators information defaults to the user initiating the request.
Creating a Change from a template
Templates are available for standard change processes. The Change Template function allows you to
select any templates that can be made available for your support group. You use change templates to
quickly and efficiently create “standard” changes with a minimum of mouse clicks and keyboard
entry.
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avigation
ane
a) On the BMC Remedy Change Management Support Console, click Create. The Change form
appears. In the Initiate stage, the change request initially appears in Draft status. The change
request has not yet been submitted to the Change
Management process.
b) The Change Template function allows you to select any templates that can be made available
for your support group. You use change templates to quickly and efficiently create changes
with a minimum of mouse clicks and keyboard entry.
c) Press Enter on the Template field, and Select the template you want to use.
Classify the Change Request
The Operational Categorization and Product Categorization are needed in order to correctly diagnose
the change.
To categorize your change you click on Select Operational for operational categorization and Select
Product for product categorization on the Quick Actions navigation
.
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Select the correct assignment
If there is no appropriate assignment routing, assign the change request on the work detail tab.
You can automatically assign the change using the Auto Assign icon; this will assign the change to the
correct change manager group and the change coordinator group.
Impact, Urgency and Priority
Impact reflects the extent to which the change affects the business. Impact can be measured by the
number of people affected, the criticality of the system affected, and the loss of revenue as a result
of the service degradation or disruption.
Urgency defines the importance the requester assigns to the change request, and reflects how
quickly a change must be implemented, or the time available to reduce the impact of the change on
the business.
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Priority identifies the importance you (as support staff) assign to the change request. Priority
indicates the relative order in which to address the changes. It is influenced by considerations of risk
and resource availability, but is primarily driven by the combination of Urgency and Impact.
Risk Assessment
In the Risk Level field on the Change form, select the appropriate level of risk for the change
Request, and then click Save.
The range of risk runs from Risk Level 5, the highest risk, to Risk Level 1, the lowest risk. You can also
select a computed risk value, based on your answers to a series of predefined questions (as described
in the section that follows).
Computing risk levels
a) Click the Risk Level Icon
The Risk Assessment Questions dialog box appears
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b) Answer the question, and click Save.
c) Click Save to generate the change request.
Capture Schedule Start and Schedule End Dates
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Click the Date/System Tab. In the Date Information region of the form, provide dates for the
Scheduled Start Date and Scheduled End Date fields.
When planning a change request, use the Date/System tab to track the requested, scheduled, and
actual start and end dates of changes.
The Earliest Start Date is determined by the Submit Date. If the Requested Start Date is earlier than
the Earliest Start Date and the change status is not Draft, the Class is automatically set to Expedited,
and you are prompted to select a Timing Reason.
Send Change for Approval
In BMC Remedy Change Management, application administrators can define an approval process in
which a series of people must review and approve a proposed change request. Only after approval is
granted can the change request be moved to the next status.
A change request goes through several phases as it progresses through its lifecycle. Approvers are
responsible for reviewing their assigned change requests, and for approving or rejecting them.
Approvers are configured by the application administrator and are responsible for change requests
with a specific categorization and location. The application administrator also determines which
types of change requests need approval, and what type of approval process they require.
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NOTE: You reach an approval stage only if an approver is mapped for the company. If no approvers
are mapped, the request moves to the next status.
The read‐only Current Approval Phase field displays what approval phase the change is in during its
life cycle. The Approvers table also displays the following important information:
Approval status
Signatures of groups and individuals who must approve the change request
Alternate approvers
Approval
Approvers are responsible for reviewing their assigned change requests, and for approving or
rejecting them.
A change request goes through several phases as it progresses through its life cycle. The
Process Flow Status area prompts users to approve the change request. To approve the
change request, the required users must click the accelerator in the Initiate stage and then
approve, cancel, or reject the change request before it can then move to the next stage.
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If the change is approved by all approvers, the approval process is complete.
If the change is rejected by any approver, the approval process is stopped. The supervisor can
then cancel the change or update it and resubmit it for approval.
Approvers can also be created on an ad hoc basis for existing change requests by the Change
Manager, Change Coordinator, or the Requester of the change request.
Change managers and change coordinators can approve the change on behalf of approvers.
If Work Info is updated after Implementation approval, a notification be sent to approvers at
Implementation approval phase
Adding an Ad hoc Approver
1. Select Add from the Work detail tab
2. Select the Group you want to add as approvers (Best Practice)
3. Select the Support group
4. Click on Save
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Approval Phases
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Approval Process (Phase) Definition
Review In the Initiate stage, when a change
Request moves out of Draft status and into
Request For Authorization status, the Review approval phase starts.
If the change request is approved, the request moves to the
Business Approval phase and its Status becomes Request For
Change.
If the change request is rejected, its Status changes to Draft
again.
If there are no approvers defined for the request, its Status
changes to Request For Change and requires the change
manager or the change assignee to move the request forward.
If the Timing of the change is Latent, it moves to the
Completed status.
Business Approval – No
Impact
The Change Ad Hoc approval process is used in the No Impact
Business Approval phase with the Change Manager login as the first
approver. By default, this Ad Hoc approval process applies only to
changes with a Timing setting of No Impact. When the change moves
through the process flow and Change
Manager approves the change in the Business Approval – No Impact
phase, it then moves to the Scheduled status. You use this process for
pre‐approved No Impact changes where the change is automatically
scheduled after the approval phase is satisfied.
If the change is approved, it moves to the Scheduled status.
If the request is cancelled, it moves to the Cancelled status.
If the request is rejected, its status changes to Draft.
Business Approval The Review & Authorize stage focuses on risk assessment and impact
analysis. The Business Approval Phase starts when the change request
is placed in Request for Change status. The
Business Approval phase requires that the business case for the
change be approved before it can move forward.
If the change is approved, it moves to the Planning in Progress
status.
If no approvers are mapped to the Business Approval phase,
the change moves to the Planning in Progress status and
requires the change manager or change assignee to move the
change forward.
If the request is cancelled, it moves to the Cancelled status.
Implementation Approval In the Plan & Schedule stage, the implementation Approval phase
starts when their Status moves into Scheduled For Approval status. At
this phase, the system notifies you that the change must be approved
before it can be implemented.
If the change request is approved, its Status changes to
Scheduled.
If there are no approvers defined for the change, its Status
changes to Scheduled.
If the change request is rejected, its Status changes to Draft.
Close Down Approval In the Implement stage, the Close Down approval phase starts when
their Status moves into Completed status (with a status reason of
Final Review Required). At this phase, the system notifies you that the
request must be approved before it can be closed down.
If the change request is approved, its Status Reason becomes
Final Review Complete. You can then move the request to the
Closed stage.
If the change request is rejected, its Status changes to Draft.
If there are no approvers defined for the change, its Status is
Completed. You can then move the request to the Closed
stage.
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Approving using the Approval Central
You can use the Approval Central to approve change requests. This is especially important if the
Approve functionality in the Process Flow Status bar is not available under your current access
permission for the change request. Not all approvers have access to the BMC Remedy Change
Management application through their home pages, yet still have the role to approve change
requests before they can move forward.
a) Open Approval Central, from the IT Home Page.
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Approval Central displays all pending change requests that are assigned to the current user. If there
are many requests, you can filter them by using the fields in the Search Criteria area.
b) Approve, reject, hold, reassign, or view the change request.
After you approve the change request, it no longer is displayed in the Approval Requests table.
To view the change request details from the approval central you highlight the record that you wish
to view and then click on the button.
Using the Process Flow Status bar to approve requests
When a change request reaches an approval phase, the Process Flow Status bar prompts you to
approve, cancel, or reject the approval. To approve the change request, the required approvers must
click the accelerator, and then approve, cancel, or reject the change request before it can then move
to the next status.
You cannot move the change request to the next status unless you first receive an approval. The
change remains in the approval phase and will not move to the stage until it is approved.
When a change requires an approval, its approvers are notified.
a) Open the change request.
b) Use the Process Flow Status bar to move the change request to an approval phase.
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c) Click the accelerator in the Process Flow Status bar, and then approve, cancel, or reject the
change request.
d) From the Work Detail tab, at the bottom of the Approvers table you can approve or reject a
change by selecting the approver record on the table then click approve or reject.
e) On the Work Detail tab you can view the current approval status or any other approval
signatures required to approve the change request. The Show menu enables you to filter the
approval signature entries on the table.
f) Save your work
Planning and Scheduling
In the Plan & Schedule stage, the change manager (or change coordinator) plans the change. This
involves planning all the requests approved for implementation, setting target dates, and estimating
the risks and costs involved. Once planning the request is done, and all the relevant information has
been supplied for the approvers to review the request, you can submit it to the approval process.
Plan for the following important details:
Set the Change request’s status to Planning, and specify the schedule dates.
Estimate the time that the project will take.
Estimate any applicable down time associated with the request.
Register an available or unavailable time segment to perform the request.
Review the risks and impact of the request.
Specify the business justification for the request if necessary.
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Create and assign the tasks.
Calculate the costs associated with the request.
Submit the change request for approval.
Approvers require this planning information to decide whether to approve or reject the change
request.
Creating Relationships
Change requests can affect and can be affected by configuration items (CIs) and other types of
records (changes, incidents, or problems). By defining these relationships, you can define a more
refined overview of the connections and interdependencies between the current request and other
service issues being tracked by your system.
The Relationships tab shows the relationships between the current change request to CIs and to
other types of requests.
a) On the Relationships Tab select the request type that you want to relate as the Request Type
from the drop‐down menu.
b) Select Search
c) The Relationships form opens up
d) Fill in the needed criteria to search for the record to relate
e) Highlight the record and select the Relationship Type from the drop‐down menu
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f) Click on the Relate button to complete the relationship with the change
You use request types to define these relationships. The following table displays a list of request
types to which you can relate changes and their available actions, along with their start and end
dates.
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a) Open the change request from which to define the relationship, and then click the Relationships
tab.
b) From the Request Type list at the bottom of the Relationships tab, select the type of record to
which to relate the current record.
c) Click Search.
d) In the search window for the request type, enter information about the search criteria tabs, and
then click Search.
e) From the search results table, select the change request with which to define the relationship.
f) From the Relationship Type list at the bottom of the search dialog box, select the type of
relationship to define.
g) Click Relate, and then click OK.
h) Close the search window.
The original change request and the related request types appear in the Relationships table. To
refresh the table, click Refresh.
Creating Tasks
You can relate a predefined task or task group template to the change request.
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a) Click the Tasks tab.
b) Select Task Group Template or Task Template from the Request Type field, and then click
Relate.
c) The Select Template dialog box appears, listing all template types for all categories
d) Define a numerical sequence of the tasks.
e) When you finish adding templates, save the change request.
f) Click View Flow to see a read‐only view of the task flow in the task group.
The Task Flow Viewer uses colour codes to illustrate the different stages of the tasks. For example, a
blue stage indicates that its status is Closed, and a yellow stage shows its status is Staged. The Viewer
also shows you the flow between tasks
Implementing the Request
At this stage, the change coordinator takes over responsibility for working on the change request.
The Change coordinator is a support staff member with the abilities to handle the details of the
change request.
The change request remains at the Implement stage until all tasks are completed, all required
approvals are granted, and reviewers verify that the change was implemented.
Working with Tasks
The task remains in status Staged until the change request reaches the Implement stage.
When a change request is set to Scheduled and a task is not assigned, the task status is set to
Pending. If the task is assigned, its status is set to Assigned.
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a) Open the Change Management Support Console.
b) In the Assigned Tasks table, select the task to accept, and then click View.
Tasks are identified by the prefix of TAS.
c) If you are ready to begin working on the task set the Status field to Work in Progress
d) Click the Work Info tab, and then enter the progress you have made on the task.
e) Click Save.
If this is the first task to be moved to Work in Progress status, the following changes are
automatically made to the change request:
The entire change request’s status is also moved to Implementation in Progress.
In the Task Date Information region of the Change form, the Actual Start Date field is filled
with the date and time at which the task was saved.
Closing a Request
In the Closed stage the change manager reviews the implemented change request. When all the tasks
related to a request are closed due to success, cancellation, or failure, the requester and the change
manager are notified that the change is resolved.
In this final stage, the process of closing the change request varies based on whether the request
requires Close Down approval or not.
If no approval is required, the requester can set the request to Closed after confirming that
the request was resolved to his or her satisfaction. If the requester does not close the change
request within the allowed response time of it being resolved, the request is closed
automatically after a specified period of time. The Status Reason for the request indicates that
the request was automatically closed. The default is 15 days. If the requester is not satisfied
with the change request, the requester can reopen it. The change manager is notified that the
request is reopened, and must respond.
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If the request requires Close Down approval, the change request is automatically set to
Completed a Status Reason of Final Review Required. After the change is approved the status
of the change becomes completed with status reason of Final Review Completed (The status
depends on how it was configured by the system administrator). If the Change requester is
satisfied with the change then they can close the request by taking it to the next stage. The
status of the change will be changed to Closed with a default status reason of Successful.
Viewing the Audit Log
Viewing audit logs enables you to view field and notification audits against the request. When certain
fields are changed, when the status is changed, or when system notifications are sent, an audit entry
is generated to track the modification. The Login ID of the individual making the change appears next
to the audit entry.
NOTE: The View Audit Log function is not available until you create and display the request.
a) Open the change request, from which to view the log.
b) From the left navigation pane, choose Functions > View Audit Log.
c) Click the Notification Audit tab to view notification audit entries against the request.
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The audit trail displays all the notifications that were generated.
Using the Change Calender
The Change Calendar is a console for managing change requests. The change calendar can be used
during a CAB meeting. It provides a graphical view of change requests and business events occurring
in the organization.
The Change Calendar uses the graphical view to show change requests, and scheduled business
events.
With the links to investigative and analysis tools, you can better understand the risk and impact of
changes. This will help the change managers to better plan the changes can make more productive
decisions about the forward schedule of changes (FSC). The Change Calendar helps you consider the
interdependencies and potential conflicts made visible through the Calendar console.
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Click the day picker to focus the main calendar with the specified day as the start day. This enables
you to view the day’s scheduled changes or business events. From the Show menu, choose to view
one day’s worth of data, to see scheduled changes by the hour.
You can select a change request from the calendar and view its essential details. You also can click
View Full Details. The request then appears in the Change form.
a) Use one of the following methods to open the Change Calendar:
On the IT Home page, click the Calendar View link.
On the Change Management Console, choose Advanced Functions > View Calendar.
On the Change form, choose Quick Links > View Calendar.
b) Choose to view Change Requests.
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c) From the Show field, select how many days’ worth of requests and business events to show.
Each day is colour‐coded to indicate the risk associated with carrying out the changes or requests
that are scheduled for that day. Only changes appear in the one day view.
NOTE: The data for all views is gathered by querying requests that have Requested Time, scheduled
times, or actual times in the interval.
d) If you do not want to view business events, click the collapse button. The calendar then shows
only change requests.
e) Select a request.
A summary of the most important details about the change requests appears at the bottom of
the change calendar. Click the View Full Details link to open the request.
f) Click a day in the calendar day picker to select the change requests and business events for a
specific day.
The day picker shows the days of the month in which the currently shown activities occur. You can
change the month in which activities appear on the calendar day picker by moving forward or
backward a month at a time, or by selecting a day in the month.
Each day is colour‐coded based on the “maximum risk rule” computation of the aggregated change
requests scheduled for that day. In this way, you can focus the activity chart time line around (for
example, a high risk day to see what activities are scheduled then).
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Next to the day picker is a legend that shows what the various bars and the colour coding mean in
the change calendar.
g) In the navigation pane, select a filter option for displaying change requests.
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Select which business events to show.
Searching for Records
Filtering options on the Incident Management Console
You can use these filtering options to customise how you view the assign incidents.
Searching all records
The following procedure describes how to search all incidents in your Company.
Use this type of search when you are looking for an incident that is not associated with your ID or
your group’s ID, or anytime you need to search all incidents.
1. From the navigation pane in the Incident Management console, choose Functions > Search
Incident. A form appears that allows you to perform the search. The form is laid out in a similar
way to the Incident form, and contains the same tabs and fields. You can use any of the tabs and
fields in the form to specify your search criteria.
2. Using the tabs and fields, build your search condition. To reduce the number of records found by
the search, enter as much information into the form as you can.
3. When you finish entering your search criteria, click Search.
4. When the search finishes, the search results table lists all of the records that match the search
criteria.
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Searching all records
5. Scroll through the table to find the specific record you want.
6. When you find the record, open it in the Incident form by double‐clicking it in the search results table.
Save Searches
You may require to save some of the searches that you will regularly perform.
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To save searches:
1. Perform actions 1 – 4 from Error! Reference source not found.
2. Select Searches from the Menu Bar
3. Select “Save Search”
4. Enter a descriptive name for the saved search.
Recall Saved Searches
To run searches that have previously been
saved:
1. Select “Searches” from the Menu Bar
2. Select “Load My Searches”
3. Select the descriptive name of the search
Web Reporting
You can run ad hoc reports through the web. It can either be an out‐of‐the‐box Crystal (pdf) report,
or you can export data to excel.
To run ad hoc Excel reports
1. Do a search on the Incident form, or run a saved search
2. From your results list, select all the entries you want to report on, or click on the ‘Select All’
button
3. Next, click on the ‘Report’ button
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4. The ITSM Report Console will open up. Click on the New button
5. The Type will default to web, keep it on Web reporting. The form you are reporting on will
also be auto popuolated. Give your report a name. (Once you save your report, you will
always be able to select is, as well as other users)
6. Click on OK
7. You can now build your report. Give a description of your report, and add all the fields you
want to include in your dropdown. You can also build qualifications, and include a chart in
your report.
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8. Once you have added all the fields you want in your report, click on PREVIEW. This will give
you a preview of the data in a report format.
9. You can print straight from the preview view.
10. Close the popup window, and SAVE your report.
11. From your main reporting console window, you can now select whether to run a report that’s
out of the box, or created by another colleague, or a report that you have created.
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