Deployment Change

Deployment Change process is supported by a SM workflow cartridge that enables the execution of the process. This process is strictly related to the Release and Deployment Management process as through it a release is installed into a target environment (e.g. test, acceptance, live, etc.). The process is therefore triggered by the Release and Deployment Management process itself and returns the feedback on its result.

Of course the preconfigured process (the workflow cartridge) is just an accelerator and the tuning / completion of the initial configuration will still be required. To this aim, the Workflow Engine guide may be useful.

IMPORTANT NOTE: the configuration below is only one of the possible configuration to deal with the deployment change process. The need for a different behaviour of the process may be fulfilled by simple changes of the configuration.

Operational model

The preconfigured process has the objective to deploy a release and is a standard change. At the core of the process configuration is the following simple operational model.

Deployment Change operational model

From the Release and Deployment Management process a command (button) is available to trigger the Deployment Change process. This opens a new Deployment Change instance. This is done by an action which sets also sets a release team (a defined group). The members of the release team can therefore see the deployment change and set the owner of it. The owner performs or coordinates the deployment activities. When the activities are completed another action automatically gives a feedback to the Release and Deployment Management process.

Roles

For this process, the following organizational roles are defined:

Organizational role	Description	itmSUITE® role mapping
Requester	This is the user who triggers a deployment change while managing a release	See the Release and Deployment Management process for detailed information on who is enabled to start deployment changes
Owner	Assign tasks to be performed to complete the deployment change Watches over and monitors the deployment change along all its life cycle Activates escalation/ routing/ requests Manages all the communications with the requester Checks the implementation and sets the deployment change to closed	This role is picked up by a member of the deployment team (a specific group).
Deployment team member	He/she receives the notification on the assignment of a deployment change to the team Based on the team rules, he/she autonomously picks up a deployment change as an owner or wait for the deployment team manager assignment He/she carries out any assigned task of a deployment change He/she notices when assigned tasks are completed or when he/she is unable to complete them	Resources belonging to the "Deployment team" group; the login identifier of one of these users is "DepTeamMemb").
Deployment team manager	He/she receives the notification on the assignment of a deployment change to the team Based on the team rules, he/she assigns a deployment team member He/she may also act as deployment team member	Manager of the "Deployment team" group; the login identifier of this user is "DepTeamMan").

Process

A deployment change is opened during the execution of the Release and Deployment Management process and is kept linked to the instance of the release it is originated from.

A workflow is configured to support the Deployment Management process. The workflow is characterized by workflow statuses and workflow transitions. The figures below illustrate the process.

Deployment Change process.

The table below explains the meaning of each workflow status.

Workflow status	Description
"Default"	A preliminary status which is displayed when a deployment change is created.
"Opened"	The deployment change has been recorded and requested.
"Cancelled"	The deployment change is not confirmed and, therefore, cancelled.
"Closed"	The deployment change is completed and closed.

And finally the table below explains the roles authorized to execute the workflow transitions.

Source status	Destination status	Authorized executors	Comment
"Default"	"Opened"	Requesters
"Opened"	"Cancelled"	Requester, owner. deployment team manager
"Opened"	"Closed"	Requester, owner, deployment team manager.

Related processes

The key related process is Release and Deployment Management. The tab Related Items of the deployment change and, in particular, the sub tab Tickets of it allows to view all the existing relationships between the deployment change and Release and Deployment Management.

Release and deployment management

A new deployment change can be initiated from a release and updating the deployment change will provide a feedback to the release itself.

Services

The deployment changes are opened on the "Deployment Management" service. The user "DeplManager" is the service manager of the "Deployment Management" service.

Management information

Many management information are available as fields in the deployment change management configured form. The following table illustrates the intended use of key information and its behaviour. NOTE: information are available (visible) and can be modified according to a specific configuration which is meant to be suitable for the organizational roles involved in the process.

Information group or tab	Field	Purpose	Comments
General Information	Ticket Op Status	To show the operational status of the deployment change, see workflow statuses in Process section of this page.	Status changes are performed by means of the Save&Next command.
General Information	Short Description	To provide a short description of the deployment change.	Always visible.
General Information	Requester	To identify the name of the requester (who has requested the deployment change).	This field is automatically set to the identification code of the source release by the action creating the deployment change.
General Information	Creation Date	To show the date and time the deployment change was created.	This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information	Edit Date	To show the date and time the deployment change was last updated.	This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information	Creation User	To show the user who created the deployment change.	This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
General Information	Edit User	To show the user who updated the deployment change last.	This information is automatically recorded and cannot be manually changed. See History tab for more detailed tracking information.
Ticket Classification	Project/Service	To show the service (or project) to which the deployment change is related.	This is automatically set at open time and can't be modified.
Ticket Classification	Ticket Type	To show the type of workflow executed.	This is automatically set at open time and can't be modified.
Ticket Classification	Release Type	To show the type of the release implemented by the deployment change.	This field is automatically set to the Release Type of the source release by the action creating the deployment change.
Ticket Classification	Release Number	To set the change scope.This is typically used for statistic reasons.	This field is automatically set to the Release Number of the source release by the action creating the deployment change.
Ticket Classification	Target Environment	To define the target environment for the deployment.	This field is initially left blank. The target environment is mandatory and can be chosen from a drop list of enabled values (e.g. "Live", "Test", etc.).
Prioritisation & Planning	Required Deployment Date	To set the required execution date for the deployment change.	This field (date & time) is mandatory and initially set empty.
Prioritisation & Planning	Planned Deployment Date	To communicate the planned execution date for the deployment change.	This field (date & time)is mandatory and initially set to empty.
Prioritisation & Planning	Actual Deployment Date	To communicate the actual execution date for the deployment change.	This field (date&time) is initially blank and can be edited. If empty, it is automatically set to the date and time of the transition to the "Closed" Ticket Op Status.
Prioritisation & Planning	Actual Installation Date	To set the forecasted resolution date and time for the change.
Ownership and Groups	Supervising Team	To define the supervising team.	This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "In Analysis".
Ownership and Groups	Seployment Teamolution Group	To define the team to which the change is assigned for analysis and/or implementation.	This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "Approval Requested".
Ownership and Groups	Owner	To define who is the change owner who should monitor the lifecycle of the change.	This is set by the service manager and mandatory from the Ticket Op Status "In Analysis". He/she can be changed by the service manager and the Owner him/herseilf.
Ticket Details	Details	To provide a more detailed description of the change.	An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.
Ticket Details	Anvironment Parametersnalysis	To provide a detailed analysis of the assessment of the change.	An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.
Ticket Details	Comments	To provide helpful comments.	An auto tracking field is used enabling to view the user who has updated.

Fields can be mandatory to save the change in some workflow statuses. These fields are highlighted with a red asterisk.

Views

The following views are made available in the Tickets area of the home page:

View	Content	Requester	Change owner	Technical team	Service manager	Change authority
Changes completed	Changes in statuses "Completed", "In Review".	X
Changes requested	Changes in status "Requested".				X
Changes owned	Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where Owner is the logged resource.		X
Changes routed to my team	Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where Solution Group is the solution group to which the logged resource belongs to.			X
Changes assigned to me	Changes in all the statuses but "Opened", "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Closed" where the Ticket Worker is the logged resource.			X
Changes suspended	Changes in status "Suspended".		X		X
Changes to review	Changes in status "Completed" where Change Type is "Emergency" or where Change Type is "Normal" and Change Category" Significant".		X		X
Changes to authorize for implementation	Changes in status "Implementation Approval Requested".					X
Changes to authorize for deployment	Changes in status "Deployment Approval Requested".					X
Changes evaluated by Change Authority	Changes in status "Approved" or "Not Approved".		X		X
Changes approved for deployment	Changes in status "Deployment Approved".		X		X

Additionally, the following views are made available in the Change menu for all the organizational roles:

View	Content
Changes active	Changes in all the statuses but "Cancelled", "Aborted", "Suspended", "Closed"
Changes suspended	Changes in status "Suspended
Changes closed	Changes in status "Closed"
Changes cancelled	Changes in status "Cancelled"

Notifications

The following notifications are configured:

Trigger	Recipients	Purpose
A change is requested	Service manager	Alert that there is a change to manage.
A change is assigned a owner	Change owner	Alert that the change was assigned to him/her.
A solution group is assigned or changed for the change	Solution group manager	Alert that there are resource(s) to allocate to manage the change.
A change review shall be executed (the change is in workflow status "Change Review")	Change owner, service manager	Alert that a change review is to be done.
A change is completed	The change creator, the requester	Alert that the change is implemented.
A ticket worker is assigned	The assigned ticket worker	Alert that there is work to be done.
A change is suspended	The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner	Alert that the change is suspended.
An change is closed	The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner	Alert that the change has been closed.
A change is cancelled	The change creator, the requester, the service manager, the change owner	Alert that the change has been cancelled.
A change implementation approval has been requested	Change authority	Alert that a change implementation request has to be examined.
A change implementation approval request has been examined	Change owner, service manager	Alert that the change authority has given a feedback on a change implementation request.
A change deployment approval has been requested	Change authority	Alert that a change deployment request has to be examined.
A change deployment approval request has been examined	Change owner, service manager	Alert that the change authority has given a feedback on a change deployment request.

Reporting

A set of standard reports are made available for the change management process. It is not required to have the REP module to use them, however the module is required if new or changed reports are needed. The available reports are placed under Change/Reporting menu.

The following table lists the reports available by default and their visibility:

Report name	Content	Access
Change per category - trend	An histogram showing the change volumes per category monthly trend.	Service managers and technical team members.
Change per category - volume	A pie containing the split of changes per category.	Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service - trend	An histogram showing the change volumes per service monthly trend.	Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service - volume	A pie containing the split of changes per service.	Service managers and technical team members.
Change per service/category - volume	An histogram showing the changes volume per service and category.	Service managers and technical team members.
Change - analysis time	A pie showing the percentage of changes respecting the target defined for the "Analysis time"* objective (the time elapsed from the "Requested" to the "In Analysis" workflow status.	Service managers and technical team members.

* "Analysis time" is defined within the OCE module.

A basic form of reporting is also provided by views. Views basically allow to list changes and their attributes but may also be configured to calculates sums, averages on some of them. The available views are illustrated in the dedicated section of this page.

Examples of use

In this section some examples of use of the configured change management process are given.

If you get lost, any time use the EXPLORE WORKFLOW command of the change management form. This enables to view the status of the workflow as shown in the figure below. By clicking on a relationship between workflow statuses, roles and users enabled to perform it are presented.

Explore Workflow window

NOTE: the EXPLORE WORKFLOW command is available only if the ticket is first saved.

For more information on how to use any workflows, including incident management, please refer to the workflow execution guide.

Create and request a new change as a final user

1. Login as "finaluser" user
2. Activate the Self Service menu
3. Choose a self service topic, self service category and finally "Change" as self service request (this determines the creation of a new change)
4. Fill the change form, at least with mandatory fields, and save with the SAVE command (the change is now in workflow status "Opened")
5. Set the change in workflow status "Requested" with the SAVE & NEXT command

You have now saved the change, take note of the ticket number for further reference and use.

Assign a change for analysis as a service manager

1. Login as "servicemanager"
2. Open the the desired change; you can do it quickly either by
   • Access the "Changes Requested" view in the Tickets area of the home page and pick a change
   • Access the Change/Changes active menu and pick a chanve in workflow status "Requested" among those listed
   • Insert the reference number of a change in workflow status "Requested" in Quick Search, after selecting the search context "Ticket"
3. Assign the key roles
   • Fill the change form with Owner, Solution Group and, may be, Master Solution Group, Ticket Worker,
   • Pressing the SAVE & NEXT command, choose the "1. Assign ticket" workflow transition

The change is now in workflow status "In Analysis".