Leveraging ChangeGear Integration Features

All of ChangeGear's modules easily interact with one another to provide a full-featured ITIL service support solution. Information from the CMDB is accessed from modules to allow the correct incident, problem, or change request to be associated with the appropriate CI. Information from the ticket module is transported to problem and RFC tickets without having to retype information such as the summary, user information, etc.

The main inter-operability features of ChangeGear include:

  • Promotion

  • Notification Rules

  • Business Policy Automations

  • Communication Templates

  • Accessible CI Information

  • Consistent User Information

Promotion

Work flows between tickets are also integrated with each other for consistent communication between all concerned parties. When a ticket is promoted, it enters a special life cycle state that indicates that it is waiting on the promoted ticket to be resolved. Incidents and service requests enter the Pending Resolution state, and problems enter the Pending Change state when promoted.

For example, if an incident or incidents have been identified as reporting a potential problem, the incidents are promoted to a problem. The incident ticket enters the Pending Resolution state after it has been promoted to a problem via the Promotion dialog. After the problem enters the Pending Close state, the state of the incident ticket changes to In-Progress OR a service request enters the Fulfillment state. An incident or service request can be promoted directly to an RFC if the assignee has sufficient privileges. The state of the incident or service request will change similarly.

A problem that requires a change to be successfully resolved undergoes similar work flow changes. After the problem has been promoted to an RFC, the ticket enters the Pending Change state. When the RFC is closed, either successfully or unsuccessfully, the ticket enters the In-Progress state. If incidents or service requests are related to a problem via promotion, when the problem enters the Pending Close state, the incident enters the In-Progress state, OR the service request enters the Fulfillment state.

Notification Rules

ChangeGear can be configured to send notification e-mails to appropriate parties when the state of the ticket changes. For example, a notification can be sent to the original requester and the incident assignee when a promoted ticket reaches the Pending Close state. This alerts the assignee that action is required on the original ticket and reassures the original requester that progress is being made on the ticket. The content of the notification can be completely automated using communication templates. (See the Routing and Notification section in the ChangeGear Desktop help document under Administration.)

Business Policy Automations

ChangeGear uses Business Policy Automations (BPAs) to perform actions when certain criteria are met. For example, when a ticket reaches a certain state or when a ticket has been in a state for a certain period of time, an e-mail can be sent to recipients to notify them of the state of the ticket. A ticket that has been in the Pending Close state for more than 72 hours could be automatically closed, or a ticket that has been In-Progress for more than a week could be escalated to a manager. If a ticket has not been accepted within a certain amount of time, possibly due to absence, the ticket could be reassigned to another person or role. As for Notification Rules, e-mail notifications triggered by such rules can be completely automated using communication templates. (See the Business Policy Automation section in the ChangeGear Desktop help document under Administration for more information.)

Communication Templates

Communication Templates provide a consistent, unified, and automated method of conveying information to stakeholders. Different template types can be created for use with specific modules. Fields are used within the template to provide dynamic text based on the kind of information available to the specific type of template. For example, you can use a communication template and notification rules such that when a problem ticket enters the Pending Change state you can include ticket fields on the template for the ticket description and notes fields and provide feedback to the requester. (See the Business Policy Automation section in the ChangeGear Desktop help document under Administration for more information.)

Accessible CI Information

Information about CIs is available in all ticket entry forms so that an assignee has relevant information about the affected resources to more efficiently resolve the ticket. Requests for change, as they deal with modifying a CI, are recorded in the CI information whenever an RFC lists a CI as an impacted resource. For example, information about an e-mail server is readily available for all ticket types. When an RFC is made against the e-mail server, the RFC information is recorded in the CI.

Consistent User Information

ChangeGear has a single source of user data that is propagated throughout the application. Every ChangeGear module has the same user profile information regardless of the module in use. Users can view their information via a My Profile link and notify the administrator of any information which should be corrected, thus keeping the information up-to-date and reducing errors. If a user manually enters different data on a ticket, such as an incident ticket, that information is carried over if the ticket requires promotion to a problem or RFC.

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