DRYiCE Gold BluePrint on ServiceNow Ooty 2006

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RELEASE DETAILS

Product Name DRYiCE Gold BluePrint
Version Number Ooty 2006
Release Month June , 2020
Release Period (if release was phased) April - June
Release Summary
Overview

This quarterly release focuses on enhancements in the GBP processes along with the custom apps iLicense and Bagheera.

New Features and Enhancements

Following is the list of enhancements:

Module Description
iLicense
  • iLicense can now map license to license relationship (Parent-Child) to monitor accurate license count so that the License Manager can ensure that there is no duplication in the license count table
  • If a user is consuming a parent license (Fulfiller) which already contains an Approver license as a child, then iLicense logic would always consider the count of only the parent license in iLicense count table
  • If a user is only using an Approver license (Child) and not the Fulfiller license (Parent), then iLicense logic will increase the license count by one because every Approver license is a subset of Fulfiller license
Knowledge Management

In the knowledge article page, the support user can associate multiple articles with a particular knowledge article:

  • On the ITIL view " Knowledge" tab is visible on the Knowledge article page showing a list of related articles
  • An "Edit" button has been added in the "Knowledge" tab. By clicking on this "Edit" button, articles can be associated or disassociated with the main article
  • Articles added under "Knowledge" tab, will now be visible to the end users on the “Self-Service Portal”

This will allow end users to see contextually relevant articles attached to the main knowledge article.

IM, PM, CM, KM, RM, SRM

Approver validation has been implemented for ad-hoc approvals. Previously, end users by default had an approver role associated which unnecessarily added to license count.  Now, in case of adhoc approvals, end users cannot be added to the list of approvers unless assigned any of the following roles:

  •  ITIL role
  • Approver user role
  • Admin role
  • Business stakeholder role

Thus, only those end users are counted in the license count table who have been assigned any of the roles mentioned above. This helps to avoid unnecessary license cost.

  • In GBP processes modules, admin can now configure actionable email-based approvals
  • Approvers can now accept or reject the approval request on the email itself by clicking on the approve or reject button available in the email. This is available for users of Microsoft Outlook
  • It gives the flexibility to take necessary action without logging in to the application
Self Service Portal
  • Added breadcrumb functionality to the search results of the Self Service Portal
  • It applies to all the search bars.  This feature helps clear the previous search results without the end user needing to refresh the page
Change Management
  • Previously all the details of the change ticket could be edited including the change schedule when the ticket used to be referred back to the change initiators
  • Now they can only edit the details (Short Description, Description, Implementation Plan, Backout Plan and Test Plan) of the change ticket when it is referred back. The change schedule cannot be edited, and it must  be completed within the scheduled time
Bagheera
  • Previously support users could raise an SR on "Bagheera Request" page in the "Self-Service Portal" only through the bulk data upload option using the related template. Even if a single record had to be added, it could be done only using the bulk data upload template
  • But now on selecting the radio button "Add data without template" a support user would be  taken to a new record form for adding a single data record without the need for a data template
  • Previously support users could raise an SR on "Bagheera Request" page in the "Self-Service Portal", only through the bulk data upload option template. Even if a single record had to be added, it could only be done using the bulk data upload template
  • Now, on selecting the radio button "Add data without template" a support user is taken to a new record form using which they can add a single data record without the need for data template for below mentioned SRs:
    Support Grou, Company, Business Unit, Location, Cost Center, Department
  • Previously support users could raise an SR on "Bagheera Request" page in the "Self-Service Portal", only through the bulk data upload option template. Even if a single record had to be added, it could only be done using the bulk data upload template
  • Now, on selecting the radio button "Add data without template" a support user is taken to a new record form using which they can add a single data record without the need for data template for below mentioned SRs:
    Hardware, Application, Computer, ESX, Linux, Unix​, Windows, Router, Switch, Relation, Cat/Sub-Cat/Resolution code, Services
  • Previously, on the Bagheera request form, mandatory fields were not highlighted. A support user was not able to see the required  mandatory fields
  • Now all the mandatory fields in the request form are highlighted so that none of them are left blank
  • Additionally, "Import set" field and "Data source" field are hidden in the Bagheera form since the values in these two fields are auto-populated from the tables
  • Auto-refresh functionality of “Bagheera SR” forms after addition of data was not available on support user view of the “Self Service Portal”
  • Now the Bagheera SR forms in the “Service Catalog” gets auto-refreshed upon addition of records
  • Now radio buttons have been made available instead of checkboxes while selecting the data upload approach on the Bagheera request form under "Data Management" tab of the "Service Catalog" in the "Self-Service Portal"

The radio buttons are described below:

  • "Upload data using template" -  Download the data template -> Populate data in SR template ->  Attach the filled data template -> Click on Submit
  • "Add data without template" - Please click on Submit to proceed

Now the request form is more intuitive, and information on how to upload the data, which was previously missing, is visible to a support user.

  • Back button was not working for Bagheera request forms on the "Self Service Portal". Now back button works as expected. Clicking the back button directs the support user to the previous page on the Bagheera request forms
  • In the Bagheera request form when a support user tries to update the value for "Category", "Subcategory" and "Resolution Code", the entered choice field data is referenced with the GBP process source table.
  • If the value inserted in the choice field ("Category", "Subcategory" and "Resolution Code") is a new data, then a validation message will be shown  - 'Data entered in ${source_field_label} field is not available in the sys_choice Table!.'  for *field (status/substatus/Category/Subcategory)
  • If the value inserted in the choice field ("Category", "Subcategory" and "Resolution Code") is a pre-existing data, then the system will pass the data
  • This feature helps restrict creation of additional category, subcategory and resolution code values in the choice field of  GBP process modules
  • Now a support user can add only those fields whose category, subcategory and resolution code already exist in the GBP processes
CMDB
  • In the "Configuration" section of the ITIL view, while adding CI details under the "General" tab of the CI form, the "Managed By" field was not available out of the box. Hence, details of the group managing the CI was not visible to the support user.

  • Now, the field "Managed By " is available out of the box and  visible on cmdb_ci* class table and on the CI form as well hence the feature is readily configurable on GBP. Now, the support users can easily identify the group responsible for managing the CI data.

Self-Service Portal
  • Previously, an end-user could give an approval without being designated with an approver role. Now, only an end-user designated with the role of an Approver is qualified to provide approvals

  •  "My Approval" tab is not visible on the Self Service Portal, even if the user is a manager or delegated user

  • End-User with no role doesn't receive any email notifications related to approval

  • On opening the approval form, the user will get a validation message, "Require additional roles to continue with approvals. " 

A support user was taken to the ESS view instead of GBP ITIL view on   cancellation/closing/reopening of the request:

  • Open the Self Service Portal. Go to “My Requests” and open one of the Active Request (RITM).

  • Add additional comments and cancel the RITM by clicking on the Cancel button. The issue is that the ESS (ServiceNow view) view opens on canceling the RITM for the support user. 

  • This issue is fixed now. Now the support user is taken to the GBP ITIL view instead of the ESS view on canceling/closing/reopening  the request

  • Currently, in the "My Request" section on the "Self-Service Portal" even if a RITM is closed,  an end-user can still add comments. Fulfillers can't address these comments as the request is already closed. This defect has been fixed. Now additional comments field becomes hidden when the RITM is closed, so end users cannot add further comments

  • Presently, end users can see all the active records under "Closed Incidents" and "Closed Requests" tabs on the "Self-Service Portal" under "My Incidents", "My Requests" and "My To-Do” pages. This issue has been fixed. Now the active records are not visible under "Closed Incidents" and "Closed Requests" tabs.

Service Request Management
  • Previously, by default only one task for multiple teams and tasks was created for a generic service request. Now, in addition to the default task, ITIL or service desk user can add ad-hoc tasks for generic service requests on the ITIL view

  • They can click on the "New" button under "Catalog Task" in RITM and add an ad-hoc task. This feature helps the users to create additional tasks if needed to fulfill generic service requests.

Service Asset and Configuration Management
  • Replaced Sub Status label spelling from "Decomissioned" to "Decommissioned"
Eagle Eyes
  • When a support user clicks the "Checklist owned by me" tab on the navigation side-bar on the self-service portal, a list of checklists becomes visible.  The support user can retire a checklist from the list by opening it and then clicking on the retire button located at the top right-hand corner of the checklist page.  Clicking on the button gives a validation message and retires the checklist. The retired checklist is not visible to the other support users or the groups who might be following that checklist. The support user cannot activate or edit the retired checklist and the task items associated with it.

  • The header menu has been provided with the following tabs: "My to-do", "Create Checklist", "Browse", "Stats". These tabs provide quick and easy access to the important functionalities of the app to a support user. On the top right-hand corner of the page, the user’s profile tab and link to the self-service portal have been provided to provide quick access and navigation.

  • An "Order" and a "Priority" field have been introduced for checklist items. When a support user clicks on the edit icon next to a checklist item, it will open a pop-up form to obtain their inputs for the "Order" and the “Priority" fields. The “Priority” field is a drop-down field with the values “Low”, “Medium” and “High”. The support user can assign a priority for the checklist item by choosing a value from the drop-down field. “Order” is an input field that can receive only whole numbers. The value entered in the order field is used to sort and list the checklist items in an ascending or descending order. 

  • An "+Add" icon has been provided at the bottom of the checklist page, which will allow a support user to add a new task item to the checklist. A "Pencil" icon has been provided at the bottom of the checklist page next to every checklist item. A support user can edit the checklist item by clicking on the pencil icon. In the GBP support user view, the navigation bar has been provided with the following tabs:
    Portal - Link to the Eagle Eyes Home Page.
    Browse for Checklists - Link to the Eagle Eyes portal with all the checklists that are public
    Create a New Checklist - Link to create a new checklist form
    Completed Checklists - Link to view checklists of accomplished tasks.
    Retired Checklists - Link to view checklists that are marked as retired. These tabs provide the support user with quick and easy access to the essential functionalities of the app.

  • Clicking on the "Create Checklist" tab will take a support user to a pre-defined template for creating a checklist and its associated task items. The checklist template contains the following fields.
    Name:  A text field to input the checklist name
    Owner Group: The groups selected here are the ones who own the checklist. The members of this group can edit the checklist, add or remove task items before the checklist is activated.
    Available for Group: The groups selected here are the ones who will be able to replicate and reuse the checklist. The members of this group will be able to view the checklist in the "Followed Checklist" section on the portal.
    Available to users: The support users selected in this field will be able to replicate and reuse the checklist. These users will be able to view the checklist in the "Followed Checklist" section on the portal.  
    The other support users who are not a part of the "Available for Group" and the "Available to users" fields can also follow the checklist.
    Type: This is a drop-down field with 2 values, i.e., "Recurring" and "One-time". The type field defines whether the checklist is recurring or one time.
    Mark as Public Checkbox: Checking this checkbox makes the checklist available to all the support users in the browse section on the portal. A public checklist can be followed by the other users and can be replicated by them as well, whereas a non-public checklist will be visible only to the creator and owned by a group.
    Description: It is a multiline text field where a support user can enter some description of the checklist.

  • A support user is redirected to the Eagle Eyes portal home page from the ITIL view. The home page consists of the following modules. Below every module, their respective checklists are listed.
    Modules:
    Checklist in Use: Checklists that are currently active and are in use by the support user.
    Checklist owned by me: These are the checklists which are owned by the support user (Creator, Owned by User, Members of owned by the group)
    Checklists I follow: These are the checklists that are followed by the support user.

  • In the My To-Do section, the checklist items that have passed the date of their completion would be moved automatically from the “Need action” tab to the “Past Due” tab. The date/time filter in the “Past Due” tab can be used by the support user to view the checklist items for a specific time and date.

  • A support user has the option to browse for checklists by either clicking on the "Browse Menu" on the Eagle Eyes Portal header or clicking on the "Browse for Checklists" tab on the Eagle Eyes ITIL navigation menu. The checklists for which the "Mark as Public" checkbox is set to "True", are displayed from newest to oldest. The public checklists are visible to all the support users and groups. It can be replicated and followed by other support users. The non-public checklists are visible only to the creator and members of the owned by a group. It cannot be replicated and followed by other users.

  • In the “Need action” tab under the ” My To-Do “ section, a support user can choose a chescklist from the select checklist drop-down field. The selected checklist displays the checklist items that are recurring as well as one-time. The “Select Checklist” filter displays the checklist items that are due as of date for both the checklist categories.

  • Past Due tab in Checklist- In the “Past Due” tab under the “My To-Do” section, a support user can view the date against every checklist item. These task items are the ones that have expired. The support users can review the expired checklist items by applying the date filter. Upcoming tab in the Checklist-  In the "Upcoming” tab under the “My To-Do” section, a support user can view the list of the upcoming checklist tasks. This feature helps the user to plan their future tasks.

  • When a support user clicks the “Stats” tab on the navigation side-bar on the self-service portal, they will be taken to the reports section, displaying different types of reports as listed below.
    A pie chart depicting the completed Vs. Open tasks
    A pie chart depicting Completed Vs. Completed with Exceptions
    A line graph (trend) of past due checklists
    A bar graph showing daily completion of Completed Vs. Completed with exceptions for day1, day2, day3.....day n

  • Configurations have been made in the app to trigger notifications to the support user for the following events -
    Creation of Checklist
    On addition of any group
    On Today's due date
    On Upcoming due date
    On Checklist activation
    On follow checklist
    On Unfollow Checklist
    Missed Item from Checklist Notification Template
    Retire Checklist
    Deactivate Checklist

  • When a support-user clicks the “Create Checklist” tab on the navigation menu on the self-service portal, they will be taken to the checklist item form.  The form has an "+Add" icon with a text box. Entering a name in the text box and then clicking on the "+Add" icon will add the task as a checklist item at the bottom of the checklist page. An edit icon is visible for every checklist item at the bottom right hand side of the page. Clicking on the edit icon will open a pop-up form to add more details to the checklist item. The support user can provide additional information like description, priority, order and define the support group. After giving this information, the checklist item details can be saved by clicking on the save button. Once the user opens the portal, the default landing page is the "My To Do" page.

  • When a support user clicks the "Stats” tab on the navigation menu on the self-service portal, the checklist reports become visible.  This data is visible according to the role of the logged-in user. The user can only see the reports if they have either of the roles, i.e., creator, owner, collaborator, or assigned user. In the “Need Action tab” under the “My To-Do” section” on the self-service portal, every checklist item has been provided with a “Post Comments” and a “Report Issue” icon. A support user can use the “Post Comments” icon to post remarks on the checklist items.  The “Report Issue” icon helps to create an incident. Once the incident has been created, the comments in the checklist item will be copied to the incident work notes (activity log).

  • The checklist form, accessible from the “Create Checklist” tab on the navigation menu, provides a support user with help texts (placeholder text) for all the input fields. Once the support user starts typing inside the input field, the placeholder text disappears automatically.

Marketvista
  • The “Application configuration” tab has been provided as a separate module to a configuration user in the GBP ITIL view.  Clicking on the tab, will take the configuration user to the "My Properties" page, containing the fields required for configuring the assignment groups.    Different tasks will get triggered to the assignment groups as defined in the application configuration page. The assignment groups are mentioned below:

    “Installation Management Group”

    “Access Management Group”

    “Procurement Management Group”

    “License Management Group”

  • The "Software Model" tab has been provided as a separate module to a configuration user in the GBP ITIL view. Clicking on the tab, will take the configuration user to the “Software Model” page where they will be able to configure the software product model by clicking on the “New” button. A software product model table will publish an application in the service catalog based on its category, software profile and request type.

  • All the software, along with their counts, are visible under the “Software” tab in the service catalog. Similarly, an end-user will be able to request for hardware and accessories from their respective tabs. The end-user can apply filters to view the software by their functionalities, such as the newest, recently updated, alphabetical and price. A search bar has been provided at the top-right hand corner of the page, allowing the end-user to search for the software, hardware, or accessory. The user can view the software either in the list or the grid view by clicking on their respective icon located next to the “Sort-By” drop-down field. Hovering over a software in the list or the grid view will provide a detailed description of the software.

  • Clicking on a software item published in the "Service Catalog" will take an end-user to the software request form. The form contains the below-mentioned fields for requesting software access and installation. Display Name, Description, Price, License Type, Version, Request type of software, Requested For, Device Name

  • An end-user will be able to access and install any of the software published in the “Software” category on the self-service portal by filling up the software request form. After the request has been submitted,  an approval request will be sent to the reporting manager of the end-user. The fulfillment tasks will get triggered in parallel once the RITM has been approved based on the request type.

  • In the software request form, available in the “Software category” section on the self-service portal, the quantity field has been hidden to prevent the end-user from ordering more than one quantity of a software item. The quantity field for the other request items will remain visible.

  • A RITM  will be closed only after the successful closure of all the fulfilment tasks associated with the software/hardware request raised on “Marketvista”.

  • The “My Stuff” tab displays the software(s) which have been installed through MarketVista. All the other software(s) which have been installed through some other medium will not be visible under the "My Stuff" section of the MarketVista.

  • The “My Stuff” tab on the self-service portal displays the device details of the user. It displays the devices which are currently assigned to the user. By default, a user can view the details of only one device at a time (Radio button is auto-checked). The auto-checked device would display the following details to the user: My Device, My Software, Search Bar. (The user can select an alternate device by clicking on the radio button of an another device if they have multiple devices assigned to them.)

  • If an end-user tries to install or requests a software that has been already installed on their device, the following message will be displayed: "This software is already installed on the device."

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