Configuring change rules

You can configure the enforcement of specific rules for the Change Management application (for example, if work logs, change reasons, or attachments are required). You can also configure rules applicable for notification and request from an automation system.

You must log in as an administrator or as an user with Infrastructure Change Config permissions to open the Change Rules form. 

The form is sub-divided into three sections.

1. The first section, referred to as the General section, has a various amount of options that have been designed to give you the ability to choose how certain features will behave with the Change Management application. 
2. The second section, referred to as the Notification section, allows you to control when notifications are sent out to either the change coordinator and the change manager for the given change request states. 
3. The third section, referred to as the Automation System section, is used to control certain aspects for change requests created using automation systems.

Using this form, you can create, update, or delete change rules records. In addition, you use the Configure Change Rules form to configure the method of assignment to automatically select a coordinator (not the assigned support group, but the individual within the group) for change requests in Change Management.

Within the Change Management application, there are many features that can be controlled to work in many predetermined ways. These features are configured using this form. Using this form, you can create one change configuration rule record per company. The application selects the rule record, based on matching the change request’s Location Company to a matching company on the rule record. The Change Management application comes with one out-of-the-box record for the “- Global –“ company. By default, this record is used when there are no other company-specific change rules records defined. Each company defined in the Company form can have its own assignment rules. The Global option is used as the default to define assignment configuration for all companies. Assignment rules specified for a company override the global rule assignments.

When Change Management uses assignment (for example, when it assigns a change request), the Assignment Engine checks the assignment rules for the assignee's company. If no company specific rules are found, it uses the rules defined for Global.

To configure change rules

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, choose Change Management > Advanced Options > Rules, then click Open.
   The Change Configuration Rules form opens in the New mode.

3. To modify an existing rule, select New Search, search for the appropriate rule and then open it.

   Important

   Some change rules settings are automatically defined during installation.

4. In the Company/Group Rule field, select Company to apply the rule to a company. This field is mandatory.

   Important

   Currently, rules cannot be applied to a group.

   In the Search mode a Clear button is displayed next to the Company field.

5. If this rule is for a particular company, select the company for which you want to configure assignment, or select the Global option.
   If you select the Global option, the assignment is configured for all companies.

6. Complete the following fields as required, and then click Save.

   Optional field	Action and description
   Impacted Area For Requested By Organization	Select this field, for change requests to auto generate an impacted area for the Requested By Organization. The options are No (the default setting) and Yes.
   In the Impacted Area For Requested For Organization	Specify whether change requests will auto-generate an impacted area for the Requested For Organization. The options are No (the default setting) and Yes.
   Change Reason Req'd For	Specify that users must enter a change reason, if they assign a certain risk level to the change. If you configure the rule to Risk Level 1 (the lowest level of risk), when users create a change request with any Risk Level value, they are prompted to select a Change Reason (for example, Maintenance) before they can save the change. If you configure the rule to Risk Level 3, when users a create change request with Risk Level 3 and above, they are prompted to select a Change Reason before they can save the change. No out-of-the-box setting is provided with this field.
   Change Work Info Req'd For	Specify that users must enter work information, if they assign a certain risk level to the change. If you configure the rule to Risk Level 1 (the lowest level of risk), when users create a change request with any Risk Level, they are prompted to enter work information (for example, type, date, source, and so on) before they can save the change. If you configure the rule to Risk Level 3, when users a create change request with Risk Level 3 and above, they are prompted to enter work information before they can save the change. No out-of-the-box setting is provided with this field.
   Default Performance Rating	Specify a default performance rating from 1 (lowest) to 5 (highest). The change manager typically enters this rating after the change request reaches the Completed state. The default setting is 3. Important: When you open the change request, the Default Performance Rating field is populated only if a task template has been associated with the change request. When the related tasks are closed, the value of Default Performance Rating field is populated into the Performance Rating field on the Classification tab of the change request.
   By-pass Schedule For Review	Specify whether you want the system to ignore the Schedule For Review status. The default value of Yes is cleared after the change is approved, and it moves directly to the Scheduled For Approval status.
   Action On Scheduled Dates Change	Specify the action to be taken if the Scheduled Start Date and Scheduled End Date are defined for the change and the user modifies the task scheduled dates to a time period that does not fall within the dates scheduled for the change. The following options are available: No Action—No action is taken if the modified scheduled dates for the task do not fall within the dates scheduled for the change request and the system allows you to save the updated dates. Error Message—If the modified scheduled dates for the task do not fall within the dates scheduled for the change request, an error message is displayed and the system does not allow you to modify the date. Warning Message—If the modified scheduled dates for the task do not fall within the dates scheduled for the change request, a warning message is displayed, but the system allows you to save the modified date. No out-of-the-box settings are provided with this field.
   Business Hours Selection	Specify whether to use company hours or coordinator hours to calculate times associated with change requests. Important: You must perform the Business Hours Workdays and Business Hours Holidays configuration tasks to set the company's daily hours and holidays, as described in Adding business hours and holidays Adding business hours and holidays .
   Assignment Engine Integration	To use the assignment engine to automatically assign change requests to individuals, perform the following steps: Set Assignment Engine Integration to Yes. Select the appropriate Assignment Process. Assignment Process Implementer—Assigns the change implementer. Assignment Process Manager—Assigns the change manager. Assignment Process Coordinator—Assigns the change coordinator. The available assignment processes are as follows: Capacity—The capacity for each person is specified in the Capacity Rating field on the People form. The assignment process is a ratio-based method. For example, if person A has a capacity of 100 and person B has a capacity of 200, person B can handle twice as many tickets as person A; the assignment engine assigns two tickets to B, then assigns one ticket to A. Number—The People form tracks the number of tickets assigned to the person. The number assignment process selects the person with the least number of tickets already assigned. Round Robin—The People form keeps track of the last time the person received an assignment. The round robin assignment process selects the person who was least recently assigned an incident. For information about configuring the assignment engine, see Creating assignmentsAuto-assignment methods.
   Require Service CI Related after Draft	Select whether users must specify a Service CI (from the Service field) when moving a change request forward from Draft status. The default value is No. Important: This rule is not applied when the change request is created and submitted as a related request from another request like incident, problem or release because such changes are created in the Request for Authorization status. If the Service field is not populated when the change coordinator or change manager tries to move the change to the next stage, the rule is applied, and an error message will be displayed.
   Auto-close	Specify whether change requests are automatically closed. The default is Yes. Important: If you set this option to Yes, the change request is automatically closed when the change status is changed to Completed, with Final Review Completed as the status reason.
   Auto-close Days	If you specify that change requests are automatically closed, enter the number of days a change request remains in the Resolved state before its status is automatically set to Closed. The default value is 10 days.
   Enforce Change Dependency	Select the level of enforcement that applies to change dependencies. The Enforce Change Dependency field defines the action to be taken if the change coordinator or the change manager attempts to move the request to the Scheduled status when dependent changes are not completed. For more information on dependent changes, see Planning dependencies for change requests. The options available include: Warning (default setting)—Users are notified if the dependent changes are not complete, but the system does not enforce the change dependency. Error—The system strictly enforces the change dependency. Users are notified that the dependent changes have not been completed and they cannot move to the next stage. None—The system does not enforce the change dependency and does not notify the user that the dependent changes have not been completed. Important: If no change rule is configured, the default out-of-the-box setting for Global company is Error.
   Enforce Global Time Segments	Select the type of enforcement applied to time segments. Warning (default setting)—When the change is moved to the scheduled status, users are notified that the dates of the change request are within a defined global business event, but they can use these dates. Error—When the change is moved to the scheduled status, users are notified that the dates of the change request are within a global business event. Users must change the dates to move the change to the scheduled status. None—The system does not notify users if the dates of the change request are within the defined global business event and they can use these dates. Important: This enforcement rule does not apply to CIs that have blackouts (unavailable time segments). This option applies only to time segments created for either Business Events or Operational Categorization.
   Create Service Request on Submit	Select which action occurs when a change request is submitted. If set to Yes, when a user submits a change request, a corresponding request is created. The customer can view this request, which indicates the change status, through the Requester Console.
   Enable Task Phase Management	Select either Yes or No. The default is No. This option disables the TMS phase management feature in Change Management. Selecting Yes enables TMS phase management. It specifies that tasks can be activated for a particular phase.
   Enforce Task Closure at Each Phase	Select either Yes or No. The default is No. This option disables task validation. Selecting Yes enables task validation, which specifies that tasks activated for a particular phase must be closed before the change request can move to the next phase. This enforcement rule does not apply for inactive tasks. Important: This enforcement rule does not apply if no approval rule is configured, or if an approval is configured to move the change request to the next phase after the request has been approved or rejected. For example, an approval is mapped to the Request for Change phase and configured to move the change to the Planning in Progress phase on Approval. When the change request is approved in the Request for Change phase, it is moved to the Planning in Progress phase irrespective of any open tasks associated to the Request for Change phase.

Rules applicable to requests from automation system

The rules that are specific to requests from automation system can be defined in the Automation System tab.

The following screenshot illustrates the Automation System tab.

The following table provides information about Global rules that can be configured for requests from automation system.