Preventive Maintenance

The Preventive Maintenance feature allows the Service Desk to provide proactive service management with Quick Issue Templates that automatically create new issues on a recurring basis, which can be used for periodic server maintenance, ensuring password changes on strategic accounts every 90 days, and regular auditing of systems for SOX compliance. With Preventive Maintenance, you provide the data for the Quick Issue Template and, when it is time for the recurrence, an issue is automatically created using the data.

The Preventive Maintenance feature allows you to create either a single Issue to cover the maintenance item or a Master Issue and subtasks to cover the maintenance item (for details on Master Issue templates and subtasks, refer to Master Quick Issue). When the date of the scheduled maintenance item occurs, an Issue is generated for the maintenance item. Since maintenance activities may require several different tasks, the Master Issue/subtasks option is available.

The process for setting up a Preventive Maintenance template is as follows:

  • Create the template for a single Issue or a Master Issue.
  • Set the schedule for the date on which an Issue is created from the template.
  • For Master Issues, create the subtasks.

Creating Preventive Maintenance Templates

To create a Preventive Maintenance template:

  1. Select Administration | Workspace from the FootPrints Toolbar, then select the Preventive Maintenance link from the Automated Workflow section of the main frame.
  2. In the Manage Preventive Maintenance frame, select the Create button. Two additional fields are displayed:
    • Template Name-Enter a name for this template. Keep it brief, but try to make it descriptive so that you'll be able to identify the task at a glance later.
    • Master-The Master checkbox is for designating the Issue as a Master Issue. If you create the Issue as a Master Issue, you will make subtasks in a new step that follows.
  3. Click the GO button. You may be prompted for your password at this point. Enter it and click the GO button in the pop-up password window. The Create a Preventive Maintenance Template page is displayed.
  4. The Preventive Maintenance Template page is completed in the same way that you would complete a Quick Issue template. Enter the information you want in the Issue when it is created. The fields on the Preventive Maintenance Issue are the same ones as on regular Issues in the workspace, so you may want to think about adding fields that are specifically for Preventive Maintenance, if they are needed. Note that the template page does not identify any required (i.e., mandatory) fields. Required fields will still be required when an Issue created from the template is edited. Note that, after the Preventive Maintenance template is created, when scheduling the recurring appointment for the template (see below), the Invitees field for the appointment is populated with the Assignees from the template (if there were any). If Invitees are added to the appointment, they are also added to the Assignees in the issue(s) generated by the recurring appointment. Both the template's Assignees and the appointment's Invitees become Assignees in generated issues.
  5. Advanced Action—If your system has the BMC FootPrints Asset Core integration enabled, you can associate an Advanced Action with this template. From the Asset Information tab of the template, select an action from the drop-down menu on the BMC FootPrints Asset Core bar, and then click Apply. When a Service Request/Issue is initiated that has an associated Advanced Action, and that action is designated as Requires Workflow, the same workflow used for manually selected Requires Workflow Advanced Actions goes into effect. When a Service Request/Issue is initiated that has an associated Advanced Action, and that action is not designated as Requires Workflow, the deployment is initiated immediately upon request, following the same workflow that occurs when an agent manually selects an Advanced Action that does not require pre-approval. The Advanced Actions function in the template only works if Automatically link CIs to Issues is enabled on the Administration | Workspace | Configuration Manager and Service Catalog options page.
  6. When you have finished entering the Issue information, click the SAVE button. The Preventive Maintenance administration page is displayed and the new template is listed in the Templates field. The next step is to schedule the date on which an Issue is created from the template.

Scheduling Preventive Maintenance Templates

To schedule a Preventive Maintenance template:

  1. Click on the template that you wish to schedule in the Templates field.
  2. Click the Schedule button.
    • Title—Enter a Title for the appointment. This is the subject of the appointment, such as Quarterly Meeting. If it is important for other users to know who is involved in the appointment at a glance, you may want to include the names of the people involved in the Title, e.g., Bob S. to work on Server.
    • Start Time—Select a time for the appointment to start. If a time was selected from the Day View, it is pre-filled here. Hours are listed in one drop-down (1-12 or 0-23 depending on your preferences), with minutes available in 5-minute increments (from 0-55) in a second drop-down. If the 12 hour clock is used, a third drop-down is available to select AM or PM.  If an appointment lasts all day, select None for Start and End times. These appointments are displayed at the top of the Day View with no time associated.
    • End Time—Select a time for the appointment to end. If a time was selected from the Day View, this will default to 1 hour after the Start Time. If the 12-hour clock is used, remember to select the correct option for AM or PM. If None is selected for Start Time, it should also be selected for End Time.
    • General Info tab—The General Info tab has the following options:
      • Location—Optionally enter a location for the meeting or Appointment, e.g., Board Room or Customer Site
      • Link to Issues Using the Field—When creating the appointment from the Calendar, this automatically creates a new Issue with data from the appointment. Select the Date/Time field to populate with the appointment Start Time from the drop-down. For Preventive Maintenance tasks, a Date/Time field must exist in the Workspace already and one must be chosen in the Link to Issues Using the Field drop-down when creating the appointment for scheduling a Preventive Maintenance template/task. Refer to Linking-Appointments-to-Issues for complete information on this feature.

      • Use Data from Issue—By default, the template shown here is the one you selected before you clicked the Schedule button. This field is provided to allow you to set the Schedule of a different template if you decide that the one you selected previously is not the one you want to schedule. When you initially create a schedule, you will likely remain with the default selection. Use the drop-down to select the template whose data will be used to populate the Issue you are scheduling.

        Note

        (On use of Calendar) Customers, members of other Workspaces, and non-users of FootPrints are not available to be Invitees. The FootPrints Calendar is intended for use by FootPrints Agent/administrator users.  If non-Workspace Members must be notified of an appointment, the email notification you receive can be forwarded to them (see below).  Users can also be copied on any Issue linked to an appointment.

      • Description—The Description can be used to include any notes or details of the appointment.
    • Invitees tab—One or more members of the current Workspace can be invited to the appointment. Invitees become Assignees on the generated Preventive Maintenance issue. Examples of invitees would be members of a committee who attend a committee meeting or a technician who is scheduled to work at a customer’s site or an entire Team at once for a Team meeting. To invite a user, select the name on the left and click the right arrow button. Select Check Availability to see who is available for the appointment. Refer to About scheduling for more information. To invite an entire Team at one time, click the team name, then select Assign Team, then click the right arrow button. The appointment is propagated to the Availability calendar for all the individual members of the team. The ability to invite a Team is only supported in the Day View.
      • Check Availability—Before inviting Agents to an appointment, you can check Agent schedules to determine the best time for scheduling the appointment.
    • Email Confirmation—FootPrints can send users email confirmation about an appointment. This is in addition to any email notification the users receive regarding FootPrints Issues (including linked Issues). Email notifications include all of the information about an appointment. The options are:
      • Email me—If this is checked, you receive an email notification about this appointment (regardless of whether you are invited to the appointment).
      • Email Invitees—If this is checked, all users invited receive an email notification for the appointment.

      • Set reminder—If a reminder is set, users receive a second email notification before the appointment starts. The reminder is sent before the appointment as specified by the person who created the appointment. Time period available before the appointment starts are: 5, 10, 15, or 30 minutes, 1-5 hours, 1 day, 2 days, and 1 week.

        Note

        The time specified for the email notification to be sent is based on the internal clock of the FootPrints server.  If an appointment is set to begin at 1:00 PM, Monday, December 2, 2017, and the reminder is set for 30 minutes, the email is sent at 12:30 PM of that day based on the time on the server where FootPrints is installed.

    • Recurrence tab—Appointments can be set to recur at regular intervals.  Recurrence is mandatory for a Preventive Maintenance task. The appointment is displayed on the Calendar for each day that it recurs.  The options are:
      • Daily, Weekly, Monthly, Yearly—Click the radio button to select the frequency with which the appointment occurs. It can be once every day, once a week, once a month, or once a year.
        • Daily—Set the recurrence for every X day(s) of the week (i.e., enter "1" for the recurrence to be every day, Sunday through Saturday, "2" for every other day, "3" for every third day, etc.) or only on weekdays (i.e., Monday through Friday) in combination with the every X day(s) schedule.
        • Weekly—Set the recurrence for every X weeks (i.e., enter "1" for the recurrence to be every week, "2" for every other week, "3" for every third week, etc.) and select which day(s) of the week it is to occur by clicking the appropriate checkbox. You can select more than one day per week. For example, you could create an appointment for every second week on Monday and Wednesday.
        • Monthly—The appointment recurs on a monthly basis. By default, there is no end date. Specify the date on which it is to occur (for example, the 19th of the month) by selecting the radio button and entering the date, as well as the frequency (every X months) of the appointment (i.e., enter "1" for the appointment to take place every month, "2" for the appointment to take place every other month, etc.). Alternatively, select the second radio button, then use the drop-down fields to designate in which week of the month (first week, second week, etc.) the appointment occurs, the day in that week, and the frequency.
        • Yearly—The appointment recurs on a yearly basis. By default, there is no end date. Specify the date on which it is to occur (for example, September 19th) by selecting the radio button and entering the date of the appointment. Alternatively, select the second radio button, then use the drop-down fields to designate in which week of the month (first week, second week, etc.), the day of the week, and the month of the year in which the appointment occurs.
      • No end date—When this is checked, the appointment recurs without end.
      • End by—Specify the date on which the appointment ceases to recur.
  3. Click SAVE to create the appointment. The appointment is added to the Calendar and email notifications are sent to users (if selected). The appointment is displayed in the Day, Week, and Month view of the Calendar.

Creating Subtask Templates

If you created a Master Preventive Maintenance template, you will need to create subtasks for the Master template.

To create a subtask template:

  1. From the Preventive Maintenance Templates page, click on the Master Issue in the Templates field for which you want to create a subtask.
  2. Click the Create button next to the Subtasks list field.  A Template Name field is displayed.
  3. Enter a name for the Subtask template and then click the GO button.
  4. If a Password pop-up window is displayed, enter your password and click the GO button. The Create Subtask Template window is displayed.
  5. The Create Subtask Template page is completed in the same way that you would complete a Quick Issue template. Enter the information you want to appear in the Issue when the Issue is created. The fields on this page are the same ones as on regular Issues in the workspace. Note that the template page does not identify any required (i.e., mandatory) fields. Required fields will still be required when an Issue created from the template is edited.

  6. When you have finished entering the Issue information, click the Save button. The Preventive Maintenance administration page is displayed and the new template is listed in the Subtasks field. Repeat this procedure as necessary until you have created all of the subtasks for the Master Issue.

    Note

    The Subtasks list is not displayed unless you have highlighted a Master Preventive Maintenance template in the Templates list.

Editing Preventive Maintenance Templates

To edit a Preventive Maintenance template:

  1. Select Administration | Workspace from the FootPrints Toolbar, then select the Preventive Maintenance link from the Automated Workflow section of the main frame.
  2. Click on the template to be edited in the Templates list.
  3. Click the Edit button.
  4. Click the GO button. You may be prompted for your password at this point. Enter it and click the GO button in the pop-up password window. The Edit a Preventive Maintenance Template page is displayed.
  5. Edit the fields for the template.
  6. Click the Save button.

Renaming Preventive Maintenance Templates

To rename a Preventive Maintenance template:

  1. Select Administration | Workspace from the FootPrints Toolbar, then select the Preventive Maintenance link from the Automated Workflow section of the main frame.
  2. Click on the template to be edited in the Templates list.
  3. Click the Rename button.
  4. In the Rename Template field, enter the new name, then click the GO button. You may be prompted for your password at this point. Enter it and click the GO button in the pop-up password window. The Preventive Maintenance Template page is displayed and the renamed template is listed in the Templates list.

Deleting Preventive Maintenance Templates

To delete a Preventive Maintenance template:

  1. Select Administration | Workspace from the FootPrints Toolbar, then select the Preventive Maintenance link from the Automated Workflow section of the main frame.
  2. Click on the template to be deleted in the Templates list.
  3. Click the Delete button.
  4. Click the OK button in the pop-up window to confirm the deletion. The template is deleted and no longer appears in the Templates list.

Setting a Sequence for Subtasks

Subtasks can be sequenced. This means that an order for closing the subtasks can be designated and the next subtask in the sequence cannot be closed or edited until the current subtask has been closed. Subtask sequencing can be specified by an administrator or, with appropriate permissions, by an Agent on the Details page of a Master Quick Issue. A Master Quick Issue must have at least two subtasks in order to specify sequencing. The procedure for specifying a subtask sequence is as follows:

  1. Assuming you are still on the Preventive Maintenance Templates page, click on the Master Issue in the Templates field for which you want to sequence subtasks. The Sequence/Remove Sequence for Subtask Templates page is displayed. You will see a checkbox and a list of the subtasks that you will be sequencing.
  2. Check the box. Drop-down fields are displayed next to each of the subtasks.
  3. Use the drop-down fields next to the subtask names to set the order. You can specify more than one subtask with the same number. If you do so, then either of the equivalent subtasks can be closed ahead of the other, but any subtasks that have been set to higher numbers must still wait until the subtasks with equivalent numbers have been closed. For example, you could have the first two subtasks set to "1", which means either can be closed first, but both must be closed before the subtask set to "2" can be edited or closed.
  4. When you have specified the order for all of the subtasks, click the Save button. The sequence is saved and will be enforced by FootPrints. 
    The Preventive Maintenance Template page is displayed.

If you wish to edit the sequence, perform the steps in the preceding procedure. To remove sequencing, return to the sequencing page and remove the check in the checkbox.

Editing, Renaming, and Deleting Subtasks

To edit a subtask, assuming you are on the Preventive Maintenance Templates page, click on the appropriate Master Issue in the Templates field, click on the subtask in the Subtasks list, and then click the Edit button. Click Edit the subtask and then click the SAVE button.

To rename a subtask, assuming you are on the Preventive Maintenance Templates page, click on the appropriate Master Issue in the Templates field, click on the subtask in the Subtasks list, and then click the Rename button. Enter the new name in the Rename Subtask field and click the GO button.

To delete a subtask, assuming you are on the Preventive Maintenance Templates page, click on the appropriate Master Issue in the Templates field, click on the subtask in the Subtasks list, and then click the Delete button. Click OK in the pop-up window and the subtask is deleted.

 

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