Managing outages

CI unavailability, or outage, is the actual down time of a CI. Unavailability might be due to scheduled maintenance (the record is created from a change request) or an unexpected problem (the record is created from an incident).

For example, the change manager at Calbro Services creates a change request for a server upgrade and creates a CI unavailability record from the request. The configuration administrator at Calbro Services can open the CI unavailability record and add financial information about the cost of unavailability.

You can create CI unavailability records only for the following CI types:

Status changes during the CI unavailablity lifecycle

The CI unavailability lifecycle supports the following status changes, as shown in the table below. A CI Unavailability record is Open if the status is not Restored.

The following table shows the status changes in the CI unavailability lifecycle:

To create outage information

1. Open a CI, as described in  Searching for records in the application consoles.
2. Click the Outage tab, and click Create.

3. In the Configuration Item Unavailability form, indicate whether the unavailability request originated from a change request or an incident by selecting Change or Incident from the Unavailability Class list.

   Important

   If you have BMC Helix ITSM: Change Managementor Incident Management installed, and you create a CI Unavailability record from either of these applications, this field is automatically populated.

4. From the Unavailability Type list, select one of the following options:

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   After you select the class and type, the priority field is automatically completed.

5. Provide a description for the unavailability.
6. If this is a scheduled unavailability, specify scheduled start dates and end dates on the Dates/Assignment tab.
   When you save the form, the scheduled duration of the unavailability appears in the Estimated Duration field. If you specify a scheduled start and end date without specifying the actual dates, the Unavailability Status is set to Scheduled after you save the form.

7. Specify actual start dates and end dates for the unavailability.
   When you save the form, the actual duration appears in the Actual Duration field.

   Important

   After you save the form, if you specify an actual start date without an end date, the Unavailability Status field is set to Current Unavailability. The Unavailability Status is set to Restored when you specify an actual end date. After you set the actual end date, you can modify it, but not remove it.

8. Select an option from the Assignment is set from area:
   • Configuration Item —  If you assign a support group to the CI and the support group consists of the Supported by role, this option is selected. The associated support group maintains the CI. In addition, if you set the assignment lock to yes, you cannot change the support group assignment from the CI Unavailability record. If you set the lock to no, you can select another assignment method.
   • Cross Referenced Request — If the CI Unavailability record is created from an incident or a change request, this option is selected. The person to whom the ticket is assigned the CI Unavailability record. This option keeps the CI Unavailability assignment synchronized with the assignment for the incident or change request.

   • Manually — Select this option when you want to manually assign the CI Unavailability record to any group. Then, set the Assignment Status to Assigned.
     Setting the Assignment Status to Completed marks the CI Unavailability record as closed. Only users with Asset Admin or Asset User permissions can modify a closed unavailability record.

     Important

     You can do this only from the CI Unavailability form, not from the Outage tab on the CI Information form.

   • Automated Routing — If you do not assign a support group from the People tab, unavailability assignment defaults to Automated Routing. Automated Routing is configured on the Assignment configuration form.
     For more information, see  Configuring assignments.
9. Set the assignment.
   Assignment is set first through the CI. If assignment is not set by using set the assignment method, the automated routing option is used.
   If you are working from the Incident Managementor BMC Helix ITSM: Change Managementapplications and automated routing is not configured, assignment is set as Cross Referenced Request. The person or group assigned to this unavailability record must set the status to Completed after recording the actual start and end times.
10. Use the other tabs to add supporting unavailability information:
    • CI Status Information — Change the CI status to reflect the CI unavailability. Examples of status include Down and In Repair.
    • Relationships — View or relate incidents, infrastructure changes, and problem investigations. This tab is available only if you have Incident Management, BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management, or Problem Management.

    • Financials — View, create, and track outage costs related to the CI unavailability. For information about adding costs, see Working with costs.

      Important

      You must save the CI Unavailability record before you can create relationships and costs.

    • References — View the incident or change IDs that might have created the unavailability record. This tab is available only if you have Incident Managementor BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management.
11. Click Save.