Assigning and reassigning change requests

When BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management is configured, the application administrator can determine to whom the change request is to be assigned based on a combination of field values, such as the change location, operational categorization, and product categorization. Changes can be assigned to an individual or a support group. For example, all change requests that are categorized as hardware issues might be assigned to the IT Support Hardware group.

There are different roles within the assignment process, for example, the change manager and change coordinator. The change manager typically oversees the overall change process, but the change coordinator plans and coordinates the efforts. This topic focuses on the change assignment from the perspective of the change coordinator. But there is potentially a great deal of overlap in responsibility between the change manager and the change coordinator.

Change requests can be assigned manually or automatically. If an assignment definition has not been done, you must assign the change manually. For more information, see Automatically assigning change requests. Responsibilities for change coordinators include both assigning, and accepting change requests. You must make sure that the assignment is correct and accept the change request. If you cannot accept or resolve an assigned change request, you or your manager can reassign the change request to another change coordinator. If the change request was categorized incorrectly, you can also reassign it. For more information, see Reassigning change requests.

Change Management can automatically assign change requests when they are defined. The assignment is based on the categorization of the change request. You can view information about who is assigned to the change request on the Infrastructure Change form. You can view the change coordinator and change manager directly from the Infrastructure Change form.

The application administrator configures to whom the change requests are assigned. Assignment is configured based on criteria such as the change request's categorization. For example, all change requests that are categorized as hardware issues might be assigned to the Support-Hardware group. The criteria of the change request together with the application administrator's configuration determines to whom each change request is assigned.

For additional information, you can view the BMC Communities blog on Getting started with change user assignment. 

To assign a change request

A change must be assigned to a change coordinator or a Change Management support group. However, the change manager is typically responsible for the overall change process.

1. Open the change request.
   Certain fields are automatically filled based on the default configuration and requester information in the change request. For example, the Change Manager field already has an assignment.
2. To assign a change coordinator, select the appropriate option:
   • Change Coordinator Group—Provides a list of coordinator groups. Select the group of the change coordinator you want to assign the change to.
     In Mid Tier or Smart IT the field is Coordinator Group.
     Groups that have at least one user with the Infrastructure Change Coordinator or Infrastructure Change Manager functional role are listed for selection.
   • Change Coordinator—Provides a list of users in the selected coordinator group with the functional role of an Infrastructure Change Coordinator. Select the appropriate change coordinator from this list.
3. To assign a change manager, select the appropriate option:
   • Change Manager Group—Provides a list of groups where at least one member has the Infrastructure Change Manager functional role. Select the Change Manager Group to which you want to assign the change. In Mid Tier the field is Manager Group. In Smart IT the field is Manager Support Group.
   • Change Manager—Provides a list of users with the functional role of an Infrastructure Change Manager in the selected Manager Group. Select the appropriate change manager from this list.
   • Auto Assign—Automatically assigns the request based on predefined mapping. Use this option by clicking the auto assign icon, if no change coordinator is assigned to the request.
4. Save the change request.
   The change manager and the change coordinator are automatically notified of their assignments.

To automatically assign a change request

In Mid Tier, You can automatically assign a change request by using the Auto Assign option.

In the Work Detail tab, click the auto assign icon of the Manager Group field.

Assigning the change coordinator by using Auto Assign uses the requester's information, the Change Location information, and the Operational and Product Categorization information about the form to determine an assignment match.

These assignments are based on routing information stored in the CFG:Assignment form. The CFG:Assignment form assigns the groups and then Auto Assign assigns the individual. For more information, see the Automatic request assignment.

To reassign a change request yourself

You or your manager can reassign the change request to another change coordinator. Click Assign to me to assign the change request to yourself.

1. Open the change request in the Change form.

2. On the Change form, select the Coordinator Group and Change Coordinator to whom to reassign the change request. On the Work Detail tab, select a Manager Group and Change Manager.

   Important

   If the change request is in the Planning in Progress stage, you must be the change manager or have change manager permissions to reassign the change.

3. Click Save. 
   The change manager or change coordinator is notified of the reassigned change request.

Additional ticket assignment scenarios

The following scenarios describe how ticket assignment works in different situations:

• If you belong to a single support group, when you click the Assign to me link, the ticket is assigned to you without opening the Update Assignment pane. 
• If you belong to multiple support groups, when you click the Assign to me link, the Update Assignment pane is displayed in the ticket profile. In this pane, by default the Assign to me check box is selected, and your name is specified in the Search box. The system searches for the support groups to which you belong to across all support companies, support organizations, and support groups, which you can refine. You can then select and save a search result.
• If you and the current assignee of the ticket belong to the same support group, when you click the Assign to me link, even if you belong to multiple support groups, the ticket is directly assigned to you for the same support group without opening the Update Assignment pane.
• In Progressive Web Apps screens for work order and incidents, if you belong to multiple support groups, when you click the Assign to me link:
  • If you have selected a support group and are a member of the group, the support group details are added. 
  • If you have selected a support group and are not a member of that support group, the default support group that has assignment availability set as Yes is added. 
  • If you have selected a support group and are not a member of that support group, and the default support group has the assignment availability set as No, the first matching support group details are added.
  • If you have selected a support group and that support group is not found, an error is displayed.
  • If you have not selected a support group, the application first checks for the default support group. If the default support group is found, the group details are added. If the default group is not found, the first matching support group details are added. If a support group is not found, an error is displayed.

• Some ticket types such as change requests, release tickets, and problem investigation tickets support multiple functional roles such as Change Coordinator, Change Manager, Work order Assignee, Work order Manager, Release Coordinator, and Problem Coordinator. If you have the functional role specified in these ticket types and belong to the support group to which the ticket is assigned, you can assign the ticket to yourself. For example, if you are a change coordinator for three support groups, on the change request profile, when you click the Assign to me link, the Update Assignment pane is displayed. You must select one out of the three support groups.
• If you are not part of the support group to which the ticket is assigned, the Edit option in the Assignment section of the ticket profile is not available, and you cannot assign the ticket to yourself.
• When you create a ticket, even if you are not part of the support group with the specific functional role, the Assign to me link is available. In such cases, you can assign the ticket to an appropriate user.
• In the Update Assignment pane, when you click the Delete option to clear your name from the search box, the Assign to me check box is automatically cleared. You can assign the ticket to an appropriate group or user.

The following table contains additional scenarios of ticket assignment: