Creating templates for Release Management

A template is created for Company - Calbro Services, Support Organization - IT Support, and Support Group - Service Desk. Modify the access level of this template to the support organization level by removing the Support Group value. A message asking you to confirm the change is displayed. Click Yes to modify the access level. The access defined for any support groups under Company - Calbro Services, and Support Organization - IT Support is made inactive and a single access record is created, providing access to all the support groups in the selected support organization.

Simplify the process of creating release requests by creating release templates for release coordinators. You must be a release master, release config, or a release user with Support Group Admin permissions to create a release template. You can create templates for any company that you have access to.

A release master or release config can:

• Select any Support Group of the selected company as the Authoring Group, even if they do not belong to that group.
• Modify templates created for a company they have access to.

A release user can:

• Only select Support Groups of the selected company, for which the release user is a Support Group Admin, as the Authoring Group.
• Modify templates created for the support groups, for which the release user is a Support Group Admin. 

To configure classification settings

Specify values in a release template's Classification tab to add information to the corresponding Classification tab in the Release form.

The Classification tab is used to describe the release and display which products or services are affected by the release. The Impact, Urgency, and Risk Level values are required before a release can be submitted.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Template > Template, then click Open.
   The Release Template form is displayed.
3. In the Template Name field, enter a name for the template.
4. In the Status field, select an appropriate status level for this template.
5. Click the Classification tab.
   
   
6. In the Impact field, select an impact level for the release request (for example, 1-Extensive/Widespread).
7. In the Urgency field, select a level of urgency for the release request (for example, 1-Critical).
8. In the Priority field, select a priority according to the urgency of the release request (for example, Medium).
9. In the Risk Level field, select a value. 
   Risk Level 5 is the highest risk and Risk Level 1 is the lowest.
10. In the Summary field, enter a brief description of the release request.
    This information is entered into the Summary field on the Release form.
11. In the Notes field, enter a detailed description of the release request.
12. In the Release Type field, select an area for the release request (for example, Delta).
13. In the Service field, select a business service CI. 
    You can also enter the name of the service. After you enter the first three characters, a list of matching services are displayed, from which you can select the required service.
    After you select a business service CI, the product categorization from the business service CI is copied to the Product Categorization Selection fields of the release template (under the Categorization tab). You can overwrite this data. In addition, after you save the release template, an association is created between the business service CI and the release template. You can change or delete the business service CI, and you can manually remove the association from the Relationships table.
14. In the Deployment type field, select the deployment type for the release request:
    • Phased—Stage the deployment of the release to a part of the user base. The operation is repeated for subsequent parts of the user base through a scheduled rollout plan. For example, the release coordinator identifies a set of changes that must be done at the same time such as all changes for Building 1 at Phase 1 and all changes for Building 2 at Phase 2. 
      Use phased deployments when new services are introduced into a store environment in manageable phases (such as retail organizations).
    • Non-Phased—All changes or activities are deployed at the same time in one operation with no restrictions (for example, a company-wide rollout of new servers). 
      Use non-phased deployments when introducing an application change. The consistency of service across the organization is important.
15. In the Company field, select the name of the company for this release request.
16. In the Region field, select the area of the company.
17. In the Site Group field, select the city of the company.
18. In the Site field, select the location of the company for this release request.
19. Click Save.

To configure categorization/process settings

The values that you configure in a release template's Categorization tab are used to add information to the operational and product categorization sections of the Classification tab in the Release form. Operational categorization is based on a three-tier hierarchy defined in the Operational Catalog Setup form. The Operational Categorization Selection settings add information to the operational categorization fields in the Classification tab of the Release form. Product categorization is based on a five-tier hierarchy defined in your Product Catalog Setup form. The Product Categorization Selection settings add information to the product categorization fields in the Classification tab of the Release form.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Template > Template, then click Open. 
3. On the Release Template form, click the Categorization tab.
4. Select a Business Justification to indicate the business reason for implementing the release request (for example, Corporate Strategic).
   Business justification information is important when the request goes through the approval process. Use this information to make sure that funding is available to implement the release.
5. Select the appropriate operational categorizations for Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3.
   Configure the three-tier hierarchy defined in your operational catalog.
6. Select the appropriate product categorizations for Tier 1, Tier 2, Tier 3, Product Name, and Model/Version.
   Configure the five-tier hierarchy defined in your product catalog.
   If you do not see the appropriate product, continue to make selections in product categorization until you see the appropriate product.
7. Click Save.

To configure manifest settings

You can simplify the process of creating releases by configuring release templates that inherit change and activity templates as part of the release manifest. When a release template is applied to a release form, for each associated activity template or change template, a new activity request or change request is created in the manifest of the release form on the basis of the selected template.

Only members of the Authoring Group defined on this template can modify this entry.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Template > Template, then click Open. 
3. On the Release Template form, click the Manifest tab.
4. Add a change or activity template to the release template manifest:
   1. From the Request Type list at the bottom of the Manifest tab, select Infrastructure Change Template or Activity Template.
   2. Click Search.
   3. From the displayed list, click Select to add the template for your support group to the manifest.
      Each activity or change template is allocated an order in the sequence they are added.
5. Associate a milestone to the activity template.
   1. Select the activity template from the table.
   2. Select the milestone from the list to associate the activity template to that milestone. 
      When you use the Release Template and create an activity for a milestone, the associated activity templates are available.
   3. After you have completed the task of assigning the required milestones to the activity templates that you have added, set their order depending on the milestone they have been associated to. 
      To modify the order of a activity template, select the template and use the up and down arrow keys to increase or decrease the value of the order. For example, if you have added three activity templates (AT1, AT2 and AT3) that are associated with the Initiate, Planning and Implementation milestones (in that order), the order for AT1, AT2, and AT3 would be set to 1, 2, and 3. You can change this order as required.

6. Click Save.

   Important

   Save the Release template before you add change or activity templates to it.

To configure assignment settings

The values that you configure in a release template's Assignment tab are used to add information to the Release Coordinator fields in the Assignment tab of the Release form. Configure the support company, organization, group, and release coordinator to which the release request will be assigned.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Template > Template, then click Open. 
3. On the Release Template form, click the Assignment tab.
4. Specify the release coordinator settings as follows:
   1. In the Support Company field, select the company to which the release request is assigned.
   2. In the Support Organization field, select an organization.
   3. In the Support Group Name field, select a group.
   4. In the Release Coordinator field, select a coordinator.
5. Click Save.

To configure relationships settings

The values that you configure in a release template's Relationships tab are used to provide information for the Relationships tab in the Release form. To specify a relationship type, you must save the release template. When you finish defining the release template, open the Release Template form in a search mode and locate your release template. You can then configure the relationship settings.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Release Management > Template > Template, and then click Open. 
3. On the Release Template form, perform a search for the release template for which to create a relationship.
4. Click the Relationships tab.
5. In the Request Type field, select Configuration Item.
6. Click Search. 
7. On the CI Relationships Search window, enter the information in the search criteria tabs, then click Search.
   The matching results are displayed in the CIs table.
8. Select the appropriate CI.
9. In the Relationship Type field, select the type of relationship to associate with the release template (for example, Related to).
10. Click Relate.
    When you finish creating the configuration item, a message confirms that the new configuration item is related to the release template.
11. Repeat steps 8 through 10 for all the CIs to relate to the release template.
12. Close the CI Relationship Search form.
13. Click Save.

To configure groups that can use the template

The template authoring group specifies the group that can modify this template. If you have the Support Group Admin functional role or the release config or release master permissions, you can assign the template authoring group to any group.

Prerequisite

To modify the template, you must meet the following minimum requirements:

• Have release config or release master permissions, or have the release user permissions in addition to the release coordinator functional role.
• Be a member of the support group.

You can create a template that does not need to be associated up to the Support Group level. You can define the template by:

• Selecting Global in the Company field.
• Selecting only the Company or Company and Organization, and not selecting a Support Group.

Based on the level of access that you provide to the template, all the lower levels are given access to the template. For example, if you provide only Company level access, all Support Group Organizations and Support Groups defined for that company get access to the template. Any new organization or support group added to the selected Company or Organization automatically get access to the template.

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select ApplicationName > Template > Template, then click Open. 
3. On the application Template Selection form, click the Authoring Group tab.
4. Click Update.
   The first time you add an authoring group, select the authoring company, organization, and group on the Authoring Group tab and click Save.
5. On the Template Support Group Association dialog box, add or delete any support groups that you have permissions for. If you remove the group's association with the template, it no longer has privileges to use that template.
   
   1. Select the company, support organization, and support group, and then click Add, to add groups that can use this template.
   2. Select the support groups from the list of support groups, and then click Delete.
   3. After adding or modifying the required support groups, click Close and then click Save.
      The information is updated in the Groups that use this template table. If you provide only the company level access or only the support organization level access to a template, a user needs to be a member of at least one of the support groups of that company or support organization for accessing the template.
6. Add or delete any support groups that you have permissions for.
   If you remove the group's association with the template, it no longer has privileges to use that template.
7. Close the dialog box.

If you selected multiple criteria for the same access level, like multiple company names, or multiple organizations for the same company when creating a template, multiple records will be listed on the template selection dialog box for each value defined. For example, if you created a template for two Support Group Organizations of the same company, two records will be listed on the template selection dialog and one entry for the each Support Group organization selected for the company.

Modification of template access levels

You can modify the access level of an existing template to a level higher than the existing access level. When you change the the access level of the template, the system marks any existing access defined for lower access level as inactive and creates a single access record for it. You must make the higher level access inactive to be able to specify lower level access. For example, you must remove Company and Support Organization level access to add Support Group level access.

In case of Global company access, you must delete or make the access inactive to add lower level access.