Managing time segment availability based on business event or operational category

In much the same way, you can only define a single categorization based on all its attributes. Use a descriptive title specifying what particular categorization you are looking at (for example, Calbro Services - Hardware). To save the categorization, you must also enter the Company and Category 1 fields.

If you define a categorization that has the Company (Calbro Services) and Category 1 (Hardware) attributes, you cannot define another categorization with the same Company (Calbro Services) and Category 1 (Hardware) attributes. You can define another entity where the Company is Calbro Services, Region is North, and Category 1 is Hardware. Optionally you might define a categorization where Company is Calbro Services and Category 1 is Upgrade software. You can define any attribute as long as no other categorization exists where all the attributes are an exact match of another categorization. The purpose is to prevent the creation of duplicate categorizations.

To create and register a time segment for a business event or an operational category

1. Open the change request.
2. On the Change form, select Functions > Time Segments > Configuration Item (CI).
3. Click one of the following options:
   • Business Event
   • Op. Category Location
4. In the resulting dialog box, click New.
   Depending on what you selected in the navigation pane, the Search Business Event/Location Definition dialog box or Search Operational Categorization/Location Definition dialog box is displayed.
5. Enter the minimum information required to define a unique time segment for the business event or categorization.
   For example, define a time segment with a title of "Holiday Shut Down" and Calbro Services as the company.
6. Click Save.
   The Registration for Shared Time Segment window is displayed.
7. Click Add.
8. In the Description field on the Business Time Segment dialog box, enter a description for the time segment.
9. In the Availability field, block out periods of time as follows:
   • Select Available to define a time segment open for normal use (for example, routine scheduled maintenance).
   • Select Unavailable to define a time segment that is not available for any other use (for example, a CI outage when you shut down a server to add more memory).
10. In the Level field, select a level of 10 or higher.
    Change Management activities start with a default level of 10, but you can change this level to a number from 11 through 1000. Level 1 is Workday activities and Level 2 is Holiday activities.
    If the schedules for two activities conflict, the event with the highest number takes priority. For more information, see Scheduling a time segment  in the Action Request System documentation.
11. In the Duration Type field, select One time (which generates a single occurrence of the time segment) or Recurring (which cannot span multiple days, but must be scheduled within a 24-hour period). If you select Recurring, you must specify the recurrence.

12. Enter the starting and ending dates and times for the duration of the time segment.

    Tip

    To define an all-day event, select 12:00:00 A.M. of the first day for the start time, and select 12:00:00 A.M. of the following day for the end time.

13. (Optional) For a one-day event, use the same start day and end day and then select End of Day.
    This action sets the End Time to 11:59:59 P.M. When the calculation is performed, the end of the day is considered the whole day, including the final second.
14. Click Save, and then click Finish.
15. Select Quick Action > View Calendar.
16. On the Change console, select Functions > View Calendar.
    The time segment is displayed in the Business Events in the Calendar.

To search for time segments

You can search for business time or operational time segments that have already been defined. You then can modify or delete them, as required.

1. Open the change request.
2. On the Change console, select Functions > Time Segments.
3. Click one of the following options:
   • Modify Business Event
   • Modify Op. Category Location
     Depending on what you select in the navigation pane, either the Search Business Event/Location Definition dialog box or the Search Operational Categorization/Location Definition dialog box is displayed. This forms works like a wizard. Use this form to search for and select a time segment.
4. Enter the search parameters to find a time segment.
5. Select a time segment from the results list and click Select.
6. In the Registration for Shared Time Segment dialog box, click Finish.

To view or remove time segments

After creating time segments for business events and operational categories, you can modify or remove time segments.

1. On the Change console, select Functions > Time Segments > Configuration Item (CI).
2. Click one of the following options:
   • Business Event
   • Op. Category Location
3. Enter the search parameters to find a time segment.
   For more information, see Searching for business time or operational time segments.
4. From the results list, select a time segment.
5. Click View to modify the time segment.
6. To remove time segments, select a time segment on the Registration for Shared Time Segment form and click Remove.
7. Close the form.
8. Click Finish.

To relate time segments

You have the option to relate different time segments.

1. On the Change console, select Functions > Time Segments.
2. Click one of the following options:
   • Business Event
   • Op. Category Location
3. Enter the search parameters to find a time segment.
4. Select a time segment from the results list.
5. On the Registration for Shared Time Segment form, select a time segment.
6. Click Search.
7. In the Search Time Segment dialog box, select as many time segments as required.
8. Click Relate.
9. Close the Search Time Segment dialog box.
10. Click Finish.

To search available times for change requests

The Schedule Assist tool helps you create schedules. You can search for available time segments that you can schedule a change request around. Your search takes into account the selected time segments tied to the change request's categorization. You can define time segments or use time segments around the associated CIs. Finally, you can include the associated CIs unavailable time segments to find a Scheduled Start or Scheduled End Date and Time for the change request.

In the Time Segment Analysis window, the items displayed in the Global Time Segments table are based on the following criteria:

• Start Search Date Range
• End Search Date Range

The table displays the Business Events and Operational Categorization Location time segments that match the Operational Categorization, the Change Location of the current change, and any items that are global. It also displays items that are an exact match of the Categorization and Location and those above it. For example, if the Location of the change request uses the following parameters, after determining the existence of any Location matches, the search would then match any business event records that match all four parameters or fewer. If a business event existed for Company = Calbro Services, this time segment would match also.

• Company = Calbro Services
• Region = West
• Site Group = California
• Site = Sunnyvale

The date range also influences which time segments are displayed. This criterion affects all the tables that display time segments. The table displays any items that intersect the Start Date and End Date search range. If the Start Date range is 3/1/08 and the End Date Range is 3/15/08, examples of what it might include are the following business time segments:

• Business time segment 1/1/08 to 3/8/08
• Business time segment 3/10/08 to 3/31/08
• Business time segment 1/1/08 to 7/1/08

For example, if you create a normal change request to upgrade the application server, the change manager relates the application service CI to the change request. You then use the Schedule Assist tool to determine the next available window to schedule this change request. You indicate the potential start and end dates, that the Unavailability times at Level 20 should be used, and that the window needs to be scheduled for 1 hour. When you click Find Next Avail Time, the next available time is displayed, given those criteria. After you locate an available time, you can schedule that time segment to block out that time, so it is no longer available for the next change request.

1. Open a change request.
2. On the Change Form, to search for available times and ensure that you enter the Change Location information.
3. Click the Categorization tab. 
   Make sure that you enter the Operational Category information and click Save.
4. Click the Date/System tab.

5. Click the  icon.
   Use the Time Segment Analysis window that is displayed to analyze the time segments and search for available times. The following fields are available:

   Field	Description
   Start Search Date Range	Set by default to the current date.
   End Search Date Range	Set by default to the current date plus 30 days. Use these dates to filter the information in the table fields.
   Global Time Segments	Displays all time segments tied to the change. By default, all Time Segments are selected.
   Associated CI's	Displays a list of the CIs tied to the change that have an entity tied to CI.
   CI's Available/Unavailable Times	Displays available or unavailable times tied to the selected CI. If one CI is selected from the Associated CIs table and you click =>, only the Time segment tied to that CI is displayed. For each additional CI selected on the Associated CIs table, all the associated time segments to each of the selected CIs are displayed when you click =>. If you select Available times as a type, the Use Available button is enabled. Clicking Use Available fills the Available Start Date/Time+ and Available End Date/Time+ fields from the selected record. If more than one record is selected, only the first selected record is used to fill the fields. If more than one CI is selected when you click Use Available, only the first selected record is used. If there are unavailable times, all times that are selected from the unavailable table, plus the selected global blackouts on the top, plus the Duration and Level fields are used in the calculation when you use the Find Next Avail Time button or the Create Next Free Time button (except for those times defined by using the Schedule Time Segment button).
   Duration	Defines the length and level of the time segment. For example, you can define a level 10 time segment of 2 hours.
   Available Start Date/Time+	Displays the start date and time of available time segment.
   Find Next Avail Time	Factors in the duration you specified and returns the next available time. The time segment is then entered into the Available Start Date/Time+ and Available End Date/Time+ fields. If you press Enter in the Available Start Date/Time+ field, the duration is added to the Available Start Date/Time+ field and the Available End Date/Time fields. You can manually set the TS Start Date/Time+ field to a specific date or time to give a new Start Date to find the next available time segment.
   Schedule Time Segment	Generates the next available time segment based on all the selected time segments in the tables on the Time Segment Analysis form. You can then can associate it to a particular CI that is tied to the change request. Time segments that were created by using this button are not included in the calculation with the Create Next Free Time button or the Find Next Avail Time button. Because the next free time was generated for a particular change request, the time that was set for the current change is not blocked out.
   Next	Goes to the next page of the form.
   Close	Closes the window without returning the information to the change request.

6. In the Time Segment Analysis window, enter information to define the time segments needed for the CIs.
   This setting enables you to define new time segments for CIs based on selected time segments and unavailable times of other CIs. In Change Management, you can only define time segments with a duration type of One Time.
   After you define the time segments, the change coordinator or the change manager can schedule the change request based on the selected unavailable items or based on an Available schedule.
7. Click Find Next Available Time.
   Based on all the selected time segments in the tables on the Time Segment Analysis form, the time segment is entered into the Available Start Date/Time+ and Available End Date/Time+ fields.
8. Click Schedule Time Segment.
9. On the Associate Time Segment to CIs dialog box, follow the steps below to associate CIs to time segments:
   1. Select the CI to which you want to associate the time segment.
   2. Enter a description of the time segment.
      If your server is in a different time zone than the client, make sure you include this information in your description. For more information, see Registering-time-segments-in-Change-Management.
   3. Click Create Time Segment.
   4. Close the dialog box.
      The time segment is generated and associated to the CI.
      The actual date and time might not be exactly what you specified, if the same time segment has been selected. If so, the first available time is used for the specified CIs. This functionality is similar to a calendar system. If you try to reserve a conference room, and you do not book it immediately, someone might take the room before you book it.

10. Click Next.
    The Time Segment Analysis window helps the support person pick a scheduled start date and end date of the change request. From looking at the time segments, you can try to plan your change around the specified time segment.
    The Time Segment Analysis window is displayed again, to enable your schedule dates. The scheduled start date and end date of the change request does not have to match the unavailable time segments. If you have a time segment from 1/30/06 from 2:00 p.m. to 3:00 P.M., your scheduled change does not have to be 1/30/06 from 2:00 P.M. to 3:00 P.M. The actual change process can be much longer. Your scheduled change might go from 1/25/06 8:00 A.M. to 2/2/06 8:00 A.M. You might need to perform additional duties to prepare for the change and then allot additional time afterwards to verify that the change was successful. 
    
    
    
    The CI's Available/Unavailable Time table displays all time segments associated to all the CIs. 
    
    The following fields are available to set the Schedule Start and Scheduled End Date/Time of the change request:

    Field	Description
    Start Search Date Range	Set by default to the current date.
    End Search Date Range	Set by default to current date plus 30 days. Use these dates to filter what is displayed in the table fields.
    Global Time Segments	Displays all the time segments for the change request.
    CI's Available/Unavailable Times	Displays available or unavailable times that are tied to the selected CI. If you select Available in the Type field, you can use one of the Available times to set the scheduled start and end dates. If you select Unavailable, you can manually enter a date, or use the date based on the information about the Available times displayed for the global time segments.
    Use Available	If you select Available times as a type, the Use Available button is enabled. Clicking Use Available fills the Available Start Date/Time+ and Available End Date/Time+ fields from the selected record. If more than one record is selected, only the first selected record is used to fill the fields. If more than one CI is selected when you click Use Available, only the first selected record is used.
    Scheduled Start Date/Time	Enables you select a start date and time.
    Scheduled End Date/Time	Enables you to select an end date and time.
    Previous	Goes to the previous page of the form.
    Next	Returns the Schedule Start Date/Time+ and Scheduled End Date/Time+ values back to the change request.
    Close	Closes the window without returning the information to the change request.

11. Enter the scheduled start date and end date.
12. Click Next.
    The change request is displayed, with the time segment values.
13. Save the change request.