Initiating and planning a release

As a service desk agent, you can create and manage release tickets in Smart IT. Although you can create and edit release tickets only on the universal client (UC) platform, you can access and view them on the UC, Apple iOS, and Google Android devices. When creating release tickets, you can relate existing change requests, and add activities and tasks to the release. On the UC platform, you can edit release tickets, and create related change requests in the release plan.

Before you begin

You must ensure that you meet the following requirements:

You must have the following permissions to create, view, and edit release tickets:
To
You must have
Create release
Release user or release master permission
View release
Release viewer, release user, or release master permission
Edit release
Release user or release master permission
If a release template has change request templates related to it, you must have infrastructure change user, infrastructure change submitter, or infrastructure change master permission to access and use the release template.

To	You must have
Create release	Release user or release master permission
View release	Release viewer, release user, or release master permission
Edit release	Release user or release master permission

To view activity tickets and task tickets that are related to release tickets, you must have release viewer, release user, or release master permission.
Release masters can edit any release ticket.
Release users can edit release tickets that they submitted, and if they belong to the same support group as the release coordinator of the ticket.

Important

Optionally, you can create change requests to relate them with the release plan.
You cannot print release tickets or add them to your favorites list.
You cannot configure the release view in Smart IT.

To initiate a release

You can initiate a release by creating release tickets from scratch or by using release templates.

To create release tickets by using templates, follow these steps:

On the Smart IT menu bar, select Create New > Release.
The Create Release page is displayed.
In the Use a Template section, select the company for which you are creating the release ticket.
If you have created release tickets for the same company by using release templates and have not cleared the browser cache, the most recently used release templates created for that company are displayed.
Select a template and click Continue.
- On the Basics tab, specify details such as release description, categories, scheduled start and end dates, release location, and so on. Some fields are populated automatically from the template.
- On the Release Plan tab, you can add multiple milestones, relate existing change requests, and create activities for each milestone.
- On the Risks tab, you can manually select a risk level, or apply the highest risk of the change request that you relate with the release ticket on the release plan.
- On the Documents tab, to attach supporting documents, select the type of document that you want to attach, and then attach the file.
  You can attach three files to a document type at one time.
Click Submit Release.
The release ticket is created. The coordinator of the release gets an update about the release ticket that you created.

Important

You cannot save changes when you try to:

Create a release ticket that has multiple product categories with the same product name but different manufacturers.
Edit a release ticket and add product categories with the same product name but different manufacturers.

To save the release ticket, ensure that the product names are unique or append the manufacturer name to the product name.

To add activities and tasks to the release plan

Every release is executed according to milestones. Smart IT supports the following milestones: Initiate, Planning, Build, Testing, Deployment, and Close down.

To achieve these milestones, work is divided into activities as well as change requests. You can add multiple activities and change requests to each milestone. To complete activities, you create tasks and relate them to the activities. You can move a release to the next milestone even if the change requests and activities in that milestone are not completed. However, you cannot close the milestone until all the associated change requests and activities are completed. When all the activities and tasks for a milestone are complete, that milestone is also considered complete. However, you cannot close the release ticket until all the associated change requests and activities for all milestones are complete.

The following image shows how a release coordinator can divide the work into activities and change requests for each milestone. The change coordinator can then add tasks to each activity.

Milestones in a release.png

To create activities

On the Release Plan tab, select the milestone to which you want to add the activity.
Click + Create Activity to create and relate activities to the selected milestone.
Select one of the following options to create activity:
- From Template: On the Select Template pane, search and select a template, and save the activity.
- Blank: On the Create Activity for Release page, specify activity details and save the activity.
The activity is created and added to the release plan.

To create tasks

On the Release plan tab, open the activity to which you want to add the task.
Go to the Tasks section of the activity, and click Add Task.
Select one of the following options to create tasks:
- From Template: On the Select Task Template pane, select the type of template, the activity type, and then select an appropriate template and save the task.
- From Scratch: Add task details and save the task.
The task is created according to the values that you specified, and added to the activity.

To set the risk level

You can select one of the following options to set the risk of release tickets:

Select risk level manually: Select a risk level ranging from 1 to 5.
Calculate from the highest risk Change Request: The highest risk of the change request that you relate in the release plan is applied to the release ticket. You must edit the Risks section and select the Calculate from the highest risk Change Request option for the system to increment the risk level when you relate change requests with the highest risk level. The following example explains how this option works.

Examples

When creating a release ticket, you relate three change requests in the Release Plan tab: CR1, CR2, and CR3. The risk level of CR1 is 1, CR2 is 2, and CR3 is 3. On the Risks tab, you select Calculate from the highest risk Change Request option. The system applies risk level 3, the highest risk among the three change requests, to the release.

Later, you edit the release and relate two more change requests in the Release Plan tab: CR4 and CR5. The risk level of CR4 is 3, and CR5 is 4. You edit the Risks section, and select the Calculate from the highest risk Change Request option for the system to apply risk level 4 as the highest risk of the release.

You edit the same release ticket. On the Release Plan tab, you select + Create > Change Request and create a related change request: CR6 and set its risk to 5. You edit the Risks section and select the Calculate from the highest risk Change Request option for the system to apply risk level 5 as the highest risk of the release.

In another scenario, you select Calculate from the highest risk Change Request option, but you do not relate any change request to the release. Because there is no change request from which to retrieve a risk level, the system applies the risk level that is set on the Risk tab. By default, the risk level is set to Risk Level 1. If you have earlier changed it to some other level, the system applies that risk level to the release ticket.