Configuring ticket review

To review tickets in Smart IT, the system administrators must configure review settings in BMC Helix ITSM. This topic covers the configuration settings for reviewing change requests, release tickets, and knowledge articles.

The following review processes are supported for change request, release tickets, and knowledge articles:

Before you begin

You must ensure that the following preconditions are met.

• Smart IT users who are going to be approvers are onboarded in Smart IT.
• Lifecycles of change request, release, and knowledge articles are configured.

To configure the status for approval phases

1. On the IT Home page go to Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console > Custom Configuration.
2. On the Custom Configuration tab, select Foundations > Advanced Options > Approval Process Configuration.

3. On the Approval Process Configuration window, specify the form name and company, and click Search.

   Ticket type	Form name
   Change request	CHG:Infrastructure Change
   Release	RMS:Release
   Knowledge article	RKM:KnowledgeArticleManager

   The Review phase details are displayed in the search result.

4. Select a phase for example, Review phase of a change request.

   Note

    Ensure that its status is set to Enabled, and on the Approval Process tab, the Impacts Approval Status field is set to Yes.

5. On the Status Flow tab, under Begin specify the status that triggers the approval. When the change request is moved to this status, the approval process begins.
   If the ticket is kept on hold, it remains in the status that triggered the review process.
6. Under Approved, specify the next status to which the change request is moved, if it is approved.
7. Under Reject, specify the status to which the change request is moved, if it is rejected.
8. Under No Approvers, specify the status to which the change request is moved, if there are no approvers.
9. Save the settings.

To map approvers to review phases

You can configure individual approvers and support group approvers for reviewing change requests, release tickets, and knowledge articles from the Approval Mapping form. In case of support group approvers, only those members of the support group who have the approver functional role can review tickets. 

1. On the Custom Configuration tab, select Change Management > Approval > Approval Mappings.
2. Click New Search.
3. From the Approval Indicator drop down, select the ticket type Change.
4. Select the phase name for example, Review.
5. To map individual approvers:
   1. In the Approval For drop down, select Individual.
   2. Specify the first name, last name, approver ID.
6. To map group approvers:
   1. In the Approval For drop down, select Group.
   2. Specify the support company, organization, and group name in appropriate fields.
7. Specify the Assignment Availability as Yes.

When the change request ticket is in the specified phase, the selected individual or groups are mapped as the approver.

You can map multiple approvers for a ticket when it is in a specific phase. You can also have multiple approvers for each review phase of the ticket.

To configure approvers

You must configure individual and group approvers on the CTM:People form in BMC Helix ITSM.

To configure primary approvers

1. On the CTM:People form, search for the person you want to configure as the reviewer.
2. On the Support Group tab select Support Group Functional Role tab and select the support group.
3. Click the Update Support Group and Role button.
4. On the Update Support Group Memberships and Role window, select that particular group and give the approver functional role to the selected person.

To configure alternate approvers

1. On the CTM:People form, search for the person you want to configure as the alternate reviewer.
2. On the  Alternate Approver tab, click the Update Alternate Approver button. 
3. On the Alternate Approvers window, specify the company, first and last name of the alternate approver, specify the start and end date for the alternate approver to review tickets on your behalf.
4. Click Add.

To configure ad-hoc approvers

In Smart IT, when a change request or release ticket is in review, approvers for that ticket can add individual and support groups as ad-hoc approvers. Ad hoc approvers can only be added to an active approval process where there are still pending approvals. This functionality helps to ensure that all relevant signatures are obtained. The ability to add ad hoc approvers to a change request is limited to:

• Any user with Infrastructure Change User permissions that belongs to the assigned Change Coordinator or Change Manager support group

• Any user with Infrastructure Change Master permissions

• Any approver (or alternate approver) on the change request who has permission to view the change request

You can select individual approvers who have an active People record with a login ID. The user does not need to be a member of a support group or have the Infrastructure Change Approver functional role to be added as an approver. For group approvers, at least one member of the group must be a member of a support group that is assigned to review the ticket and have the Infrastructure Change Approver functional role.

To configure individual as ad-hoc approver, follow these steps in Smart IT:

1. On the Open tab of the Approval list pane, click +Add Approver > Add Approver.
2. Search for the approver, and add the approver.
3. Click Close.

To configure mandatory and optional approvers

In AR System, Approval Server, open the phase form. On the Basic tab, you can select One must sign or All must sign in the If Multiple Approvers drop down. For example, you have mapped 5 approvers for a change request when it is in review. If you select One must sign, then any one of the five approvers can review the ticket. If it is set to All must sign, the all 5 approvers must review the ticket.
 

On the AR System - Approval Server Role Definition form, in the If Multiple Approvers drop down you must specify One must sign or All must sign for the reviewers you have configured.

To configure password authentication for the review phase

You can configure password authentication to authenticate reviewers on the approval banner in Smart IT. You can set password authentication as per review phases, and if required, you can skip password authentication for a particular review phase. Reviewers must use their Smart IT password to authenticate themselves.

1. In BMC Helix ITSM, on the Process Definition form, on the Basic tab, specify the following details:
   
   • Review process
   • Form name
   • Validate Approvers as Yes
   • Require Password as Yes
2. To reflect this update, you can either wait for a maximum 30 minutes, or you can manually clear the Smart ITcache. For more details, see Clearing-the-Smart-IT-cache.

Where to go from here

Configuring-Smart-IT-on-screen-fields

Configuring-columns-in-ticket-console