This documentation supports the 22.1 version of BMC Helix ITSM.To view an earlier version, select the version from the Product version menu.

Administration change guidelines

Changes to administrative actions might cause changes to the structure of the production environment. Because of these structural changes, you must adopt a change control process and ensure that the changes are managed and tested before introducing them into the production environment.

Your change control process can ensure that:

  • certain areas are not configured on the production system.
  • mandatory rules are followed when users are working in the BMC Helix ITSM environment.

BMC CMDB class model changes

The BMC Helix CMDB interface enables an administrator to add new classes or attributes by changing the data that represents the data model structure of the application.

  • The data changes result in AR System forms being added or modified in the AR System server.
  • After making any data model changes, you must make the information available to the BMC Helix ITSM applications.
  • The changes can affect the applications, so do not make these changes directly on the production system. Use a change control system and manage the changes in the development environment.
  • Test all changes with BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management and the BMC Discovery processes to make sure that they have no impact on existing application or integrations.

BMC CMDB reconciliation rules changes

BMC Helix CMDB reconciliation uses data-driven rules that are set up by an administrator. They manage data flow from a provider of data (such as BMC Discovery), how it is combined with data from other data providers, and how it is published into the BMC Helix CMDB production dataset.

  • Changing reconciliation rules can affect how data from discovery sources or even manually entered data is put into the CMDB.
  • The changes can cause data to not populate the CMDB or to populate it incorrectly.
  • Because changing these rules can have an adverse impact on the business, make these changes only on the development server under change control.

BMC Service Level Management

The BMC Service Level Management application is used to manage service level agreements (SLAs). The creation of SLAs and service level targets causes workflow to be generated in the application and causes data to be collected and evaluated as part of the overall processing of the application.

  • Creating or updating an SLA or service level target can result in escalations and measurements occurring incorrectly, which can result in noncompliance.
  • Because the targets must be built appropriately and because of the impact on the production system if they are not and the potential performance impact of BMC Service Level Management adding workflow to the system, make the changes only in the development environment.

Software License Management

The Software License Management module in BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management defines the rules that ensure a business is in compliance with its license contracts. The process uses a rule-based engine to define how to:

  • Find software configuration items (CIs) in the BMC Helix CMDB.
  • Relate CIs to contracts and the rules for calculating whether the business is in compliance with its license agreements.

Software License Management contains the following functionality:

  • Defines the rules that the engine uses to do the connection and compliance checks.
  • Generates contracts and certificates to manage new licenses. 

Changes to the rules used for the connection and compliance checks can adversely affect the environment by producing inaccurate license counts. Make the changes only on a development system under change management control.

Changes to contracts and certificates for managing new licenses leverage existing rules, so you can make changes to them directly on the production system.

 

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