Work order status transitions

The status of a work order indicates the current position of the record in its life cycle. You can configure the application to send out notifications during status transitions to alert users that certain events have occurred.

Related topics

Setting-up-Work-Order-Management

Managing-work-orders

The following table describes the status transitions in the life cycle of work orders:

Status	Description
Assigned	Initial status, or user saves a draft of the work order.
Pending	The work order assignee or Request Manager needs additional information. Indicates whether an error occurred for some reason, for example, inaccurate data. Service request is created with an error. No work order is created.
Waiting Approval	If work order approvals have been enabled, this status indicates that the work order has been submitted and is pending for approval. Work order approvals are not enabled by default.
Planning	A work order is created, but no work has started.
In Progress	The work order is being implemented.
Completed	When the last task on a work order is closed, the work order's status is automatically set to Completed. If the statuses for all the tasks are set to Closed with a reason as Successful, the work order is Completed with a reason as Successful. If the status of one of the tasks is not set to Closed with a reason as Successful, the work order status is set to Completed with a reason as Successful with Issues.
Rejected	If work order approvals have been enabled, this status indicates that the approver has rejected the work order.
Cancelled	The service request associated with this work order iscancelled, or the work order is cancelled.
Closed	The following descriptions can apply: Closed without any issues Closed but with some issues Closed by the system after the service request was retained in Completed status for 15 days Users with one of the following permissions can modify a closed work order: Work Order Submitter Work Order User Work Order Master

Custom status transitions

The Work Order Status Relationships (WOI:StatusRelationships) form contains one record for each possible status transition. You can customize the status transition rules by using this form as an SRM Administrator.

To prevent the transition from one status to another, you must set the status of the transition rule to Enabled. To allow the transition from one status to another, you must set the status of the transition rule to Offline.

Important

The Work Order Status Relationships form is a fulfillment form. Therefore, the records are available only in English, and no localized versions are currently available.
Several work order status values do not have status transitions configured as by default (for example, Completed, Closed, Rejected, or Cancelled).

Work order lifecycle examples

The following diagrams show examples of status transitions in the work order life cycle.

The Waiting Approval and Rejected statuses shown in the following examples are provided with the product, but no approval process is enabled out of the box. If necessary, you can create your own custom approval process and integrate it with the Work Order Management application.

The following example illustrates status transitions for the Assigned, Pending, and Waiting Approval states.

The following example illustrates status transitions for the Planning and In Progress states.

Excluded status transitions

The following table describes transitions that are excluded in the work order life cycle. That is, the work order cannot move from the status in the left-hand column to the corresponding status or statuses in the right-hand column.

Work order status	Excluded status transition(s)
Assigned	Closed
Pending	Assigned Closed
Waiting Approval	Assigned Closed
Planning	Assigned Waiting Approval Closed
In Progress	Assigned Waiting Approval Planning Closed
Completed	Assigned Pending Waiting Approval Planning In Progress Rejected Cancelled
Rejected	Assigned Pending Waiting Approval Planning In Progress Completed Cancelled Closed
Cancelled	Assigned Pending Waiting Approval Planning In Progress Completed Rejected Closed
Closed	Assigned Pending Waiting Approval Planning In Progress Completed Rejected Cancelled

If a service request consists of a single work order, moving the work order from a status of Completed back to In Progress does not result in the status of the request also being reset to In Progress. Therefore when the work order's status progresses, errors result. For information about updating status reasons, see Workflow change guidelines in BMC Helix ITSM documentation.

Changing work order status in BMC Helix ITSM

The status change shows what stage the work order is at in its lifecycle. By updating this field when you: begin to work on a work order, resolve a work order, and so on, you ensure that the system keeps the applicable Service Level Agreements (SLAs) up-to-date (you can look at the SLA Progress Bar at the top of the work order to see the current status of the SLA). For example, some SLAs can be configured to stop the clock if you change the Status to Pending, while with other SLAs, the clock continues to run until you change the status to Resolved or Closed.

In addition to keep the SLAs up-to-date, updating the status is an important part of keeping the customer informed about what is happening with the request and for keeping your personal and group service statistics current. For example, if a work order is cancelled, it's important to move the status to Cancelled so that the system does continue to include it in your personal and group statistics and to ensure that the applicable SLA does not appear to be breached.

Statuses for known errors

The known error status has the following values and transitions:

Status	Description
Assigned	This status is set by default when you create a new known error. You can assign a known error to a support group or individual.
Scheduled For Correction	Set this status when a known error is pending due to an infrastructure change or has a dependency on a vendor. Also, set the required status reason: Pending Infrastructure Change Pending Third Party Vendor
Assigned to Vendor	Set this status when you want the support of a third-party vendor to resolve a known error.
No Action Planned	Set this status when you cannot address the known error. Also, set the required status reason: Funding Not available—The known error is on hold due to unavailability of funds.
Corrected	Set this status when you have corrected a known error, but it needs to be reviewed. Also, set the required status reason: Pending PIR—The known error has been corrected, and it is ready for review.
Closed	Set this status when you want to close a known error.
Cancelled	Set this status when a known error is not valid anymore or if it is a duplicate of a current investigation. Also, set an appropriate status reason: Duplicate No Longer Applicable