Guide to SysAid Change Management and Problem Management

Guide to SysAid Change Management and Problem Management

Introduction

The following guide is designed to introduce administrators to the functionalities of the SysAid Change Management and Problem Management modules. To read a general overview of Change Management and Problem Management, please go here.

Terms

There are a number of terms that are used throughout Change Management and Problem Management that you must know before you start reading the documentation:

Change and problem templates 

One of the main ideas of Change Management and Problem Management is that all changes or problems of a given type follow the same process. For this reason, all changes and problems in SysAid are based upon templates. A template is a set workflow for a change or a problem. Any time a new change or problem is created, it's created from a template.

Action items 

Action items are where the main work of a change or problem is recorded, and each action item is composed of one or more fields where you can record this work. Action items are the contents of workflow tabs. See also FAQ item What are workflow tabs and action items?

Action item templates 

Each action item is based upon an action item template that controls which fields appear on the action item. When you are building a new change or problem template, you select your desired action items from the list of action item templates. SysAid comes with a list of predefined action item templates, and you can also create your own.

Workflow tabs 

The process flow on changes and problems is broken up into action items, and action items are in turn grouped by workflow tabs. A workflow tab is a collection of action items that are part of a change or problem workflow. Workflow tabs are denoted by a right-facing pointer on the right side of the tab. See also FAQ item What are workflow tabs and action items?

Non-workflow tabs 

Non-workflow tabs store the general details of a problem or change, such as the Details tab, or the History tab.

Sub types 

Change and problem sub types control which workflow tabs appear on a change or problem and which fields appear on non-workflow tabs of a change or problem.

Change Manager (and other permissions) 

There are three administrator permissions related to Change and Problem Management :

• Change Manager (Design Changes/Problems)
• Create Changes/Problems
• View other Admins' action items

Permissions are configured per administrator under Tools > User Management > Administrators. Please go here to read more about permissions. In addition, the next section of this guide discusses the roles that are based upon these permissions.

Resources

Example change

One good way to understand SysAid Change Management better is to see an example change from start to finish. Please go here to view such an example.

Location guide and FAQ

Change and Problem Management have many interconnected parts, and it can be helpful to have a map of where these parts are located. We have also created an FAQ to answer specific questions you might have about Change and Problem Management. You can find the location guide and the FAQ here.

User roles in SysAid Change Management and Problem Management

There are four types of users in Change and Problem Management :

Administrators who are Change Managers

Administrators with the Change Manager permission can create and modify change and problem templates, create and modify sub types, and can make changes to all action items, even those not assigned to them. They can also create new changes and problems.

Administrators who are not Change Managers, but can create changes and problems 

Administrators with the Create Changes/Problems permission can create new changes and problems, whether linked to incidents or stand-alone. These administrators may also edit non-workflow tabs for changes and problems. However, the only action items they can work on are those assigned to them.

Regular administrators

Regular administrators can only work on action items assigned to them. They have read-only access to non-workflow tabs on changes and problems, and they can only view action items assigned to them unless they have the View other admins' action items permission.

End users

End users access their action items via the End-User Portal. They may only view and work on action items assigned to them. When assigning an action item to an end-user, you may allow them to print out a .pdf file with all details for the change. This is useful for end-users who could be members of the CAB, such as the CFO. 

User permissions and their roles in SysAid

Using Change and Problem Management as a Regular Administrator

Any administrator can participate in a change or problem. For example, if you have a change template for a new employee hire, there could be an action item for setting up an Exchange account for the new employee. The administrator who sets up the Exchange account is not necessarily a Change Manager, but still participates in the change process.

If you are a regular administrator, you can see a list of all action items assigned to you from Service Desk > Help Desk > Service Record Actions. You will also receive an email notification if an action item assigned to you is activated. Click here for complete instructions for working on your action items.

Using Change and Problem Management as an Administrator Who Can Create Changes and Problems

Certain administrators are granted the necessary permissions to create new changes and problems. There are two ways to do this: from an incident, or directly. Administrators with these permissions are also responsible for closing changes and problems.

Creating a linked change or problem from an incident

Sometimes, a service record that comes in is clearly not a simple incident. Sometimes the requests are requests for change, and other times they are signs of a much larger problem (in these cases, you will probably have more than just one open incident). In either of these cases, you will not work on the incident directly-- rather, you will create a new linked change or problem.

To create a new linked change or problem:

1. Go to Service Desk > Help Desk > Incidents/All.
2. Click on the incident that is really a request for change or problem. This opens the SR form.
3. Click the Create a new linked item icon . This opens a popup where you can choose the type of linked item.
4. From the left drop-down list, select either "Change Template" or "Problem Template," as appropriate. For more information about creating other types of linked items, go here.
5. From the right drop-down list, select the appropriate change or problem template.
6. Click Create New. A new change or problem is created.
7. Fill out the necessary details for your new change or problem and click OK/Apply. Go here if you need more information about editing non-workflow tabs on a change/problem.

When you create a new change or problem in this manner, the incident is attached to the change/problem in the Links to other items field*. Furthermore, the status of the linked incident is immediately updated to the status specified under Settings > Service Desk > General.

The incident only appears in this list after you click OK/Apply.

Creating a change or problem directly

There could be cases where you need to create a new change or problem when there is no existing incident. In these cases, you can simply create the change/problem directly.

To create a change directly:

1. Go to Service Desk > Help Desk > Changes. Here you see a list of all existing changes.
2. Click . This opens a popup where you can choose a change template for the new change.
3. From the list, select the desired change template for your new change and click Create New. You are now looking at a new change.
4. Fill out the necessary details for your new change and click OK/Apply. You now have a new change. Go here if you need more information about editing non-workflow tabs on a change.

The procedure for creating problems is identical, but you go to Service Desk > Help Desk > Problems instead.

Closing changes and problems

When a change has been approved and implemented, it must then be closed. Similarly, a rejected change must also be closed, only before implementation. Problems must also be closed, whether resolved successfully or simply marked as unresolvable. Administrators who create changes and problems are also responsible for closing them.

To close a change or problem:

1. Go to Service Desk > Help Desk > Changes/Problems.
2. Use the filters to find the changes or problems that are ready to be closed. Click on the appropriate change or problem to view details.
3. Navigate to the Close tab.
4. Leave any necessary notes and then change the status to the appropriate closed status.
5. Click OK/Apply.

Using Change and Problem Management as a Change Manager

In SysAid, administrators who are change managers are responsible for building, implementing, and overseeing the full change and problem processes. Responsibilities of change managers include:

• Design change and problem sub types
• Design change and problem templates
• Update changes and problems on an ad hoc basis

Because change managers oversee all elements of change and problem processes, it's recommended that they read through all documentation for Change and Problem Management. The following help pages are related to Change and Problem Management. As a change manager, you should read through them in order so that you understand how to implement Change Management and Problem Management in SysAid according to your company's needs.

1. Understanding and creating sub types: SubTypeList.htm and SubTypeEdit.htm
2. Understanding and creating change templates: ChangeTemplateList.htm and EditChangeTemplate.htm
3. Understanding and creating problem templates: ProblemTemplateList.htm and EditProblemTemplate.htm
4. Creating notifications for Change and Problem Management: RFCNotification.htm and RFCNotificationEdit.htm
5. Relationships between changes/problems and linked incidents: ChangeProblemSettings.htm
6. Action items list: SubTabList.htm
7. Working on individual changes: ChangesList.htm and EditChangesList.htm
8. Working on individual problems: ProblemsList.htm and EditProblemsList.htm

Please also look at our Change Example and our Change/Problem FAQ.

Setting up Change Management and Problem Management correctly within SysAid is very important. If you have any questions or are not able to set up a process exactly as you like, please contact SysAid support and we'll be happy to provide you with the assistance you need.