Release and Deployment Management Details

Release ID

This is a system-generated unique value assigned when the release is opened.

Phase

This is a system-generated field that specifies the name of the current phase of the change.

For a list of the phases, see Release and Deployment Management Workflow.

Status

The status of the release within the release phase. The status is either initial (the phase has started) or closed (the phase has ended)

Approval Status

This is a system-generated field that defines the global approval status for the change, not for a single approval. The system sets this field depending on current approvals and the approval type defined for the module.

These approval statuses are available out-of-box:

• Pending
• Approved
• Denied

Reason for Release

A code that indicates the primary reason for implementing the release.

Examples of reason codes are Incident/Problem Resolution and Business Requirement.

Assigned To

The name of the person the release is assigned to.

Release Type

This field indicated the type of release. The release types available out-of-box are:

• Major
• Minor
• Emergency

This is a required field.

Release Coordinator

The person responsible for coordinating the release implementation. Each Release Coordinator may belong to several assignment groups. Each group must have only one Release Coordinator.

Initiated By

The name of the user requesting the release.

This is a required field. This field includes a hover-over form that displays full name, telephone, and email address if available for the user requesting the release.

Alert Stage

This is a system-generated field that lists the current Alert Stage of this request. This field is updated automatically when alerts are processed against the release. Do not update it manually. The alerts are processed against a release by using the phase definition.

Planned Start

This field specifies the date and time that the work to implement the release should start.

Planned End

This field specifies the date and time that the work to implement the release should end.

Downtime Start

The date and time when the release is scheduled to begin. Scheduled downtime only needs to be filled when the service is down, while implementing the release.

Downtime End

The date and time when the release is scheduled to end. Scheduled downtime only needs to be filled when the service is down, while implementing the release.

Configuration Item(s) Down

If selected (set to true), indicates that the Configuration Items (CIs) are currently not operational and the downtime is scheduled. The fields Downtime Start and Downtime End are used along with the field Configuration Item(s) Down to indicate the scheduled time to bring the CI down. These fields are never required and should only be populated if you plan to bring down the CIs as part of the change. The interval selected applies to all the CIs of the change and cannot be specified by individual CI. When the change is closed, you may get the form confirming the outage times, and when you close the change, the CIs will be set as Up in Configuration Management.

Risk Assessment

Specifies a code that indicates the risk incurred with the implementation of the change. These risk assessments are available out-of-box:

• 0 - No Risk
• 1 - Low Risk
• 2 - Some Risk
• 3 - Moderate Risk
• 4 - High Risk
• 5 - Very High Risk

After a user selects this field, the release may require additional approvals based on the risk. The approval is based on the risk number in the assessment approval record.

Impact Assessment

This field specifies the impact the release has on the business. The impact and the urgency are used to calculate the priority.

These impacts are available out-of-box:

• 1 - Enterprise
• 2 - Site/Dept
• 3 - Multiple Users
• 4 - User

The out-of-box data is the same as Interaction Management, Problem Management, Incident Management, and Change Management.

This is a required field.

Urgency

The urgency indicates how pressing the release is for the organization. The urgency and the impact are used to calculate the priority. This field functions similarly to the same field for interaction, incident, problem, and change tickets. For more information, see Service Desk Interaction Management form details.

This is a required field.

Priority

This is a system-generated field using the urgency and impact of the release. This field functions similarly to the same field for interaction, incident, problem, and change tickets. For additional information, see Service Desk Interaction Management form details.

Policy / Regulation

This field is used to indicate if the release must follow specific policies or regulations.

Description

Provides a detailed description of the release. This is a required field.

Overall Assessment

A detailed description of the reasons to implement the release. It should be as detailed as possible.

Closure Code

The completion code indicates the way a release is closed.

VALID VALUES

• 1 - Successful
• 2 - Successful (with problems)
• 3 - Failed
• 4 - Rejected
• 5 - Withdrawn
• 6 - Cancelled

Closing Comments

This field contains comments about the status of the release when it is closed.

Associated CIs

The list of Configuration Items (CIs) affected by the release.

Release Information

The Release Information section records the Products being affected by the Release along with the Package Version of the release.

Backout Method

Provides a detailed method for backing out the release if there is a problem during the deployment phase. This is a required entry during the Plan and Design phase.

Approvals

The Current Approvals section provides an overview of the current approvals related to release and important information such as approval status, and approvers as well. This includes a list of groups or operators who must acknowledge or accept the risk, cost, and so on associated with the implementation of the release. Approvals give controlling authorities the ability to stop work and to control when certain work activities can proceed.

The data displayed includes the following information:

• Approval Type
• Approval Status
• # Approved
• # Denied
• # Pending

The Approval Log section provides an overview of past approvals related to the release as well as important information such as approval status and approvers. The data displayed includes the following information:

• Action
• Approver/Operator
• By
• Date/Time

The Pending Reviews section provides the name(s) of the groups or operator IDs that should review the release after it has been approved.

Tasks

Whenever a release is in a phase where the user can generate tasks, Service Manager allows user a quick view of some of the most important fields in the task in the Tasks section.

The data displayed includes the following information:

• Task No
• Status
• Approval Status
• Assigned To
• Description
• Category

Activities

The Activities section allows users to enter new updates for the record or view journal updates and historic activities for the record.

New Update

• New Update Type

  Specifies or categorizes the activity update; for example, communication with the customer.

• Visible to Customer?

  A check box that a user can select to make the update visible to a customer.

• New Update

  This field is used to enter notes to explain and describe updates made for the record. If Journaling is enabled, the text entered here displays in Journal Updates. If Activities is enabled, the text entered in this field displays as an activity record for the selected activity type.

  Note The System Administrator is responsible for enabling Journaling and Activities.

Journal Updates

Journal Updates shows text entered in the New Update field along with a timestamp for the update. This field displays information when Journaling is enabled.

Activity Type

To filter the list by the type of activity, select an activity type and click Filter. Service Manager opens a new record list to display the records of that activity type.

The activities list shows activities for the current record. The activities are listed in order of occurrence, with the newest at the beginning of the list. The following information displays for each activity:

• Date/Time
• Type
• Operator
• Description

Test Results

The Test Results section allow you to record the planned release testing activities along with an indicator of whether the test passed or failed and a description of the results of the test.

Attachments

You can use the Attachments section to attach documents to releases.

To attach a document to a release:

1. Click Add File... in the Attachments section.
2. Use the Specify File Location window to browse for the file.
3. Click OK. The selected file appears in the Attachments section.

Additional methods to attach files to an incident record with a Windows client include:

You can cut or copy a file from a file management utility, or your desktop, and paste it into the Attachments section of a record. You can also cut or copy an attachment from one Service Manager record into the Attachments section of another record.

Use a file management utility to open the folder containing the document you want to attach, or select a file from your desktop. Make sure that the Attachments section is open on your screen. Drag the selected file to the Attachments section.