OTRS 4 ITSM Documentation

Below you will find brief information for ITSM 4. OTRS::ITSM 4 is a comprehensive solution for IT service management, built on the open-source OTRS framework. It provides a range of features for managing incidents, problems, changes, and configuration items, all within a single platform. ITSM 4 offers features to help you maintain a consistent and updated database with information about the state and configuration of your IT infrastructure. For example, it allows you to manage services and SLAs, record and track incident tickets, and create and manage configuration items (CIs). With its integrated CMDB, ITSM 4 provides a powerful tool for visualizing the IT service catalog and agreements.

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Documentation
OTRS::ITSM 4
Build Date:
2014-11-24
OTRS::ITSM 4
Copyright &copy; 2003-2014 OTRS AG
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Table of Contents
Preface .......................................................................................................................... vii
1. OTRS::ITSM - OTRS for IT service management ........................................................ 1
1. Features .............................................................................................................. 1
1.1. New OTRS::ITSM 4 features ..................................................................... 1
1.2. New OTRS::ITSM 3.3 features .................................................................. 2
1.3. New OTRS::ITSM 3.2 features .................................................................. 3
1.4. New OTRS::ITSM 3.1 features .................................................................. 3
1.5. New OTRS::ITSM 3.0 features .................................................................. 3
1.6. New OTRS::ITSM 2.1 features .................................................................. 3
1.7. New OTRS::ITSM 2.0 features .................................................................. 4
1.8. New OTRS::ITSM 1.3 features .................................................................. 4
1.9. New OTRS::ITSM 1.2 features .................................................................. 4
1.10. New OTRS::ITSM 1.1 features ................................................................ 5
1.11. OTRS::ITSM 1.0 features ........................................................................ 7
2. Hardware and software requirements .............................................................. 10
3. Community ....................................................................................................... 10
4. Mailing lists ...................................................................................................... 10
2. Commercial services for OTRS::ITSM ....................................................................... 12
1. OTRS::ITSM consulting and implementation .................................................... 12
2. Software development ..................................................................................... 13
3. Application support .......................................................................................... 13
4. Managed application services (ASP/SaaS) ........................................................ 13
3. Installing OTRS::ITSM ............................................................................................... 14
1. Installation ........................................................................................................ 14
2. Upgrade ............................................................................................................ 14
4. First steps in OTRS::ITSM ......................................................................................... 16
5. ITIL aligned service support with OTRS::ITSM .......................................................... 17
6. The CMDB - the central IT repository ...................................................................... 18
1. The OTRS::ITSM database model ..................................................................... 18
1.1. OTRS Framework ................................................................................... 18
1.2. GeneralCatalog ...................................................................................... 18
1.3. ITSMCore ................................................................................................ 18
1.4. ITSMConfigurationManagement ............................................................. 18
1.5. ITSMChangeManagement ...................................................................... 18
1.6. ImportExport .......................................................................................... 18
2. Services, at the core of everything .................................................................. 19
3. Service levels and service level agreements ................................................... 20
4. Configuration items .......................................................................................... 21
5. Documents and knowledge database .............................................................. 23
6. Changes and amendments to the data model ................................................. 23
7. Ticket types and attributes .............................................................................. 23
7. Service desk, incident, &amp; problem management ..................................................... 24
1. Ticket creation, classification and prioritization ............................................... 24
2. SLA relevant time information ......................................................................... 25
3. Allocate tickets (queues) .................................................................................. 26
4. Change ticket data ........................................................................................... 26
5. Approvals and decisions ................................................................................... 27
6. Generation of problem tickets from incidents .................................................. 28
7. Ticket closure ................................................................................................... 28
8. Processing of service requests ......................................................................... 28
8. Change Management ............................................................................................... 29
1. Change Management Module Requirements .................................................... 29
1.1. Required Expertise ................................................................................. 29
1.2. Technical Requirements ......................................................................... 29
2. Diagram of Change Management in OTRS::ITSM ............................................. 29
iii
3. Available User Roles ......................................................................................... 30
4. Underlying Workflow ........................................................................................ 31
5. Creating a New Change ................................................................................... 31
5.1. Attributes of a Change .......................................................................... 31
5.2. Category - Impact - Priority Matrix ........................................................ 32
5.3. Change State Machine ........................................................................... 33
5.4. Defining Participant Roles / Persons Related to a Change ...................... 34
5.5. Linking a Change with a Request for Change ........................................ 35
5.6. Defining Conditions ................................................................................ 35
5.7. Defining Actions ..................................................................................... 38
5.8. Rescheduling (Postponing) the Start / End Time of a Change ................ 38
6. Creating a Work Order ..................................................................................... 38
6.1. Attributes of a Work Order .................................................................... 39
6.2. Work Order Type .................................................................................... 39
6.3. Work Order State Machine ..................................................................... 40
6.4. Defining the Work Order Agent ............................................................. 40
6.5. Work Order Agent Report ...................................................................... 40
6.6. Linking Work Orders to Configuration Items / Services .......................... 41
6.7. Saving a Work Order as a Template ...................................................... 41
6.8. Deleting a Work Order ........................................................................... 42
7. Viewing the Content of a Change .................................................................... 42
8. Change Views ................................................................................................... 43
8.1. Change Overview ................................................................................... 43
8.2. Change Schedule ................................................................................... 44
8.3. PIR - Post Implementation Review ......................................................... 45
8.4. Template ................................................................................................ 46
8.5. Search .................................................................................................... 47
8.6. Change Manager .................................................................................... 49
8.7. My Changes ........................................................................................... 50
8.8. My Work Orders ..................................................................................... 51
9. Change Management Statistics ........................................................................ 53
9.1. Number of Changes Within a Defined Period ......................................... 53
9.2. Number of Changes by Change Category ............................................. 53
9.3. Number of Rejected Changes ................................................................ 53
9.4. Number of Withdrawn Changes ............................................................. 53
9.5. Ratio of Changes to Incidents ............................................................... 53
9.6. RFCs Per Requester ............................................................................... 54
9. Release Management ............................................................................................... 55
10. Service Level Management .................................................................................... 56
11. The admin area of OTRS::ITSM .............................................................................. 59
1. The general catalog ......................................................................................... 60
2. Configuring configuration item classes ............................................................ 61
3. Version management of CI classes .................................................................. 63
4. Adjustment of ticket state ................................................................................ 63
5. The criticality impact priority matrix ................................................................ 65
6. Adjustment of ticket priorities .......................................................................... 65
12. Additional OTRS applications - calendar ................................................................ 67
13. OTRS::ITSM interfaces ............................................................................................ 68
A. GNU Free Documentation License ........................................................................... 69
0. PREAMBLE ........................................................................................................ 69
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS ..................................................................... 69
2. VERBATIM COPYING .......................................................................................... 70
3. COPYING IN QUANTITY ..................................................................................... 70
4. MODIFICATIONS ................................................................................................ 71
5. COMBINING DOCUMENTS ................................................................................. 72
6. COLLECTIONS OF DOCUMENTS ........................................................................ 72
7. AGGREGATION WITH INDEPENDENT WORKS .................................................... 72
8. TRANSLATION ................................................................................................... 73
iv
9. TERMINATION .................................................................................................... 73
10. FUTURE REVISIONS OF THIS LICENSE ............................................................ 73
How to use this License for your documents ....................................................... 73
v
List of Tables
8.1. User roles ..............................................................................................................
8.2. Attributes of a Change .........................................................................................
8.3. Involved Persons ...................................................................................................
8.4. Conditions available at the Change level .............................................................
8.5. Conditions available at the Work Order level .......................................................
8.6. Actions available at the Change level ..................................................................
8.7. Actions available at the Work Order level ............................................................
8.8. Attributes of a Work Order ...................................................................................
8.9. Change Overview ..................................................................................................
8.10. Change Overview Filters .....................................................................................
8.11. Change Schedule ................................................................................................
8.12. PIR - Post Implementation Review ......................................................................
8.13. Template ..............................................................................................................
8.14. Template Types ...................................................................................................
8.15. Template ..............................................................................................................
8.16. Change Manager .................................................................................................
8.17. Change Manager Filter ........................................................................................
8.18. My Changes ........................................................................................................
8.19. My Changes Filter ...............................................................................................
8.20. My Work Orders ..................................................................................................
8.21. My Work Orders Filter .........................................................................................
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Preface
The document at hand addresses OTRS::ITSM users and administrators and provides information on the basic use of OTRS::ITSM by IT service managers, IT service staff (agents)
and end users (customers). Information pertaining to the installation, configuration and
administration of OTRS::ITSM is only provided if there are differences to the OTRS core
product or for functions, which only exist in OTRS::ITSM.
In spite of the many many hours of work, even more cups of coffee and quite a few
sausages and pretzels consumed in the course of writing the following sections, this manual does not claim to be complete. The chapters will be revised and/or amended periodically for continual improvement.
We welcome your feedback as a critical contribution to the best possible quality of the
following chapters and of the product itself. Please tell us if you miss information, find it
difficult to understand certain aspects or the way they are presented, have suggestions
or any other comments. Any feedback submitted at http://otrs.org is highly appreciated.
We are very proud of the product at hand and want to thank the ITIL experts of Enterprise
Consulting GmbH and our top-notch OTRS developers. Their joint efforts have significantly
contributed to the successful development of OTRS::ITSM.
We want to thank you, the users and OTRS::ITSM community, in advance for any kind of
aid and feedback and hope you will have fun using OTRS::ITSM.
Andr&eacute; Mindermann, Managing Partner OTRS AG
Bad Homburg, May 2007
((enjoy))
vii
Chapter 1. OTRS::ITSM - OTRS for IT service
management
IT is expected to consistently deliver high service quality in an increasingly complex field.
In this context, effective and efficient incident and problem management are indispensable. However, IT service management remains a task almost impossible if there is no
consistent and up-to-date database with information about the state and configuration
of the IT infrastructure.
The IT Infrastructure Library&reg;, short ITIL&reg;, is a series of books published by the United
Kingdom's Office of Government Commerce (OGC), which generically combine best practice approaches to designing, providing, operating and managing IT services. ITIL does
not focus on the technology but the services provided by the IT and comprises information
on processes, roles, responsibilities, potential problem fields/resolutions, and definitions
of terms.
ITIL has established itself as de facto standard over the past years and its circulation in IT
organizations has contributed considerably to the development of a collective awareness
and consistent terminology for IT service management. However, ITIL only describes &quot;who
should do what&quot; and what should be considered along the way. In order to cover as wide a
user group as possible, it does not or to a little extent address the issue of how to do things.
Therefore, no implementable information is given for particular industries, companies, or
manufacturers.
In December 2005, the ITIL based ISO/IEC 20000 industry standard for IT service management was published. IT organizations can apply for ISO/IEC 20000 certification and
prove their conformity.
The continuing boom caused demand for IT service management tools, which could represent the ITIL-based processes. So far, only proprietary solutions existed. Because of
their considerable complexity, most of these tools are only affordable for large companies
and effective in large IT departments.
The development of OTRS::ITSM was started as a result of the great success of the OTRS
framework in order to combine the globally accepted, public ITIL recommendations with
the benefits of open-source software.
OTRS::ITSM 1.0 was the first real-world ITIL compliant IT service management solution
on open-source basis, built on the solid basis of OTRS with its over 55,000 known OTRS
installations and its community (information dating from April 2007). OTRS::ITSM is under
active development and new features are added continuously.
OTRS::ITSM is practically-oriented. This was accomplished by developing it in collaboration with ITIL consultants and with some of OTRS Groups' customers.
The service-desk and ticket system solution OTRS is the basis for the ITIL compliant IT
service management solution OTRS::ITSM, its incident management, problem management, service level management, change and configuration management modules, and
integrated CMDB.
OTRS::ITSM and OTRS are freely available (no license fees apply) and are subject to GNU
Affero General Public License (AGPL).
1. Features
OTRS::ITSM 4 is based on OTRS 4. All functionalities known from OTRS continue to be
available and the functionalities representing ITIL processes can be installed as packages.
1.1. New OTRS::ITSM 4 features
OTRS::ITSM 4 offers:
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• Ported code to the OTRS 4 framework.
• New powerful template engine based on Template::Toolkit
• A central object manager makes creating and using global objects much easier.
• OTRS::ITSM 4 includes many other small bug fixes and improvements.
• All OTRS::ITSM 4 translations will be now managed exclusively via Transifex: https://
www.transifex.com/projects/p/OTRS/resources/ Please sign up for a free translators login on http://www.transifex.com and join one of the language teams if you want to contribute to OTRS::ITSM.
• Improved and more flexible incident state link propagation. It is now possible to
add more than one link type for the incident state calculation, as well to define the link direction for each link type. (Take a look at the sysconfig option
&quot;ITSM::Core::IncidentLinkTypeDirection&quot;)
• GenericInterface for ITSM Configuration Management. This feature contains operations
for creating, changing, retrieving and searching configuration items via GenericInterface.
• Bulk actions for ITSM Configuration Management. This feature provides a screen to perform certain actions over a selection of ITSM Configuration Items.
• New color flag for the &quot;deployment state&quot; in ITSM Configuration Management. This feature adds a flag column to the Configuration Item Overviews with the color of the Deployment State, it also adds a color picker to the General Catalog to define the color
preference of each Deployment State.
• Dynamic fields for ITSM Change Management. The freetext fields for changes and
workorder have been migrated to more flexible dynamic fields.
• Improved and easier handling of templates for changes, workorders and change advisory boards (CAB). It is now easier to edit a template by selecting it from the template
overview. A new change or workorder will be created, which can then be edited and
saved back in to the same template, while the change or workorder will be deleted after
it has been saved.
1.2. New OTRS::ITSM 3.3 features
OTRS::ITSM 3.3 offers:
• Ported code to the OTRS 3.3 framework.
• Integrated Feature AddOn &quot;OTRSServiceIncidentState&quot; into OTRS::ITSM. It shows the
current incident state of a selected service in the ticket zoom, and in all agent frontends
where a service can be selected (can be disabled on a per screen basis).
• Integrated Feature AddOn &quot;OTRSCIColumns&quot; into OTRS::ITSM. This feature makes it possible to configure the shown CI-Attributes individually for each ConfigItem class. This
is possible for the CI-Overview, the CI-Search-Overview and the Linked-CI view in the
agent interface.
• Integrated Feature AddOn &quot;OTRSWorkOrderTimeDependency&quot; into OTRS::ITSM. If this
feature is enabled and you change the planned end date of a workorder, all following
workorders will also be moved accordingly, so that the time differences between the
workorders will still be the same.
• Integrated Feature AddOn &quot;OTRSCIAttributeSyntaxCheck&quot; into OTRS::ITSM. This feature
makes it possible to check the syntax of CI attributes with a regular expression while
2
adding or editing CIs via the agent interface (not while importing CIs with the Import/Export module). CI attributes of the type &quot;Text&quot; and &quot;TextArea&quot;, as well as the CI name can
be checked with individual regular expressions. An individual error message is shown if
the attribute does not match the defined pattern. With this feature it can be enforced
that for example a CI attribute must start with &quot;ABC&quot; or must end with a number.
• Added new feature &quot;WorkOrder Report Attachments&quot; into OTRS::ITSM. This feature adds
support for attachment uploads in the workorder report screen.
• The toolbar icons now use an icon font which makes it easier to create custom skins
with different base colors.
• Migrated ITSMCriticality and ITSMImpact values from general catalog to dynamic fields.
Renamed ITSM releated dynamic fields to nicer names, prefixed with ITSM.
• In ITSMChangeManagement the frontends to create changes / workorders have been
splitted in 2 screens each. One to create a new change / workorder from scratch, and
one to create it from a template.
1.3. New OTRS::ITSM 3.2 features
OTRS::ITSM 3.2 offers:
• Ported code to the OTRS 3.2 framework.
• Enhanced Import/Export screen to show a summary after importing.
• Added attachment support for ITSM config items.
• Added new optional sysconfig option to check if config item names are unique.
1.4. New OTRS::ITSM 3.1 features
OTRS::ITSM 3.1 offers:
• Ported code to the OTRS 3.1 framework.
• Added caching to speed up the condition / action backends in change management.
• Added possibility to use a mirror database for change and workorder searches in change
management.
1.5. New OTRS::ITSM 3.0 features
OTRS::ITSM 3.0 offers:
• Brand New Interface - OTRS 3.0 Look &amp; Feel
• Ported code to the OTRS 3.0 framework.
• New Generic Search Dialogs.
• New Search result types (Print, PDF and CSV).
1.6. New OTRS::ITSM 2.1 features
OTRS::ITSM 2.1 offers:
• Change Management
3
Improved speed of Change Management and GeneralCatalog by implementing caching
technology.
New powerful FreeText fields for Changes and Workorders in Change Management.
Implemented an option to reset the change and workorder states while saving as template.
New alternative checksum generator for the change number.
New option to show workorder title and workorder state in the change zoom timeline.
1.7. New OTRS::ITSM 2.0 features
OTRS::ITSM 2.0 offers:
• Change Management
The new OTRS::ITSM package &quot;ITSMChangeManagement&quot; implements the ITIL discipline Change Management.
1.8. New OTRS::ITSM 1.3 features
OTRS::ITSM 1.3 is based on OTRS 2.4
It offers the same features as OTRS::ITSM 1.2, but runs on the OTRS 2.4 framework.
1.9. New OTRS::ITSM 1.2 features
OTRS::ITSM 1.2 is based on OTRS 2.3
OTRS::ITSM 1.2 offers:
• Modularization
From now on the additional ITSM packages covering single ITIL disciplines like incident
management / problem management, configuration management, service level management, can be installed independently from one another. To you as a user, that means
that you neither have to install the packages in a certain installation order nor do you
have to install them all in order to use OTRS::ITSM.
• Reduced reloads
ITSM functionalities (e. g. priority calculation based on a tickets impact) have been reimplemented in AJAX technology to reduce necessary reloads. This leads to an increased
speed using OTRS::ITSM.
• Joint Link-Object mechanism
OTRS::ITSM 1.1 and lower releases were designed based on an own extended Object-Link mechanism. As a consequence, the Object-Link functionality of OTRS couldn't
be used in OTRS::ITSM. A joint Object-Link mechanism has now been implemented,
which covers all of the features from both former Link object mechanisms.
• Improved speed
Changing database access technology to using SQL bind parameters made it possible
to access the Configuration Items (CI) database faster than previously.
• Locations
4
Locations are no longer a separate menu item. They are now integrated into the Configuration Items, which will bring a sustainable gain in flexibility.
• SLA-Service multi-assignments
It is now possible to assign a SLA to multiple Services.
• SLA Overwiew
In the service menu, there is now a new SLA overwiew mask.
• Refresh-Mechanism
A refresh mechanism was added to refresh the service overview and the config item
overview screens automatically.
1.10. New OTRS::ITSM 1.1 features
OTRS::ITSM 1.1 offers:
• Authorization concept
Each object like Service/SLA, Location, CI, Linkobject now creates a corresponding
group, so the agents rights can be assigned with more granularity.
• Allocation of services to customers
Services can be assigned to authorized customers. Further more, services may be assigned as general 'default services' which are valid to use for each customer.
• Service/CI view
A view on services and CIs, including information on each object's current state, allows
you to analyze an incident and calculate the incident's impact on affected services and
customers. As an enhancement of the service view, now SLAs and linked CIs are also
displayed. For each CI, the current incident state is shown. In addition, the incident
state will be propagated for dependent SLAs and CIs. If a service is selected, the service
details will be shown, now with the additional 'current incident state', which is calculated
from the incident states of dependent services and CIs.
CIs are now enhanced with a 'current incident state', which includes two state types:
• Operational
• Incident
For each state type, any number of states can be registered. The state of a CI affects the
service state, which will be dynamically calculated, and can have one of the following
three values:
• Operational (green)
• Warning (yellow)
• Incident (red)
The propagation of the incident state will be carried out if CIs are linked with the link
type 'depend on'. Here the following rules apply:
• If a CI is dependent on another CI, which is in the state 'Incident', the dependent CI
gets the state 'Warning'.
5
• If a service is dependent on CIs, and one of these CIs has a state 'Incident', the service
will also get the state 'Incident'.
• If a service is dependent on CIs, and one of these CIs has the state 'Warning', the
service will also get the state 'Warning'.
• If a service has sub-services, and one of these services has the state 'Incident', the
parent service will get the state 'Warning'.
• If a service has sub-services, and one of these services has the state 'Warning', the
parent service will get the state 'Warning'.
The states of the respective services, sub-services, and CIs will be shown in the view.
• CI search and linking from agent interface
A service agent may search, select, and assign any of a customer's configuration items
(CIs) or existing tickets while recording a new incident ticket.
• CMDB Import/Export (CSV and API)
This feature offers the possibility to import or update data from CSV files into the CMBD
of OTRS::ITSM, and to export data from the CMDB to CSV files. Each line of the CSV file
describes one CI, with the data of the CI in the columns.
The import and export is controlled with ImEx definitions. These definitions map the
columns of the CSV file to the fields in the CMDB. You can create an ImEx definition via
the admin interface in OTRS. For each available field in the CMDB, the corresponding
column in the CSV file needs to be defined. This is done in a form, which represents the
current CI definition. Also, a filter can be applied, to limit the number of the exported
CIs. Any number of ImEx definitions can be stored in the system, and each definition
can be used for import and for export.
To start an import (exports work the same way), two possibilities exist: interactive with
the web interface, or automatically with a script. Using the interactive way, the desired
ImEx definition is selected, and then the CSV file is uploaded to the system. During the
interactive export, the CSV file will be offered for download respectively.
The automatic import is carried out via a script, which requires the name of the ImEx
definition and the name of the CSV file as arguments. During the script based export,
the CIs that were given the script as arguments will be saved in a CSV file. Before the
execution of the import or export, the selected ImEx definition will be compared with
the current CI definition. If inconsistencies are found, the process will be cancelled. Also,
during import, restrictions in the CI definition (e.g. mandatory fields) will be checked.
If applicable, the data record is rejected, but the import process continues. An import
protocol can be found in the syslog. Via the API the CSV based import/export can be
replaced or enhanced by other formats/transports, like direct database access or XML.
The implementation of the CSV interface can be used as a reference.
• A huge variety of additional reports has been created, e.g.:
Basic reports for tickets and configuration items (CIs):
• Total of all tickets ever created per ticket-type and priority (state, queue, service).
• Monthly overview of all tickets ever created of a previous month per ticket-type (priority, state, queue, service).
• Total of created tickets in a defined period per ticket-type and priority (state, queue,
service).
6
• Total of all open tickets per ticket-type and priority (queue, service).
• Total of all configuration items (CIs) created per class (per state).
• Total of all configuration items (CIs) created in a previous month per class (per state).
• Total of all configuration items (CIs) created in a defined period per class (per state).
Many more reports have been added which provide specific data regarding first time
solution rate and average resolution time:
• First time solution rate of all tickets ever created per ticket-type and priority (queue,
service).
• First time solution rate in a previous month per ticket-type (priority, queue, service).
• First time solution rate in a defined period per ticket-type and priority (queue, service).
• Average resolution time of all tickets ever created per ticket-type and priority (queue,
service).
• Average resolution time in a previous month per ticket-type and priority (queue, service).
• Average resolution time in a defined period per ticket-type and priority (queue, service).
• Added print function for CIs, Services, SLAs, Locations.
1.11. OTRS::ITSM 1.0 features
OTRS::ITSM 1.0 offers:
• ITIL compliant representation of &quot;service support&quot; processes
• incident management
• problem management
• configuration management
• an integrated, individually extensible configuration management database (CMDB)
• ITIL compliant names for new functions
• ITIL compliant role, responsibility, and permission model
• cross-process communication management: within the IT service organization, with customers/users/management and suppliers/providers
• flexible stats functions for (trend) analyses; reporting, planning, and controlling based
on performance figures
• flexible configuration, customization, and upgrade to meet individual requirements
• native ticket types are supported (integrated in OTRS): Various ticket types can be managed in the admin interface. Free-text fields are therefore no longer needed to specify
ticket types. Installations using free-text fields for ticket type classification do not have
to be migrated. The new feature is also shown in the ticket content and in the print view
for agents and customers and can be adjusted in the agent interface.
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Configuration management &amp; integrated CMDB:
OTRS::ITSM is based on an integrated configuration management data base (CMDB),
which serves as the foundation for the comprehensive control of the service management
processes. It represents the configuration items (CI), their complex relationships, and interdependencies with each other and with other components of the service chain.
• Comprehensive recording and management of ITSM relevant configuration items (CIs)
such as computers, hardware, software, networks, documents and services, SLAs, and
organizational structures.
• Illustration of the IT service catalog and agreements in force (SLA, OLA, UC)
• Recording, management, and illustration of technical and service related relationships
and interdependences among CMDB data, e.g. a service with all necessary, alternative
or relevant CIs
• Management of historic, current, and future CI states, e.g. for problem diagnosis, server
maintenance or planned changes
• Analysis of the potential impact of service failures or configuration changes
• Display of virtualized IT infrastructures, e.g. server / memory virtualization
• Software license management, e.g. licenses available / in use (third party products required)
• Chronological life cycle management for CIs, from acquisition to disposal
• Reporting of all configuration changes performed on CMDB data
• Interface to company directories (e.g. LDAP, eDirectory, Active Directory)
Incident management:
• Services and SLAs (integrated in OTRS): The new attributes &quot;service&quot; and &quot;service level
agreements (SLA)&quot; were integrated in OTRS 2.2 on its way to becoming an IT service
management tool. When creating a ticket, the customer can select a service (e.g. email service) and a corresponding SLA. SLA attributes are &quot;response time&quot;, &quot;update
time&quot; and &quot;solution time&quot;. IT service can use these attributes for notifications or ticket
escalation in order to meet existing SLAs. Service and SLA specific information in the
header of new e-mails can be analyzed as usual with the PostMaster filter module.
• Comprehensive support of IT service support organization processes with incident
recording, classification, prioritization, direct help (1st level support), diagnosis, coordination (2nd/3rd level support, external partners etc.), service recovery, resolution,
closure and documentation
• Incidents and service requests can be recorded quickly and intuitively by service desk
staff and users (web self-service)
• Rule-based ticket generation and/or notification, e.g. in interaction with IT monitoring
systems
• Classification and prioritization options (priority, impact, urgency)
• Complete CMDB coverage, e.g. services affected by the incident, configuration items
concerned, FAQ database, link-up between tickets and CIs for analyses and reporting
• (Automatic) recording of &quot;articles&quot; for tickets (activity record)
8
• Constant monitoring and evaluation of the ticket processing progress
• Complete integration of OTRS role, group, and queue mechanisms for incident ticket
allocation, tracking, escalation, and interpretation
• Provision and storage of relevant time data, e.g. for service level management
• Practical ticket handling (merge, split), allows to merge similar incidents and/or split
complicated ones
• Planning, proactive control, and monitoring of service request activities (work packages,
work plans, service lead times, due dates)
• Generation and tracking of problem tickets from incidents
Problem management:
• Comprehensive support of IT organization processes in problem identification, recording, classification, prioritization, problem origin diagnosis, resolution coordination, e.g.
workaround or request for change, closure, and documentation
• Provision of relevant information for subprocesses
• Problem control (trouble-shooting),
• Error control (error processing),
• Proactive problem management (e.g. ticket trend analyses) and
• Management information (on incidents, problems and known errors)
• Current/historic incidents, knowledge base (FAQs), and CMDB are constantly available
• Complete integration of OTRS role, group and queue mechanisms to allocate, track,
escalate, and evaluate incident tickets
• Systematic automated notifications on the problem resolution progress for users (user
groups) concerned or the management
• Incident management receives ready signal for resolved problems
Tickets are central information containers for IT service process management: They transport multiple possible underlying data such as:
• Persons, organizations
• Time stamp
• Priority, impact, severity
• Associations to IT service catalog and projects
• Activities, e.g. note about a call with time accounting
• Objects, e.g. CIs, including relations
• (Sub)Tickets, e.g. a problem with the underlying incidents
• Notes and attachments, e.g. scanned service request forms
9
• Work packages, i.e. planned, allocated tasks
• SLA information
• Thresholds and escalation data
• Ticket history (all changes)
• Accounting information (time accounting).
2. Hardware and software requirements
The requirements for OTRS::ITSM are the same as for OTRS. More information can be
found in the OTRS Admin Manual.
3. Community
A large community has evolved around OTRS throughout the past years. Users and developers use mailing lists to share their insights about a wide variety of issues connected
with the trouble ticket system. They address questions about installation, configuration,
use, localization, and development. Bugs can be reported using the bug tracking system
at http://bugs.otrs.org (http://bugs.otrs.org/). They directly reach the developers responsible and fixes can be provided quickly.
The above mentioned community channels are open for OTRS::ITSM users also, to constantly improve the product's quality. You can join the community at our homepage http://
otrs.org (http://otrs.org/).
4. Mailing lists
Separate mailing lists have been set up for OTRS::ITSM. Please visit http://lists.otrs.org
(http://lists.otrs.org/):
10
11
Chapter 2. Commercial services for OTRS::ITSM
OTRS AG is the manufacturer and source code owner of OTRS and all modules based
upon it (e.g. OTRS::ITSM) and a professional service provider. Unlike those of proprietary
software providers, OTRS AG's business model is not based on license fees: OTRS and
OTRS::ITSM are available free of cost and we offer commercial services associated with
the software applications instead.
As your capable partner, we provide optimal support in all phases of your OTRS project
design, realization, and operation. Our staff are highly skilled experts and we believe in
deploying the most modern methods. This philosophy guarantees credit for powerful business applications and happy customers lauding our service quality (http://www.otrs.com/
en/references/).
1. OTRS::ITSM consulting and implementation
Are you planning to use OTRS::ITSM or have you found out about OTRS::ITSM in a new
product screening and want to assess the system's eligibility for your requirements? Or
is your OTRS::ITSM evaluation completed and you want to make use of our consulting
services to efficiently lead your project towards success?
We offer extensive practical expertise in IT process consulting, software engineering, development, and ITIL compliant IT operations and support. Security and quality management for your project complement our service portfolio. You benefit from an extensive
and quick knowledge transfer.
Our services include:
• Identification of your requirements and assistance with product evaluation
• Guidance on design and implementation of ITSM process and organizational structures
• ITIL assessments and support with ISO 20000 certification
• ITIL trainings and coaching
• ITIL implementation
• Compilation of IT service catalogs
• CMDB design
• Installation &amp; configuration of OTRS::ITSM including integration with your existing system environment
• Review &amp; optimization of existing OTRS::ITSM installations
• Process and data migration from predecessor systems
• Release updates
• Specification of business and IT requirements and features, which exceed the given
functional range of OTRS::ITSM
• Design and realization of project complimentary administrator and service agent trainings
• Advisory services regarding managed operations (ASP/SaaS) of OTRS::ITSM and application support
12
2. Software development
One significant advantage of the open-source software OTRS::ITSM is its flexibility regarding potential extensions of the functional range. No &quot;vendor lock-in&quot;, a typical risk of proprietary systems and protracted negotiations with the manufacturer about expanding the
functional range or building interfaces apply with OTRS::ITSM.
Experienced project managers and developers are at your disposal at any time to translate your requirements exceeding the functional range of OTRS::ITSM into business and IT
specifications. We develop your features, program interfaces, or upgrade existent functionalities according to your conception.
Extensions, which are useful for other customers too, will be added to the standard in later
releases. All parties involved benefit: OTRS::ITSM is even more powerful with the features
&quot;born&quot; by you and other customers, and you save the cost of porting your features to
new releases.
3. Application support
The decision for an IT service management solution is an investment into the future which
should not be underestimated, even if you opt for open-source software. A competent
consulting partner is critical for the success of such an implementation project. Just as
important, however, is a planned and successful porting of the solution to the life system
and the lasting support of a reliable partner guaranteeing a faultless operating application
service.
We provide this continuous support and our service packages are tailored flexibly to meet
your requirements. They offer differentiated response times for the various service level
agreements with up to 24/7/365 support, 24/7/365 access to our support portal, and optional phone support. Please visit http://www.otrs.com/en/support/ for all details or contact our sales team at [email protected].
You will only pay for the services you absolutely need. Optional add-on packages, e.g.
support via remote control or an extension of the application support services to other
OTRS::ITSM instances can be booked if required.
Our ITIL compliant operating Application Support Team is continually optimizing its
processes and performance. Therefore, our service manager will contact you regularly
to discuss your wishes and requirements regarding our services. The monthly service reporting in the service package of your choice serves as a base for these conversations.
4. Managed application services (ASP/SaaS)
You do not have to operate OTRS and/or OTRS::ITSM yourself. The products can be rented via the so called &quot;ASP&quot; (application service provisioning) resp. &quot;SaaS&quot; (software as a
service) model from specialized companies.
The customers (software users) are permitted internet access to exclusively rented OTRS
systems and, where required, functional application support (see section above) at a fixed
monthly price and can employ the application in their business to the contracted extent.
No additional license fees apply as only open-source products are used.
The application service provider operates IT infrastructure, systems and software ITIL
compliantly and guarantees service quality according to the agreed service levels. The
provider maintains the application system, (e.g. patches, backup, monitoring), and supports the customer with incidents and/or service requests such as consultation requests,
software extensions, or configuration requests.
13
Chapter 3. Installing OTRS::ITSM
Please note that the OTRS framework 3.3 must be installed prior to the installation of
OTRS::ITSM. All necessary information, options, and installation procedures are depicted
in the OTRS Admin Manual.
1. Installation
After successfully insstalling OTRS 3.3 or a later version, proceed to sign on as administrator. Using the package manager in the admin area or via ftp://ftp.otrs.org/pub/otrs/
itsm/packages33/ obtain the ITSM packages and install them in the following order:
• GeneralCatalog
• ITSMCore
If your machine running OTRS has internet access, use the following online repository [-OTRS::ITSM 3.3 Master--] to install the packages below. Otherwise download the packages
below and use the package manager to install them:
• ITSMIncidentProblemManagement
• ITSMConfigurationManagement
• ITSMChangeManagement
• ITSMServiceLevelManagement
• ImportExport
You can find further information about the installation process here: INSTALL-32.ITSM
2. Upgrade
If you are using a version older than OTRS::ITSM 1.1, please update the system to the
latest version 1.1 first.
If OTRS::ITSM 1.1 has already been installed, update your OTRS 2.2 framework to version
2.3 BEFORE you update OTRS:ITSM. To do so, download the latest OTRS 2.3 framework
14
and follow the instructions in the file named UPGRADING. After that, log in to your system
and use the package manager to install the package ITSMUpgradeTo12. You can download
it manually or use the online repository. Ignore all error messages about not correctly
installed old ITSM packages. This package will install all needed packages to update your
system to an OTRS::ITSM 1.2 version, and it will migrate all of your data.
Note: The upgrade can take several minutes! Please do not stop the upgrade process
once it is running!
If OTRS::ITSM 1.2 is already installed, update your OTRS 2.3 framework to version 2.4
BEFORE you update OTRS:ITSM. To do so, download the latest OTRS 2.4 framework and
follow the instructions in the file UPGRADING. After that, log in to your system and use
the package manager to install the packages as described in the section &quot;Installation&quot;.
To upgrade an already installed OTRS::ITSM 1.3, use the package manager in the admin
area. If you have internet access from OTRS, use the online repository [--OTRS::ITSM 1.3
Master--] to install newer packages. An 'upgrade' link next to the package name indicates
if a newer package is available.
Otherwise, download the packages and use the package manager to install the packages.
WARNING: Do not uninstall your current packages, or you will lose data!
15
Chapter 4. First steps in OTRS::ITSM
The first thing that you might notice is that OTRS::ITSM completely uses the agent and
customer interfaces (customer frontend) implemented in OTRS. If OTRS has been used
before, all features and steps such as login, queue configuration, user preferences, filters,
rules, user permissions, etc. can continue to be used without any modifications.
The manual at hand will therefore only discuss differences between OTRS and new aspects
of OTRS::ITSM, while paying particular attention to the following:
• IT services and SLAs
• The CMDB
• New ticket fields and functions
• ITIL compliant terminology
Detailed information on the settings and proceedings that are identical in both OTRS and
OTRS::ITSM are provided at http://doc.otrs.org/3.3/en/html/ in the OTRS Admin Manual,
which is cotinuously being revised.
16
Chapter 5. ITIL aligned service support with
OTRS::ITSM
Just like ITIL, OTRS::ITSM does not claim to be an &quot;out-of-the-box&quot; solution for all tasks
and questions arising in IT service management. It is, in fact, supposed to serve as a
flexible, stable and easy to understand information platform that can be adapted to meet
the requirements of virtually every organization.
Therefore, please excuse us for bringing the following to your attention: The use of an
ITIL aligned tool such as OTRS::ITSM only makes sense if processes, people, and products
(IT services) are truly ITIL aligned.
Without the thoughtful tailoring of generic ITIL processes to meet the requirements of the
specific business scenario, OTRS::ITSM will not achieve a discernible improvement of the
key performance indicators of IT service management.
You should also be aware of the fact that successful ITIL implementation projects typically
take up to a year and longer. Their scope and impact on the organization is not to be underestimated. However, we would like to mention that a neatly implemented ITIL aligned
ITSM tool can help to save time and money, as the process support of the tool aids and
accelerates the process of organizational realignment.
Since version 2.0 , OTRS::ITSM supports the following features and processes, which are
usually designed during the first phase of an ITIL implementation: Incident Management,
Problem Management, Service Level Management, Change Management and the Configuration Management Database. A more detailed description of use and adaptation of
the system can be found in the following sections. Please note that the each OTRS::ITSM
package can be installed independently and that their names correspond to their respective ITIL topics.
The implementation of OTRS::ITSM is based on ITIL v3.
17
Chapter 6. The CMDB - the central IT repository
The configuration management database (CMDB) is not a database in the technical sense,
but a conceptual IT model, which is indispensable for efficient IT service management.
All IT components and inventories are managed in the CMDB. Configuration management
exceeds asset management, often incorrectly used as a synonym, as it does not only
document assets from a financial point of view, but captures information regarding the
relationship between components, specifications, or their location. Thus IT support can
quickly access information on the interdependence of IT services and the IT components
(= configuration items = CIs) necessary for them.
According to ITIL, a CMDB must feature the following functionalities:
• Manual and, where applicable, automatic recording and modification of configuration
items
• Description of the relationship and/or interdependence between CIs
• Change of CI attributes (e.g. serial numbers)
• Location and user management for CIs
• Integration via the ITIL processes represented in the system
OTRS::ITSM meets all requirements stated above and offers numerous additional IT support functions in the CMDB.
1. The OTRS::ITSM database model
The modular architecture of OTRS::ITSM and the ability to install single OTRS::ITSM packages independently makes it difficult to display a complete database model in a single
graphic. For this reason, separate graphics will be provided for the OTRS framework and
for ITSM packages which change or extend the database scheme.
1.1. OTRS Framework
For better readability, the diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/otrs/blob/
master/development/diagrams/Database/OTRSDatabaseDiagram.png
1.2. GeneralCatalog
For better readability, this diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/GeneralCatalog/blob/master/doc/general-catalog-database.png
1.3. ITSMCore
For better readability, this diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/ITSMCore/blob/master/doc/itsm-core-database.png
1.4. ITSMConfigurationManagement
For better readability, this diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/ITSMConfigurationManagement/blob/master/doc/itsm-configuration-management-database.png
1.5. ITSMChangeManagement
For better readability, this diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/ITSMChangeManagement/blob/master/doc/itsm-change-management-database.png
1.6. ImportExport
For better readability, this diagram can be found at: https://github.com/OTRS/ImportExport/blob/master/doc/import-export-database.png
18
2. Services, at the core of everything
Services such as &quot;standard IT workstation&quot;, &quot;e-mail&quot; or &quot;web access&quot; are IT products and
should be compiled in a &quot;IT service catalog&quot; prior to the adoption of OTRS::ITSM. Such a
service catalog is usually customer or company specific and can be structured hierarchically. Furthermore, it should be formulated in a user friendly, meaning easily understood,
language, as both IT personnel (agents) and IT users (customers) are among its audience.
Warning
Service catalog design is a task which should not be underestimated. Our experience shows that it is highly recommendable to validate conceptual thoughts in a
dry run first and to transfer the service structures to OTRS::ITSM in a second step.
It has proven of value to resort to external assistance, e.g. of ITIL practice experts.
Example of (part of) a hierarchic IT service catalog specified in OTRS::ITSM as shown when
a ticket is created
and in the administration area.
19
3. Service levels and service level agreements
Service levels and the respective agreements (service level agreements, SLAs) document
quality pledges for IT services. SLAs are recorded and administered in the admin interface.
The following parameters can be recorded with every SLA:
OTRS::ITSM offers by default up to 99 different calendars to describe the various time
zones for work or service times. The SLAs can be allocated to them (&quot;service level window&quot;). Various time spans can be entered (in minutes) which OTRS::ITSM uses to control
notification and escalation:
• [ Response Time ]
• = reaction time with incidents
20
• = start of service request procession (&quot;service request lead time&quot;)
• [ Update Time ]
• = notification time
• [ Solution Time ]
• = time elapsed until incidents are resolved (&quot;maximum time to repair&quot;, &quot;MTTR&quot;)
• = delivery time for service requests (&quot;delivery time&quot;)
• [ Min. Time Between Incidents ]
• = &quot;MTBI&quot;: minimal time between closure of the last incident ticket and recurrence of
an incident for which the same SLA applies.
Warning
If no values for the above-named times are entered in the SLAs, escalation is affected according to the time fields &quot;response time&quot;, &quot;update time&quot; and &quot;solution
time&quot; assigned to all queues!
Important time values of OTRS::ITSM are based on the &quot;ITIL incident lifecycle&quot;:
Source: OGC, ITIL Service Support Documentation
The OTRS stats framework facilitates, among other things, the definition of the actual
availability of a service from recorded incidents, which often serves as a performance
figure in system-oriented SLAs.
4. Configuration items
Exemplary overview of recorded computer CIs (part) with current CI state:
21
Example of an individual CI view:
The graphic exemplifies the links between CIs. OTRS differentiates between bidirectional
and nondirectional links. Whenever a CI is linked to another CMDB object, OTRS::ITSM
automatically creates the respective reverse link.
The OTRS::ITSM standard offers seven link types:
To link objects, the source object is chosen first, then the link type is defined and the
target object chosen. The target object can be searched for using various criteria:
22
5. Documents and knowledge database
Using the FAQ system, which is an independent external module since OTRS 2.1, a knowledge database can be designed and managed, e.g. for suggestions and/or procedures
related to the resolution of known errors.
Entries can be provided for internal use only, for all customers or the public. They can
be created and sorted according to language or categories. The quality of FAQ articles
can be evaluated by agents. The number of articles last created or last revised to be
displayed can be configured without any limitations. All articles can be indexed for an
efficient search.
6. Changes and amendments to the data model
The data model can be adapted flexibly and can be extended with data types, attributes
and even classes. Detailed information can be found in the section &quot;The admin area of
OTRS::ITSM&quot; in this document or in &quot;The admin area of OTRS&quot; in the OTRS Admin Manual.
Warning
The design of a CMDB data model and the CIs to be managed within it, is a task
which should not be underestimated. Our experience shows that it is highly recommendable to validate conceptual thoughts in a dry run against the existing IT
infrastructure first and to change the OTRS::ITSM default data model and CI classes only afterwards. It has proven of value to resort to external assistance, e.g. of
ITIL practice experts for CMDB design.
7. Ticket types and attributes
With OTRS 2.2, native ticket types were introduced, which are used in OTRS::ITSM, too. In
the ITIL sub-processes, which can be structured in queues, tickets are classified by their
ticket types.
All ITIL processes to be implemented in later versions of OTRS::ITSM, e.g. change management, will be implemented in such a way. Ticket types such as RfC (&quot;Request for Change&quot;)
could be created.
Warning
In order to assure the consistency of the data managed in OTRS::ITSM, information
created in the admin area of the system cannot be deleted as a general rule. If you
want to deactivate such information, change the value in the respective listbox
settings from &quot;valid&quot; to &quot;invalid&quot; or &quot;invalid-temporarily&quot;.
23
Chapter 7. Service desk, incident, &amp; problem
management
The service desk (which, according to ITIL, is not a process but a function) is usually the
ticket system's main field of application. All user messages and notifications from system monitoring and internal IT organization converge here. The ITIL service management
process, closely interweaved with the service desk, describes which work steps, information, escalations, and/or interfaces are relevant in connection with the processing of incidents or service requests.
The incident and problem management processes within OTRS::ITSM are based on ITIL
recommendations and ITIL terminology. At the same time, user comfort was a main consideration, and terms known from OTRS have been retained as much as possible.
Source: ILX Group (www.ilxgroup.com)
1. Ticket creation, classification and prioritization
At ticket creation -in our case a phone ticket- the following information can be registered
in addition to the information implemented in OTRS:
• ticket type
• relevant service
• SLA
• impact
• priority
Depending on the service selected, impact and priority are automatically submitted from
the criticality impact priority matrix. However, every IT service staff member knows a
&quot;VIP&quot; customer requires special consideration.
In order to meet this requirement of day-to-day Service Operations, we also allow you to
manually adjust the priority of a request.
24
By following the ticket content (zoom) link, detailed information about the ticket can be
accessed. All data relevant for IT support is consolidated in the right hand section:
2. SLA relevant time information
With the additional ITSM fields link, time information additional to the response, update,
and solution time provided in the SLA can be recorded and existing information can be
changed:
25
3. Allocate tickets (queues)
Designed with flexibility in mind, the OTRS::ITSM queues can be tailored to your organizational structures. They can follow the vertical scheme of service desk, first, second, and
third level support (as often used in IT service support) or be configured in a process oriented manner based on the ticket life cycle of generation, processing, closure and postprocessing.
Contrary to OTRS versions prior to version 2.2, ticket escalation in OTRS::ITSM is based
first of all on the response, update and recovery times provided in the SLA. If no values
are provided in the SLA, escalation is effected based on the queues and time information
stored in them.
Tickets can be moved by choosing a new queue in the bottom right corner of the ticket
view.
Warning
The design of a queue structure is a task which should not be underestimated. Our
experience shows that it is highly recommendable to validate conceptual thoughts
in a dry run against the existing IT infrastructure before configuring OTRS::ITSM.
It has proven of value to resort to external assistance, e.g. of OTRS or ITIL practice
experts for the queue design.
4. Change ticket data
All changes to the ticket can be effected just as in OTRS using the links below the navigation bar.
26
5. Approvals and decisions
In many cases, especially with service requests, decisions have to be taken before requests can be implemented. Depending on the competence framework, decisions are either taken directly by the service staff (standard changes) or by the approval of a supervising manager must be obtained first. This is primarily the case with permission changes
(a user wants to access a restricted file system directory) or cost generating requests
(new laptop).
In OTRS::ITSM approvals and refusals are shown via the decision link and are permanently
saved with the ticket:
27
6. Generation of problem tickets from incidents
To generate a problem ticket from one or more incidents, generate a new ticket and link
it with the relevant incident tickets. This way, the underlying incidents can be processed
individually, can be closed with a workaround if necessary, and later be substituted with
a permanent solution.
A merging of incident and problem tickets obscures the reporting and complicates controlling and the continuous improvement of the IT services.
7. Ticket closure
Unlike the OTRS standard, OTRS::ITSM facilitates ITIL compliant ticket closure with a
workaround.
8. Processing of service requests
Within OTRS, service requests and incidents are both regarded as tickets and intially
processed equally. They are distinguishable from disruptions because of the ticket type
Incident::Service Request.
Another difference, the SLA relevant times, is explained in greater detail in the service
levels and service level agreements section.
28
Chapter 8. Change Management
Change Management, according to ITIL, is a Service Transition process whose purpose
is to manage IT changes, including planning, documentation, and implementation upon
approval and clearance. The objective is to minimize negative effects on the IT infrastructure, particularly on critical services, resulting from ad-hoc or poorly-managed changes
or amendments.
1. Change Management Module Requirements
1.1. Required Expertise
The implementation of OTRS::ITSM requires significant technical specification and preparation. Prior to a technical implementation, key elements of the Change Management
process, such as required workflows, metrics, or reports, must be defined.
1.2. Technical Requirements
The software below is necessary to implement the Change Management module:
1. OTRS Framework, version 3.3.1 or higher
2. ITSM &quot;GeneralCatalog&quot; package, version 3.3
3. ITSM &quot;ITSMCore&quot; package, version 3.3
The following packages are recommended, but from a technical perspective they are not
completely necessary:
• ITSM &quot;ITSMIncidentProblemManagement&quot; package, version 3.3
• ITSM &quot;ITSMServiceLevelManagement&quot; package, version 3.3
• ITSM &quot;ITSMConfigurationManagement&quot; package, version 3.3
• ITSM &quot;ImportExport&quot; package, version 3.3
2. Diagram of Change Management in OTRS::ITSM
The Change Management implementation in OTRS::ITSM defines a Change as an alteration of the existing IT landscape, such as the installation of a new mail server.
As Changes typically consist of several sub-tasks, OTRS::ITSM allows any number of subtasks to be defined per change. These are known as Work Orders.
29
3. Available User Roles
Access to the Change Management module is managed on a role-based access concept.
The required user roles are created via the OTRS Administrator, according to corresponding user group permissions in the Change Management module.
By installing the OPMs listed under &quot;Technical Requirements&quot;, the user groups in the table
below will be created:
Table 8.1. User roles
User role
Access and privileges
itsm-change
Members of this user group have access to
the Change Management module. All potential Work Order Agents should be assigned
to this group.
All Changes and Work Orders can be viewed
by these users.
itsm-change-builder
Members of this user group can create new
Changes and Work Orders in the system.
All Changes and Work Orders can be viewed
by this group.
Changes and Work Orders created by the
Change Builder, or that have been defined
as accessible to the Change Builder, may be
edited by these users.
itsm-change-manager
Members of this user group can create new
Changes and Work Orders in the system.
All Changes and Work Orders can be viewed
by this group.
30
User role
Access and privileges
These users can edit all Changes and Work
Orders.
4. Underlying Workflow
The implementation of a change, including all required Work Orders, follows the underlying workflow shown below.
5. Creating a New Change
5.1. Attributes of a Change
To create a new Change, the following attributes must be entered.
Table 8.2. Attributes of a Change
Attribute
Required Field
Details
Title
Yes
Short description / name of
Change
Description
No
Longer text description of
the Change
Justification
No
Text explanation of the reasons behind the Change; answer to the question: &quot;What
is the likely consequence if
the Change is not implemented?&quot;
Category
Yes
Defines the type of Change,
e.g &quot;3 normal&quot; etc.
Impact
Yes
Defines the effects or impact
the Change will have, eg. &quot;4
high&quot;, etc.
Priority
Yes
Defines the priority of the
Change, eg. &quot;5 very high&quot;, &quot;3
normal&quot;, etc. .
31
Attribute
Required Field
Details
State
Yes
When
creating
a
new
Change, the status is automatically set. When modifying an existing Change, the
Change Builder and Change
Manager can manually set
the status. Available status
and result status are defined by the integrated State
Machine, see Section 5.3,
“ Change State Machine
” [33] .
customer) No
If required, this attribute can
be deactivated via SysConfig for the 'ChangeEdit',
'ChangeAdd' and 'ChangeZoom' templates, and display the customer's desired
implementation date.
No
Enables related files and
documents to be attached
Requested
Date
Attachment
(by
5.2. Category - Impact - Priority Matrix
To determine the priority of a Change, OTRS::ITSM supports the Change Builder through
an integrated matrix which suggests a priority for selection, based on the chosen category and change impact entered in the system. This suggested priority can always be
overridden by the Change Builder.
The category, impact and priority values given upon installation can be customized in the
General Catalog by the administrator.
Here, the menu item &quot;General Catalog&quot; should be selected in the OTRS::ITSM Administration interface.
5.2.1. ITSM::Change Management::Category
Upon installation, OTRS::ITSM Change Management generates the following values for
the Category selection field:
• 1 very low
• 2 low
• 3 normal
• 4 high
32
• 5 very high
5.2.2. ITSM::Change Management::Impact
Upon installation, OTRS::ITSM Change Management generates the following values for
the Impact selection field:
• 1 very low
• 2 low
• 3 normal
• 4 high
• 5 very high
5.2.3. ITSM::Change Management::Priority
Upon installation, OTRS::ITSM Change Management generates the following values for
the Priority selection field:
• 1 very low
• 2 low
• 3 normal
• 4 high
• 5 very high
5.3. Change State Machine
OTRS::ITSM features a State Machine which defines valid statuses and possible result
statuses for a Change. The standard installation generates suggestions based on the following logic model:
Adjustments to the State Machine can be made by the system administrator in the administration front end, under menu option &quot;State Machine&quot;. The statuses and possible
result statuses should be defined here.
Where necessary, additional statuses can be defined under the menu option &quot;General
Catalog&quot; -&gt; &quot;ITSM::Change Management::Change::State&quot;. In OTRS::ITSM, this is illustrated as a table:
33
5.4. Defining Participant Roles / Persons Related to a Change
After entering the basic data of the Change, the persons participating in implementation
can be defined in the Involved Persons feature.
Here, the system offers convenient access to all connected client backends and agent
backends, such as SQL databases or LDAP directory services. If specified, the CAB can be
defined according to an existing CAB template.
Table 8.3. Involved Persons
Attribute
Required Field
Details
Change Manager
Yes
Assigns Change Manager
privileges to an agent, for
the current Change.
Change Builder
Yes
Defines the agent who
processes and defines the
current Change. When creating a new Change, the current agent is automatically entered as the Change
Builder.
Change Advisory Board
No
Defines a group of people
which can include agents
and customers.
34
5.5. Linking a Change with a Request for Change
Through the OTRS Framework's renowned linking mechanism, the system allows a change
to be linked to a ticket. In this way, the origin of a change ie. the Request for Change or
problem can be easily identified.
Furthermore, it is possible to open the corresponding Change directly from a ticket within
the Incident or Problem Management process i.e., the ticket system from which it originated. In this case, the system creates a transparent link between the ticket and Change.
In the configuration, this feature can be restricted to only those agents who are permitted
to create Changes. It is also possible to resctrict the usage of the ticket type &quot;RfC&quot; to only
those agents who have access to the Change Management area. Please have a look at
the following sysconfig options:
• Ticket -&gt; Core::TicketACL - Ticket::Acl::Module###200-Ticket::Acl::Module
• ITSM
Change
Management
ITSMChange::AddChangeLinkTicketTypes
-&gt;
Core::ITSMChange
-
• ITSM
Change
Management
ITSMChange::RestrictTicketTypes::Groups
-&gt;
Core::ITSMChange
-
5.6. Defining Conditions
OTRS::ITSM allows conditions and actions to be defined based on the attributes of a
Change and/or Work Order. Through the administration front-end, these attributes can be
activated or deactivated for the Change Builder.
Workflows can be defined here. For example, a workflow to set the entire Change to &quot;canceled&quot; or request review / approval clearance when a Work Order is canceled.
35
It should be noted that the defined conditions are not executed in a certain order; rather,
actions are processed in the order they were set.
5.6.1. Conditions Available at the Change Level
The following attributes can be used to define Conditions at the Change level
Table 8.4. Conditions available at the Change level
Change Attribute
Logical Operator
AccountedTime
is
PlannedEffort
is not
is empty
is not empty
is greater than
is less than
Category
is
ChangeBuilder
is not
ChangeState
Impact
Priority
ChangeManager
is
is not
is empty
is not empty
ChangeTitle
begins with
ends with
contains
36
Change Attribute
Logical Operator
does not contain
is
is not
is empty
is not empty
5.6.2. Conditions Available at the Work Order Level
The following attributes can be used to define conditions at the Work Order level.
Table 8.5. Conditions available at the Work Order level
Work Order Attribute
Logical Operator
AccountedTime
is
PlannedEffort
is not
is empty
is not empty
is greater than
is less than
WorkOrderNumber
is
is not
is greater than
is less than
WorkOrderState
is
WorkOrderType
is not
WorkOrderAgent
WorkOrderTitle
begins with
ends with
contains
does not contain
is
is not
is empty
is not empty
37
5.7. Defining Actions
After the conditions have been established, OTRS::ITSM allows you to define any number
of actions to be executed on the current Change or all / one of the Work Orders of the
current change.
5.7.1. Actions Available at the Change Level
The following actions can be performed for Change objects. The operator &quot;set&quot; enables
the selected attribute to be set at a specific value, if the defined condition is true. On the
other hand, the operator &quot;lock&quot; freezes the selected attribute, for as long as the defined
condition is true ie. a manual change is not possible.
Table 8.6. Actions available at the Change level
Change Attribute
Action
Category
set
Impact
Priority
ChangeState
set
lock
5.7.2. Actions Available at the Work Order Level
The following actions can be performed for Work Order objects. The operator &quot;set&quot; enables
the selected attribute to be set at a specific value, if the defined condition is true. On the
other hand, the operator &quot;lock&quot; freezes the selected attribute, for as long as the defined
condition is true ie. a manual change is not possible.
Table 8.7. Actions available at the Work Order level
Work Order Attribute
Action
WorkOrderState
set
lock
5.8. Rescheduling (Postponing) the Start / End Time of a Change
In practice, the planned start or end time of a Change may need to be revised. The system
allows the Change Builder to do this with the &quot;Move Time Slot&quot; feature.
Through selector fields, the Change Builder has the ability to shift the planned Change
implementation timeframe.
6. Creating a Work Order
Within a Change, the system offers a &quot;Add Work Order&quot; feature which enables any number
of sub-tasks (Work Orders) related to a selected Change to be entered.
38
6.1. Attributes of a Work Order
Once a Change is created, it effectively serves as a container for the definition of subtasks, ie. Work Orders, and these Work Orders can now be defined by the Change Builder.
Table 8.8. Attributes of a Work Order
Attribute
Required Field
Details
Title
Yes
Short description / name of
Work Order.
Instruction
No
Longer text description of
the Work Order.
Work Order Type
Yes
Selection list to define the
type of Work Order, eg. approval, work order, PIR, etc.
Category
Yes
Defines the type of Change,
e.g &quot;3 normal&quot; etc.
Impact
Yes
Defines the effects or impact
of the Change, eg. &quot;4 high&quot;,
etc.
Priority
Yes
Defines the priority of the
Change, eg. &quot;5 very high&quot;, &quot;3
normal&quot;, etc.
State
Yes
When
creating
a
new
Change, the status is automatically set. When modifying an existing Change the
Change Builder and Change
Manager can manually set
the status. Available statuses and result statuses
are defined by the integrated State Machine, see Section 5.3, “ Change State Machine ” [33] .
customer) No
If required, this attribute can
be deactivated via SysConfig for the 'ChangeEdit',
'ChangeAdd' and 'ChangeZoom' templates, and display the customer's desired
implementation date.
No
Enables related files and
documents to be attached
Requested
Date
(by
Attachment
In addition to these attributes, the assigned Work Order agent can collect attributes
through the &quot;Report&quot; feature, which is explained in detail in the &quot;Work Order Agent Report&quot; chapter.
6.2. Work Order Type
The following entries for the &quot;Work Order Type&quot; attribute are available in the standard
installation of OTRS::ITSM Change Management:
• Approval
• Work Order
39
• Backout
• Decision
• PIR (Post Implementation Review)
The administrator can freely define and specify Work Order types, as well as add new
types.
6.3. Work Order State Machine
OTRS::ITSM features a State Machine which defines valid statuses and possible result
statuses for a Work Order. The standard installation generates suggestions based on the
following logic model:
Adjustments to the State Machine can be made by the system administrator in the administration front end, under menu option State Machine. The statuses and possible result statuses should be defined here.
Where necessary, additional statuses can be defined under the menu option &quot;General
Catalog&quot; -&gt; &quot;ITSM::ChangeManagement::WorkOrder::State&quot;.
In OTRS::ITSM, this is illustrated as a table:
6.4. Defining the Work Order Agent
Each Work Order can be assigned to a &quot;Work Order agent&quot;, i.e. a person responsible for
the execution of the Work Order.
The system offers access to all connected agent back-ends here. It is important to note
that only agents who have full access rights to the user group &quot;have itsm-change&quot; are
displayed.
6.5. Work Order Agent Report
The assigned Work Order agent can document related information such as comments,
the actual Work Order start and end times, required processing time and status.
40
6.6. Linking Work Orders to Configuration Items / Services
Within a Work Order, OTRS::ITSM allows linking to other objects.
In the standard installation, a Work Order can be linked to the following objects:
• CIs
• CI-Class Computer
• CI-Class Hardware
• CI-Class Location
• CI-Class Network
• CI-Class Software
• Services
• Tickets
These settings are defined via SysConfig under &quot;Framework -&gt; Core::LinkObject&quot; and can
be extended when desired.
6.7. Saving a Work Order as a Template
A Work Order can be saved as a template through the &quot;Template&quot; feature, within the Work
Order itself.
The dialog box requires the Change Builder to give the template a name and an optional
comment. Once the user leaves the dialog box by clicking the &quot;Add&quot; button, the Work
Order will be available as a template when a new Work Order is being created.
41
6.8. Deleting a Work Order
The Change Builder can delete a Work Order as long as it is not referred to in a Condition
(see the &quot;Defining conditions&quot; section).
7. Viewing the Content of a Change
After creating a Change and its associated Work Order, the system has the capability to
display other information related to the Change, including corresponding Work Orders,
linked tickets and CIs.
The defined Work Orders are numbered in order of their planned execution and
displayed in a timeline. The color of the displayed Work Order in the timeline reflects their type, and can be customized via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewChangeZoom&quot; as required.
The system generates two bars per Work Order in the Change timeline. The upper, darker
bar represents the planned Work Order implementation time, while the lower, lighter bar
displays the actual Work Order implementation time.
The status of each Work Order is represented by traffic lights, as seen in the following
view:
• Gray - Work Order is &quot;created&quot;
• Yellow - Work Order is &quot;pending approval&quot;
• Green - Work Order is &quot;closed&quot;
• Red - Work Order is &quot;canceled&quot;
42
8. Change Views
OTRS::ITSM offers a variety of ways to view the Changes saved in the system. Access to
these views can be disabled where desired.
8.1. Change Overview
All Changes are displayed in an overview screen, which can be sorted in ascending or
descending order per column.
The columns can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management
Frontend::Agent::ViewChangeOverview&quot; with the following available attributes:
-&gt;
Table 8.9. Change Overview
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which
the Change implementation
ended
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
Yes
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
Yes
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
Yes
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
Yes
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
Yes
Change status indicator,
shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of Change
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected
Change
43
effect
of
the
Attribute
Active
Details
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change implementation end date and time
Priority
Yes
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderCount
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
affected
by
the
Additionally, the Change Overview can filter and display changes according to various attributes. The following filters are available and can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change
Management -&gt; Frontend::Agent::ViewChangeOverview&quot;:
Table 8.10. Change Overview Filters
Attribute
Details
requested
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;requested&quot;
pending approval
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;pending approval&quot;
rejected
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;rejected&quot;
approved
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;approved&quot;
in progress
Displays all changes that have the status &quot;in
progress&quot;
successful
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;successful&quot;
failed
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;failed&quot;
canceled
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;canceled&quot;
retracted
Displays all changes that have the status
&quot;retracted&quot;
8.2. Change Schedule
In the Change Schedule view, all Changes which have the status &quot;approved&quot; ie. are in the
queue for implementation, are displayed. The column titles can be sorted by the following
attributes in ascending or descending order:
44
The displayed attributes can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend:: Agent:: ViewChangeScheduleOverview&quot;:
Table 8.11. Change Schedule
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation was
completed
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
Yes
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
Yes
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
Yes
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
Yes
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
Yes
Change status indicator;
shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of the Change
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected
Change
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change implementation completion date and
time
Priority
Yes
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderCount
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
effect
affected
of
by
the
the
8.3. PIR - Post Implementation Review
This view displays work orders of the &quot;PIR&quot; type, which can be sorted in ascending or
descending order by the given column headings.
The columns to be displayed can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management &gt; Frontend::Agent::ViewPIROverview&quot;:
45
Table 8.12. PIR - Post Implementation Review
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation was
completed
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
Yes
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
Yes
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
No
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
No
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
No
Change status indicator;
shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of Change
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected
Change
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change implementation completion date and
time
Priority
Yes
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderAgent
Yes
Agent assigned to the PIR
WorkOrderNumber
Yes
Work Order number
WorkOrderState
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
WorkOrderStateSignal
No
Work Order status indicator
to be shown as traffic light
WorkOrderTitle
Yes
Name of the Work Order
WorkOrderType
No
The type of Work Order
effect
affected
of
by
the
the
8.4. Template
This view displays all the defined templates in the system. The agent can sort the displayed information in ascending or descending order by the given column headings.
46
The columns to be displayed can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management &gt; Frontend::Agent::ViewTemplateOverview&quot;:
Table 8.13. Template
Attribute
Active
Details
ChangeBy
No
Username of the agent who
last modified the template
ChangeTime
No
Date and time of the last
modification
Comment
Yes
Comments / description of
the template
CreateBy
Yes
Username of the agent who
created the template
CreateTime
Yes
Date and time at which the
template was created
Delete
Yes
Option to delete a chosen
template
Name
Yes
Name of the template
TemplateID
No
The template's internal database identity
Type
Yes
Type of template
Valid
Yes
Defines the validity of
the template (valid, invalid,
and temporarily invalid). Invalid / temporarily invalid
templates cannot be used by
Change Builders.
After installing the Change Management module, the following template types are available in the system. These can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewTemplateOverview&quot;:
Table 8.14. Template Types
Attribute
Details
ITSMChange
Templates for Changes
ITSMWorkOrder
Templates for Work Orders
CAB
Templates for Change Advisory Boards
8.5. Search
To find Changes or Work Orders which meet specific search criteria, the system is
equipped with a separate search function based on the following search query attributes:
47
Table 8.15. Template
Attribute
Details
Change#
Search by Change number; an asterisk (&quot;*&quot;)
may be used as a wildcard
ChangeTitle
Search by Change title or name
Work Order Title
Search by the title/name of a Work Order
CABAgent
Search by CAB member, defined in the system as an agent
CABCustomer
Search by CAB member, defined in the system as a customer. Here, the auto-complete
function can offer suggestions when typing
in the CAB customer field
Change Description
Search in the Change description text
Change Justification
Search in the reason / justification for the
Change
Work Order Instruction
Search in Work Order instructions
Work Order Report
Search in a Work Order report
Change Priority
Search by Change priority level
Change Impact
Search by Change effect / impact level
Change Category
Search by Change category or type
Change State
Search by Change status
Change Manager
Search by Change Manager
Change Builder
Search by Change Builder
Created by Agent
Search by agent user name who created the
Change
Work Order State
Search by the status of a Work Order
Work Order Agent
Search by the entered Work Order agent
Requested (by customer) Date
Search by the customer requested Change
implementation date. Search can be performed using absolute time values (eg. from
date 1 to date 2) or in relative time values
(eg. Changes created in the last x days /
weeks).
Planned Start Time
Search by the planned start date and time
of a Change implementation. Search can be
performed using absolute time values (eg.
from date 1 to date 2) or in relative time values (eg. Changes created in the last x days /
weeks).
Planned End Time
Search by the projected end date and time
of a Change implementation. Search can be
performed using absolute time values (eg.
from date 1 to date 2) or in relative time values (eg. Changes created in the last x days /
weeks).
Actual Start Time
Search by the actual start date and time of a
Change implementation. Search can be performed using absolute time values (eg. from
date 1 to date 2) or in relative time values
48
Attribute
Details
(eg. Changes created in the last x days /
weeks).
Actual End Time
Search by the actual end date and time of a
Change implementation. Search can be performed using absolute time values (eg. from
date 1 to date 2) or in relative time values
(eg. Changes created in the last x days /
weeks).
Create Time
Search by the Change creation date and
time. Search can be performed using absolute time values (eg. from date 1 to date
2) or in relative time values (eg. Changes
created in the last x days / weeks).
Change Time
Search by the date and time a Change
was modified. Search can be performed using absolute time values (eg. from date 1
to date 2) or in relative time values (eg.
Changes created in the last x days / weeks).
8.6. Change Manager
OTRS::ITSM offers a separate view to currently logged in agents, which displays the
Changes for which they are registered as the Change Manager.
The displayed column headings can be sorted according the following attributes in ascending or descending order. The columns to be displayed can be defined via SysConfig
&quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt; Frontend::Agent::ViewChangeManagerOverview&quot;:
Table 8.16. Change Manager
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation was
completed
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
Yes
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
Yes
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
Yes
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
Yes
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
Yes
Change status indicator to
be shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of Change
49
Attribute
Active
Details
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected
Change
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change implementation completion date and
time
Priority
Yes
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderCount
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
effect
affected
of
by
the
the
In addition, the Change Manager Overview can filter the displayed Changes by various
attributes as follows These can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewChangeManagerOverview&quot; if desired:
Table 8.17. Change Manager Filter
Attribute
Details
requested
Displays all Changes which have status &quot;requested&quot;
pending approval
Displays all Changes which have status
&quot;pending approval&quot;
approved
Displays all Changes which have status &quot;approved&quot;
in progress
Displays all Changes which have status &quot;in
progress&quot;
8.7. My Changes
The &quot;My Changes&quot; view displays all Changes created by the agent currently logged in,
where the agent is registered as the Change Builder.
The display can be sorted by the column headings in ascending or descending order. The attributes can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewMyChangesOverview&quot;:
Table 8.18. My Changes
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
50
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was completed
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
Yes
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
Yes
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
Yes
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
Yes
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
Yes
Change status indicator to
be shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of Change
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected effect the Change
will have
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change completion date and time
Priority
Yes
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderCount
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
affected
by
the
In addition, the My Changes Overview can filter the displayed Changes by various attributes as below. These can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewMyChangesOverview&quot;:
Table 8.19. My Changes Filter
Attribute
Details
requested
Displays
all
Changes
status&quot;requested&quot;
which
have
pending approval
Displays
all
Changes
status&quot;pending approval&quot;
which
have
approved
Displays
all
Changes
status&quot;approved&quot;
which
have
in progress
Displays all Changes which have status&quot;in
progress&quot;
8.8. My Work Orders
Similar to the OTRS Ticket Engine's &quot;Locked Tickets&quot; view, OTRS::ITSM offers the currently
logged-in agent a separate view of the Work Orders assigned to him / her.
51
The displayed information can be sorted by column heading in ascending or descending
order. The attributes used can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewMyWorkOrdersOverview&quot;:
Table 8.20. My Work Orders
Attribute
Active
Details
ActualStartTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation began
ActualEndTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change implementation was
completed
Category
No
Category or type of Change
ChangeBuilder
No
Change Builder's name
ChangeManager
No
Change Manager's name
ChangeNumber
No
System generated Change
number
ChangeState
No
Change status
ChangeStateSignal
No
Change status indicator to
be shown as traffic light
ChangeTitle
Yes
Name of Change
CreateTime
No
Date and time at which the
Change was created
Impact
No
Expected effect the Change
will have
PlannedStartTime
Yes
Planned Change implementation start date and time
PlannedEndTime
Yes
Projected Change completion date and time
Priority
No
Priority level of the Change
RequestedTime
No
Customer's desired implementation date
Services
Yes
Services
Change
WorkOrderAgent
Yes
Agent assigned to the PIR
WorkOrderNumber
Yes
Work Order number
WorkOrderState
Yes
Number of Work Orders related to the Change
WorkOrderStateSignal
No
Work Order status indicator
to be shown as traffic light
WorkOrderTitle
Yes
Name of the Work Order
WorkOrderType
No
The type of Work Order
52
affected
by
the
In addition, the My Work Orders Overview can filter the displayed Work Orders by various
attributes as below, which can be defined via SysConfig &quot;ITSM Change Management -&gt;
Frontend::Agent::ViewMyWorkOrdersOverview&quot;:
Table 8.21. My Work Orders Filter
Attribute
Details
created
Displays all Work Orders which have the status &quot;created&quot;
accepted
Displays all Work Orders which have the status &quot;accepted&quot;
ready
Displays all Work Orders which have the status &quot;ready&quot;
in progress
Displays all Work Orders which have the status &quot;in progress&quot;
9. Change Management Statistics
OTRS::ITSM provides the following reports for the evaluation of key indicators in supervising Change Management. All reports can be accessed through the integrated report
generator.
9.1. Number of Changes Within a Defined Period
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the Change status to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
9.2. Number of Changes by Change Category
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the Change status to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
9.3. Number of Rejected Changes
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the Change status to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
9.4. Number of Withdrawn Changes
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the Change status to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
9.5. Ratio of Changes to Incidents
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the Change status to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
53
9.6. RFCs Per Requester
The report allows the definition of a relative (eg. Changes within the last x days) or absolute time period (eg. Changes from date1 to date 2). In addition, it is also possible to
define the RFC Requester to be reported.
Reports are available in &quot;CSV&quot; or &quot;Print&quot; (PDF) output formats.
54
Chapter 9. Release Management
Please note that the we are planning to introduce the release management process with a
future OTRS::ITSM version. Basic information, however, can be configured, captured and
controlled as of version 1.0.
As an example, approval rules or overviews from DSL (Definitive Software Library) can
be configured and used.
55
Chapter 10. Service Level Management
The introduction of OTRS version 2.1 marked a complete revision of the internal statistics
framework by allowing the creation of nearly every imaginable ticket-based report via
the web interface, as well as the export or import thereof. In addition to that, by making
use of OTRS existing access conrol features, administrators were allowed to restrict the
generation and display of statistics and charts to specific users, groups, and/or roles.
During the development, special care was given to ensure cross-version compatibility,
meaning that statistics modules generated by previous OTRS versions could continue to
be used. When used in combination with OTRS::ITSM, additional statistics relevant to ITSM
become available with the installation of the ITSMServiceLevelManagement package.
Example of a report overview:
XML export of report settings:
Dialog-based creation of a new report template:
56
A PDF generator is incorporated as well, which enables you to export the print view of
your previously generated tickets, stats, and search results in PDF format:
Example of a graphical ticket overview:
57
58
Chapter 11. The admin area of OTRS::ITSM
The admin area is the central interface for the administrator of the ticket system. All
important settings of the system configuration can be checked and/or changed here, and
the system can be customized to suit individual needs.
The admin area can be accessed via the &quot;admin&quot; link in the agent interface navigation
bar. The link is only shown to users logged on to the system that have been granted
administrator priviliges. After the completion of a default installation you can log on to the
system as OTRS admin using the user name &quot;root@localhost&quot; and the password &quot;root&quot;.
Warning
WARNING: Make sure to change the password of root@localhost in the user preferences as quickly as possible. Using the widely known default password is not
recommended!
• from OTRS::ITSM 1.0 on
• [ General Catalog ]
• [ Criticality - Impact - Priority ]
• [ ConfigItem ]
• from OTRS::ITSM 1.1 on
• [ Import/Export ]
• from OTRS::ITSM 2.0 on
• [ Notification (ITSM Change Management) ]
• [ Category - Impact - Priority ]
• [ State Machine ]
• from OTRS 2.2 on
• [ Type ]
• [ Status ]
• [ Service ]
• [ SLA ]
• from OTRS 2.3 on
• [ Priority ]
59
1. The general catalog
As the name indicates, the general catalog serves for basic ITSM relevant configurations
in OTRS::ITSM.
For example the editing of reference chart entries for drop-down fields:
60
2. Configuring configuration item classes
By default OTRS::ITSM provides five CI classes to represent all relevant IT elements:
• [ Computer ]
All CIs, which are classically referred to as computers, e.g. desktop PCs or laptops as well
as all other intelligent, configurable and non-peripheral appliances such as switches,
routers or other active network components.
• [ Hardware ]
All hardware components not classified as computers, possibly ranging from a &quot;blade
center&quot; chassis to printers and USB sticks, depending on the level of granularity of your
CI structure.
• [ Network ]
Logical networks (LAN, WLAN, WAN etc.), which span IP address spaces.
• [ Software ]
All software products and licenses.
• [ Locations ]
All Locations, e.g. building, workplace, IT facility.
If the five classes do not suffice to describe your IT environment, further classes can be
added via the &quot;general catalog&quot; link in the OTRS::ITSM admin area. After creating a new
CI class in the general catalog, a definition must be entered in ConfigItem&quot;.
Warning
The design of a CMDB data model and of the associated CIs is a task which should
not be underestimated. Our experience shows that it is highly recommendable to
validate conceptual thoughts in a dry run against the existing IT infrastructure,
before changing the OTRS::ITSM standard data model and/or CI classes. It has
proven to be of value to resort to external assistance, e.g. of ITIL practice experts
for the CMDB design.
Please find below a part of the self-explaining default configuration for the &quot;computer&quot;
CI class:
[
{
Key =&gt; 'Description',
Name =&gt; 'Description',
Searchable =&gt; 1,
Input =&gt; {
61
},
{
},
{
},
{
},
},
Type =&gt; 'TextArea',
Key =&gt; 'Type',
Name =&gt; 'Type',
Searchable =&gt; 1,
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'GeneralCatalog',
Class =&gt; 'ITSM::ConfigItem::Computer::Type',
},
Key =&gt; 'Owner',
Name =&gt; 'Owner',
Searchable =&gt; 1,
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'Customer',
},
Key =&gt; 'AssetTag',
Name =&gt; 'Asset Tag',
Searchable =&gt; 1,
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'Text',
Size =&gt; 50,
MaxLength =&gt; 100,
Required =&gt; 1,
},
CountMin =&gt; 0,
CountMax =&gt; 1,
CountDefault =&gt; 0,
:
:
:
{
},
{
},
{
];
},
Key =&gt; 'Model',
Name =&gt; 'Model',
Searchable =&gt; 1,
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'Text',
Size =&gt; 50,
MaxLength =&gt; 50,
},
Key =&gt; 'OperatingSystem',
Name =&gt; 'Operating System',
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'Text',
Size =&gt; 50,
MaxLength =&gt; 100,
},
Key =&gt; 'CPU',
Name =&gt; 'CPU',
Input =&gt; {
Type =&gt; 'Text',
Size =&gt; 50,
MaxLength =&gt; 100,
},
CountMin =&gt; 1,
CountMax =&gt; 16,
CountDefault =&gt; 1,
62
Attribute changes and amendments can be done in the graphical configuration area by
selecting &quot;change definition&quot;:
Warning
In order to assure the consistency of the data managed in OTRS::ITSM, information
created in the admin area of the system cannot be deleted as a general rule. If you
want to deactivate such information, change the value in the respective listbox
settings from &quot;valid&quot; to &quot;invalid&quot; or to &quot;invalid-temporarily&quot;.
3. Version management of CI classes
Version management for all CI classes is integrated into the system. The latest versions
are used for the processes represented in OTRS::ITSM.
4. Adjustment of ticket state
In ITIL aligned incident management, incidents are either resolved successfully or closed
with a workaround. To address the latter closure category, OTRS::ITSM by default includes
the ticket state &quot;closed with workaround&quot;.
63
With OTRS::ITSM you can change existing ticket states or add new ones. There are two
important options: the name of the state &quot;state-name&quot; and the type of it &quot;state-type&quot;. All
states and types available by default are pictured above.
State names can be chosen freely. In the &quot;state&quot; settings within the admin interface new
states can be added or changed for existing state types.
Please consider that changes made to the &quot;new&quot; state require changes to be made in the
configuration file kernel/config.pm or in the graphical configuration front-end.
[...]
# PostmasterDefaultState
# (The default state of new tickets.) [default: new]
$Self-&gt;{PostmasterDefaultState} = 'new';
# CustomerDefaultState
# (default state of new customer tickets)
$Self-&gt;{CustomerDefaultState} = 'new';
[...]
The same applies to changes made to the &quot;open&quot; state: changes in the kernel/Config.pm
or in the graphical configuration frontend are necessary.
[...]
# default phone new state
$Self-&gt;{'Ticket::Frontend::PhoneNextState'} = 'open';
# PostmasterFollowUpState
# (The state if a ticket got a follow up.) [default: open]
$Self-&gt;{PostmasterFollowUpState} = 'open';
[...]
Warning
In order to assure the consistency of the data managed in OTRS::ITSM, information
created in the admin area of the system cannot be deleted as a general rule. If you
64
want to deactivate such information, change the value in the respective listbox
settings from &quot;valid&quot; to &quot;invalid&quot; or &quot;invalid-temporarily&quot;.
5. The criticality impact priority matrix
OTRS::ITSM provides five ticket priority levels:
• [ Criticality ]
Significance (&quot;criticality&quot;) of the service for the IT user(s)/customer(s)
• [ Impact ]
Impact of failures of the concerned service on the user(s)/customer(s)
• [ Priority ]
Priority within OTRS::ITSM as resulting from criticality and impact
The OTRS::ITSM ticket priority is determined with the matrix shown below and the prioritized ticket is integrated in the queue views.
The level number, descriptions and validity can be accessed and changed in the admin
interface via the &quot;general catalog&quot; link:
6. Adjustment of ticket priorities
Tickets are arranged within OTRS::ITSM on the basis of ticket priorities, i.e. tickets with
a higher priority are displayed further up in the queue views and lower priority ones in
lower positions. Priorities can be adjusted, re-named and amended in the graphical admin
frontend.
65
More detailed information can be found in the OTRS Admin Manual.
Warning
The &quot;id&quot; attribute decides the OTRS::ITSM internal sequence of priorities. 1 corresponds to the minimum and 5 (or higher) to the maximum. The number in the
priority name is used to implement the correct sequence within the priorities.
Warning
In order to assure the consistency of the data managed in OTRS::ITSM, information
created in the admin area of the system cannot be deleted as a general rule. If you
want to deactivate such information, change the value in the respective listbox
settings from &quot;valid&quot; to &quot;invalid&quot; or &quot;invalid-temporarily&quot;.
66
Chapter 12. Additional OTRS applications calendar
OTRS 3.3 initially supports up to 9 calendars, which can be configured graphically. Using
the SysConfig framework found in the admin interface, this number can be increased to
99, by using the calendar 1 etc. links:
&quot;TimeWorkingHours&quot; can be used in OTRS::ITSM to define so-called &quot;service level windows&quot; time frames in which your organization guarantees certain service levels to your
customers. If required, these can then be monitored and/or evaluated to ensure compliance with any possible Service Level Agreements.
67
Chapter 13. OTRS::ITSM interfaces
The following partly-generic interfaces can be used for data exchange between
OTRS::ITSM and other (ITSM) software products:
• NAGIOS
• SOAP
• LDAP
• E-mail (POP3, IMAP, SMTP)
• CSV Import/Export
OTRS AG will gladly create additional interfaces per request or members of the community
may develop them.
68
Appendix A. GNU Free Documentation License
Version 1.1, March 2000
Copyright (C) 2000 Free Software Foundation, Inc. 59 Temple Place, Suite
330, Boston, MA 02111-1307 USA Everyone is permitted to copy and distribute verbatim copies of this license document, but changing it is not allowed.
0. PREAMBLE
The purpose of this License is to make a manual, textbook, or other written document
&quot;free&quot; in the sense of freedom: to assure everyone the effective freedom to copy and
redistribute it, with or without modifying it, either commercially or noncommercially. Secondly, this License preserves a way for the author and publisher to get credit for their
work, while not being considered responsible for modifications made by others.
This License is a kind of &quot;copyleft&quot;, which means that derivative works of the document
must themselves be free in the same sense. It complements the GNU General Public
License, which is a copyleft license designed for free software.
We have designed this License in order to use it for manuals for free software, because free
software needs free documentation; a free program should come with manuals providing
the same freedoms that the software does. But this License is not limited to software
manuals; it can be used for any textual work, regardless of subject matter or whether it
is published as a printed book. We recommend this License principally for works whose
purpose is instruction or reference.
1. APPLICABILITY AND DEFINITIONS
This License applies to any manual or other work that contains a notice placed by the
copyright holder saying it can be distributed under the terms of this License. The &quot;Document&quot;, below, refers to any such manual or work. Any member of the public is a licensee,
and is addressed as &quot;you&quot;.
A &quot;Modified Version&quot; of the Document means any work containing the Document or a
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that deals exclusively with the relationship of the publishers or authors of the Document
to the Document's overall subject (or to related matters) and contains nothing that could
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The &quot;Invariant Sections&quot; are certain Secondary Sections, whose titles are designated as
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70
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71
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72
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. How to use this License for your documents
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73
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Key features

ITIL compliant IT service management solution
Open-source framework
Incident, problem, change, and configuration item management
Integrated CMDB
Service and SLA management
Incident ticket recording and tracking
CI creation and management
Powerful reporting and analysis tools

Frequently asked questions

OTRS::ITSM is a comprehensive solution for IT service management, built on the open-source OTRS framework. It provides a range of features for managing incidents, problems, changes, and configuration items, all within a single platform.

OTRS::ITSM is designed to be ITIL compliant, meaning it follows the best practices and processes outlined in the ITIL framework for IT service management.

Key features of OTRS::ITSM include incident management, problem management, change management, configuration management, and service level management.