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Scheduling a Change Request

•About Scheduling a Change Request

•Scheduling the Change Request

•Using the Change Scheduler

•Updating the Change Start and End Dates using the Change Scheduler

•Viewing a Change Lockout Period and Change Window

About Scheduling a Change Request

After a change request is approved, you can schedule it, view a lockout period and change window for a configuration item, and create tasks for the change request. Scheduled changes appear in the change calendar. See Using the Change Calendar.

You can request that the change be a part of a release or link the change to an existing release. If you link the change to a release, the Release Manager can begin the process of preparing and planning for the release and the change schedule is driven by the release outage dates.

Scheduling the Change Request

1.Log in to the Service Desk Console as a Change Manager.

2.Open the Change workspace.

3.Open the change record to schedule.

4.In the Schedule section, enter a start and end date.

•If the change request is linked to a release, the start date and end date are filled in with the outage dates from the release and become read-only. Ensure that the change is not scheduled during a change lockout period. See Viewing a Change Lockout Period and Change Window.

•The release name, along with the current status of the release, appears below the release field.

•The schedule start and end date of the change cannot be updated from the Change Schedule tab.

5.From the Status field, select Scheduled. If the change request requires approval, the status is not updated to scheduled until after it is approved. See Approving a Change Request.

6.Click Save.

After saving the change request:

•The system sends an email to the change requester and the Change Manager informing them that the change has been scheduled.

•If the associated configuration item is configured to run a baseline, a baseline is created in the Baseline Comparison tab of the configuration item record and in the Baseline tab of the change record.

Using the Change Scheduler

When a configuration item is linked to the change request, the change calendar is enabled and shows the dates that appear on the Scheduled Start Date and Scheduled End Date fields of the change request. You can directly update the dates from the change scheduler.

If the configuration item already has lockout dates and an available change window, those dates also appear in the change scheduler. See Viewing a Change Lockout Period and Change Window.

If the change request is linked to a release, the change schedule becomes read-only and you cannot update the schedule. The dates from the release outage overwrite the dates in the change request.

Updating the Change Start and End Dates using the Change Scheduler

You can only update the Start Date and End Date fields for the change request if:

•The Scheduled Start Date and Scheduled End Date fields for the change request are already filled in on the Change Details tab.

•The change request is already linked to a configuration item.

•The change request is not linked to a release. When a change request is linked to a release, the Start Date and End Date fields are filled in from the outage schedule of the release.

Follow these steps to update the schedule:

1.Log in to the Service Desk Console as a Change Manager.

2.Open the Change workspace.

3.Open the change record to schedule.

4.Click the Change Schedule tab.

5.Hover your mouse over the schedule to view information about the change.

6.Do one of the following to search for a configuration item:

•If several configuration items are linked to a change request, you can enter the name or partial name of one of the configuration items in the Search for Resource field to view the schedule for that configuration item only.

•Enter the name or the first few letters of one of the configuration items linked to the change request in the Search for Resource field.

Only the configuration item that you entered remains and the other configuration items are cleared from the list. To view the other configuration items again, click the drop-down arrow.

7.To update the change request schedule, do one of the following:

•Click and drag your mouse over the schedule to span a new date and time range.

--or--

•Right-click and select Edit.

•In the Edit Event window, enter a new start date and time in the Start at and End at fields.

•Optionally, change the display text by entering it in the Title field.

•Optionally, enter some details about the schedule in the Description field.

•Click Save.

On the Details tab, the Schedule Start Date and the Schedule End Date fields are updated with the new dates and times that you entered.

Viewing a Change Lockout Period and Change Window

The Configuration Manager can create a change lockout period and a change window for a configuration item.

•A change lockout period indicates that changes should not be made during this time. They can be overridden by the Change Manager, if necessary. By default, a change lockout period is not enforced; it is only there to caution the Change Manager not to implement the specific change for the configuration item during that time.

•A change window indicates to the Change Manager that this is a preferred time to implement a change for the configuration item.

The Configuration Manager can also associate configuration items to a change window or change lockout period, which means that when the configuration item is associated with the change request, the Change Manager can view the change lockout period and the change window for the configuration item in the Change Schedule tab of the change request record. See Using the Change Scheduler. Locking out a configuration item and setting up a change window for the configuration item is done by the Configuration Manager from the Change Lockout tab of a configuration item record. As the Change Manager, you can only view the change lockout and change window; you cannot make any modifications to them.

Follow these steps to view the change lockout period and the change window for a change request:

1.Log in to the Service Desk Console as a Change Manager.

2.Open the Change workspace.

3.Open the change request record to view.

4.Within the change request record, click the Change Schedule tab.

•The change lockout period appears in red.

•The change window appears in green.

5.Mouse over the change lockout period and the change window to view their details.

6.Click Next Window to view another change window for the configuration item.