Related Objects

By definition, the Release process affects numerous aspects of the business environment. The relations between a Release record and other functionally related objects are administered via the reference catalogs at the bottom of the Release editor.

The lower section of the Release editor contains the following related objects:

• Description

  A Release will have at least one Release description but may have many. The Release descriptions describe the processing of the Release, including Status changes. A list of Release descriptions would read like the history of the Release and keep a good Release record. The description No.1 is the initial Release description.

  Please see also the 'Release Description' topic.

• Assigned Component Types, Assigned Systems

  CMDB/CMS integration is provided by means of reference catalogs linking CIs related to the Release record. These CI references document which CIs are affected by the release and provides instant access to these CIs for editing, further assignments and overview/reporting.

  Updating of the CMS is taken care of by automatic CMD update performed during the deployment phase of the process. Similarly, CI disposal can be performed by Valuemation business processes triggered by a related change. CI disposal is reflected by its status change and can be tracked using CI status history records.

  When you assign a System (or a System has already been assigned) to the Release on the 'Assigned Systems' tab and you are further assigning Component Types on the 'Assigned Component Types' tab, a browser opens and shows just the Component Types used in the System assigned to the Release by default. You can click the 'Reset' button above to get a full list of all Component Types displayed.

  The same logic also applies the other way round: When you assign a Component Type (or a Component Type has already been assigned) to the Release on the 'Assigned Component Types' tab and you are further assigning Systems on the 'Assigned Systems' tab, a browser opens and shows just the Systems associated with the Component Type assigned to the Release by default. You can click the 'Reset' button above to get a full list of all Component Types displayed.

• Assigned Services

  The relations between a Release record and related services are administered vie the 'Assigned Services' reference catalog. As in all reference catalogs, the catalogs provides and overview and an instant access to the target business objects (Services).

• Involved Supportgroups, Documents/Plans...

  All functionally related object types linked to Release objects in a 1:n or m:n fashion are represented by corresponding tabs with reference catalogs in the Release editor. More customer-specific tabs can be added by customization.

• Assigned Projects

  Assigned projects provide for financial planning of the release. Similar to Assigned Changes, projects can be linked to a Release record in different contexts.

• Assigned Changes

  During the life cycle of a release, RFCs are used to ensure the "interaction with real-life environment". RFCs related to a release are administered in the 'Assigned Changes' reference catalog of a Release editor. RFCs can be created here or existing RFCs can be assigned for Change process integration.

  RFCs can be linked to a Release record in several different contexts:

  • Requestor

    In the beginning of the release life cycle, usually an existing RFC requesting the release is assigned to the release record. The RFC is linked in the 'Requester' context.

  • Implementer

    When the release is ready to be deployed, another RFC requesting the release deployment is created and assigned to the release. The RFC is linked in the 'Implementer' context.

  • Backout

    If problems with the release are encountered, the necessary backout actions are initiated by an RFC with context 'Backout'.

  • Rollback

    Following a backout, rollback activities are initiated by an RFC with context 'Rollback'.

  At the end of each related change process, the change ticket is set to status 'Completed'. During the review phase the user can adjust the existing change categories (all previous categories are logged by audit and history). After completing the Change, the associated Release process comes to an end where the Release Manager can mark the service transition closure by setting the closure code according to the deployment results and other criteria.

• Associated Release-Units

  Individual Releases which from the Release Package.

• Previous Releases

  Lists the previous Releases.

• Process Instances

  The process instances which exist for the Release.

• Tasks

  The tasks related to the Release.