Change Templates

Change Templates

Change templates automatically populate the required data for frequently recurring changes and ensure that all information necessary for the change manager to deploy the change is fully captured when the change request is submitted.

Role Required: SDAdmin

Create Change Template    

To create a change template,
  1. Go to Setup > Templates & Forms > Change Template.
  2. Select the respective customer from the filter in the header.
  3. Click New Change Template.
  4. The displayed form consists three main sections: Header, Field List, and Canvas.
 

Submission-Details

Header
Provide basic details of the template.
  1. Name* - Enter a unique name for the template.
  2. Comments - Briefly describe the usage of the template.
  3. Type - Choose the template type based on the nature of the change request: General or Emergency.
  4. Workflow - Select the workflow to be associated with the template.
Field List
The field list in the right pane contains two tabs: Available and New.
  1. Available - Contains default and additional fields configured in the application that are not used in the canvas. Drag any field from this list to the canvas.
  2. New - Contains various field types that you can use to create additional fields instantly for the change template. To create a new field, drag a field type to the template canvas and add the required details.
    1. Based on the selected field type, the field properties vary.
    2. You can create additional fields under Setup > Customization > Additional Fields > Change.
You can also add sections to the template from the right pane. Use the New Section button to add sections to the template and group the fields within the section.
Canvas
The canvas contains various fields that are vital in capturing information about the change. Some of the fields are system-defined and cannot be removed. You can add more fields and define the field/section properties.

To customize sections added to the canvas,
  1. By default, sections are untitled. Click on the left corner of the section header to name the section.
  2. Hover over a section and click to set the following section properties:
    1. Number of Columns - Choose if you want the section to have one or two columns.
    2. Label Orientation - Choose if you want the field labels to be aligned on the left, top, or right to the input boxes.
    3. Collapsed State - You can choose to collapse sections automatically while loading the form. This property can be defined only if the section is named.
    4. Click Delete Section to remove the section from the template. The fields in the section will be moved to the field list on the right pane.
  3. Click on the section header to drag the section anywhere in the canvas.
Info
You cannot delete sections containing default fields such as Change Requester, Site, Change Owner, Stage, Status, Status Comment, Title, and Attachment. However, you can move these fields to other sections before deleting the section.

To customize fields added to the canvas,
  1. Hover over a field to define the field properties.
    1. Click to mandate the field.
    2. Click to remove a field from the template.
    3. Click or on either sides of the field to adjust the field width.
  2. Specify values in the field to set default values.
Info
Mandating Item field will also mandate Subcategory and Category fields.
 

 
Click Save. The form will reload as Edit Change Template form. The following tabs will be available on the left pane.
 
  1. Stages
    1. Submission
    2. Planning
    3. CAB Evaluation
    4. Implementation
    5. UAT
    6. Release
    7. Review
    8. Close
  2. Roles
  3. Tasks
  4. Form Rules
  5. Additional Settings
 
You can view the layout of the change form by clicking Preview on the top of the form.
 

Submission   

The Submission stage involves evaluating the proposed change and its various attributes, such as impact, risk involved, urgency, priority, etc. The business requirements of the change are defined clearly.

You have the following tabs under Submission,
  1. Details
    1. Displays the attributes defined along with the header and submission details regarding submission while creating the change request.
  2. Tasks - Add and manage tasks to break down the work in the Submission stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the form as explained here.
    2. On the tasks list view page, you can delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage. 

 
Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Alternatively, you can perform this action from the Additional Settings tab.
 

 

Planning   

Map out a detailed plan to execute the proposed change. The change management team can plan the change goals and guidelines, contemplate how to implement the change, prepare fallback plans, and plan outages.

You have the following tabs under Planning,
  1. Details
    1. Include planning details along with submission details in the change form.
    2. Impact Details - Records the impact of the change on the business.
    3. Rollout Plan - Explain how the change process will be implemented.
    4. Backout Plan - Create contingency plans in case a change fails. Include details on how to cancel the change or minimize potential impact.
    5. Checklist - List activities to do before the change request can progress to the next stage.
    6. The above sections are predefined. You can either rearrange, delete, or add additional fields to these sections. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.
Info
Users with necessary permissions can edit submission details even after a change is moved to the Planning stage.

 
  1. Schedule - Plan the time to release the change and schedule service downtime that might occur when the change is implemented. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.
 

  1. Tasks - Add and manage tasks to break down the work involved in the Planning stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

CAB Evaluation   

The Change Advisory Board, also known as CAB, plays a crucial role in the change management process. While the change manager typically handles small changes, more complex changes with higher risks and impacts require the collective expertise of a diverse group of individuals from various departments within the organization. This group evaluates proposed changes and provides feedback to the change manager.

You have the following tabs under CAB Evaluation,
  1. Details
    1. Add attachments of CAB evaluation details and fill additional fields configured for the stage.
    2. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.
    3. Upload attachments to assist CAB members while they are evaluating a change created with the template.
  2. Tasks - Add and manage tasks to break down the work involved in the CAB Evaluation stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

 

Implementation   

After the required approvals are received, the change request moves to the Implementation stage, where the change is implemented through tasks and projects caused by the change.
In this stage, the change manager will lay out the higher-level objectives and break them down into projects caused by change, milestones, and tasks, depending on the work involved.
The required teams are assembled and added to specific tasks and projects, keeping in mind the downtime and other constraints.

You have the following tabs under Implementation,
  1. Details
    1. Displays any additional field configured to collect information about the change implementation process.
    2. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.
    3. Upload attachments to evaluate and carry out the change created with this template.
 
  1. Tasks - Add and manage tasks to break down the work involved in this stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

 

UAT    

User Acceptance Testing (UAT) is the stage in which some users evaluate the implemented change under real-world scenarios. Based on their experience during the testing period, the UAT members provide their consent on approving the change.

You have the following tabs under UAT,
  1. Details
    1. Displays the scheduled start and end dates of the UAT and the actual start and end dates.
    2. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.
    3. Upload attachments for test plan.
  2. Tasks - Add and manage tasks to break down the work involved in this stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

Release   

When the user representatives in the UAT stage have provided their consent, the change will move forward to the Release stage to ensure the change is accessible to all users.

You have the following tabs under Release,
  1. Details
    1. Configure the release schedule's actual start and actual end. Apart from available fields and sections, you can add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed. You can also add attachments.
  2. Tasks - Add tasks related to the release stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 
 

 

Review    

During the review stage, the change management team evaluates the entire change process from Submission to Release. They document a report detailing the change process and assess if the objectives of each stage were achieved. They also document procedures to be implemented in the future.

You have the following tabs under Review,
  1. Details 
    1. Configure the next review date, add the review in the Description field, and include attachments.
    2. Apart from available fields and sections, you can add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed. You can also add attachments.
  2. Tasks - Add tasks related to the review stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

 

Close    

In the final stage, the change request is closed after assigning it an appropriate closure code which indicates whether the change was approved, rejected, or closed halfway.

You have the following tabs under Close,
  1. Details 
    1. Apart from available fields and sections, you can add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed. You can also add attachments.
  2. Tasks - Add tasks related to the closure stage.
    1. Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.
    2. You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.
    3. Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.
 

 

Move Sections/Fields  

After saving the template, you can move a section/additional field from one stage/section to another.
  1. Click Move Section on the top-right of the page to move a section with only additional fields to another stage. 
  1. Hover over an additional field and click the Move Field icon to move the additional fields to other stages.
 

Roles     

Manage roles related to the change and assign default users to the roles.

By default, the following roles are added to change templates: Change Approver, Line Manager, Reviewer, Implementer, and UAT Owner. Add other change roles by dragging the relevant role from the right pane.

To add new change roles,
  1. Go to the New Fields tab on the right pane and use the New Role element. Learn more.
To assign a default user to a role,
  1. Click the required role.
  2. Select the user from the drop-down and the user will be auto-assigned to the corresponding role in change requests configured using this template.
You can assign change roles to both requesters and technicians in your organization.
Info
You can add and manage change roles under Setup > Customization > Change Management > Change Roles. Learn more.
Click Save.

Tasks    

Assign technicians to tasks and configure the tasks to be triggered when needed.

To configure tasks,
  1. Select the Tasks tab in the left pane.
  2. Click Add Task.
  3. Select the change stage where the task must be executed. Stage will be auto-applied when a task is created from a change stage.
  4. Populate the Add Task form fields as explained here or select a task template by clicking the drop-down icon beside the Add button.
  5. Click Save.

 
 

 
You can perform the following actions on the tasks:
  1. Edit/Delete Tasks - Use the icon beside the task title to edit or delete a task. To bulk-delete tasks, select the tasks and use the Delete button.
  2. Filter Tasks Displayed - Use the Filter by stage drop-down to filter the tasks displayed. Depending on the filtering option selected, you can move tasks to different stages, organize the tasks within a stage, or mark task dependencies.
    1. Move Tasks to Different Stages - You can move tasks to different stages when All Stages is selected in the Filter by stage drop-down. Select the task to be moved and use the Move Stage drop-down to select the stage where the task must be moved to.
    2. Organize Tasks - When the tasks are filtered by a stage, you can organize the order of task execution within the stage using the Organize button.
    3. Mark Dependency among Tasks - Click Tasks Dependency to go to the Task Dependency Map where you can mark the parent and child tasks as explained here.
  3. Search Tasks - Use the icon to search through tasks based on a criteria. Add the criteria and value and click Enter. After the results are displayed, you can add multiple search criteria using the icon or click on the existing criteria to edit it.
  4. Define Table Settings - Click the icon to select the number of records displayed on the tasks page and sort the tasks by the column values.
  5. Trigger Tasks - The tasks that are marked to technicians/groups can be triggered manually or set to auto-trigger when the change is created or the change stage is reached. On the right pane, click Configure on the yellow label to set up task trigger.

Form Rules    

Form rules allow you to customize change forms based on the data provided by users while creating or editing a change request. You can define field restrictions and execute predefined actions when the user input matches certain conditions. Form rules enable the usage of the same template for different purposes.
Info
Form rules can be applied only to the fields in the Submission stage of a change.
By default, global form rules are configured under Setup > Templates and Forms > Form rules > Change Form Rules will be reflected here. You can also set up form rules by clicking New. Follow the pointers below to set up a form rule:

To create form rules,
  1. Go to Form Rules tab. By default, global form rules configured for the template under Setup > Templates and Forms > Form Rules > Change will be reflected here.
  2. Click New to set up template-specific form rules.
  3. Define the form rule as explained here.
  4. Click Save. 

Configure Additional Settings    

You can configure the change templates availability and task trigger settings from the Additional Settings tab.
  1. To extend change template availability to requesters and allow them to create change requests, enable the Available for requesters check box. You can limit the template access to specific user groups.
  2. To configure task trigger settings, select one of the following options from the Task Trigger drop-down.
    1. At Change Creation - Trigger tasks automatically when the change request is created.
    2. When transitioning into a change stage - Trigger tasks within a stage automatically when the change stage is reached for the first time.
    3. Manually - Allow change users to manually trigger tasks from the Tasks tab in the Change Details page.
  3. Click Save.
 

 

List View Actions    

Change templates are itemized as two types:
  1.  - General Template
  1. - Emergency Template
You can manage the change templates from the list view page and perform the following actions:
  1. Edit/Delete/Copy/Enable/Disable Templates - Use the icon to edit, delete, copy, enable, or disable a template. You can also use the Copy Template button on the toolbar to copy a template.
  2. Enable/Disable Templates - Use the toggle button under the Status column to enable or disable a template from further use. You can also use the icon.
  3. Mark Template as Default - Set the frequently used template as default template by clicking icon next to the template name.
  4. View Associated Form Rules - Hover over the icon to view the form rules associated with the template. If no form rules are present, the icon will be greyed out.
  5. Search Templates - Use the icon to search through templates based on a criteria. Add the criteria, value, and click Enter. After the results are displayed, you can add multiple search criteria using the icon or click on the existing criteria to edit it.
  6. Customize List View - Limit the number of templates and define the sort order of the templates displayed in the list view using icon .
  7. Status: Enable or Disable a template using the status toggle.
Info
You cannot delete or disable the default template.
 


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