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Serena Orchestrated Ops 3.1 Readme
This readme file contains information about this release. Last updated on 2012-04-27.

Contents

About this Release

Welcome to Serena Orchestrated Ops 3.1 The What's New? tab contains a complete list of features in the release.

Please note the following important information:

  • On-premise customers: Before you install Serena Orchestrated Ops, you must install and configure SBM 10.1 or later as described in the SBM Installation and Configuration Guide.
  • Serena Orchestrated Ops 3.1 is available in English only.
  • This readme pertains to both the on-demand and on-premise versions of Serena Orchestrated Ops 3.1.

Packaging Changes

Serena Orchestrated Ops is now used to refer to the collection of solutions that manage your IT services. (Previously, Serena Service Manager was used.) The following solutions, which can be used independently or in combination, are included in Serena Orchestrated Ops:

In addition, some of the Serena Request Center and Serena Service Manager packaging changed, as described in the Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Premise Upgrade Guide and Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Demand Upgrade Guide.

New Installations of Serena Orchestrated Ops

If this is a new on-premise installation, download Serena Business Manager 10.1 or later from http://www.serena.com/support and then follow the instructions in the SBM Installation and Configuration Guide to install and configure Serena Business Manager. After you have verified that Serena Business Manager is installed successfully, download Serena Orchestrated Ops 3.1 from http://www.serena.com/support and follow the instructions in the Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Premise Installation and Configuration Guide.

For on-demand customers, see the Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Demand Installation and Configuration Guide for information on setting up Serena Orchestrated Ops in your current environment.

Upgrades from Previous Versions of Serena Service Manager

There are two upgrade phases for Serena Request Center or Serena Service Manager:
  • Solution Framework

    Install and configure latest versions of components for Serena Request Center, Serena Demand Center, and features such as service level agreements (SLA). Solutions you have implemented from previous releases are supported with the upgraded framework files.

  • Solution Files (Optional)

    Import new solution files and merge changes into your current solutions. Before attempting this upgrade, review the list of changes to determine the benefit of upgrading your solutions.

For upgrade instructions, refer to the Serena Orchestrated Ops Upgrade Guide.

Serena Orchestrated Ops Installer Components

The Serena Orchestrated Ops installer delivers three components:

  • Solutions – Solution files are process app snapshots and blueprints that contain the latest changes and updates for the Serena Orchestrated Ops process workflows and data models.
    The following solutions are delivered by the Serena Orchestrated Ops installer:
    • Serena Demand Center:
      • SDM - Project Proposal
      • SDM - Voting
    • Serena Request Center:
      • SRC - Starter Pack Forms - IT
      • SRC - Knowledge Management
      • SRC - Service Request
    • Serena Service Manager:
      • SSM - Change Management
      • SSM - Configuration Management System
      • SSM - Problem Management
      • SSM - Incident Management
      • SSM - Problem Management
  • Service Level Agreement (SLA) Files – SLAs define the level of service that an organization commits to its customers. SLAs contain performance metrics that correspond to these commitments.
  • SOO Framework – The SOO framework files augment your underlying SBM installation and enable certain features in the SOO process apps. The framework files include new templates, images, and code that are backward compatible with your existing installation.

Third-party Tools

For third-party software information, refer to:

What's New?

The following features and changes are new in Serena Orchestrated Ops.

Serena Demand Manager

Serena Demand Manager enables you to capture and organize incoming demand for projects, such as new application development, Web site requests, or infrastructure improvements. Demand items can span multiple business processes, but you can organize them into plans that provide an overall view into the cost, effort, and benefit of each project.

Serena Demand Manager includes:

  • Serena Demand Center

    Demand Center provides a portal that enables project managers and other planners to manage incoming demand.

  • Project Proposal process app This optional process app contains a simple workflow for managing new demand items, which are submitted into one of three provided projects (Development, Operations, and Business). If you are using Serena Request Center, demand items can be submitted on the Catalog tab.

    Demand items move into a "Planning" state when they are submitted. Items in this "Planning" state can then be added to views and assigned to a plan.

  • Voting process app

    The Voting process app enables planners to invite stakeholders to vote on demand items. If you use Serena Request Center, stakeholders can vote on demand items on the Approvals tab. Votes are tabulated and displayed on the Voting tab for demand items in a plan.

Service Request Changes

With Orchestrated Ops 3.1, the request fulfillment workflows have been removed from the Service Desk application. A new Service Requests application has been created. It contains one request fulfillment workflow.

The Service Requests application is part of the Serena Request Center solution.

The application, previously known as Service Desk, has been renamed to SSM - Incident Management, and it only contains the Incident Management workflow.

Service Level Agreements

The following SLA enhancements are available with Orchestrated Ops 3.1:

  • You can now define multiple "start" and "end" states for an Service Level Agreement (SLA) clause. The time an item spends in all paths is combined to calculate elapsed time. For example, suppose "New" and "Assigned" are "start" states and "Closed" is the "end" state. An item spent three days in the "New" to "Closed" path, and then was re-opened and moved to the "Assigned" state. The re-opened item has been active for two days. The elapsed time for the item is five days, because the time since the item was re-opened is added to the previous time.
  • You can now copy an SLA to the current project or to a sub-project in its hierarchy.
  • User Submitter is now included by default in the Calendar list used to define an SLA clause.

Starter Pack Changes

The Starter Pack has been changed to the point to the new Service Request process app included with the Serena Request Center. The starter pack now creates subprojects under the main project associated with this process app. All services that are created point to this process app. Note that the starter pack includes:
  • Service Desk Process App, which includes the Request Fulfillment workflow.
  • Starter Pack Services, which are predefined services in Request Center. Each service has an accompanying project created within the Service Desk Process App.
  • Starter Pack Forms, which are tailored submit and state forms for the different services.
    Note: Starter Pack Forms makes use of external forms, which were introduced in Serena Business Manager 10.1. External forms are located in one process app but are based on a primary table in another process app. Starter Pack Forms reference the Service Desk Process App and the external forms are chosen as the Submit form for the predefined Starter Pack Services.

Serena Request Center Improvements

  • Serena Request Center now includes the Approval tab where users can view items requiring their approval.
  • The Requests view now allows administrators to choose which report to use for the tab's results. You are no longer restricted to the Request Center - My Requests report.
  • You can now include links in e-mail notifications that open to items in Request Center. To do so, select an HTML template for the notification and modify it to include &shelltab the parameters. For example, to open to items on the Approvals tab, append the following text to the main server URL (http://your_server/tmtrack/tmtrack.dll?): 
    shell=srp&IssuePage&RecordId=$RECORDID()&Template=view&TableId=$TABLEID()&shelltab=approvals

Documentation Changes

The following documentation changes were implemented in this release:

  • The new Serena Orchestrated Ops Administrator's Guide is for administrators who need to set up and implement Serena Orchestrated Ops solutions after they are initially installed and deployed. It includes conceptual and task-related information that allows an administrator to understand, configure, and maintain the solutions and features that are available in Orchestrated Ops. The guide also includes information about how users interact with the solutions and features, so administrators can optimize the user experience.

    Some configuration information in the Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Premise Installation and Configuration Guide and Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Demand Installation and Configuration Guide was moved to this guide.

  • The Serena Service Manager User's Guide is now called the Serena Service Manager ITIL Guide.
  • Upgrade information was moved from the readme to the new Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Premise Upgrade Guide and Serena Orchestrated Ops On-Demand Upgrade Guide.
  • There is a new Orchestrated Ops help system. It can be accessed from links in the user interface and from the Documentation Center, which also contains the other Orchestrated Ops documentation and useful links.

Known Issues

Serena Demand Center

  • Multi-table reports may be selected for demand views in Serena Demand Center, but results are not returned. To work around this problem, create individual Listing reports in each application, and then add those reports to a demand view.
  • Users receive an error when they open a demand view that includes a Listing report with calculated columns. To work around this problem, specify reports that do not calculate values when they are run.
  • Users receive a privilege error if they attempt to score an item before an administrator has defined scoring criteria.
  • Users receive a privilege error when they attempt to add an item to a plan they have not authored, and the item may appear to be added to the shared plan. Because users can only add items to plans they have authored, however, items are not actually added to the shared plan and return to their original view when users refresh their browser or return to Serena Demand Center.
  • Scores are not recalculated in individual planning items after an administrator modifies scoring criteria. For best results, specify scoring criteria and weights before planners use Serena Demand Center.
  • When setting team velocity, use caution when setting the time period of months (4 weeks per month, for example). Because month lengths vary, capacity and plan allocation calculations may be inconsistent and difficult to monitor. If you need to use months, include an average in your velocity unit, such as 4.4 weeks per month.
  • Internet Explorer and Firefox users may experience display problems in Serena Demand Center because of browser mode settings. If your user information is shifted below the toolbar and you cannot expand the Admin menu, try changing your Browser Mode or Document mode to correct the problem. For example, in Internet Explorer try compatibility view and a document mode of IE 9.
  • Users may not be able to scroll through a large number of teams when they assign teams to a plan. This problem typically occurs when there are more than 25 teams in a system. To work around this problem, limit the number of teams you create.
  • Users do not always receive messages indicating that their changes have been saved or cancelled.

Documentation

  • If you are running SBM 10.1, some of the Service Level Agreement (SLA) help topics will not contain information about changes and new features introduced in SOO 3.1. For the latest information, refer to the Serena Orchestrated Ops Administrator's Guide, available at http://help.serena.com/orchestrated_ops/soo_documentation_center.html.
  • The documentation incorrectly states that, by default, the Request Center - My Requests multi-table report references both the Service Requests table and the Knowledge Management table. The report only references the Service Requests table by default. It can be easily modified to include the Knowledge Management table as well.

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