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Serena Service Manager 5.1 Readme
This readme file contains information about this release. Last updated on 2014-07-18.

Contents

About this Release

Welcome to Serena Service Manager 5.1.

Please note the following important information:

  • On-premise customers: Before you install Service Manager 5.1, you must install and configure SBM 10.1.3.1 or higher as described in the SBM Installation and Configuration Guide.
  • Service Manager is available in English only.
  • This readme pertains to both the on-demand and on-premise versions.

Packaging Changes

The following changes have been made to the installer packaging:

  • Serena Service Manager is now included in a solution installer that includes Serena Release Manager.
  • The Demand Manager solution is no longer included in the installer.

New Installations of Service Manager

If this is a new on-premise installation, download Serena Business Manager 10.1.3.1 or higher 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 Service Manager 5.1 from http://www.serena.com/support and follow the installation instructions in the Serena Service Manager Getting Started Guide.

Upgrades from Previous Versions

Important: If you are upgrading from Serena Service Manager 5.0, you must upgrade to SBM 10.1.3.1 or higher first.
The Service Manager upgrade process consists of two phases: the installation upgrade (on-premise only) and the solutions upgrade.
  • Installation Upgrade

    In the installation upgrade phase, you install and configure the latest versions of the framework files for Serena Request Center and features such as service level agreements (SLA). The solutions that you have implemented from previous releases are supported with the upgraded framework files.

  • Solutions Upgrade

    In the solutions upgrade phase, you 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 Service Manager On-Premise Upgrade Guide or Serena Service Manager On-Demand Upgrade Guide.

Installer Components

The installer delivers three components:

  • Solution Files – Solution files are process app snapshots and blueprints that contain the latest changes and updates for the Service Manager process workflows and data models.
    The following Service Manager solutions are delivered by the installer:
    • 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 - Integrations
  • Framework Files – The framework files augment your underlying installation and enable certain features in the Service Manager process apps. The framework files include new templates, images, and code that are backward compatible with your existing installation.
  • 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.

Third-party Tools

For more information regarding third-party software copyrights and license information, refer to the files under "My Downloads" or "Product News" at http://www.serena.com/support.

What's New?

The following features and changes are new in this release.

To see the list of fixed defects, visit the Knowledge Base.

Serena Work Center Support

Work Center is now the primary interface for Service Manager users who will fulfill service and change requests, resolve incidents, and publish problems.

To support this change, a set of Service Manager menus are available in Work Center menus are available.

In addition:
  • Users are now directed to Serena Work Center when they click a link in e-mail notifications. (Work Center is the default end-user interface for users Service Manager who fulfill requests, resolve incidents, etc.)

  • Service Level Agreement (SLA) reports are now available for each application or application group. SLA reports are organized on two tabs under the Reports menu in the Navigation pane:
    • SLA Current Risk
    • SLAPast Performance

    SLAs must be configured before reports on these tabs are visible to users.

  • When users create their own views or add shared views to their menus, they can now choose to organize the view under any of the applications in the Service Mgmt or Service Requests application groups.

Use the URL to open Work Center:

http://serverName/workcenter

Note: Serena Request Center continues as the primary interface for users who request services from IT and who need to use the Knowledge Base.

Customizing the Requests View

You can now customize the column headers on the Requests view. The first six columns of the report used to populate the view are shown as headers. The columns use the same order as specified in the Select Columns to Display setting in the Listing report. Certain system fields must also be used as display columns, but they do not need to be shown to users.

Knowledge Management Article Types

You can now remove Knowledge Management article types. Steps for doing so are provided in the Serena Service Manager Getting Started Guide located on the Documentation Center.

Known Issues

For a complete list of known issues and potential workarounds, refer to the Knowledge Base.

  • If you are using a previous version of Service Manager, such as version 3.0, but you upgrade to SBM 10.1.4, some forms may have display issues. To solve these problems, redeploy process apps that contain these forms from SBM Composer.