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Service Support Manager 5.4 Release Notes
This file contains information about this release. Last updated on 2019-06-05.

Contents

About this Release

Welcome to Service Support Manager 5.4.

Refer to the What's New? tab for a complete list of new features in this release.

Please note the following important information:

  • On-premise customers: Before you install this release, you must install and configure SBM 11.4 or higher as described in the SBM Installation and Configuration Guide due to required use of the SBM Scheduler and the RunModScript Web service call, which were added in 11.4.
  • SSM is available in English only.
  • This document pertains to both the on-demand and on-premise versions.

Packaging Changes

The following changes have been made to the installer packaging:

  • SSM has been rebranded—SSM is now Service Support Manager. SRC is now Service Request Center.
  • The SLA features are now powered by the SLA engine that is included with the SBM platform. For details on this change, refer to the upgrades section below.
  • The SSM 5.4 framework is powered by SBM Tomcat and requires that you install or upgrade to SBM 11.4 or higher.
  • SSM and SRC are the only solutions are delivered by the installer. Release Control is no longer delivered in the same installer as SSM.

New Installations of SSM

If this is a new on-premise installation:
  1. Download SBM 11.4 or higher from https://www.microfocus.com/support-and-services.
  2. Follow the instructions in the SBM Installation and Configuration Guide to install and configure SBM.
  3. Verify that SBM successfully installed and configured.
  4. Download SSM 5.4 from https://www.microfocus.com/support-and-services.
  5. Follow the install instructions in the SSM Getting Started Guide.

Upgrades from Previous Versions

Important: If you are upgrading from an earlier version of SSM, you must upgrade to SBM 11.4 or higher first.
The SSM 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 SRC. The solutions that you have implemented from previous releases are supported with the upgraded framework files.

  • Solutions Upgrade

    In the solutions upgrade phase, you do one of the following:

    • Import the new solutions and promote the process apps to take advantage of the latest improvements.
    • Import the new solutions and then compare, merge, and deploy. If there are modifications that you made to process apps that you want to keep, use SBM Composer to compare and merge your changes into the new process apps, and then deploy them.

    Before you perform a solutions upgrade, review the list of changes to determine the benefit of upgrading your solutions as opposed to only upgrading the framework files.

For upgrade instructions, refer to the SSM On-Premise Upgrade Guide or the SSM On-Demand Upgrade Guide.

Note the following important upgrade considerations:

  • For upgrades, the classic SRC theme is enabled by default. If you want to use the new SRC theme after the upgrade, select Customize | Request Center Properties and change the Theme option to Flat Blue.
  • The SLA features are now powered by the SLA engine that is included with the SBM platform and not the engine that was originally included with SSM. In this release, the SLA engine provided by SBM runs automatically after you click Apply in SBM Configurator. For details on stopping the new SLA service from running after SSM is installed, refer to solution S142208.
  • As of SSM 5.2, the Knowledge Management process app uses SBM's native Rich Text Editor. If you are using an older version of the Knowledge Management app that uses the Aloha text editor, the Knowledge Management app will not work after you upgrade to SSM 5.4.

    This means you must either promote the new version of the Knowledge Management app or upgrade the text editor according to the steps provided in solution S141033. If you are not sure which editor you have, visit the solution for help.

  • If you are upgrading from a previous version that included Release Control, the Release Control files are not upgraded by the SSM installer. The SSM installer only upgrades your SSM framework files and delivers the SSM 5.4 solutions to Application Repository.
  • If you have an existing installation of Release Control, it will continue to operate after you upgrade to SSM 5.4.
  • If you plan to use SSM and Release Control, ensure that you have installed and configured your desired version of Release Control before you upgrade SSM to version 5.4. You cannot run an earlier installer (such as the 5.1.1 installer to install Release Control) after you have run the SSM 5.4 installer.

Installer Components

The SSM installer delivers the following components:

  • Solution Files – Solution files are process app snapshots and blueprints that contain the latest changes and updates for the SSM process workflows and data models.
    The following solutions are delivered by the installer:
    • Service Request Center (SRC) – Includes the process apps associated with SRC:
      • SRC - Starter Pack Forms - IT
      • SRC - Knowledge Management
      • SRC - Service Request
    • Service Support Manager (SSM) – Includes the process apps associated with SSM:
      • SSM - Change Management
      • SSM - Configuration Management System
      • SSM - Asset Management
      • SSM - Incident Management
      • SSM - Problem Management
      • SSM - Integrations
    • UCMDB Integration – Includes a process app that integrates SSM with a UCMDB system:
      • UCMDB Integration
  • Framework Files – The framework files augment your underlying installation and enable certain features in the process apps. The framework files include new templates, images, and code that are backward compatible with your existing installation.

Contact Us

For specific product issues, contact Support at https://www.microfocus.com/support-and-services.

Additional technical information or advice is available from several sources:

What's New?

The following features and changes are new in this release.

Updated Relationship Explorer

UCMDB Integration

SSM Process App Changes

SRC Improvements

Updated Relationship Explorer

The SSM Relationship Explorer has been has been updated and improved. The new interface leverages HTML5 functionality that results in an improved user experience for users.

UCMDB Integration

On-premise only

The UCMDB Integration process app in SSM 5.4 enables you to use the SSM - Configuration Management System (CMS) process app with data from a UCMDB system. With this integration, you can:

  • Use the SBM Scheduler feature to populate data in the CMS Configuration Items table with items from a UCMDB system, such as servers, software, services, laptops, phones, or other CIs (configuration items).
  • Schedule recurring jobs to keep the CMS Configuration Items table up-to-date with data from your UCMDB system.
  • Use the CMS process app to perform impact analysis for changes that are made to related CIs from UCMDB.

For details on configuring the integration, refer to the SSM Getting Started Guide.

SSM Process App Changes

The following changes have been made to the SSM process apps to ensure they follow current ITIL standards. To take advantage of the latest changes, you can either promote the new process apps or copy and merge your changes into the new process apps and then deploy them.

SRC - Service Request

  • You can now create a change request from the Fulfillment state using the Create Change Request transition. Associated change requests are added to a new Linked Change Requests Multi-Relational field.
  • A new SRC - Resolution Codes auxiliary table was added to hold resolution codes. A new Single-Relational field that points to this new table was added to the SR-Resolve form.
  • A Not Resolved transition was added from the Resolved state back to the Fulfillment state. A new SR-Not Resolved form was added as well, with an Additional Comments Journal field that users can add an entry to when a request is returned.

SSM - Problem Management

  • A Known Error decision point was added to the workflow that allows you to submit a known error directly without having to complete the entire problem management process first. To submit a known error, change the Problem Type from Problem to Known Error and then enter the workaround.

SSM - Incident Management

  • At any point in process, you can now submit tasks (which can be assigned to other individuals) for fulfillment. Once all tasks are completed, the incident is moved to the Tasks Completed state (just like the Service Request process).
  • A new Resolved Timestamp field has been added that is automatically set during each Resolve transition. It is cleared if the incident Resolution is rejected by the submitter using the Re-Open transition. This enables you to report on incidents that were resolved in a specific time frame.
  • On the Resolve transition form, a new Caused By Incidents Multi-Relational field was added and the Caused By RFCs Multi-Relational field was restored. This adds traceability, because you can now document that a change request was caused by the current incident.

SSM - Change Management

  • A JavaScript change was made to ensure that when you open an item during impact analysis, the item opens in Work Center and not User Workspace.

SRC Improvements

  • Remove and Hide Options

    When you delete a service from the catalog, you can now select to either Remove or Hide the service from users. Removing the service deletes it from the catalog completely, and returns the associated project back to the list of available projects in Work Center.

Known Issues

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

Upgrade Issues

  • Problem Management: Update "Create Tech Note" Value After Upgrade

    With this release, the mobile implementation of the Problem Management application causes the Yes and No values for the Create Tech Note field to be reversed for active problems. To address this issue, follow these steps after upgrading and deploying the new Problem Management application:

    1. In SBM Work Center, create a listing report in the Service Mgmt application group. Make sure to do the following:
      • Select Problems as the Report Item Type.
      • Add Create Tech Note to the Select Columns to Display list.
      • Set the search filter to Active/Inactive = Active.
    2. Run the report.
    3. Select the problems that should have Create Tech Note set to Yes, and run a mass update to change the field value to Yes.
    4. Select the problems that should have Create Tech Note set to No, and run a mass update to change the field value to No.

Legal Notice

Trademarks

Serena, Dimensions, ChangeMan, Comparex, and StarTool are registered trademarks of Serena Software, Inc. The Serena logo, PVCS, TeamTrack, License Manager and Composer are trademarks of Serena Software, Inc. All other products or company names are used for identification purposes only, and may be trademarks of their respective owners.