Change Templates

Change templates automatically populate the required data for frequently recurring changes. You can create any number of templates for planned and sudden activities that are deployed in your organization.

Change templates ensure that all information necessary for the change manager to deploy the change is fully captured even when the change request is submitted. Moreover, templates also reduce the time spent on redundant tasks and allow users to create change requests quickly with pre-populated data.

Role Required: SDAdmin

Create Change Template 

Go to Setup > Templates & Forms > Change Template and click New Change Template. The displayed form consists of three main sections: Header, Field List, and Canvas.

On the template configuration page, fill out the details as directed below.

Submission-Details

After adding relevant fields and sections to the template, click Save. The form will reload as Edit Template form and the Roles, Tasks, Form Rules, and Additional Settings tabs will be displayed.

After adding relevant details to the submission stage, click Save. The form will reload as Edit Change Template form. The following tabs will be available on the left pane.

• Stages

•  Submission
• Planning
• CAB Evaluation
• Implementation
• UAT
• Release
• Review
• Close
• Roles

• Tasks

• Form Rules

• Additional Settings

You can view the layout of the change form by clicking Preview on the top of the form.

Submission

• Details

All the details added while configuring the template will be available under the Details tab. You can add/edit the details if required.

• Tasks  - Add tasks related to the Submission stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the form as explained here.
  • 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. Know more.

Planning

Under the Planning stage, configure the template to plan and carry out a change. You have the following sub-tabs:

• Details - You have an option to include planning details along with submission details in the change form. By enabling this option, you can add/edit the planning stage details in the change form. Users with necessary permissions can edit submission details even after a change is moved to the Planning stage.

  • Impact Details, Rollout Plan, Backout plan, and Checklist sections are predefined. You can neither rearrange nor add additional fields to these sections. However, you can remove these sections from the template.

  • Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.

• Schedule - In this sub-tab, you can configure the template to plan the change release. Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the Planning stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

CAB Evaluation

Under the CAB Evaluation stage, configure the template to assess change plans. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details

  • Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed. 

  • Upload attachments to assist CAB members while they are evaluating a change created with the template.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the CAB Evaluation stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

Implementation

Under the Implementation stage, configure the template to collect details related to implementation of a change. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details

  • Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.

  • Upload attachments to evaluate and carry out the change created with this template.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the Implementation stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

UAT 

Under UAT stage, configure the template to add beta users for evaluating the implemented change. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details

  • Add sections and additional fields (new/available) from the right pane if needed.

  • Upload attachments for test plan.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the UAT stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

Release

Under the Release stage, configure the template to rollout the change and associated services. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details

  • 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.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the Release stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

Review 

Under the Review stage, configure the template to collect or provide information related to evaluation and implementation of a change. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details - 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.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the Review stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • Configure task trigger settings by clicking Configure on the right pane. Know more.

Close 

Under the Close stage, configure the template to add closure details of a change. Available sub-tabs are:

• Details - 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.

• Tasks - Add tasks related to the Close stage.

  • Click Add Task and fill out the fields as explained here.

  • You can also delete, organize, and mark dependencies between the tasks in the stage.

  • 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.

• Click Move Section on the top-right of the page to move a section with only additional fields to another stage.

• Hover over an additional field and click the Move Field icon to move the additional fields to other stages.

Assign Roles  

After saving the change template details, the Roles tab will be available on the left pane. Under this tab, you can 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. To add other change roles, drag the relevant role from the right pane.

You can create new change roles if needed. Go to the New Fields tab on the right pane and use the New Role element. Refer to this page to learn how to create a new change role.

To assign a default user to a role, click the required role. Select the user from the drop-down. 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.

Click Save after configuring the relevant roles to the template.

Add Tasks 

The work involved in various stages of the change deployment can be broken down into tasks. Go to the Tasks tab on the left pane to add tasks to the various stages of the change. You can assign technicians to the tasks and set the tasks to be triggered when needed.

1. Use the Add Task button to create a task for the change template.
2. Select the change stage where the task must be executed. Stage will be auto-applied when a task is created from a change stage.
3. Populate the Add Task form fields as explained here.
4. Click Save.

Alternatively, you can add tasks from task templates by clicking the drop-down icon beside the Add button. Select the change stage and the task templates in the pop-up. Click Add Tasks to assign predefined tasks to the change template.

After adding tasks to a change template, you can perform the following actions on the tasks:

• 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.
• 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.
  • 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.
  • 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.
  • Mark Dependency among Tasks - When tasks are filtered by a stage, you can mark the tasks dependent on other tasks within the stage. Click Tasks Dependency to go to the Task Dependency Map where you can mark the parent and child tasks as explained here.
• 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.
• 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.
• 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. Click here for more details.

Set Up Form Rules 

Form rules allow you to auto-customize change forms dynamically 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.

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:

Rule Definition: Define the basic details and the context when the rule must be applied.

• Enter a unique Rule Name and describe the rule operation.
• Select the users/roles to whom the form rule is applicable.
• Choose if you want the form rule to be applied globally to all change templates or to specific templates.
• Specify when the form rule must be executed - during change creation, update, or both.
• Select the event when the form rule must be triggered - form load, field change, or form submit.

Conditions: Specify the conditions to be met for the form rule to be executed. Select the criteria, column, and enter the value(s). If no condition is specified, the rule will be executed on all incoming changes

• Click the icon to add multiple conditions using AND/OR operators.
• Use the icon to drag the conditions and sort the order of verification.
• You can also drag a condition over the indentation space below another condition to create nested conditions.

Actions: Select the action to be executed when the condition is met. You can set multiple actions to be executed using the icon.

Rule Options: Form rules are enabled by default, you can disable a rule if needed.

Click Save to finish setting up the rule.

You can manage the rules from the list view in the Form Rules tab.

• Edit/Delete Rules - Use the icon to edit or delete a template. To bulk-delete, select the rules and go to Actions > Delete Rules.
• Enable/Disable Rules - Use the toggle button under the Status column in the list view to enable or disable a rule. Alternatively, you can also use the icon. To enable/disable rules in bulk, select the rules and go to the Actions menu.
• Filter Rules - Use the Filter by event drop-down to filter the rules displayed.
• Search Rules - Use the icon to search through rules 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.
• Customize Layout - Click the icon to select the number of records displayed on the list view page and sort the rules by the column values.

Configure Additional Settings 

You can configure the change templates availability and task trigger settings from the Additional Settings tab.

• 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.
• To configure task trigger settings, select one of the following options from Task Trigger drop-down.
  • At Change Creation - Trigger tasks automatically when the change request is created.
  • When transitioning into a change stage - Trigger tasks within a stage automatically when the change stage is reached for the first time.
  • Manually - Allow change users to manually trigger tasks from the Tasks tab in change details page.
• Click Save for the settings to take effect

List View Actions 

The change templates created are itemized on the list view page. The template type is indicated in the list view using two icons,

- General Template

- Emergency Template

You can manage the change templates from the list view page and perform the following actions:

• 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.
• Enable/Disable Templates - Use the toggle button under the Status column in the template list view to enable or disable a template from further use. Alternatively, you can also use the icon.
• Mark Template as Default - Set the frequently used template as default template by clicking icon next to the template name.
• 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.
• 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. 
• Customize List View - Limit the number of templates and define the sort order of the templates displayed in the list view using icon .