Change requests in IBM Support Insights

The change requests list contains all the change requests for the current client. By default, it is sorted in an ascending manner, depending on the unique ID number of the request, and the sorting can be changed to descending.

You can search within the list of requests using the available search bar. Immediately after the search bar, you will find a button to switch between viewing all requests and only in-progress requests. Next is a button to switch between viewing all requests and only your own requests. And lastly is the download button, which when clicked - triggers a download of a .xlsx file, containing details of all the available change requests.

When you click on a particular request ID, its details open on the right-hand side.

The Request details section contains all available information on a specific request ID. In the beginning of the section is the Request ID immediately followed by its status and its submitter.

Please note that the status of the change request currently is automatically obtained from IBM Engage Support (IES) and updated in IBM Support Insights only for US-based assets.

Additionally, you have a Hide Comments button, which will close the Comments section and hide it from view. You also have three other buttons available, which are dependent on the status of the change request.

• If the change request is in status Submitted - you will have a Cancel request button (used to cancel the change request). And given you have the required access level - a Claim button will also be available (used to claim the change request for approval and move it to an Approving state).
• In the change request is in status Approving - you will have an Approve button (used to approve the change request for processing) and a Reject button (used to reject/cancel the change request).
• If the change request is in status Approved - you will have a Cancel request button (used to cancel the change request) and a Start button (used to process the change request and move it to an In progress state).
• If the change request is in status In progress - you will have a Complete button (used to finalize the change request and update its status to Completed).

Afterwards you will find the Request details tab, containing detailed information of the request itself - days passed since creation, number of included assets, status, type, submission time. The second available tab is the Affected inventory tab, where you will find a list of the assets included in the specific request. The third tab - its name and contents - entirely depend on the type of request that has been submitted:

• Add to existing contract - the name of the tab is Maintenance agreement and it contains the number of the desired maintenance agreement and the effective date.
• Change installation address - the name of the tab is Install address and it contains a selector defining whether the address is an existing one or a new one, followed by the address itself.
• Change level of support - the name of the tab is Level of support and it contains the number of the existing maintenance agreement and the starting date for the desired service level to come into effect.
• Confirm maintenance no longer required - the name of the tab is Maintenance no longer required and it contains the reason for termination of the maintenance and a confirmation that the user has agreed to the termination disclaimer.
• Terminate maintenance coverage - the name of the tab is Terminate maintenance and it contains the reason for the termination, the desired action associated with any software available on the asset, the effective date for the termination and a confirmation that the user has agreed to the termination disclaimer.

By default, the Comments section is expanded. It can be collapsed using the Hide Comments button, located in the Request details section of the page.

Using the Comments section, you can add information to a particular request, or view information previously added. Comments are in free-form text. And they are displayed with an author (who submitted the comment) and a timestamp (when the comment was submitted). If a particular comment was added in the process of updating the change request from one status to another - the status change will also be included in the comment itself, along with the author and timestamp.

Change requests have different statuses at the different stages of their processing. Visually, the steps are as follows:

Once a request is submitted - it can either be cancelled (status Canceled) by the same user that submitted it, or claimed (status Approving) for processing by a user with an approver level of access. The approver also has permissions to cancel the change request.

After the change request is claimed by an approver - it can either be approved for processing (status Approved) or rejected (status Rejected). When it is approved, the requested change can be initiated in the Engage Support (IES) system, which updates the request's status to In progress. Upon finalization of the required changes' processing, the request's status becomes Completed.