Creating and submitting a process request

When you create a process request through the Process Requests application, you specify information about the requested process that enables a process owner to evaluate whether it will be accepted or rejected. To create a process request, you must have the appropriate permissions to create and submit a process request.

1. Open the Process Requests application.
2. Click to create a new process request.

   The fields in the User Information section are populated with your user information, if that data is available. In addition, the Reported Date field is populated with the date and time at which you opened the new the process request. The Reported Date is displayed in your time zone; when the Change is viewed by a user in a different time zone, the Reported Date is shown in the time zone of that user.

3. In the Process Request Details section, complete the following steps:
   1. Type a description for the request in the Description field; you can click if you want to type a longer description.
   2. Enter values in the Impact, Urgency, and Priority fields to indicate your initial assessment of these values for the requested process. Your initial impact and urgency suggestions might be modified when the process, such as a Change, is authorized. Fill in these fields as follows:
      • In the Impact field, specify a number from 1 to 5 to indicate your estimate of the amount of disruption that will occur as a result of this process. Impact is based on the business benefits of implementing the process, or on the degree of damage or cost caused by the error that the process will correct. This specification enables process owners to balance the need for the process with its expected impact. A value of 1 specifies the most critical impact; 5 indicates the lowest impact.
      • You also specify a number from 1 to 5 in the Urgency field, which indicates your estimate of the current necessity for this process. The urgency is based on how long the implementation can afford to be delayed. A value of 1 specifies the highest urgency; 5 indicates the lowest urgency.
      • Type a value in the Priority field to indicate the priority of the process. Use a numeric value that you have established as a priority indicator. For example, you might want to type 1 to indicate the highest priority, 4 to indicate the lowest priority. The priority of a process is derived from the agreed impact and urgency.
   3. Click beside the Process Manager Type field, and select the process manager type. For example, select Change to specify the Change process manager.
   4. Specify a customer in the Customer field if you are opening this process request on behalf of a customer. Use the following guidelines to specify a customer:
      • You can select the customer in the Customer field. No CI, asset, or location values are brought in when you select a customer, because customers have multiple CIs, assets, and locations.
      • Rather than selecting the customer in the Customer field, you can specify a CI that is associated with a customer. If you do so, the Customer field is populated with that customer.
      • You can also specify an asset that is primarily associated with a customer. Doing so brings in the customer if no customer-specific CI has been specified.
      • Similarly, if no customer-specific CI or asset is specified, you can specify a location; the primary customer for that location is brought into the Customer field.
      • The system looks first at the CI, second at the asset, and third at the location before bringing in a customer.
      • The customer value associated with a process request can limit the processing that is performed. For example, when you create a request to audit a set of CIs, only the CIs that are in that set and are associated with the specified customer will be included in the audit process. If no customer is associated with the request, only those CIs that have no associated customer will be included.
   5. Click the beside the Site field to select the site.
   6. Click beside the Requested Completion field. In the calendar, specify the date you want the request completed, and click OK. The requested completion date is displayed in your time zone; when the request is viewed by a user in a different time zone, the date is shown in the time zone of that user.
4. (Optional, if your administrator has set up response plans for use with process requests) After specifying a few key attributes of the request, select Apply Response Plan from the Select Action menu to apply a response plan. A response plan can supply an owner or owner group, or other information that is defined for the response plan. After you apply a response plan to the request, the system finds a plan that matches the attributes you have specified.

   Response plans are used in other applications as well. For example, the Change process uses response plans to fill out the information that is needed to create a new change.

5. In the Request Classification Details section, click beside the Classification field, and select Classify to select a classification that describes the overall purpose of the process that you are requesting.

   For example, if you are requesting a Change process, you can select PMCHGHDW if the change involves hardware, or PMCHGSFW for general software changes. For more specific hardware or software changes that have classifications defined, you can select a classification that is nested under PMCHGHDW or PMCHGSFW, such as PMCHGWDW/DSKTOPS (desktops) or PMCHGSWF_MWINSTALL (middleware installation).

   After you specify a classification, any extended classification attributes are displayed in the Classification Attributes section, where you can supply attribute values for auditing and planning purposes. Classification attributes help you capture information that is necessary for efficiently processing a Change.

   For more information about classifications, and for a list of the built-in classifications that are provided in the product, go to the Classifications application (Go to > Administration > Classifications) and view the classifications in the List tab. Change classifications begin with the letters PMCHG; Configuration classifications begin with the letters PMCFG.

6. If required by the process manager, click Select > CIs > Select Value in the Target CIs section, and select the configuration items that will be affected by the requested process. Click OK to specify the selected CIs as targets.
7. Click to save the request.
8. Click the to submit the request.

What to do next

Note: When you click Submit, the Process Requests application starts the submit master work flow. If there are any user prompts or messages displayed, click the Route Workflow icon to complete the workflow interaction.

For more information about the workflow, consult the helps for the Workflow Administration and Workflow Designer applications in the Modules and Applications section.

After you submit the request, correct any errors that are displayed by the submit workflow. If necessary, resubmit the request.

After you successfully submit the process request, its Process State is SUBMITTED. The request is displayed in the start center of a user who is responsible for evaluating requests and accepting or rejecting them. You are notified when the request is accepted or rejected.