DC 2.00 User Guide

HP DecisionCenter for the AIX, Windows®, and Itanium® operating systems

Software Version: 2.00

User Guide

Document Release Date: December 2007

Software Release Date: December 2007 Last Updated: 14 March 2008

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Legal Notices

Warranty

The only warranties for HP products and services are set forth in the express warranty statements accompanying such products and services. Nothing herein should be construed as constituting an additional warranty. HP shall not be liable for technical or editorial errors or omissions contained herein.

The information contained herein is subject to change without notice.

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Copyright Notices

© Copyright 2007–2008Hewlett-Packard Development Company, L.P.

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Adobe® is a trademark of Adobe Systems Incorporated.

Microsoft® and Windows® are U.S. registered trademarks of Microsoft Corporation.

UNIX® is a registered trademark of The Open Group.

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Support

You can visit the HP Software support web site at:

www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport

This Web site provides contact information and details about the products, services, and support that HP Software offers.

HP Software online software support provides customer self-solve capabilities. It provides a fast and efficient way to access interactive technical support tools needed to manage your business. As a valued support customer, you can benefit by using the HP Software Support web site to:

• Search for knowledge documents of interest

• Submit and track support cases and enhancement requests

• Download software patches

• Manage support contracts

• Look up HP support contacts

• Review information about available services

• Enter into discussions with other software customers

• Research and register for software training

Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require a support contract.

To find more information about access levels, go to:

www.hp.com/managementsoftware/access_level

To register for an HP Passport ID, go to:

www.managementsoftware.hp.com/passport-registration.html

http://www.hp.com/managementsoftware/access_level

http://www.managementsoftware.hp.com/passport-registration.html

http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport

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Contents

DecisionCenter.............................................................................................9 What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? .................................................................................................................9

Expanded compatibility...............................................................................................................................9 AssetCenter..........................................................................................................................................10 ServiceCenter and Service Manager ..................................................................................................10 HP ServiceCenter schema integration...............................................................................................11 ITIL 3 alignment .................................................................................................................................11 New and updated universes................................................................................................................16 Expanded data support .......................................................................................................................17

Expanded functionality .............................................................................................................................17 Change Planner ...................................................................................................................................17 Enhanced impact rule associations ....................................................................................................18 Refined TTNI algorithm......................................................................................................................18 Active Directory authentication .........................................................................................................18 ETL validation tools ............................................................................................................................19 Data warehouse migration .................................................................................................................19

Improved performance...............................................................................................................................19 New analytics .............................................................................................................................................20

Change Management analytics ..........................................................................................................20 Request Management analytics .........................................................................................................20 Service Level Management analytics.................................................................................................21

Updated Connect-It scenarios ...................................................................................................................21 New documentation ...................................................................................................................................22

Getting started with DecisionCenter ..............................................................................................................22 DecisionCenter overview ...........................................................................................................................23

Tiered packaging .................................................................................................................................24 ITPA features.......................................................................................................................................25 BIA features.........................................................................................................................................26 Optimization features .........................................................................................................................27

DecisionCenter architecture......................................................................................................................27 Analytics .....................................................................................................................................................28 Dashboards.................................................................................................................................................30 DecisionCenter user roles..........................................................................................................................31

Getting started with ITPA...............................................................................................................................32 IT Performance Analytics..........................................................................................................................32

Report types .........................................................................................................................................33 Navigating the reports by drilling......................................................................................................33 Service Strategies Analytics ...............................................................................................................33 Business Impact ..................................................................................................................................34 IT Financial Management ..................................................................................................................45 Service Design Analytics.....................................................................................................................68 Service Transition Analytics...............................................................................................................90 Service Operations Analytics..............................................................................................................99

My Dashboards ........................................................................................................................................128 Business Intelligence tools ......................................................................................................................128

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Information Portal.............................................................................................................................128 My Folders .........................................................................................................................................129 Categories...........................................................................................................................................129 ITPA use cases ...................................................................................................................................130

Getting started with BIA ...............................................................................................................................135 What is BIA?.............................................................................................................................................136 BIA data....................................................................................................................................................137 One: Define the business model ..............................................................................................................137

Define business services....................................................................................................................138 Define configuration items................................................................................................................143 Define value centers ..........................................................................................................................148 Review assignment groups................................................................................................................154 Review Service Level Agreements....................................................................................................156 Review work schedules......................................................................................................................159

Two: Define impact ..................................................................................................................................161 Rules...................................................................................................................................................161 Calculations .......................................................................................................................................171 Impact schedules ...............................................................................................................................177

Three: Calculate impact...........................................................................................................................182 Incident impact ..................................................................................................................................182 Change impact ...................................................................................................................................183 Impact Calculator ..............................................................................................................................183 Impact Planner ..................................................................................................................................186 Change Planner .................................................................................................................................195 Working with planned changes ........................................................................................................199

Four: Build the history ............................................................................................................................201 How do I run the History Builder? ...................................................................................................201 When do I run the History Builder?.................................................................................................201 Working with the History Builder....................................................................................................202

Search .......................................................................................................................................................202 Keyword search..................................................................................................................................202 Relationship search ...........................................................................................................................203

Getting started with Optimization................................................................................................................203 What is Optimization? .............................................................................................................................204 Optimization engine.................................................................................................................................205 Five: Create simulations..........................................................................................................................205

Scenarios ............................................................................................................................................206 Simulation..........................................................................................................................................206 Simulation tips ..................................................................................................................................207 Using simulations to make decisions ...............................................................................................207 How do I run a simulation?...............................................................................................................208 Guided optimization ..........................................................................................................................208 Guided optimization tips...................................................................................................................209 How do I run a guided optimization? ...............................................................................................209 Starting and stopping the optimization engine...............................................................................211 Working with a simulation scenario ................................................................................................212 Working with a guided optimization................................................................................................213 Working with results.........................................................................................................................215 Working with optimization ...............................................................................................................216 Working with an optimization scenario ...........................................................................................216

Optimization Analytics ............................................................................................................................219 Assignment Group.............................................................................................................................220 Business Service ................................................................................................................................220

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Impact Rule........................................................................................................................................221 Impact Type .......................................................................................................................................222 Incident Category ..............................................................................................................................223 ITPO Simulation Optimization ........................................................................................................223 Value Center Details .........................................................................................................................224 Value Center Summary ....................................................................................................................225

Concepts and definitions................................................................................................................................226 The optimal IT environment ...................................................................................................................226

Steps to the optimal IT environment ...............................................................................................226 IT Service Portfolio Management.....................................................................................................228

Business Impact Analysis .......................................................................................................................230 Leveraging your continuity plan ......................................................................................................231 How do I calculate impact? ...............................................................................................................231 Predictive models...............................................................................................................................231 Define rules........................................................................................................................................232 The efficient frontier .........................................................................................................................233

Types of universes....................................................................................................................................233 Alignment universes .........................................................................................................................234 Asset Management universe.............................................................................................................234 Business Impact universes ...............................................................................................................235 Change universes ..............................................................................................................................235 Helpdesk universes ...........................................................................................................................236 Incident universes .............................................................................................................................236 Request Management universes.......................................................................................................237 Service Management universe..........................................................................................................237 Simulation Optimization universe ...................................................................................................238

Glossary ....................................................................................................................................................238 Assignment groups ............................................................................................................................238 Business process................................................................................................................................239 Business service.................................................................................................................................239 Business service downtime impact...................................................................................................240 Configuration item ............................................................................................................................240 Crosstab .............................................................................................................................................240 Dashboards ........................................................................................................................................241 Data warehouse .................................................................................................................................241 Efficiency and effectiveness ..............................................................................................................242 Impact rules .......................................................................................................................................242 Predictive analysis ............................................................................................................................242 Risk.....................................................................................................................................................242 Scenarios ............................................................................................................................................243 Simulation..........................................................................................................................................243 Universe .............................................................................................................................................244 Value center .......................................................................................................................................244

DecisionCenter administration ....................................................................246 Data .................................................................................................................................................................246

Assignment groups...................................................................................................................................247 Assignment groups and data collection ...........................................................................................247 How do I add an assignment group? ................................................................................................247

CMDB role ................................................................................................................................................247 Date and time considerations..................................................................................................................248 Historical data..........................................................................................................................................248

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Incident-related costs...............................................................................................................................249 ITIL considerations..................................................................................................................................249 Labor costs................................................................................................................................................250 Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter .................................................................................250

Mapping Request Management tables.............................................................................................251 Mapping Service Catalog tables .......................................................................................................256 Mapping the bizservice table ............................................................................................................262 Mapping the cigroup table ................................................................................................................263 Mapping the cirelationship table......................................................................................................266

Pre-processing checklist...........................................................................................................................270 Preparing data for DecisionCenter .........................................................................................................273 Sample data..............................................................................................................................................274 ServiceCenter tables ................................................................................................................................274

Administration troubleshooting ....................................................................................................................274 Data warehouse administration ....................................................................................................................275

Overview: Data warehouse......................................................................................................................276 Design.................................................................................................................................................277 Naming conventions ..........................................................................................................................279 Overview: Metadata ..........................................................................................................................280 Data warehouse schema....................................................................................................................280 Extract, Transform, Load mapping information .............................................................................281 Data warehouse universe..................................................................................................................281

Schema description ..................................................................................................................................282 Dimension table schema ...................................................................................................................282 Fact table schema..............................................................................................................................284 Associate table schema......................................................................................................................286 Hierarchy table schema ....................................................................................................................287 Direct mapping table schema ...........................................................................................................288 Slowly changing dimension keys schema ........................................................................................289 Aggregate keys schema .....................................................................................................................290 Dimension table system keys............................................................................................................291 RDSInitRun command ......................................................................................................................292

Basic tasks: Data warehouse...................................................................................................................292 Starting programs and processes .....................................................................................................292 Stopping programs and processes ....................................................................................................293

Synchronization........................................................................................................................................294 Synchronizing deleted records..........................................................................................................295 Synchronizing data with Connect-It ................................................................................................296

Configuring the connectors......................................................................................................................298 How do I configure the connectors? ..................................................................................................298 Request Management scenario layout .............................................................................................299

Customization workflow ..........................................................................................................................300 Step 1: Plan and gather information................................................................................................301 Step 2: Stop programs and processes ...............................................................................................302 Step 3: Back up crucial files..............................................................................................................303 Step 4: Edit the data warehouse schema .........................................................................................304 Step 5: Edit the Connect-It scenario ................................................................................................305 Step 6: Edit the universe...................................................................................................................306 Step 7: Edit security profiles.............................................................................................................306 Step 8: Start programs and processes ..............................................................................................306

Connect-It scenario customization..........................................................................................................307 Step 1: View the data warehouse scenario.......................................................................................308

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Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario.....................................................................................309 Step 3: Add a new field to an existing mapping ..............................................................................311 Step 4: Edit an existing mapping .....................................................................................................312 Step 5: Test the customized data warehouse scenario....................................................................313 Step 6: Schedule automatic data synchronization ..........................................................................313

Data warehouse schema customization..................................................................................................314 Step 1: Add a new table to the schema ............................................................................................314 Step 2: Add a new field to the schema .............................................................................................316 Step 3: Edit an existing field in the schema ....................................................................................318 ServiceCenter triggers ......................................................................................................................319 AssetCenter deletion workflow.........................................................................................................323

Universe customization ...........................................................................................................................329 Step 1: Edit the universe...................................................................................................................329 Step 2: Check the database integrity ...............................................................................................333 Step 3: Export the universe ..............................................................................................................333

Working with the data warehouse..........................................................................................................334 Data warehouse system tables................................................................................................................336

RDS_CIT_LOG table .........................................................................................................................337 RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table..........................................................................................................338 RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table...............................................................................................................339 RDS_DBINFO table ..........................................................................................................................340 RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table..............................................................................................................341 RDS_LOGINFO table........................................................................................................................342 RDS_SCDCOLUMN table ................................................................................................................343 RDS_SEQUENCE table....................................................................................................................343 RDS_TIMEDIM_D table ...................................................................................................................344 RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table ........................................................................................................345

Security.....................................................................................................................................................347 Access levels.......................................................................................................................................348 Security roles .....................................................................................................................................348 Security profiles.................................................................................................................................349 Data level access restrictions............................................................................................................350 Out-of-box report safeguards ............................................................................................................350

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DecisionCenter DecisionCenter is a business intelligence application that helps IT make better decisions about service improvements, service levels, staffing, and the service portfolio. DecisionCenter Optimization can analyze historical performance, and predict future performance when impacted by enterprise-wide changes to business services, staffing, service levels, and the service portfolio.

DecisionCenter uses data extracted from ServiceCenter, Service Manager, and AssetCenter. Out-of-box ITIL 3 compliant analytics use this data to show performance trends for business services, IT metrics, and capture the relationship between the line of business and business services.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? Getting started with DecisionCenter Getting started with ITPA Getting started with BIA Getting started with Optimization Concepts and definition DecisionCenter administration

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? This version is compatible with more operating environments, has more features for measuring and estimating impact, new and improved analytics, and extended support for more HP Software products. Read the information in this section to learn more about the changes and features in this release.

Related topics

Expanded compatibility Expanded functionality Improved Performance New analytics Updated Connect-It scenarios New documentation

Expanded compatibility

This release supports a wider range of servers and operating environments. DecisionCenter 2.00 supports:

• HP Integrity servers running the HP-UX 11i operating system.

• IBM WebSphere Application Server running on an IBM AIX operating system for Business Impact Analysis and Optimization.

• Oracle Database version 10g for Business Impact Analysis and Optimization.

• Microsoft SQL Server 2005

See the DecisionCenter Installation Guide for a complete description of the installation and configuration steps required to support these environments.

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DecisionCenter 2.00 also supports more HP software products with expanded universes and reports. For more information, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix. From Reference info, click Support matrices.

Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require an active support contract. To register for an HP Passport ID, go to the HP Passport Registration web site.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? AssetCenter ServiceCenter and Service Manager HP ServiceCenter schema integration ITIL 3 alignment New and updated universes Expanded data support

AssetCenter

The DecisionCenter Analytics engine can produce results using data imported from AssetCenter 4.3.2 or a later 4.x release and AssetCenter 5.00. For more information, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix. From Reference info, click Support matrices.


Related topics

Expanded compatibility ServiceCenter and Service Manager HP ServiceCenter schema integration ITIL 3 alignment New and updated universes Expanded data support

ServiceCenter and Service Manager

DecisionCenter displays analytics and can run scenarios using data imported from ServiceCenter 5.1 or a later release and Service Manager 7.00.

The ETL process can extract both incident and change records from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. DecisionCenter 2.00 enables you to access the Change Planner from the ServiceCenter or Service Manager application with a URL.

For more information, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix. From Reference info, click Support matrices.


Related topics

Expanded compatibility AssetCenter HP ServiceCenter schema integration ITIL 3 alignment New and updated universes Expanded data support

http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport/









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HP ServiceCenter schema integration

DecisionCenter 2.00 can import and process data produced by HP ServiceCenter 5.1 and later releases.

DecisionCenter 2.00 can also import and process data produced by HP Service Manager 7.00.

Related topics

Expanded compatibility AssetCenter ServiceCenter and Service Manager ITIL 3 alignment New and updated universes Expanded data support

ITIL 3 alignment

Many of the prepackaged reports from DecisionCenter 1.00 are renamed in this version to align with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 terminology and to provide more descriptive report names.

The previous service group names are:

Asset Management Business Impact Help Desk Incident Service Level Management Service Management

The tables contain the report names by service group.

Asset Management

All Asset Management service group reports are now part of the IT Financial Management service group. The following table lists the new report names.

Old Report Name New Report Name

Asset Cost Distribution Asset Cost

Asset Tracking Asset Retirement Schedule

Asset Tracking Details Asset Retirement Schedule Details

Budgeted vs. Actual Expenses Budget Versus Actuals

Budgeted vs. Actual Expenses by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center

Budgeted vs. Actual Expenses by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Department

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Budgeted vs. Actual Expenses by Supplier Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier

Contract Expense Details by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details

Contract Expense Details by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details

Contract Expense Details by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region

Contract Expense Forecast Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center

Contract Expense Forecast Contract Cost Forecast by Department

Contract Expense Forecast Contract Cost Forecast by Region

IT Expense Distribution IT Cost Breakdown

IT Expense Distribution Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details

IT Expense Distribution Details IT Cost Breakdown Over Time

Software Expense Optimization Analysis Projected Savings From Unused Software

Software Expense Optimization Analysis Details

Projected Savings From Unused Software Details

Software License Compliance Analysis Software License Compliance

Software License Compliance Analysis by Application

Software License Compliance by Application

Software License Compliance Analysis Details Software License Compliance by Application Details

Vendor Contract Details Contract Expiration

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Business Impact

The Business Impact service group name remains the same in this version of DecisionCenter. The following table lists the new report names.


Business Service Downtime Impact by Assignment Group

Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group

Business Service Downtime by Impact Category Impact by Business Service and Category

Business Service Downtime Impact/Cost Impact by Business Service With Cost

CI Type Downtime Impact Impact for CI Type

CI Type Downtime Impact by Business Service Impact for CI Type and Business Service

Downtime Impact by Top 5 Business Service Details

Deleted

Downtime Impact by Top 5 Value Centers Details Impact by Value Center Hierarchy

Downtime Impact for Business Service by Value Center

Impact by Business Service and Value Center

Downtime Impact for Value Center by Business Service

Impact by Value Center and Business Service

IMT Downtime Gross Impact Impact Analysis

IMT Downtime Impact by Top 5 Business Services

Impact by Business Service

IMT Downtime Impact by Top 5 Value Centers Impact by Value Center

Value Center Downtime Impact/Cost Impact by Value Center With Cost

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Help Desk

The Help Desk service group reports are now part of the Service Desk service group. Only one report in this group has a new report name.


Call Receiving Summary Call Volume by Month

Incident

The Incident service group reports are now part of the Incident Management service group. The following table lists the new report names.


Average Routes per Incident Incident Escalations by Category

Incident Aging Analysis Incident Aging

Incident Cost Analysis Incident Cost

Incident Count Incident Volume

Service Level Management

The Service Level Management service group name remains the same in this version of DecisionCenter. The following table lists the new report names.


Variable Service Costs by SLA Service Delivery Cost

Variable Service Costs by SLA and CI Service Delivery Cost Details

Variable Service Costs by SLA, CI and Cost Category

Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident

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Service Management

Reports from Service Management are more accurately placed in Change Management, Incident Management, Problem Management, Service Desk, or Service Level Management.

Old Report Name New Service Name New Report Name

1st Call Resolution by Operator Service Desk First Call Resolution by Operator

Call Efficiency Report Service Desk Call Closure Time

Calls Open by Department and Configuration Items

Service Desk Call Volume by Department and CI

Categorization of Unavailable Config Items

Deleted

Change Cost Analysis Change Management Cost of Change Variance

Configuration Items By Age Deleted

Economic Impact of SLA Failures Service Level Management

Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Failed Changes Deleted

Incident Closure Analysis Incident Management Incident Closure Time

Incident Management Ad Hoc Crosstab Incident Management Incident Volume by Dimensions

Problem Management Cost Analysis Problem Management Problems by Incident Cost

Problem Management Recommendations

Deleted

Recurrent Outages Problem Management Outage Volume by CI

Service Contract Cost Analysis Service Level Management

Service Contract Cost Over Time

Service Management Ad Hoc Crosstab Service Desk Call Volume by Dimensions

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Old Report Name New Service Name New Report Name

SLA Availability Successes Service Level Management

SLA Availability Exceptions

SLA Response Time Successes Service Level Management

SLA Response Achievement Over Time

Tasks Under Change Deleted

Related topics

Expanded compatibility AssetCenter ServiceCenter and Service Manager HP ServiceCenter schema integration New and updated universes Expanded data support

New and updated universes

The new and updated universes are compatible with HP ServiceCenter 6.2 and Service Manager 7.00.

This release contains changes to the Alignment and Service Management universes. In addition, the new Change and Request universes include objects in the Change module and Request/Catalog module, respectively.

The universe metadata, which includes existing tables, objects, formulas for the objects, and joins for the universe, is available in a report that you can create.

1 From the Windows Start menu, click Programs > BusinessObjects XI Release 2 > BusinessObjects Enterprise > Designer.

2 Log on as the Administrator designer user.

3 Click File > Open and navigate to the universe. The default path is: \\…\Business Objects\BusinessObjects Enterprise 11.5\FileStore \Input

4 Click File > Save As.

5 From the Save as types drop-down list, select Portable Document Format (*.pdf) and type the file name and location.

6 Click Save.

7 Click Tools > Options > Print/PDF to select the universe data that you want to review.

Related topics

Expanded compatibility AssetCenter ServiceCenter and Service Manager HP ServiceCenter schema integration ITIL 3 alignment Expanded data support

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Expanded data support

This release supports data imported from AssetCenter 5.0 and ServiceCenter 6.2. DecisionCenter 2.00 improves the ETL process with these Connect-It scenario changes:

• Adding mappings for CIGROUP and CIRELATIONSHIP tables.

• Adding the BIZSERVICE field.

• Making the RDS_AC scenario compatible with AssetCenter 5.0.

Related topics

Expanded compatibility AssetCenter ServiceCenter and Service Manager HP ServiceCenter schema integration ITIL 3 alignment New and updated universes

Expanded functionality

DecisionCenter 2.00 extends the functionality of DecisionCenter 1.00 with these enhancements:

• The ability to calculate the impact of a change over a defined time span. The results of the calculation show the most opportune change window that produces the smallest impact on the organization.

• A simplified interface to associate impact rules with business services and value centers.

• Improved calculations enable you to define staggered start times for a series of incidents, or for a change scenario with multiple events.

• Charts that show the daily average impact of a series of related change events (or incidents) with staggered start times during a day or a week. These charts also show the impact within each time interval as you change the staggered start times.

• Changes to the data warehouse to align with the schema changes in associated software products, such as AssetCenter, ServiceCenter, and Service Manager.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? Change Planner Enhanced impact rule associations Refined TTNI algorithm Active Directory authentication ETL validation tools Data warehouse migration

Change Planner

The Change Planner enables you to build and run change impact scenarios using change record information imported from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. For example, when you define a Service Manager request, it creates a change record and assigns a change request identifier to the record, such as CR12345. You can import this change record into the DecisionCenter data warehouse using a defined ETL process. When the record exists in the DecisionCenter data warehouse, you can access the Change Planner directly from Service Manager with a URL that includes the Service Manager change identifier (CR12345). The Change Planner accesses the change record from the DecisionCenter data warehouse and enables you to experiment with potential schedules for implementing the change.

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Each time you create new external change records, you must repeat the import process to ensure those records are available to the Change Planner if accessed remotely.

Use the Change Planner to assess the cumulative impact of change on users, departments, business units, and the enterprise on the planned start date. You can experiment by varying the number of intervals and the duration of an interval to calculate the optimum time to begin change activities.

What-if change scenarios

To experiment with different start dates as well as time of day, you can use the Impact Planner to build a what-if change scenario that re-creates the various change events and details of the external change. If you want to initiate a change request and pre-plan the schedule for the change, the Impact Planner enables you to construct a change scenario with staggered change events. You can experiment with different schedules before you create change records in ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

Related topics

Expanded functionality Three: Calculate impact Remote access to the Change Planner Remote change IDs How do I use the Change Planner? Working with the Change Planner Impact Planner

Enhanced impact rule associations

Version 2.00 has an improved interface for defining and selecting impact rule associations. For more information, choose one of the links in Related topics.

Related topics

Expanded functionality Associations Impact rule associations How do I add an impact rule association? How do I delete an impact rule association? How do I manage associations? Working with impact rules

Refined TTNI algorithm

DecisionCenter has a refined Time-to-Next-Incident (TTNI) algorithm that improves accuracy when the Optimization engine generates incidents.

For more information, see the Data Mining chapter in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics


Active Directory authentication

DecisionCenter supports both Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) and Windows Active Directory authentication.

After you set up an Active Directory server, you must:

• Create DecisionCenter users and groups in the Active Directory server.

• Configure Active Directory authentication in BusinessObjects Enterprise XI.

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For more information about configuring Active Directory authentication, see the Security chapter in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide, and see your BusinessObjects Enterprise XI documentation.

Related topics


ETL validation tools

DecisionCenter has a set of validation tools to verify that your Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes ran correctly and that all records transferred successfully to the DecisionCenter data warehouse. These validation tools run in conjunction with the HP Connect-It scenarios that transfer data from external applications to the DecisionCenter data warehouse. When errors occur, the validation tools send e-mail notifications. There are three ETL validation tools.

• The Pre-Mapping tool creates a backup of Connect-It synchronization scheduler pointers, recovers all data warehouse sequence numbers if necessary, and sends e-mail notification if the ETL process failed.

• The Post-Mapping tool checks the last Connect-It scenario synchronization session and mapping logs. If session errors or data mapping errors occur, the Post-Mapping tool sends e-mail notification, and sets a scenario failure flag.

• The Post-Sync tool verifies the Connect-It synchronization condition of the mapping and ETL processes. If errors occur, the Post-Sync tool sends e-mail notification, and stops the Connect-It service.

For more information about Connect-It ETL processes, see the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics


Data warehouse migration

DecisionCenter 2.00 has new application features and new ways to use existing features. You must migrate your data warehouse and schemas to take advantage of these features.

The major migration steps are:

• Back up your existing schema and scenario files.

• Run the installer to get the latest files.

• Reconcile the customized files; for example, the LIB directory and the .ini file (scheduling).

• Apply any configuration and customization changes you made to the previous release and manually apply them to the latest files.

See the DecisionCenter Migration Guide for a detailed description of the steps required for a migration.

Related topics


Improved performance

This release offers improved performance in analytics and optimization. DecisionCenter 2.00 provides:

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• New fields in BIA tables that reduce the number of joins, thus reducing the report refresh time.

• Multiprocessor support.

• Improved data loading when using the impact rule target.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00? Expanded compatibility Expanded functionality New analytics Updated Connect-It scenarios New documentation

New analytics

This version of DecisionCenter has new out-of-box analytics that provide information about Change Management, Request Management, and Service Level Management. These analytics can help you make better decisions about the IT services that support these activities. All new analytics comply with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 standards.

For more information, choose one of the links in Related topics.

Related topics

Change Management analytics Request Management analytics Service Level Management analytics

Change Management analytics

The new Change Management out-of-box analytics contain metrics about the processes to request, manage, approve, and control changes that modify your organizational infrastructure. These new analytics align with the service transition evolution model and comply with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 standards.


Related topics

Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Request Management analytics

The new Request Management out-of-box analytics contain metrics about common user requests for products and services through the ServiceCenter or Service Manager Request Management or Service Catalog applications. These requests usually affect only the person making the request, or a subordinate group of employees. These new analytics align with the service transition evolution model and comply with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 standards.

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Related topics

Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details

Service Level Management analytics

The new Service Level Management out-of-box analytics provide metrics about costs related to Service Level Agreements (SLAs). These new analytics align with the service transition evolution model and comply with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) version 3 standards.


Related topics

Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details

Updated Connect-It scenarios

The data warehouse uses HP Connect-It scenarios to import and synchronize data from AssetCenter and ServiceCenter. You can view the AssetCenter and ServiceCenter mappings with Connect-It Scenario Builder. The following table contains the file names of new or changed scenarios.

Application version Scenario

ServiceCenter 5.1–ServiceCenter 6.0 rds_sc51-60.scn

ServiceCenter 6.1 rds_sc61.scn

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Application version Scenario

ServiceCenter 6.2 rds_sc62.scn

Service Manager 7.0 rds_sm71.scn

AssetCenter 4.3, 4.4, 5.0 rds_ac.scn

For more information about Connect-It ETL processes, see the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00?

New documentation

Knowing how to prepare and process data for DecisionCenter are critical steps. There are new topics that address the best practice recommendations and how to validate your processes.

There is a new PDF document that summarizes these best practices for data warehouse administrators. You can access it from the installation menus and print it before you begin the installation process. Best Practices for Data Warehouse Administrators is also available from this help system.

DecisionCenter 1.00 users who are migrating to DecisionCenter 2.00 can consult the DecisionCenter Migration Guide for information about that process.

Related topics

What's new in DecisionCenter 2.00?

Getting started with DecisionCenter DecisionCenter is an executive management tool that helps you make IT decisions using data and insight gathered from other operational systems. It has a suite of components that delivers IT metrics and simulates future performance:

• IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) gives you out-of-box performance metrics for Service Operation Analytics, such as Incident Management, Problem Management, Request Management, and Service Desk. It can display analytics in a dashboard for quick access, and supports an integrated BusinessObjects Enterprise XI suite of reporting tools. ITPA is the baseline component of DecisionCenter.

• Business Impact Analytics (BIA) works with ITPA to add Service Strategies Analytics, Service Design Analytics, and Service Transition Analytics. BIA adds an Impact Calculator, Impact Planner, Change Planner, History Builder, and Data Mining tools.

• DecisionCenter Optimization adds simulation capability to analyze historical performance and predict future performance. Impact rules, calculations, schedules, and an Optimization engine refine historical data to predict future performance.

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To start using DecisionCenter

First ensure that the application is installed and configured according to the directions in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide. To log on to the application web server:

1 Make sure that you have a valid login name and password.

2 Type the DecisionCenter URL in your browser. For example, type:

http://servername:portnumber/decisionCenter/

3 Type a valid Username and Password.

4 Click Log in.

Related topics

DecisionCenter overview DecisionCenter architecture Analytics Dashboards DecisionCenter user roles

DecisionCenter overview

DecisionCenter is the successor to BI Portal 5.2.1. DecisionCenter supports ServiceCenter, Service Manager, and AssetCenter. The common hub is the data that provides the input to DecisionCenter. DecisionCenter has three levels that you install progressively and use as you refine your source data and data mining processes.

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Related topics

Getting started with DecisionCenter Tiered packaging ITPA features BIA features Optimization features

Tiered packaging

DecisionCenter has three tiers of packaging to address user needs. The packaging levels are:

• DecisionCenter with IT Performance Analytics (ITPA)

• DecisionCenter with ITPA and Business Impact Analytics (BIA)

• DecisionCenter with ITPA, BIA, and Optimization

DecisionCenter with ITPA

This tier includes:

• Dashboards

• Service Operation Analytics

• IT Financial Management (ITFM) Analytics

• Business Intelligence tools, including the Business Objects suite of tools

• Supporting data warehouse for ServiceCenter, Service Manager, AssetCenter, and HP Connect-It

DecisionCenter with ITPA and BIA

This tier includes:

• Dashboards

• Service Strategies Analytics (including ITFM)

• Service Design Analytics

• Service Transition Analytics




• Data Mining tools

• Simulation Manager

• History Builder

• Impact Calculator

• Impact Planner

• Change Planner

• Business Model

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DecisionCenter with ITPA, BIA, and Optimization

This tier includes all DecisionCenter components:

• Dashboards

• Service Strategies Analytics (including ITFM)

• Service Design Analytics

• Service Transition Analytics




• Data Mining tools


• History Builder


• Impact Planner

• Change Planner

• Business Model

• Optimization engine

Related topics

DecisionCenter overview ITPA features BIA features Optimization features

ITPA features

DecisionCenter is the successor to BI Portal 5.2.1. It supports the DecisionCenter optimization engine and enables users to perform advanced analytic analyses using an integrated version of BusinessObjects Enterprise XI.

Feature Description

IT Performance Management dashboard

Displays Business Impact analytics as well as simulation and guided optimization results.

Analytic packs Delivers bundled Service Operation and IT Financial Management analytics.

Data Imports historical incident data into the DecisionCenter data warehouse to populate the Service Operation and IT Financial Management analytics.

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Feature Description

Integrated application infrastructure

Bundles out-of-box analytics and BusinessObjects Enterprise XI into an integrated application.

Related topics

DecisionCenter overview Tiered packaging BIA features Optimization features

BIA features

The Business Impact Analysis (BIA) component is an enhancement that complements ITPA. It has more complex out-of-box analytics and more analysis tools. You can define value centers, impact rules and calculations, and use the Impact Planner to compute the cost of incidents and change events.

Feature Description

Analytics Adds bundled Business Impact, Service Design, and Service Transition analytics.

Data Imports additional data into the DecisionCenter data warehouse to populate the BIA analytics.

Business services Imports business service data. You can create and modify relationships with value centers and configuration items.

Value centers You can define value centers. You can create and modify relationships with business services and configuration items.

Business impact metrics Use business impact rules and historical incident data to show historical availability and response time metrics.


Bundles out-of-box analytics, Data Mining tools, History Builder, Simulation Manager and BusinessObjects Enterprise XI into an integrated application.

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Related topics

DecisionCenter overview Tiered packaging ITPA features Optimization features

Optimization features

Optimization adds value to the ITPA and BIA components with an engine that simulates historic incident performance, and a Change Planner that projects the impact of change events.

Feature Description

Change Planner Build planned change scenarios to estimate the cost of planned changes and identify the optimum change window. You can access the Change Planner directly from an external application to estimate planned change impact on an existing change record.

Simulation and Optimization engine

Create historical and predictive cost models based on historical incident behavior, staffing, and resource allocation levels. Calculate the historical cost of incidents and the potential cost of incidents when staffing and resource allocation levels vary.

Scenarios Construct simulation and guided optimization scenarios that use historical data to calculate the cost of the current IT infrastructure, or predict what the cost might be when changes to the infrastructure occur.


DecisionCenter bundles Analytics, Optimization, and BusinessObjects XI into an integrated application.

Related topics

DecisionCenter overview Tiered packaging ITPA features BIA features

DecisionCenter architecture

The DecisionCenter internal components enable you to define data driven scenarios that predict the result of business decisions.

Business Objects is an enterprise business intelligence solution that interacts directly with DecisionCenter to summarize data in reports and display it with a management dashboard.

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HP Connect-It is the ETL tool that extracts data from ServiceCenter, Service Manager, or AssetCenter to populate the DecisionCenter data warehouse.

Related topics

Getting started with DecisionCenter DecisionCenter overview Analytics Dashboards DecisionCenter user roles

Analytics

DecisionCenter displays ITIL 3 compliant out-of-box analytics that are populated with your data when you complete the ETL process. These analytics:

• Measure service availability, response time, and service restoration.

• Show performance trends for business services.

• Show the relationship between the line of business and business services.

• Show the business impact of downtime or degraded performance by:

• Application

• Business service

• Organization

• Value Center

• Show aggregate service level agreement metrics.

• Relate incidents to business service performance.

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You can also create custom reports with ad hoc queries.

Related topics

Getting started with DecisionCenter DecisionCenter overview DecisionCenter architecture Dashboards DecisionCenter user roles

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Dashboards

Dashboards are a collection of analytics that contain information of interest that you want to access on a regular basis. Dashboards provide an immediate view of business activities across your organization. You can decide which analytics that you want to use in your personal dashboard.

Dashboard Manager makes it easy to choose the right out-of-box or custom analytics to populate your dashboard.

Some of the most commonly used analytics are:

• Alerts

• Gauges (such as speedometers and traffic lights)

• Interactive Metric Trends

• Maps

• Metric trees

• Pareto charts

Although dashboards do not have drill down functionality, you can drill through to other analytics.

For more information, see the Business Objects documentation: Getting Started Creating Dashboards.

Related topics

Getting started with DecisionCenter DecisionCenter overview DecisionCenter architecture Analytics DecisionCenter user roles

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DecisionCenter user roles

There are different roles and responsibilities within DecisionCenter. Some users consume the information generated to make business decisions; other users have tasks that ensure the data is correct and that the assumptions represented by impact rules and constraints are accurate.

Category Activity User roles Tasks

General management View dashboards, projects, and tasks

Chief Financial Officer Chief Information Officer IT Manager Service Level Management Manager Business service owner

View historical and operational statistics, list of optimization projects, and tasks assigned to others

Business Configuration Define services, objectives, and value centers

Business service owner Service Level Management Manager

Define business services and their dependencies, Service Level Objectives (SLOs) and their constraints, value centers, and assign relative values for a given business service

IT Configuration Manage staffing, operations, and environment

IT Manager Service Level Management Manager

Define staffing levels, constraints, work schedules, locations, and supported hardware and software configuration

Decision models Create and run scenarios

Service Level Management Manager

Create and maintain simulation models, optimization models, and update impact rules

Administration Manage data IT Manager System Administrator

Import service management, asset management, and application map data

Configuration Manage decision models

IT Manager Service Level Management Manager

Configure decision models, update impact rules and constraints

Related topics

Getting started with DecisionCenter DecisionCenter overview DecisionCenter architecture Analytics Dashboards

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Getting started with ITPA IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) gives you out-of-box performance metrics for Service Operation Analytics, such as Incident Management, Problem Management, Request Management, and Service Desk. It can display analytics in a dashboard for quick access, and supports an integrated BusinessObjects Enterprise XI suite of reporting tools. ITPA is the baseline component of DecisionCenter.

With ITPA you can:

• Generate cascading balanced scorecards to evaluate the performance of the IT organization and set new objectives.

• Create dashboards that display performance metrics and key performance indicators.

• Drill down into multi-dimensional analytics.

• View performance indicators for incidents, problems, and changes.

• Identify service downtime and outages.

Using historical data, ITPA prepackaged reports provide analytics that allow CIOs to optimize their IT staff assignments and demonstrate the impact of additional services on the existing service portfolio.

To start using DecisionCenter ITPA






4 Click Log in.

5 Click the report links in the Analytics sections to access ITPA reports.

Related topics

IT Performance Analytics My Dashboards Business Intelligence tools

IT Performance Analytics

DecisionCenter has a series of out-of-box reports that provide analytical information to help organizations make business-relevant decisions that align with IT services and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

The ITIL service lifecycle includes Service Strategy, Service Design, Service Transition, and Service Operation. The analytics in these components deliver easy-to-understand documents that present the status of the business.

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Report types

DecisionCenter provides two types of reports: analytics and web intelligence. You can identify the report types by the icon that precedes the report name on the navigation menu.

Type Icon Description

Analytic This report is based on metrics that are created through the Business Objects Performance management application. You can refresh the report based on selection criteria for that metric.

Web intelligence This report uses a browser-based application that enables you to add filters to modify selected criteria and build reports.

Navigating the reports by drilling

Some of the reports have drillable functions. You can drill up, down, or through a report to examine the details more closely.

When you drill up or down, you drill to another level of the hierarchy in the same report. For example, you can drill down from the year to examine data for each quarter. You can drill down further to month, week, and day.

When you drill up, you move along the hierarchy’s drill path from lower-level to higher-level data. For example, if you drill down on year to quarter, you drill up on quarter to return to year.

You can drill through to a separate report from a parent report. The drill through reports are Details reports that you can access without the parent report. For example, the First Call Resolutions analytic provides information about how well the service is performing and whether additional resources are necessary to facilitate high call volumes. Drilling through to the First Call Resolution Details report offers further analysis of the call categories in determining when to require process improvements.

Related topics

Getting started with ITPA Service Strategies Analytics Service Design Analytics Service Transition Analytics Service Operation Analytics

Service Strategies Analytics

Service Strategies Analytics deliver information to help organizations manage their IT services. The Business Impact, IT Financial Management, and Service Level Management analytics align with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

Related topics

IT Performance Analytics Service Design Analytics Service Transition Analytics Service Operation Analytics

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Business Impact IT Financial Management

Business Impact

The Business Impact Analytics (BIA) out-of-box reports help identify risks and assess the impact of those risks. BIA shows how organizations are affected if business functions and processes are interrupted.

For more information, choose a report from Related topics.

Related topics

Service Strategies Analytics Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

Impact Analysis

IT Management needs to know the overall impact to their business. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand the total impact to their business.

Cost is the hourly rate to run the business, determined by multiplying the hourly rate for a technician of a particular assignment group by the work time that the technician spends on a ticket. Downtime impact is the cost that the business incurs for the duration of the ticket from opening to resolution because the business is impacted during that entire period.

Category Description

Purpose To identify how downtime impacts the organization.

Usage Users: IT management, Service management Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Drill through to Impact by Business Service and Impact by Value Center

Not applicable Layout details

Sum of Impact

Alternate metrics Not applicable

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Related topics

Business Impact Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

Impact by Business Service

IT Management needs to know the overall impact to their business and which business services are most impacted. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand which business services have the highest impact.



Purpose To identify the top five business services that downtime impacts.


Guided analysis Drill through to Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group, Impact by Business Service and Category, and Impact by Business Service and Value Center

Top 5 Business Services Layout details

Impact Metric for Top 5 Business Services


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost

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Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group

Business service managers need to understand where they spend their money. This analysis helps to determine which assignment groups are most directly affecting the bottom line of their organizations.



Purpose To help business service owners to determine impact trends to their services segmented by assignment group influence.

Usage Users: Business service owners, Assignment group management, IT management, Service management Frequency: Quarterly

Guided analysis Not applicable

Assignment Group Name, Business Service Name, Business Service Prompt, Incident Open Date–Month, Refresh Date

Layout details

Cost, Impact

Alternate metrics None

Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Business Service and Category

Business service owners cannot take proactive measures to manage their services unless they understand the areas that are negatively affected. This analysis allows owners and management to understand which incident types have the most damaging effect on the service and when they are most likely to occur.



Purpose To provide business owners with information about how unscheduled incidents impact the business service.

Usage Users: Business service owners, IT management, Service management Frequency: Quarterly


Business Service Name, Business Service Prompt, Incident Category Name, Incident Open Date–Month, Refresh Date

Layout details

Impact

Alternate metrics

Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Business Service and Value Center

IT Management needs to know the downtime impact to their business and which value centers associated with a business service are impacted.



Purpose To identify the value centers that are associated with the top five impacted business services and which ones impact downtime the most.



Business Service Name, Business Service Prompt, Incident Open Date–Month, Incident Open Date–Week, Incident Open Date–Year, Refresh Date, Value Center Name

Layout details

Impact


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Business Service With Cost

Business service owners need to understand the relationship of downtime impact to cost.



Purpose To identify the relationship between downtime impact and cost.

Usage Users: Service level management, Business service owners Frequency: Quarterly


Business Service Name, Business Service Prompt, Incident Open Date–Month, Refresh Date

Layout details

Cost, Impact

Alternate metrics

Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Value Center

IT Management needs to know the overall impact to their business and which value centers are most impacted. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand which value centers have the highest impact.



Purpose To identify the top five value centers that downtime impacts.


Guided analysis Drill through to Impact by Value Center Hierarchy

Top 5 Value Centers Layout details

Impact Metric for Top 5 Value Centers


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Value Center and Business Service

IT Management needs to know the impact to their business and which business services associated with a value center are impacted.



Purpose To identify the business services that are associated with the top five impacted value centers and which business services impact downtime the most.



Business Service Name, Incident Open Date–Month, Refresh Date, Value Center Name, Value Center Prompt

Layout details

Impact


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Value Center Hierarchy

IT Management needs to know the overall impact to their business and which value centers are most impacted. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand which value centers had the highest impact and to drill down for further analysis.



Purpose To drill down from the top five parent value centers that downtime impacts to the respective child value centers.


Guided analysis Drill through to Impact by Value Center and Business Service

Incident Open Date–Month, Incident Open Date–Week, Refresh Date, Value Center Hierarchy, Value Center Name

Layout details

Drill, Impact, Value Center Drill, Value Center Prompt


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact by Value Center With Cost

Value center management needs to understand the relationship of downtime impact to cost.



Purpose To identify the relationship between downtime impact and value center cost.

Usage Users: Service level management, Value center management, Business service owners Frequency: Quarterly


Incident Open Date–Month, Refresh Date, Value Center, Value Center Prompt Layout details

Cost, Impact


Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact for CI Type Impact for CI Type and Business Service

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Impact for CI Type

IT Management needs to have current knowledge of the Configuration Items (CIs) that most negatively affect the business services that they support. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand the CI types that impact the organization and to drill down to the problematic makes and models.



Purpose To identify costly CI types and understand where they cause the most impact.

Usage Users: IT management, Service management Frequency: Quarterly

Guided analysis Drill through to Impact for CI Type and Business Service

CI Type, Drill, Quarter End Date, Quarter Start Date, Refresh Date, Test End Date Layout details

Impact

Alternate metrics Business Service Downtime Impact by CI Brand—Replace the CI Type with the CI Brand to allow vendor management professionals to understand those suppliers that cost the organization the most in downtime impact costs.

Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type and Business Service

Impact for CI Type and Business Service

IT Management needs to have current knowledge of the Configuration Items (CIs) that most negatively affect the business services that they support. This analysis allows IT management and business service owners to understand the CI types that impact the organization and the business services associated with the specific CI types.

Cost is the hourly rate to run the business, determined by multiplying the hourly rate for a technician of a particular assignment group by the work time that the technician spends on a

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ticket. Downtime impact is the cost that the business incurs for the duration of the ticket from opening to resolution because the business is impacted during that entire period.


Purpose To identify costly CIs and understand where they cause the most impact.

Usage Users: IT management, Service management Frequency: Quarterly


Business Service Name, CI Prompt, CI Type, Incident Open Date–Month, Quarter End Date, Quarter Start Date, Refresh Date, Value Center Name

Layout details

Impact

Alternate metrics CI Brand Downtime Impact by Business Service—Replace the CI Type with the CI Brand to allow vendor management professionals to understand those suppliers that cost the organization the most in downtime impact costs.

Related topics

Business Impact Impact Analysis Impact by Business Service Impact by Business Service and Assignment Group Impact by Business Service and Category Impact by Business Service and Value Center Impact by Business Service With Cost Impact by Value Center Impact by Value Center and Business Service Impact by Value Center Hierarchy Impact by Value Center With Cost Impact for CI Type

IT Financial Management

The IT Financial Management out-of-box reports provide operational-level reporting about assets, budgets, contract costs, software licensing compliance, and outages.


Related topics

Service Strategies Analytics Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center

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Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

Asset Cost

This analysis shows the comparison line graph cost of assets over the region in one year and the cost of assets over the model for that same year.


Purpose To determine the impact on the IT budget of regional or departmental concerns.

Usage Users: Senior IT managers Frequency: Quarterly


Debit Currency, Model Hierarchy, Quarter, Region Hierarchy Layout details

Expense Line Total


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details

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Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

Asset Retirement Schedule

The first key to understanding how to manage the IT assets that exist within the organization is to understand what is available in specific locations. The table in this report shows the asset count for a particular model across different regions. The drill-through option in any cell takes you to the sub-report, which shows details of the assets for that model and region.


Purpose To view a summary of the assets scheduled for retirement that are distributed throughout the enterprise. This analysis also acts as a template for more focused views into asset distribution breakdown for IT knowledge area experts.

Usage Users: IT management Frequency: Yearly

Guided analysis Drill through to Asset Retirement Schedule Details

Asset Tag, City, Model Name, Month, Nature Name, Quarter, Retire Date, State, Week, Year

Layout details

Asset Count


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Asset Retirement Schedule Details

This report provides a tabular view of the details of each asset that is scheduled to retire in a specific year.


Purpose To view the asset details for a specified year.



Asset Tag, City, Model Name, Month, Nature Name, Quarter, Retire Date, State, Week, Year

Layout details

Asset Count


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Budget Versus Actuals

This analytic enables executive management to identify the degree and length of discrepancies in the actual budget spanning different categories.


Purpose To show the percentage of budget spent in a year by quarters.

Usage Users: Executive management Frequency: Quarterly


Budget, Company Name, Computer Type, Employee Hierarchy, Month, Period Name, Quarter, Title, Week, Year

Layout details

Budgets, Cost Center Link, Department Link, Expense Line Total, Percentage of Budget


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center

This analytic enables executive management to identify the degree and length of discrepancies in the actual budget by cost center.


Purpose To provide a comparison line graph of actual and budgeted expenses for a particular quarter by cost center.



Budget, Debit Currency, Month, Quarter, Title, Week, Year Layout details

Budgets, Expense Line Total


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Budget Versus Actuals by Department

This analysis enables executive management to identify the degree and length of discrepancies in the actual budget by department.


Purpose To provide a comparison line graph of actual and budgeted expenses for a particular quarter by department.



Budget, Debit Currency, Quarter, Year Layout details

Budgets, Expense Line Total


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

52

Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier

This analytic enables executive management to identify the degree and length of discrepancies in the actual budget by supplier.


Purpose To provide a comparison line graph of actual and budgeted expenses for a particular quarter by supplier.



Budget, Company Name, Debit Currency, Quarter, Year Layout details

Budgets, Expense Line Total, Expenses


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

53

Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center

IT organizations incur unnecessary contract-related costs because of lapses or automatic renewals. This analysis enables IT management to reclaim control of their budgets by identifying contracts that are up for renewal.


Purpose To view the rent contracts by cost center, department, and region in the next 30, 60, 90, and 120 days.

Usage Users: IT management Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Drill through to Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details

Employee Hierarchy, Region Hierarchy, Rent Due Cost, Rent Due Dept, Rent Due Region, Billing Date, Debit Currency

Layout details

Cost Center Link, Department Link, Drill Dept, Drill Region, Expense Line Total (Query 2 through Query 4), Region Link


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

54

Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details



Purpose To view the rent contracts by cost center in the next 30, 60, 90, and 120 days.



Billing Date, Contract Company Name, Date Ended(Acqu), Date Started(Acqu), Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Rent, Rent Due

Layout details

Expense Line Total, Total


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

55

Contract Cost Forecast by Department



Purpose To view the rent contracts by department.


Guided analysis Drill through to Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details

Billing Date, Contract Company Name, Date Ended(Acqu), Date Started(Acqu) Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Rent, Rent Due

Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details



Purpose To view the rent contracts by department in the next 30, 60, 90, and 120 days.



Billing Date, Contract Company Name, Date Ended(Acqu), Date Started(Acqu) Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Rent, Rent Due

Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

57

Contract Cost Forecast by Region



Purpose To view the rent contracts by region.


Guided analysis Drill through to Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details

Billing Date, Contract Company Name, Date Ended(Acqu), Date Started(Acqu) Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Rent, Rent Due, Title

Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details



Purpose To view the rent contracts by region in the next 30, 60, 90, and 120 days.



Billing Date, Contract Company Name, Date Ended(Acqu), Date Started(Acqu) Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Rent, Rent Due, Title

Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Contract Expiration

IT contract managers frequently do not have the same information as those in the organization who are response for managing physical assets. This analysis provides insight into the scope and distribution of contracts across suppliers.


Purpose To show the contracts that expire in the next 30, 60, or 90 days.

Usage Users: IT contract managers Frequency: Monthly


Contract Company Name, Contract No(Maint), Date Ended(Maint), Date Started(Maint), Expiration Status, Month, Reference(Maint)

Layout details

Contract Duration, No of Expiry Day


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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IT Cost Breakdown

This analysis identifies the categories of assets that are costliest to own and where expenses occur across several categories.


Purpose To compare the category expense with the total cost of IT expenses.

Usage Users: IT management Frequency: Quarterly

Guided analysis Drill through to IT Cost Breakdown Over Time

Billing Date, Debit Currency, Last Mod Date, Model Hierarchy, Month, Purpose, Quarter, Week, Year

Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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IT Cost Breakdown Over Time



Purpose To show a graph of cost distributed over time.


Guided analysis Drill through to IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details

Billing Date, Last Mod Date, Model Hierarchy, Purpose, Quarter, Year Layout details

Cost, Expense Line Total


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details



Purpose To show the details of a specific IT expense.



Asset Tag, Assignment, Billing Date, Debit Currency, Expense Line Status, Status, Year Layout details



Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Projected Savings from Unused Software

IT financial managers face challenges in trying to bring together asset costs across the disparate data stores where information might be hidden. This analysis provides an understanding of the state of the organization within the scope of a controlled data collection process.


Purpose To identify the total cost savings, the cost of unused licenses, and the maintenance contracts’ amount saved when organizations reduce the license count and the maintenance fees.

Usage Users: Financial managers, Software asset managers Frequency: Yearly

Guided analysis Drill through to Projected Savings from Unused Software Details

License Reduction Layout details

Reduction Savings


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

64

Projected Savings From Unused Software Details

To identify the total cost savings, the cost of unused licenses, and the maintenance contracts’ amount saved when organizations reduce the license count and the maintenance fees.


Purpose To view the license reduction savings by region and the maintenance reduction savings by cost center.

Usage Users: Financial managers, Software asset managers Frequency: Yearly


City, Contract No(Maint), Cost Center Title(Contract), Country Name, Location Type, State

Layout details

Contract Amount, License Reduction Savings


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

65

Software License Compliance

IT managers must identify both their software license compliance and the degree of the compliance by application.


Purpose To provide information about the percentage of properly licensed software, installations in excess of licenses, and unused licenses.


Guided analysis Drill through to Software License Compliance by Application

License Contracts Layout details

Licenses


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance by Application Software License Compliance by Application Details

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Software License Compliance by Application



Purpose To show properly licensed software, installations in excess of licenses, and licenses in excess of installations.

Usage Users: Software asset managers, IT management Frequency: Yearly

Guided analysis Drill through to Software License Compliance by Application Details

License Contracts, Asset Model Layout details

Licenses


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application Details

67

Software License Compliance by Application Details



Purpose To show the details for installations and licenses of specific models.



Assignment Date, Authorization, License Type, Model Name, Nature Name, OS, Soft Inst ID, Usage (Asset Soft Install), Version level, Version Level Soft Inst

Layout details

Average Price, Installation Count, License Count, Price, Usage (Asset Measures)


Related topics

IT Financial Management Asset Cost Asset Retirement Schedule Asset Retirement Schedule Details Budget Versus Actuals Budget Versus Actuals by Cost Center Budget Versus Actuals by Department Budget Versus Actuals by Supplier Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Contract Cost Forecast by Cost Center Details Contract Cost Forecast by Department Contract Cost Forecast by Department Details Contract Cost Forecast by Region Contract Cost Forecast by Region Details Contract Expiration IT Cost Breakdown IT Cost Breakdown Over Time IT Cost Breakdown Over Time Details Projected Savings From Unused Software Projected Savings From Unused Software Details Software License Compliance Software License Compliance by Application

68

Service Design Analytics

Service Design Analytics deliver information to help organizations manage their service levels. Service Level Management (SLM) analytics align with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

Related topics

IT Performance Analytics Service Strategies Analytics Service Transition Analytics Service Operation Analytics Service Level Management

Service Level Management

The IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) Service Level Management out-of-box analytics provide analytical information about costs related to Service Level Agreements (SLA). Users can see in-depth views of the variable service-related costs.


Related topics

Service Design Analytics Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Summary

This analytic shows the outage volume and outage downtime.


Purpose To identify the CI types that have the most frequent outage.

Usage Users: Service managers Frequency: Monthly

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Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types

Configuration Item, Configuration Item Type, Outage Start Date Layout details

Outage Count, Outage Downtime


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types

This analytic shows the outage volume and outage downtime of the top 10 Configuration Item (CI) types over time.


Purpose To identify the CI types that have the most frequent outage.


Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details

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Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details

This analytic shows the drill-down details of outage volume and outage downtime of the top 10 Configuration Item (CI) types over time.


Purpose To view the top 10 CIs for a specific CI type that has frequent outages.





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Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Volume

This analytic summarizes the monthly outage volume. It helps organizations to understand the performance of their IT processes.


Purpose To identify outage volume.


Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Volume by Business Service, Outage Volume by Change, Outage Volume by CI Type, and Outage Volume by Incident

None Layout details

Outage Count


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Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Volume by Business Service

This analytic summarizes the monthly outage volume by business service. It helps organizations to understand the performance of the business service IT processes.


Purpose To identify the percent of increase or decrease in outage volume by business service.


Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Volume by Business Service and CI

Business Service Layout details

Outage Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details

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Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Volume by Business Service and CI

This analytic summarizes the monthly outage volume by business service. It helps organizations to understand the performance of the business service IT processes.


Purpose To identify the percent of increase or decrease in outage volume by business service and Configuration Item (CI).

Usage Users: Service managers Frequency: timeframe

Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Volume by Business Service and CI

None Layout details

Outage Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date

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SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

Outage Volume by Change

This pie chart summarizes the monthly outage volume by change. It helps organizations to understand what outages are impacted by change.


Purpose To identify the outages by change category for the selected month.



Change Category, Outage Start Date Layout details

Outage Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

75

Outage Volume by CI Type

This analytic summarizes the monthly outage volume by Configuration Item (CI) type. It helps organizations to measure the change process.


Purpose To determine how outage splits between incident and change.


Guided analysis Drill through to Outage Volume by CI Type Details


Outage Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

76

Outage Volume by CI Type Details

This analytic shows the details of the monthly outage volume of a specific Configuration Item (CI) type sorted by the duration of the downtime.


Purpose To view the top 10 CIs that have frequent outages for the selected month.



Configuration Item, Configuration Item Type Layout details



Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

77

Outage Volume by Incident

This pie chart summarizes the monthly outage volume by change. It helps organizations to understand what outages are impacted by change.


Purpose To identify the outages by incident category for the selected month.



Incident Category, Outage Start Date Layout details

Outage Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

78

Service Contract Cost Over Time

This analytic enables organizations to identify each service contract by Parts and Labor costs.


Purpose To help organizations manage service level agreements.



Contract Name, Date Used, Date Worked, Month Used, Month Worked Layout details

Hours Worked, Labor Cost, Part Costs, Quantity Used


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

79

Service Delivery Cost

The Configuration Item (CI) cost to organizations includes both fixed capital expenditures and variable service-related costs. The latter category is where many organizations have the most risk of uncontrollable costs. This analytic provides insight into the variable service-related Service Level Agreement (SLA) costs.


Purpose To track service-related SLA expenses.

Usage Users: CFO, CIO, Business service owners, IT managers Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Drill through to Service Delivery Cost Details, then drill through to Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident

SLA Name Layout details

Total Service Cost

Alternate metrics • Business Service TCO/service-related expense analysis • CI Maintenance costs over time • Detailed version of this report that follows workflow through to the breakdown of

expenses in tabular format • Planned vs. unplanned expense analysis • CI TCO–includes service and asset management

Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident






Affected CI Type, Cost Source, Expense Date–Month, Expense Source Module, Expense Type, Refresh Date

Layout details

CI Count, Cost, Total Expense



Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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Service Delivery Cost Details





Guided analysis Drill through to Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident

Affected CI Type, Drill, Expense Date, Expense Date–Month, Month, Refresh Date, SLA Title

Layout details

Cost, Device Count, Expense



Related topics Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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SLA Availability Exceptions

This analytic shows how well SLA availability meets requirements.


Purpose To show the percent of increase or decrease of SLA expectation levels.


Guided analysis Drill through to SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO, then drill through to SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details

SLA Title Layout details

Availability Percentage


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

83

SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO

This analytic shows all service level availability (SLA) exceptions for a particular service level objective (SLO).


Purpose To show the percent of increase or decrease of SLA expectation levels by SLO.


Guided analysis Drill through to SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details

Availability Month, Availability Year, SLA Title, SLO Availability Name Layout details

Availability Percentage


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

84

SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details

This bar chart shows the outage volume by Configuration Item (CI) for a particular service level objective (SLO).


Purpose To identify outage duration of the top 10 CIs of the SLO.

Usage Users: Service manager Frequency: Monthly


Configuration Item, CI Type, SLO Availability Name Layout details



Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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SLA by Expiration Date

This analytic has a pie chart and table to show the number of SLAs that are expiring in 30, 60, and 120 days.


Purpose To understand how well organizations are managing the SLA process.



SLA Customer, SLA Expiration, SLA ID, SLA Title Layout details

Expiring SLA, SLA Count


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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SLA Response Achievement by Customer

This analytic shows the SLA response by service area (incidents and changes) for each customer and the percent and total number of unmet requirements.


Purpose To understand which SLAs are not meeting requirements.


Guided analysis Drill through to SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details

SLA Customer, SLA Title, SLO Response Name Layout details

SLA Response percentage, Total Breached


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details

This analytic shows the monthly SLA response for a particular customer and their monthly alerts.


Purpose To understand which SLAs are not meeting requirements.



Service Area, SLA Customer, SLA Title, SLO Response Name Layout details

SLA Response percentage, Total Breached


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement Over Time Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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SLA Response Achievement Over Time

This analytic shows how well SLA response times meet their requirements.


Purpose To help organizations determine SLA success rates.



Agreement ID, Month, SLA Month, SLA Title, Year Layout details

Overall average


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details Unplanned Downtime by SLA

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Unplanned Downtime by SLA

This analytic enables organizations to view the time and costs incurred when asset downtime exceeds service level agreement (SLA) thresholds.


Purpose To help service managers understand the monetary impact of service level agreements that do not meet requirements.

Usage Users: User groups Frequency: Monthly


Month, SLA Month, SLA Month Name, SLA Title, Year Layout details

Actual, Actual Availability (Hours), Cost, Cost of Downtime, Expected, Expected Availability (Hours), Unplanned Downtime


Related topics

Service Level Management Outage Summary Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Outage Summary by Top 10 CI Types Details Outage Volume Outage Volume by Business Service Outage Volume by Business Service and CI Outage Volume by Change Outage Volume by CI Type Outage Volume by CI Type Details Outage Volume by Incident Service Contract Cost Over Time Service Delivery Cost Service Delivery Cost by Change and Incident Service Delivery Cost Details SLA Availability Exceptions SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO SLA Availability Exceptions by SLO Details SLA by Expiration Date SLA Response Achievement by Customer SLA Response Achievement by Customer Details SLA Response Achievement Over Time

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Service Transition Analytics

Service Transition Analytics deliver information to help organizations manage changes related to IT services. Change Management analytics align with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

Related topics

IT Performance Analytics Service Strategies Analytics Service Design Analytics Service Operation Analytics Change Management

Change Management

The IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) Change Management out-of-box analytics provide information to help organizations make business-relevant decisions that align with the service transition evolution model and the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework. Good change processes lead to fewer incidents and greater availability to customers.


Related topics

Service Transition Analytics Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Change Backlog

This analytic shows the backlog of incomplete changes from date entered to planned or actual end date. Organizations can determine how the backlog changes over time and if the backlog represents a process or staffing issue.


Purpose To understand where demand is increasing beyond staffing or change processes become operational.


Guided analysis Drill through to Change Backlog by Dimensions

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Category, Date Layout details

Change Requests


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Change Backlog by Dimensions

This analytic shows the backlog of uncompleted changes over time by priority and location. Organizations can determine how the backlog changes over time and if the backlog represents a process or staffing issue.


Purpose To understand where demand is increasing beyond staffing or change processes become operational.



Calendar Date, Location, Planned End, Planned Start, Priority Layout details

Change requests


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Duration

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Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Change Duration

This analytic shows the average number of days the changes in each category remained open.


Purpose To identify where bottlenecks in the process occur.


Guided analysis Drill through to Change Duration by Dimensions

Category, Time Layout details

Change Duration


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

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Change Duration by Dimensions

This analytic shows the average number of days the change remained in each phase.


Purpose To identify where bottlenecks in the process occur.



Change Number, Is Current Record, Phase Start Layout details

Change Duration, Change Volume


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Change Volume

This analytic shows the number of planned changes based on planned start date. Organizations can determine whether the change team staffing is appropriate and what blockages need action.


Purpose To help managers plan accordingly when scheduling changes by showing demand and throughput for the change team.


Guided analysis Drill through to Change Volume by Dimensions

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Priority, Time Layout details

Change Count


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Change Volume by Dimensions

This analytic shows the number of planned changes planned on the planned start date by priority and assigned group. Organizations can determine whether the change team staffing is appropriate and what blockages need action.


Purpose To help managers plan accordingly when scheduling changes.



Assignee Dept, Change Category, Location, Priority Layout details

Change Count


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions

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Change Volume Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Cost of Change Variance

This analytic enables organizations to manage change requests by identifying the differences between expected and actual costs for changes.


Purpose To list the differences of the change costs by company.

Usage Users: Executive management Frequency: Monthly


Actual Price, Change Number, Estimate Price, RefreshDate, Requestor Company, Requestor Dept, Requestor Name

Layout details

Actual Expenses, Average Differences, Difference, Estimated Expenses


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

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Outage Volume Due to Change

This analytic shows the number of outages by related change categories.


Purpose To demonstrate the overall impact of changes on operations.


Guided analysis Drill through to Change Volume Due to Change by Dimensions

Category, Time Layout details

Outage Count by Change Category


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions

This analytic helps organizations determine how change affects outage. When good change processes are in place, emergency changes decrease.


Purpose To demonstrate the overall impact of changes on operations.



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Affected CI, Affected CI Type, Change Category, Location, Priority, Status Layout details

Change Count, Change Duration, Outage Count by Change Category


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Successful Changes Successful Changes by Dimensions

Successful Changes

This analytic shows the percent of planned and successfully completed changes over time. When organizations increase the change success rate, there is a decrease in downtime, emergency work variance, and business risk.


Purpose To show the performance of planned changes.


Guided analysis Drill through to Successful Changes by Dimensions

Completion State, Time Layout details

Change Count


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions

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Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes by Dimensions

Successful Changes by Dimensions

This analytic shows the percent of planned and successfully completed changes over time. When organizations increase the change success rate, there is a decrease in downtime, emergency work variance, and business risk.


Purpose To show the performance of planned changes.



Change Category, Completion State, Location, Priority Layout details

Change Count


Related topics

Change Management Change Backlog Change Backlog by Dimensions Change Duration Change Duration by Dimensions Change Volume Change Volume by Dimensions Cost of Change Variance Outage Volume Due to Change Outage Volume Due to Change by Dimensions Successful Changes

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Service Operations Analytics

Service Operations Analytics deliver information to help organizations make better decisions in areas that include availability of services, scheduling operations, and fixing problems. The Incident Management, Problem Management, Request Management and Service Desk analytics align with the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) framework.

Related topics

IT Performance Analytics Service Strategies Analytics Service Design Analytics Service Transition Analytics Incident Management Problem Management Request Management Service Desk

Incident Management

The IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) Incident Management out-of-box reports provide information about ServiceCenter or Service Manager incidents, such as incident volume, resolution time, cost, and other metrics


Related topics

Service Operation Analytics Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Incident Aging

This metric measures the efficiency of the service desk by determining how quickly technicians address the incidents and group the incidents into aging categories.


Purpose To enable service managers to: Identify how long the service desk takes to resolve most incidents. Identify areas of process improvement that help the service desk address incidents in a timely manner.

Usage Users: Call center managers, Service managers Frequency: Monthly


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Duration Group, Incident Category, Incident ID, Incident Open Date (Month, Week), Incident Problem Type, Incident Product Type, Incident Subcategory, Refresh Date

Layout details

Total Incidents

Alternate metrics Web Intelligence

Related topics

Incident Management Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Incident Closure Time

This analysis tracks the number of closed incidents by assignment group, category, cause code, closed group, and resolution. This helps service managers and call center managers understand areas that need more support and areas to use as an example of best practices.


Purpose To help organizations track and manage closed service call incidents.

Usage Users: Call center managers, Service managers Frequency: Monthly


Assignment Group, Category, Cause Code, Close Date, Close Time, Closed Group, Resolution Code, Subtitle, Year

Layout details

Currently Closed Incidents


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category

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Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Incident Cost

Many organizations fail to carefully track the parts and labor costs of addressing incidents. This report shows the Incident Cost metric across Incident Categories to identify areas that require additional focus in controlling costs.


Purpose To help senior service desk management to:

• Communicate changes in incident costs to the service desk over time towards understanding seasonal trends and areas of most concern.

• Identify trends within the parts and labor cost elements of this metric.

Usage Users: Senior Service Desk management (Director level or above) Frequency: Quarterly

Guided analysis This starts at a quarterly analysis. Users can drill up to a yearly analysis or down to a monthly analysis, and ultimately to a weekly analysis.

12 Open Month Filter, Current Date, Expense Type, Incident Age Group, Incident Category, Incident Open Date–Month, Incident Open Date–Quarter, Incident Open Date–Week, Incident Priority, Incident Problem Type, Incident Product Type, Incident Subcategory, Open Month, Refresh Date

Layout details

Parts / Labor Costs

Alternate metrics Incident Cost Analysis by Location (understanding which regions, cities, and offices are most costly to maintain in comparison to others) Incident Cost Analysis by Company (for those MSP customers who want to understand which customers are the most costly to maintain) Variance of Incident Costs (to show differences in incident cost from period to period) Incident Cost Analysis by Category (same as default with the addition of a third axis to show Incident Category)

Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions

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Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Incident Escalations by Category

This analysis enables organizations to identify inefficiencies in the incident routing process. Routed incidents include those that move between assignment groups. This metric measures service desk efficiency by determining how quickly incidents are assigned correctly.


Purpose To determine when and how often incidents are routed incorrectly so that organizations can identify measures to reduce the frequency and occurrence of misrouted incidents. Some ways to improve correct routing include additional training, process re-engineering, the restructuring of assignment groups, improved knowledge documentation, and reclassification of incidents categories.

Usage Users: Service managers, IT managers, Trainers Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Standalone—users can split by Incident Details/Category. Users can drill down to Incident Details/Subcategory.

Data Refresh Date, Incident Category, Incident Open Date (Month, Quarter, Week, Year), Incident Problem Type, Incident Product Type, Incident Subcategory, Technician–Assignment Group

Layout details

Overall Average Reassignments, Total Incidents


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

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Incident Resolution Time by Category

This metric measures the total time for the service desk to address incidents of a particular category.


Purpose To help call center managers and service managers identify:

• The top incident categories by their impact on the organization. Managers can then apportion and train resources to address the state of the organization’s support activities and lead any issues where trends dictate that particular incident categories are more visible.

• Whether the top incident trends track each other to identify otherwise hidden relationships between top incident categories.

Usage Users: Call center managers, service managers Frequency: Monthly


Incident Category Layout details

Age of Incident Duration (hours) by Category


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

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Incident Volume

This metric identifies the trend in the number of incidents. Managers can track the total number of opened incidents within a specified time period to determine the effectiveness of incident prevention initiatives that include training, automation, proactive processes, and maintenance.


Purpose To determine an unexpected increase or decrease in incident activity. Configuration Item (CI), category, and regional managers can use the metric as a template to understand incident counts in their areas of interest by applying the required filters.




Incident Count by Category


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Incident Volume by Dimensions

This report summarizes all open incidents grouped by any two of the following fields: Assignment Group, Category, Company, Location, Severity.


Purpose To help organizations manage their service call incidents.

Usage Users: Service desk managers Frequency: Monthly


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Assignment Group, Category, Company, Location, Priority, Severity, Status Layout details

Currently Open Incidents, Open Incidents


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Mean Time Between Failures Mean Time to Repair

Mean Time Between Failures

The Mean Time Between Failures (MTBF) metric measures the frequency of failures by incident categories in hours.


Purpose To enable service managers to:

• Identify the most troublesome issues by incident category. Managers can determine how to address the incident categories that have the lowest mean time between failures.

• Assist managers in continuous improvement of the most frequently occurring incident categories.

Usage Users: Service managers, call center managers Frequency: Quarterly



Mean Time Between Failures by Open Date


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time

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Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time to Repair

Mean Time to Repair

The Mean Time to Repair (MTTR) report illustrates the influence of the average incident time, in hours, to resolve incidents of a particular category so that service managers can determine which issues require additional training or third-party relationships to address.

The subclass of the report enables service managers to determine which types of issues are most difficult to resolve. Managers learn where training or third-party support is necessary. They can focus on issues that take longer to address but do not necessarily occur in large numbers.


Purpose To help call center managers and service managers identify:

• The top incident categories by their MTTR for the organization. Managers can then apportion and train resources to address the state of the organization’s support activities and lead any issues where trends dictate that particular incident categories are more visible.

• Whether there are relationships between the trends of difficult issues to address based on their resolution times.

Usage Users: Call center managers, service managers Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Standalone metric

12 Month Filter, Closed Month, Current Date, Incident Category, Incident Closed Date, Incident ID, Incident Open Date, Incident Priority, Incident Problem Type, Incident Product Type, Incident Severity, Incident Subcategory, Open Month, Refresh Date

Layout details

Average Duration (In Seconds), MTTR in Hours, Total Closed Incidents


Related topics

Incident Management Incident Aging Incident Closure Time Incident Cost Incident Escalations by Category Incident Resolution Time by Category Incident Volume Incident Volume by Dimensions Mean Time Between Failures

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Problem Management

The Problem Management out-of-box reports help managers identify costly problems in their organization.


Related topics

Service Operation Analytics Outage Volume by CI Problems by Incident Cost

Outage Volume by CI

This report summarizes Configuration Item (CI) downtime, cross-referenced once by CI Type and Vendor, and again by Model over time.


Purpose To help organizations manage their Configuration Items.

Usage Users: Service desk managers Frequency: Quarterly


Asset Tag, Config Item Name, Manufacturer, Model, Month Name, Outage Quarter, Outage Start, Subtype, Type, Vendor, Week

Layout details

Outage Count


Related topics

Problem Management Problems by Incident Cost

Problems by Incident Cost

This analysis groups the Parts and Labor costs to allow service desk managers to identify the most costly problems in their organization.


Purpose To help organizations manage problems.

Usage Users: Service desk managers Frequency: Monthly

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Data Refresh Date, Incident Number, Problem Layout details

Hours Worked, Hours worked, Labor Cost, Labor cost, Part Costs, Part costs, Quantity Used, Quantity used


Related topics

Problem Management Outage Volume by CI

Request Management

The Request Management out-of-box reports provide operational-level reporting about the status of service and asset requests. The information in the reports can help companies determine where their processes have:

• Delayed solutions

• Slow operational processes

• Slow turnaround times

• Slow response to business needs and changes

The analytics support Service Manager, Service Catalog, and AssetCenter Procurement.


Related topics

Service Operation Analytics Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

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Approval Duration

In the request process, the request must be approved before it can proceed. This analytic shows IT managers which approvers are the slowest to approve requests.


Purpose To know where delays occur.

Usage Users: IT managers Frequency: Monthly


Approval Group Layout details

Total Approval Time


Related topics

Request Management Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Backlog

In the request process, a decrease in the backlog over time indicates process improvement. This analytic shows IT managers the average amount of open requests on a daily basis.


Purpose To determine the trend of open requests.

Usage Users: IT managers Frequency: Weekly

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Guided analysis Drill through to Request Backlog Details

Time Layout details

Average Request Backlog Count


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Backlog Details

This analytic shows IT managers the average amount of open requests on a daily basis for each category by location and department.


Purpose To determine if assigned resources have the capacity to meet request demand.

Usage Users: IT managers Frequency: Weekly


Department, Location Layout details

Average Request Backlog Count


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Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Duration

This analytic shows the duration (open to close) of each request category over time. IT managers can see a trend in the length of time to fulfill a request.


Purpose To determine where cycle time improvements may be made.


Guided analysis Drill through to Request Duration by Phase and Request Duration Details

Request Item Category Layout details

Total Duration


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

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Request Duration by Phase

This analytic shows IT managers the duration of each phase for a selected request category for a selected month by phase.


Purpose To determine the relative time taken for approval and fulfillment.




Approval Duration, Fulfillment Duration


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Duration Details

This analytic shows the duration for a selected request category for a selected month by department and location.


Purpose To determine the relative performance of departments and locations in fulfilling requests.


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Request Item Category, Department, Location Layout details

Total Duration


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Line Backlog

In the request process, a decrease in the backlog over time indicates process improvement. This analytic shows IT managers the average amount of open request line items on a daily basis.


Purpose To determine the trend of open request line items.


Guided analysis Drill through to Request Line Backlog Details

Time, Request Item Category Layout details

Open Average Request Line Backlog Count


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Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Line Backlog Details

This analytic shows IT managers the average amount of open request line items on a daily basis for each category by location and department.


Purpose To determine if assigned resources have the capacity to meet request demand.



Category Item, Location, Department Layout details

Average Request Line Backlog Count


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

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Request Line Volume

This analytic shows IT managers the most requested line items over time. It helps managers see historical surges in demand.


Purpose To understand the demand trend on a line item level.


Guided analysis Drill through to Request Line Volume Details

Time, Request Item Category Layout details

Request Line Count


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Line Volume Details

This analytic helps IT managers understand where demand for request line items originate. It shows managers the total count of request line items for a selected month for each category by location and department.


Purpose To understand the relative demand for an item category.


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Location, Department, Item Category Layout details

Request Line Count


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Volume Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Volume

This analytic shows IT managers the demand trend. It helps managers see historical surges in demand.


Purpose To understand the demand trend to perform capacity planning.


Guided analysis Drill through to Request Volume Details

Time Layout details

Request Count


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Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume Details Unmet Delivery Objectives Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Request Volume Details

This analytic helps IT managers understand where requests originate. It shows managers the total requests for a selected month for each category by location and department.


Purpose To see relative demand by location and department.



Location, Department Layout details

Request Count


Related topics

Request Management Approval Duration Request Backlog Request Backlog Details Request Duration Request Duration by Phase Request Duration Details Request Line Backlog Request Line Backlog Details Request Line Volume Request Line Volume Details Request Volume

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Unmet Delivery Objectives

Good request management processes require consistent delivery of requests. IT managers need to identify variations and improve the process. This analytic helps IT managers identify the request items that do not meet their delivery objectives over time.


Purpose To identify variations and decrease the number of request items that do not meet their delivery objectives.


Guided analysis Drill through to Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Time Layout details

Request Item Count


Related topics

Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

Unmet Delivery Objectives Details

IT managers need to know which products and services most frequently miss their delivery objectives. This report shows managers the top 10 request categories that do not meet their delivery objectives for a selected month.


Purpose To help achieve consistent delivery of requests by identifying and improving variations.

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Request Item Count


Related topics Unmet Delivery Objectives

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Service Desk

The IT Performance Analytics (ITPA) Service Desk out-of-box reports provide analytical information to help organizations make business-relevant decisions that align with IT help desk services.


Related topics

Service Operation Analytics Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

Average Call Volume by Day

This metric identifies the times by the day of the week when the service desk receives the most calls. It enables organizations to staff their call centers properly.

A secondary benefit identifies which groups of employees answer the most calls.


Purpose To identify the busiest times of incoming calls so that call center managers can optimize staffing.

Usage Users: Call center managers Frequency: Weekly


Call Open Date, Call Owner, Caller Location (Level 0 through Level 3), Data Refresh Date, Day of Week

Layout details

Avg Call Count, Total Calls


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution

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First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

Average Call Volume by Hour

This metric identifies the times by the hour of the day when the service desk receives the most calls. It enables organizations to staff their call centers properly.

A secondary benefit identifies which groups of employees answer the most calls.


Purpose To identify the busiest times of incoming calls so that call center managers can optimize staffing.

Usage Users: Call center managers Frequency: Daily


Call Open Date, Call Owner, Caller Location (Level 0 through Level 3), Data Refresh Date, Hour of Day

Layout details

Avg Call Count, Total Calls


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

Call Closure Time

This report displays an average of the phone call time based on Asset Type, Assignment Group, Category, Company, and Location.


Purpose To help manage the service desk call time by groups.

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Usage Users: Call center managers Frequency: Monthly


Assignment Group, Category, Company Name, Config Item Type, Location, Open Date, Open Time

Layout details

Avg Call Handle Time (Secs)


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

Call Volume by Department and CI

This analysis identifies departments and Configuration Items (CI) that are the most common user calls.


Purpose To identify which department in the organization is making the service desk call and which CI types most commonly require the call.

Usage Users: Call center managers Frequency: Weekly


Category, Company, Config Item Type, Contact Name, Dept Name, Asset Type, Company, Dept

Layout details

Call Count, Incident Count

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Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

Call Volume by Dimensions

This report summarizes all open calls grouped by any two of the following fields: Assignment Group, Category, CI Type, Company, Location.


Purpose To help organizations manage service calls.

Usage Users: Service desk managers Frequency: Weekly


Assignment Group, Category, Company, Location, Prompt for Calls Cross-reference, Prompt for Calls Group Field

Layout details

Currently Open Calls, Open Calls


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

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Call Volume by Month

Service managers want to understand how their call centers receive issues. This report summarizes the percentage of issues that originate with call centers (departments of the opening ticket owner) and Self Service. The metric illustrates how the service desk relies on different points of customer contact.


Purpose To enable organizations to understand which parts of their service desk are the busiest. When combined with metrics that show call center efficiency, organizations can determine how to optimize their resources.



Call Receiving Location Layout details

Call Count by Receiving Location–non ESS, Call Count by Receiving Location–ESS


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

First Call Resolution

This metric enables organizations to identify the percentage and call counts that the initial customer contact completes for non-Employee Self Service (ESS) calls. The metric is commonly one of the crucial drivers of customer satisfaction.

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By monitoring first call resolution, call center managers can determine how well the service is performing and whether additional staff or knowledge tools are necessary to facilitate high call volumes.


Purpose To show call center managers the effectiveness of their first line of call takers and promote customer satisfaction.

Usage Users: Executive management, Call center managers, Trainers, Knowledge base owners Frequency: Weekly

Guided analysis Drill through to First Call Resolution Details

None Layout details

First Call Resolution Percentage


Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

First Call Resolution by Operator

This metric enables organizations to identify the percentage and call counts that the initial customer contact completes.


Purpose To identify the percentage of service desk calls solved without creating Incidents or Changes.

Usage Users: Call center managers Frequency: Monthly


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Call Month, Call Week, Category, Open Time, Owner Layout details

Call Count

Alternate metrics First Call Resolution by Call Center Replace Owner with Owner/Location to identify call center facilities that have unexpected first call resolution (FCR) results.

Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution Details Staff Turnover

First Call Resolution Details

By understanding the First Call Resolution (FCR) rate of non-Employee Self Service (ESS) calls, service desk managers can determine how to satisfy their customers’ needs more quickly. This report offers further analysis of the call categories in determining when to require process improvements.


Purpose To enable managers who want additional analysis to drill through to a more detailed view to understand relative process performance and total calls affected based on call categories. The knowledge gained from the metric drives improvements within training, education, and technology enhancements that may help increase FCR.

Usage Users: Senior Service Desk management (Director level or above) Frequency: Quarterly


Call Category, Call Open Date (Month, Quarter, Week), Call Problem Type, Call Product Type, Call Subcategory, Data Refresh Date

Layout details

First Call Percentage, Total Closed Calls, Total First Call Resolution Count

Alternate metrics Use Call Count instead of Percent

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Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator Staff Turnover

Staff Turnover

Service desk staff turnover is a leading indicator of customer satisfaction. Customers have confidence in their issue resolutions when they work with known, satisfied personnel. Satisfied customers have increased patience if service issues occur.


Purpose To help the analyst, when used with other metrics, understand the correlation between employee satisfaction and customer satisfaction.

Usage Users: Service Desk management Frequency: Monthly

Guided analysis Starts with all groups summed into a single enterprise level in default view. Users can drill through to first level of assignment group.

2 year filter, Current date, Month, Refresh Date, Staff Assignment Group, Staff Department, Staff Name, Staff Termination Date

Layout details

Total Terminations

Alternate metrics Line chart that shows the difference between new hires and existing employees Overlay of call or incident duration to staffing levels Overlay with customer satisfaction ratings Total assignment group staff levels that require Hire and Term dates Notes and white papers to inform administrators that they may need to populate all or some of the data from other data sources such as HR

This report requires data from an external data source such as Human Resources.

Related topics

Service Desk Average Call Volume by Day Average Call Volume by Hour Call Closure Time

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Call Volume by Department and CI Call Volume by Dimensions Call Volume by Month First Call Resolution First Call Resolution by Operator First Call Resolution Details

My Dashboards

You can create your own dashboards to display the documents that you regularly view. By using dashboards, you can track and monitor specific reports.

Your home page is blank until you add a dashboard with the name DecisionCenter.

1 Click My Dashboards.

2 From Add/Remove/Move Pages, click Add.

3 In the Title field, type DecisionCenter.

4 Click OK.

5 Click the browser Back button to return to DecisionCenter.

You can personalize the way you view your dashboard. For more information, see Business Objects Getting Started Creating Dashboards. Related topics

Getting started with ITPA IT Performance Analytics Business Intelligence tools

Business Intelligence tools

The goal of business intelligence tools is to help you access, analyze, report, and share information about your organization.

Related topics

Getting started with ITPA Information Portal My Folders Categories ITPA use cases

Information Portal

The Information Portal is a direct link to your installation of BusinessObjects XI. BusinessObjects XI is a business intelligence application that enables you to view, edit, and create reports. You can:

• Add, maintain, store, and run database queries that generate reports.

• Run queries at any time to refresh the data.

Note: Remember to enable popup windows from your browser when you access the Information Portal. The link to BusinessObjects XI automatically opens a new browser window.

Related topics

Business Intelligence tools My Folders

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Categories ITPA use cases

My Folders

Folders are containers that hold other folders or report documents. Administrators and users with security access can create folders. You can access My Folders from the navigation menu.

To add objects to a folder, see the Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Business Intelligence tools Favorites MyInbox

Favorites

BusinessObjects Enterprise creates a Favorites folder for each user on the system.

For more information about the Favorites folder, see the Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

My Folders MyInbox

MyInbox

All users have an inbox that allows them to use the send function and distribute reports to users within the BusinessObjects Enterprise system. You can access MyInbox from the navigation menu.

For more information, see the Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

My Folders Favorites

Categories

You can define categories in the information portal and then associate reports to these categories to help organize your content.


Related topics

Business Intelligence tools Public categories Personal categories

Public categories

Administrators and users who have appropriate access rights create corporate, or public, categories. These categories are available to all users. You can access Public Categories from the navigation menu.


Related topics

Categories Personal categories

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Personal categories

Users can create personal categories to organize their own personal documents. You can access Personal Categories from the navigation menu.


Related topics

Categories Public categories

ITPA use cases

When you create a custom document, you build and run ad hoc queries in the Business Objects Web Intelligence Document application. You can view and format the document, then save it for others in your organization.

DecisionCenter simplifies the query process with subject oriented views that contain universe objects. The universe that you choose has relevant dimensions, measures, and filters that are essential for your particular interest.

Related topics

Business Intelligence tools Using the Business Impact universe Using the Helpdesk universe Using the Incident universe

Using the Business Impact universe

A business service manager wants to identify the downtime impact for each value center during the past 12 months. The Business Impact Analysis universe focuses on the dimensions, measures, and filters from this universe.

The manager uses the Query Filters panel to identify data within the past 12-month timeframe. To show more detail from the value center data base, the manager clicks the Show/Hide Scope of Analysis Pane icon. This expands the Scope of Analysis panel, which shows additional details about the value center. By setting the analysis to three levels, the business service manager sets the hierarchy to drill from the top level value center to the associated second level value center, and then to the third level value center. This extra data does not appear in the initial result document, but remains in the data view for access at any time.

The manager can optionally add selected dimensions to the Scope of Analysis by dragging dimensions from the Query Manager to the Scope of Analysis panel.

The manager changes the report format from a table to a vertical grouped bar chart before drilling down three levels.

The following Business Objects terms assist the manager in using the Business Impact Analysis universe.

Term Description

Detail Provides descriptive data about a dimension. A detail always attaches to the dimension where it provides additional information. For example, you can associate the Value Center Description object with the Value Center dimension.

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Term Description

Dimension Retrieves the data that provides the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data, such as: Assignment Group Name, Business Service Name, CI Type, Value Center Name, or Dates.

Measures Retrieve numeric data that is the result of calculations on data in the database. Examples of measures are Impact and Cost.

Object Identifies the named component that maps to data in the database. You use objects in a query to retrieve data for your reports. Some objects in the Business Impact Analysis universe are Assignment Group Name, Business Service Name, and Impact.

Query Filter The three elements in a Filter are:

• Filtered Object • Operand • Value

To filter the report to display downtime impact during the last four quarters, you select Incident Open Date–Quarters ago as the Filtered Object, Less than or Equal to as the Operand, and type 4 as the Value.

To create an ad hoc query with the business impact universe:

1 Click Information Portal > New > Web Intelligence Document.

2 Select the Business Impact Analysis universe.

3 Expand Report Objects for BIA.

4 Expand Assign Grp, Bus Svc, Val Ctr Reporting.

5 Drag the Level Name 0 and Impact objects to the Result Objects pane.

6 Expand BIA Filter Objects.

7 Drag Incident Open Date – Months Ago to the Query Filters pane.

8 Click the In list arrow and select Less than or Equal to.

9 Type 12 in the text box.

10 Click Show•Hide Scope of Analysis Pane to display the Scope of Analysis panel beneath the

Query Filters pane.

11 In the Scope of Analysis box, select Three levels.

12 Click Run Query.

13 Click the Templates tab.

14 Click Charts and expand Bar.

15 Drag Vertical Grouped and place it on the table in the right pane.

— If necessary, change the width and height of the chart by dragging the edges.

16 Click Drill to view more details.

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17 Select the parent value center from Value Center Hierarchy 0 to drill to the next level Value Center Hierarchy 1.

18 Select the second level value center from Value Center Hierarchy 1 to drill to Value Center Hierarchy 2.

19 Select the third level value center from Value Center Hierarchy 2 to drill to Value Center Hierarchy 3.

Note: Remember to enable popup windows from your browser when you access the Information Portal.

Related topics

ITPA use cases Using the Helpdesk universe Using the Incident universe

Using the Helpdesk universe

A call center manager wants to identify the total calls for each customer during the past 12 months. The Helpdesk Analysis universe focuses on the dimensions, measures, and filters from this universe.

The manager uses the Query Filters panel to identify data within the past 12-month timeframe. To show more detail from the Customer data base, the manager clicks the Show/Hide Scope of Analysis Pane icon. This expands the Scope of Analysis panel, which shows additional details about the customer. By setting the analysis to three levels, the call center manager sets the hierarchy to drill from Customer Company to Customer Department and then to the Caller Location. This extra data does not appear in the initial result document, but remains in the data view for access at any time.


The manager changes the report format from a table to a vertical grouped bar chart before drilling down three levels.

The following Business Objects terms assist the manager in using the Helpdesk Analysis universe.

Term Description

Detail Provides descriptive data about a dimension. A detail always attaches to the dimension where it provides additional information. For example, you can associate the Address detail object with the Customer dimension.

Dimension Retrieves the data that provides the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data, such as: Call Category, Customer Company, Call Resolution Code , or Dates.

Measures Retrieve numeric data that is the result of calculations on data in the database. Examples of measures are Total Number of Calls and Overall Average Duration.

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Term Description

Object Identifies the named component that maps to data in the database. You use objects in a query to retrieve data for your reports. Some objects in the Help Desk Analysis universe are Call Category, Customer Company, and Total Calls.



To filter the report to display calls opened during the last four quarters, you select Call Open Date–Quarters ago as the Filtered Object, Less than or Equal to as the Operand, and type 4 as the Value.

To create an ad hoc query with the helpdesk universe:


2 Select the ITPM Helpdesk Analysis universe.

3 Expand ITPM Call Origin Analysis.

4 Drag the Customer Company and Total Calls objects to the Result Objects pane.

5 Expand Origin Filter Objects.

6 Drag Call Open Date – Months Ago to the Query Filters pane.



9 Click Show⁄Hide Scope of Analysis Pane to display the Scope of Analysis panel beneath the

Result Objects pane.


11 Click Run Query.

12 Click the Templates tab.

13 Click Charts and expand Bar.

14 Drag Vertical Grouped and place it on the table in the right pane.


16 Select the company from Customer Company to drill to Customer Department.

17 Select the department from Customer Department to drill to Caller Location Level 0.

18 Select the caller location from Caller Location Level 0 to drill to Caller Location Level 1.

19 Select the caller location from Caller Location Level 1 to drill to Caller Location Level 2.


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Related topics

ITPA use cases Using the Business Impact universe Using the Incident universe

Using the Incident universe

A service manager wants to identify the total incidents for each category during the past 12 months. The Incident Analysis universe focuses on the dimensions, measures, and filters from this universe.

The manager uses the Query Filters panel to identify data within the past 12-month timeframe. To show more detail from the category data base, the manager clicks the Show/Hide Scope of Analysis Pane icon. This expands the Scope of Analysis panel, which shows additional details about the category. By setting the analysis to three levels, the service manager sets the hierarchy to drill from Incident Category to Incident Subcategory and then to the Incident Product Type and Incident Problem Type. This extra data does not appear in the initial result document, but remains in the data view for access at any time.


The manager drills down three levels for the final report.

The following Business Objects terms assist the manager in using the Incident Analysis universe

Term Description

Detail Provides descriptive data about a dimension. A detail always attaches to the dimension where it provides additional information. For example, you can associate the Address detail object with the Customer dimension.

Dimension Retrieves the data that provides the basis for analysis in a report. Dimension objects typically retrieve character-type data, such as: Assignment Group, Incident Category, Customer, and Dates.

Measures Retrieve numeric data that is the result of calculations on data in the database. Examples of measures are Total Number of Incidents and Parts/Labor Costs.

Object Identifies the named component that maps to data in the database. You use objects in a query to retrieve data for your reports. Some objects in the Incident Analysis universe are Incident Category, Customer Company, Total Incidents, Parts/Labor Costs.



To filter the report to display incidents opened during the last four quarters, you select Incident Open Date–Quarters ago as the Filtered Object, Less than or Equal to as the Operand, and type 4 as the Value.

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To create an ad hoc query with the incident universe:


2 Select the ITPM Incident Analysis universe.

3 From ITPM Incident Category, drag the Incident Category and Total Incidents objects to the Result Objects pane.

4 Expand Category Filter Objects.

5 Drag Call Open Date – Months Ago to the Query Filters pane.



8 Click Show⁄Hide Scope of Analysis Pane to display the Scope of Analysis panel beneath the

Result Objects pane.


10 Click Run Query.


12 Select the category from Incident Category to drill to Incident Subcategory.

13 Select the subcategory from Incident Subcategory to drill to Incident Product Type.

14 Select the product from Incident Product Type to drill to Incident Problem Type.


Related topics

ITPA use cases Using the Business Impact universe Using the Helpdesk universe

Getting started with BIA Business Impact Analytics (BIA) works with ITPA to add Service Strategies Analytics, Service Design Analytics, and Service Transition Analytics. BIA adds an Impact Calculator, Simulation Manager, Change Planner, History Builder, and Data Mining tools.

With BIA you can:

• Import business service information.

• Capture departmental interrelationships and relate them to the business services.

• Define rules that quantify the impact of degraded performance or outages.

• Run historical service management availability and incident data against business impact rules.

• Display historical impact from enterprise, line of business, department or business service perspectives.

• Define change scenarios to calculate change impact.

• Calculate impact for changes defined in external applications.

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To start using DecisionCenter BIA






4 Click Log in.

5 Click the Impact and Optimization links to define impact rules, calculations, and schedules, and use other BIA tools.

6 Click the report links in the Analytics sections to access BIA reports.

Related topics

What is BIA? BIA data One: Define the business model Two: Define impact Three: Calculate impact Four: Build the history Search

What is BIA?

Business Impact Analytics (BIA) is a component of DecisionCenter that, together with ITPA, adds more detailed analytics, views, an Impact Calculator, the Data Mining tool, and History Builder.

The BIA component includes:

• Dashboards

• Analytics: Asset Management, Business Impact, Help Desk, Incident, Service Level Management, and Service Management


• Data warehouse schema for HP ServiceCenter, AssetCenter, and Connect-It


• Impact definition

• Business and Environment models

• Data Mining tool

• Historic Downtime Impact tool

Related topics

Getting started with BIA BIA data One: Define the business model Two: Define impact Three: Calculate impact Four: Build the history Search

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BIA data

When you install the DecisionCenter BIA component, the process requires you to run an HP Connect-It scenario (rds_sc.scn) that imports ServiceCenter or Service Manager data into the DecisionCenter data warehouse. Data mining activities prepare the data for processing by DecisionCenter.

This task must be repeated each time you want to add new ServiceCenter or Service Manager data. If you use the Change Planner, it is essential that you re-run the scenario to re-import Change Planner data.

To update all data in the DecisionCenter data warehouse, use Connect-It to re-run the rds_sc.scn scenario that is located in this DecisionCenter installation folder: \\...\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM\cit

To complete the update process, you must repeat data mining activities to ensure the new data is also ready for processing.

The rds_sc.scn scenario can take a long time to run. Make sure that you schedule update activities during off-peak hours. For more information about running scenarios and using data mining tools, see the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics

Getting started with BIA What is BIA? 1. Define the business model Two: Define impact Three: Calculate impact Four: Build the history Search

One: Define the business model

The business model describes your organization. Some parts of the business model are defined by the data that you import from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. Other parts of the business model are defined or expanded with more detail before you run simulation and optimization scenarios.

The business model describes your IT organization through these critical components:

• Business services

• Value centers

• Configuration items

• Assignment groups

• Service Level Agreements

• Work schedules

The data that you import into DecisionCenter contains information about business services, value centers, Configuration Items (CIs), and the relationships among them. You can also define new business services, value centers, and CIs. Before you define and run simulation and optimization scenarios, make sure that your definition of the business model is complete.

Related topics

Getting started with BIA Define business services Define configuration items Define value centers

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Review assignment groups Review Service Level Agreements Review work schedules

Define business services

Service Manager data already has defined business services that import directly into the DecisionCenter data warehouse. For some versions of ServiceCenter, the data mining process mapped departments to business services.

Thereafter you can make changes to existing business services, or add new business services using the DecisionCenter interface. You can also associate impact rules, configuration items, and value centers with each business service using the Business Services interface. Adding this detail to business service definitions produces more precise impact calculations.

Note: DecisionCenter does not assign new business services to existing incident data. You must use data mining techniques to retrofit new business services to historical incidents from earlier versions of ServiceCenter. Data from ServiceCenter 6.2 and Service Manager should have embedded business service information.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Business service Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

Business service

A business service is the combination of one or more business applications plus the supporting configuration items that enable delivery of the business service to the customer. The products that IT offers its customers are internal and external business services. A business service supports zero-to-many value centers, and a business service incident usually impacts associated value centers. A value center can rely on one-to-many business services; however, an incident that affects the value center may not always affect the associated business service.

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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a good example of a business service. ERP is a business management system that integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. There can be many component business applications such as inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance, and human resources.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

Business service diagrams

When you click View Diagram from a business service detail screen, DecisionCenter displays a graphic representation of the business service associations, including one or more value centers, configuration items (CIs), and impact rules.

Navigation tips

• Click any icon to view detailed information about the business service, value center, CI, or impact rule.

• Click the business service icon to return to the business service detail page.

• If there are multiple configuration items, value centers, or impact rules, click any icon to focus on that item.

• Click the icon again to view the detail page.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service?

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How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

How do I add a business service?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Business Services.

2 Click New.

3 Type the Name and optional Description. The name of the business service is user-defined; however, it is useful to choose a meaningful name.

4 Choose the Type of business service from the drop-down list.

5 Type the name of the optional Business owner, Department, and IT contact.

— The business owner is the name of the person or department managing, owning, or supervising the business service.

— The department identifies the organizational entity that the business service belongs to.

— The IT contact is the name of the person in the IT organization who supports the business service.

6 Click Save to add impact rule, configuration item, or value center associations to the new business service.

7 Click View Diagram to see a graphic representation of the business service relationships.

8 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of business services.

For more information about business services forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

Note: Field names that you create can contain up to 200 characters. However, the length of the text box may exceed the width of your viewing area. The best practice is to create meaningful names that are as short as possible.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service Business service diagrams How do I delete a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

How do I delete a business service?


2 Select the check box for the business service to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.

4 Click OK to confirm the deletion.

For more information about business services forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

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Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

How do I filter a list of business services?


2 Do one of the following:

— Type a filter value in the text box at the top of the Name column.

— Type a partial filter value.

— Type a partial filter value and insert a wildcard (*) character before or after the filter value.

For some columns, you can select a filter from a drop-down list.

3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘on,’ DecisionCenter will find all business services that contain the letters ‘on,’ such as Administration, Online Services, or Online Banking. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘on*,’ DecisionCenter will find all business services that begin with the letters ‘on,’ such as Online Services or Online Banking.

• If you type ‘*on,’ DecisionCenter will find all business services that end with the letters ‘on,’ such as Administration.

For more information about business services form and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service? How do I update a business service? Working with business services

How do I update a business service?


2 Click the name of an existing business service.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Add to change impact rule, configuration item, or value center associations to the new business service.


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For more information about business service forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? Working with business services

Working with business services

Business services are business applications and the associated configuration items.

To add a business service


2 Click New.

3 Type the Name and optional Description. The name of the business service is user-defined; however, it is useful to choose a meaningful name.

4 Choose the Type of business service from the drop-down list.

5 Type the name of the optional Business owner, Department, and IT contact.

— The business owner is the name of the person or department managing, owning, or supervising the business service.

— The department identifies the organizational entity that the business service belongs to.

— The IT contact is the name of the person in the IT organization who supports the business service.

6 Click Save to add impact rule, configuration item, or value center associations to the new business service.



To delete a business service


2 Select the check box for the business service to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To filter business services




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3 Click Filter.

To update a business service


2 Click the name of an existing business service.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Add to change impact rule, configuration item, or value center associations to the new business service.




Related topics

One: Define the business model Define business services Business service Business service diagrams How do I add a business service? How do I delete a business service? How do I filter a list of business services? How do I update a business service?

Define configuration items

Configuration items (CIs) are part of your business model. They are the hardware and software tools that support your service delivery processes. Each CI should already be defined within your Configuration Management Database because CI information is relevant when you record calls, incidents, and problems.

If you import data from ServiceCenter, each incident already contains CI information. You can customize these CIs or add new ones using the DecisionCenter interface.

Note: DecisionCenter does not assign new CIs to existing incident data. You must use data management techniques to retrofit this new information to historical incidents.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

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Configuration item

A configuration item (CI) is a component of your infrastructure or a business service. CIs are cataloged in your Configuration Management Database (CMDB). A CI can be a hardware component in a larger hardware system, a software application, or any other identifiable item that supports a business service.

For example, these are CIs:

• An operating system

• A monitor

• An accounting application

• A router

• A telephone

• A handheld display device

Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

Configuration item impact

The status of any configuration item (CI) can affect performance metrics and downtime impact, especially if the CI is essential to a business service or value center. For example, defective mission critical software can cost an organization millions of dollars during peak business hours. Or, degraded network performance can increase the number of calls each hour for a busy help desk. Every CI in the infrastructure has a role in achieving peak performance and maximum customer satisfaction. When the CI fails, or performs poorly, the impact translates into dollars and cents.

Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

Configuration item diagrams

When you click View Diagram from a configuration item (CI) detail screen, DecisionCenter displays a graphic representation of the CI. If you view the diagram of a business service, DecisionCenter displays the graphic relationship of the CI to the parent business service. Click any icon to view detailed information about the CI or business service.

When you click View Diagram from a configuration item (CI) detail screen, DecisionCenter displays a graphic representation of the CI business service associations.

Navigation tips

• Click any icon to view detailed information about the CI or business service.

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• Click the CI icon to return to the CI detail page.

• If there are multiple business services, click any business service icon to focus on that item.


Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

How do I add a configuration item?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Configuration Items.

2 Click New.

3 Type a Name.

4 Type an optional Description.

5 Select a Configuration Item Type from the drop-down list.

6 Click Save to add business service associations to the new configuration item.


8 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of configuration items.

For more information about configuration item forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.


Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

How do I delete a configuration item?


2 Select the check box for the Configuration Item to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


For more information about configuration items forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

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Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

How do I filter a list of configuration items?







3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘pc,’ DecisionCenter will find all configuration items that contain the letters ‘pc,’ such as DPC00005, PC29965, or Mypc. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘pc*,’ DecisionCenter will find all configuration items that begin with the letters ‘pc,’ such as PC29965.

• If you type ‘*pc,’ DecisionCenter will find all configuration items that end with the letters ‘pc,’ such as Mypc.


Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I update a configuration item? Working with configuration items

How do I update a configuration item?


2 Click the name of an existing configuration item.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save.

5 Click Add to add business service associations to the configuration item.

6 Click View Diagram to see a graphic representation of the configuration item.

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Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? Working with configuration items

Working with configuration items

A configuration item can be a hardware component in a larger hardware system, a software application, or any other identifiable item that supports a business service.

To add a configuration item


2 Click New.

3 Type a Name.


5 Select a configuration item Type from the drop-down list.

6 Click Save to add business service associations to the new configuration item.



To delete a configuration item


2 Select the check box for the Configuration Item to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To filter a list of configuration items







3 Click Filter.

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To update a configuration item


2 Click the name of an existing configuration item.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save.

5 Click Add to add business service associations to the configuration item.

6 Click View Diagram to see a graphic representation of the configuration item.



Related topics

Define configuration items Configuration item Configuration item impact Configuration item diagrams How do I add a configuration item? How do I delete a configuration item? How do I filter a list of configuration items? How do I update a configuration item?

Define value centers

A value center is an IT customer or department that has an associated set of configuration items (CIs). Each hardware device or software application is a CI tracked and managed in a Configuration Management Database. The value center has business processes that use these CIs to add value for internal or external customers.

Any business service supports zero-to-many value centers, and any incident that affects the business service usually impacts associated value centers. A value center can rely on one-to-many business services; however, an incident that affects the value center may not always affect the associated business service.

The departments that have assigned CIs are a good place to start when you define value centers. You may expand your list of value centers when you think about how your departments operate and interact with their customers. You can start with a small set of defined value centers and add to them as you discover new relationships. When you consider the demands each department makes on the IT infrastructure, or the impact of downtime on a department, it becomes easier to identify or refine value center definitions. Remember that value can imply something added to the customer’s environment or something subtracted from the customer’s environment.

Value centers are also the business units that enter into Service Level Agreements (SLAs) with IT to ensure that IT supports its operational business requirements effectively. The name of the business unit in the SLA is typically the name of a value center.

Your list of value centers also varies significantly depending on your business sector. An internet retailer has different types of value centers than a brick-and-mortar retailer, or a bank, or a manufacturer. Some examples of common value centers are:

• Customer support

• Human resources

• Inventory control

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• IT services

• Sales

• Training

Related topics

One: Define the business model Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

Value center

A value center is that part of your business that provides a product or service to an internal or external customer. It can be an entire business unit, a cost or profit center, or a functional department. It is an entity that adds value directly, or indirectly, to your customer community. An enterprise business service can have multiple associated value centers. A Claims service is an example of a business service; Claims entry, Claims processing, and Claims arbitration are examples of value centers that support the Claims business service.

It is easy to see that any revenue producing business unit can be described as a value center. However, cost centers also affect corporate value. For example, a finance department is a value center. It does not sell a product to an external customer, but its forecasts, balance sheets, public statements and other outputs affect the profitability of the enterprise.

IT is another example of a value center. How effectively it meets its Service Level Agreements obligations affects the performance and profitability of the customers that it serves.

Value centers and the Impact Calculator

A business service supports zero-to-many value centers. A business service incident usually impacts associated value centers.

A value center can rely on one-to-many business services; however, an incident that affects the value center may not always affect the associated business service.

• Choose Value center <None> and Business service named_bs when the incident does not affect the associated value center, but does affect the business service.

• Choose Value center named_vc and Business service named_bs when the incident affects both the associated value center and the business service.

• Choose Value center named_vc and Business service<None> when the incident impacts the value center but not an associated business service.

• You must choose one value center or one business service. You cannot choose Value Center <None> and Business service<None>

Related topics

Define value centers Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center?

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How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

Business service value centers

A business service usually enables the value center to deliver services to internal or external customers. A business service supports zero-to-many value centers, and a business service incident usually impacts associated value centers. A value center can rely on one-to-many business services; however, an incident that affects the value center may not always affect the associated business service.

These value centers can be hierarchical, where one is subordinate to another in a parent/child relationship. Downtime impact in one value center can extend to other value centers within complex business processes.

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Define value centers Value center Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

Value center hierarchies

A value center can have one or more parent value centers that you can define at multiple levels. When you design a hierarchy of value centers, they simplify creating reports and dashboards. You can gather summarized data from each level to the next level. For example, a value center hierarchy can report downtime impact for multiple value centers in a single dashboard or summary report.

You can also aggregate value center impact rules by enabling a parent value center to inherit impact rules from child value centers. For example, a Worldwide Sales business unit can define impact rules that always apply to subordinate sales units in addition to their individual impact rules.

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Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

Value center diagrams

When you click View Diagram from a value center detail screen, DecisionCenter displays a graphic representation of the value center associations, including one or more business services and impact rules.

Navigation tips

• Click any icon to view detailed information about the value center or business service.

• Click the value center icon to return to the value center detail page.

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• If there are multiple business services and impact rules, click any icon to focus on that item.


Related topics

Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

How do I add a value center?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Value Centers.

2 Click New.

3 Type the Name of the value center.

4 Type an optional Description of the value center.

5 Choose an optional Parent value center from the drop-down list.

6 If applicable, you can type the name of the value center Owner.

7 Choose a department Type from the drop-down list.

8 Click Save to add impact rule and business service associations to the new value center.


10 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of value centers.

For more information about value center forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.


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Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

How do I delete a value center?


2 Select the check box for the value center to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


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Related topics

Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

How do I filter a list of value centers?







3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘k,’ DecisionCenter will find all value centers that contain the letters ‘k,’ such as Checking. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘k*,’ DecisionCenter will find all value centers that begin with the letters ‘k,’ such as Key performers.

• If you type ‘*k,’ DecisionCenter will find all value centers that end with the letters ‘in,’ such as 401K.


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Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I update a value center? Working with value centers

How do I update a value center?


2 Click the name of an existing value center.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Add to add business service or impact rule associations to the value center.

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5 Click View Diagram to see a graphic representation of the value center relationships.



Related topics

Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? Working with value centers

Working with value centers

A value center is that part of your business that provides a product or service to an internal or external customer.

To add a value center


2 Click New.

3 Type the Name of the value center.

4 Choose an optional Parent value center from the drop-down list.

5 If applicable, you can type the name of the value center Owner.

6 Choose a department Type from the drop-down list.

7 Type an optional description of the value center.

8 Click Save to add impact rule and business service associations to the new value center.



To delete a value center


2 Select the check box for the value center to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To filter a list of value centers






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3 Click Filter.

To update a value center


2 Click the name of an existing value center.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Add to add business service or impact rule associations to the value center.

5 Click View Diagram to see a graphic representation of the value center relationships.



Related topics

Define value centers Value center Business service value centers Value center hierarchies Value center diagrams How do I add a value center? How do I delete a value center? How do I filter a list of value centers? How do I update a value center?

Review assignment groups

DecisionCenter uses ServiceCenter or Service Manager assignment group information in simulation and optimization scenarios to measure the complexity of an incident. The number of assignment groups required to resolve an incident, and the number of times the assignment changes from one group to another, can predict how long it will take to resolve similar incidents. The number of personnel involved and the length of time to resolution escalate the cost of these incidents. Assignment group definitions originate in ServiceCenter or Service Manager. Within the business model, DecisionCenter lists the known assignment groups associated with historical incident data. You can change the average hourly wage, but the basic information cannot change unless you import new assignment group data from ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

Assignment groups and scenarios

When you create a simulation scenario, you can vary the hourly wage information for any assignment group, or you can impose a single hourly wage value for all assignment groups. Changing the hourly wage is important for what-if and optimization scenarios. When you create simulation scenarios, the cost of future IT activities is likely to increase if the number of technicians is constant (or the hourly wage increases), or if the number of technicians increases to meet increased demand. You can mitigate this cost by reducing the number of technicians in an assignment group, or reducing the average hourly wage.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Assignment groups How do I change the hourly wage? Working with assignment groups

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Assignment groups

An assignment group is a list of users who are responsible for an incident. When an incident opens or escalates, a notification mechanism alerts the users in the assignment group.

For example, the service desk operator receives a service request to fix a disabled workstation. The operator creates an incident. The service desk operator assigns the incident to the IT assignment group. The IT technician determines that the hard drive must be replaced. Because the drive must be purchased, the technician updates the incident and assigns it to a Materials Management assignment group for acquisition. If the hard drive purchase is delayed, which impacts closing the incident in a reasonable amount of time, a pre-defined process can escalate the incident and assign it to the operations manager for intervention.

Incident category definitions can include a default assignment group for all incidents in that category. For example, the hardware category can list IT as the assignment group if the IT department is always the first group to handle hardware incidents.

Related topics

Review assignment groups How do I change the hourly wage? Working with assignment groups

How do I change the hourly wage?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Assignment Groups.

2 To create a global change:

— Type a new value in Change hourly wages for all assignment groups.

— Click Save.

3 To change the hourly wage of one assignment group:

— Select the assignment group.

— Type a new value for Hourly wage.

— Click Save and Close to return to the list of assignment groups.

Note: You cannot add new assignment groups, Service Level Agreements, or work schedules to your environment model.

Related topics

Review assignment groups Assignment groups Working with assignment groups

Working with assignment groups


To view assignment groups

From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Assignment Groups.

To change the hourly wage

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Assignment Groups.

2 To create a global change:

— Type a new value in Change hourly wages for all assignment groups.

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— Click Save.

3 To change the hourly wage of one assignment group:

— Select the assignment group.

— Type a new value for Hourly wage.

— Click Save and Close to return to the list of assignment groups.

Note: DecisionCenter collects assignment group information from your ServiceCenter input data. You cannot add new assignment groups in DecisionCenter.

Related topics

Review assignment groups Assignment groups How do I change the hourly wage?

Review Service Level Agreements

Typically, service management administrators use Service Level Agreement (SLA) metrics to help prioritize incident resolution, schedule tasks, and escalate incidents when the service guarantee is in jeopardy. Each configuration item (CI) has one or more associated SLAs.

DecisionCenter lists SLA information imported from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. You can review the availability and response time Service Level Objectives for these SLAs. When you create an optimization scenario, DecisionCenter evaluates the effect of SLAs on the associated CIs and the financial impact of SLAs on the results.

DecisionCenter uses ServiceCenter SLA information in simulation and optimization scenarios. You can review SLAs, but you cannot change them.

Related topics

One: Define the business model Service Level Agreements Service Level Objectives

Service Level Agreements

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) describes service guarantees between service providers and customers. It defines service goals and responsibilities for configuration items (CIs). An SLA can be internal, among the departments within an organization, or external, between an organization and a vendor. These agreements cover two important aspects of service:

• Availability agreements describe the availability of a CI within a specified time frame.

• Response agreements describe performance guarantees.

SLAs normally run automatically to continuously recalculate availability and response metrics. SLAs usually guarantee service for applications and hardware systems, but not necessarily for business services. Therefore, some business service components can have varying service guarantees that can reduce the overall response time for a business service outage.

Related topics

Review Service Level Agreements How do I view a Service Level Agreement? Working with Service Level Agreements

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How do I view a Service Level Agreement?

New Service Level Agreements (SLAs) cannot influence historical performance. DecisionCenter gathers SLA information from incident records and uses it to generate scenario results. To view an SLA:

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Service Level Agreements.

2 Select an SLA.

Note: You cannot add assignment groups, SLAs, or work schedules to your business model.

Related topics

Service Level Agreements Working with Service Level Agreements

Working with Service Level Agreements

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) describes service guarantees between service providers and customers.

To view an SLA


2 Click an SLA to view the details of the SLA and associated Service Level Objectives.

Note: DecisionCenter collects SLA information from your ServiceCenter input data. You cannot change the requirements and Service Level Objectives of an SLA in DecisionCenter.

Related topics

Service Level Agreements How do I view a Service Level Agreement?

Service Level Objectives

A Service Level Objective (SLO) is a performance goal of a Service Level Agreement. For example, a typical SLO might be the maximum amount of time to respond to a service call, or the percentage of service calls closed without opening an incident.

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Review Service Level Agreements Service Level Objective selection model Availability SLOs Response time SLOs Change Service Level Objectives How do I view a Service Level Objective? Working with Service Level Objectives

Service Level Objective selection model

Usually, an administrator assigns one or more Service Level Objectives (SLOs) to a Service Level Agreement (SLA). When there are multiple SLOs with different availability or response criteria, the SLO with the stricter criteria drives the performance metrics.

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Service Level Objectives Availability SLOs Response time SLOs Change Service Level Objectives How do I view a Service Level Objective? Working with Service Level Objectives

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Availability SLOs

Service Level Objectives (SLOs) are the goals that an organization sets for response time and availability. Availability objectives define the percentage of availability for a Configuration Item during a month, or the maximum amount of time for a single outage. For example, a mail server must be available 99.999% of the time during normal work hours.

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Service Level Objectives Service Level Objective selection model Response time SLOs Change Service Level Objectives How do I view a Service Level Objective? Working with Service Level Objectives

Response time SLOs

Service Level Objectives (SLOs) are the goals that an organization sets for response time and availability. Response time objectives set goals for service desk interactions, incidents, and other events. They define the amount of time required to move the record from one state to another. For example, a typical response time SLO states that the status of an incident must change from Open to Work in progress within three hours.

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Service Level Objectives Service Level Objective selection model Availability SLOs Change Service Level Objectives How do I view a Service Level Objective? Working with Service Level Objectives

Change Service Level Objectives

Service Level Objectives (SLOs) are the goals for response time and availability between internal and external customers and the IT organization. For example, an objective might be that the e-mail server must be available 99.9% of all business hours. Or, Service Desk personnel must close customer incidents within 24 hours of the initial contact.

SLOs are constraints that you can apply to scenarios. You can add or remove response or availability SLOs to vary the calculated impact. Adding an SLO can increase the cost because of the requirement for IT to respond quickly. Removing an SLO can reduce cost because it improves IT flexibility.

The historical data that you extract from ServiceCenter or Service Manager data contains the names of all available SLOs, the name of the owner, and a description of the SLO requirements. DecisionCenter displays the hierarchical relationship of an SLO to its parent Service Level Agreement (SLA). You can apply individual SLOs to a simulation scenario, or apply them collectively by specifying the parent SLA in the scenario.

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Service Level Objectives Service Level Objective selection model Availability SLOs Response time SLOs How do I view a Service Level Objective? Working with Service Level Objectives

How do I view a Service Level Objective?

New Service Level Objectives (SLOs) cannot influence historical performance. DecisionCenter gathers SLO information from incident records and uses it to generate scenario results.

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To view a Service Level Objective:


2 Select a Service Level Agreement (SLA). DecisionCenter displays the SLA requirements and any associated response time and availability SLOs.

3 Click any response time or availability SLO.

Note: You cannot add assignment groups, SLOs, or work schedules to your business model.

Related topics

Service Level Objectives Service Level Objective selection model Availability SLOs Response time SLOs Change Service Level Objectives Working with Service Level Objectives

Working with Service Level Objectives

Service Level Objectives (SLOs) are the goals for response time and availability between internal and external customers and the IT organization.

To view an SLO


2 Select a Service Level Agreement (SLA). DecisionCenter displays the SLA requirements and any associated response time and availability SLOs.

3 Click any response time or availability SLO.

Note: DecisionCenter collects SLO information from your ServiceCenter input data. You cannot change the response and availability objectives of an SLA in DecisionCenter.

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Service Level Objectives Service Level Objective selection model Availability SLOs Response time SLOs Change Service Level Objectives How do I view a Service Level Objective?

Review work schedules

A ServiceCenter schedule defines the work hours for one or more technicians. ServiceCenter can generate a complex 24x7 work schedule that spans multiple time zones, includes all shift and break information, accommodates any regional shift to Daylight Savings time, and automatically accounts for local or national holidays. ServiceCenter uses the following information to create a work schedule:

• Shift and break information

• Holiday information (optional)

DecisionCenter uses ServiceCenter work schedule information in simulation and optimization scenarios. You can review work schedules, but you cannot change them.

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Related topics

One: Define the business model Work schedules and time zones How do I view a work schedule? Time zones

Work schedules and time zones

DecisionCenter uses both work schedules and time zones. Work schedules provide information about the availability of technicians who can respond to, and close, incidents. Time zones are critical for work schedules, in calculating whether availability and response Service Level Objectives are met on time, or whether Service Level Agreements are breached.

For example, technicians assigned to a typical day schedule in Europe are off-duty during general business hours in the United States. DecisionCenter must calculate the offset from Universal Time (Coordinated) to determine the local time for technician work schedules and the location of configuration items.

Note: DecisionCenter does not support customized versions of time zones. A typical custom time zone occurs when a country or locale decides to begin or end daylight savings time on a different day than the rest of the world. In a simulation or optimization, a customized time zone that affects a relatively small number of incidents is not likely to influence the outcome when there are a large number of incidents in the data set.

Related topics

Review work schedules How do I view a work schedule? Time zones

How do I view a work schedule?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Business Model > Work Schedules.

2 Select a work schedule.

Note: You cannot add assignment groups, Service Level Agreements, or work schedules to your business model because this is imported data. However, you can create or modify work schedules as a function of impact definition. From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Definition > Impact Schedules.

Related topics

Review work schedules Work schedules and time zones Time zones

Time zones

A time zone is Universal Time (Coordinated) plus or minus the required offset for geographic location. ServiceCenter uses time zone information for:

• Work schedules

• Alerts

• Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and service contracts

ServiceCenter contains out-of-box time zone records for most regions of the world. System administrators can also create custom time zone records; however, DecisionCenter supports only the out-of-box time zones.

Each time zone record contains:

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• Local GMT offset

• Local time switch over definitions

• Local date format

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Review work schedules Work schedules and time zones How do I view a work schedule?

Two: Define impact

Impact is the potential business vulnerability. There is no global value; it is subjective and each business unit must set and modify its own hierarchy of impact against business services, value centers, and configuration items. An incident that is isolated can have a low impact initially, but a high urgency because of the potential for damage if the defect becomes widespread. For example, a new computer virus is a problem that can escalate quickly.

A change event that is short and has little effect on mainstream business processes can have a low impact. A complicated change with multiple events that affect multiple business services and value centers can have a much larger impact if you schedule the change events during prime business hours or have no strategy to minimize the impact of planned outages. For example, moving all business data to a new data center or new servers can be costly if unforeseen errors occur, or critical changes are not scheduled during weekends or planned service windows.

Use the Impact Planner for any scenario where you can vary the start time.

Related topics

Getting started with BIA Rules Calculations Impact schedules

Rules

Impact rules define operational constraints that quantify the cost of incidents or planned changes. Rules take into consideration the type of impact, the scope, schedule, and the cost for each unit of time that the incident or change event persists. The cost for each unit of time can escalate as the duration increases.

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Two: Define impact Example: Case 1 Example: Case 2 Example: Case 3 Define rules Associations Working with impact rules

Example: Case 1

In this case, the impact rule has a named business service and 0 – n value centers. The incident is associated with the same business service as the impact rule, but no other value centers, DecisionCenter allocates the total impact cost as follows:

• The total impact is allocated to the business service named in the impact rule. And

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• The total impact divided by the number of value centers associated with specified business service is allocated to each value center.

For example, if the impact rule specifies one business service that has four associated value centers, and the impact cost for each occurrence is $100, here is how the rules apply:

• DecisionCenter allocates the total impact to the business service named in the impact rule (1 x $100 = $100). And

• DecisionCenter divides the total impact by the number of value centers associated with the business service, then allocates the result to each value center ($100 / 4 = $25 each).

The cumulative impact to the organization, which includes both the business service and value centers, is $200.

DecisionCenter allocates no impact if the impact rule has a specific business service, but the same business service is not associated directly or indirectly with the incident.

Note: Incidents must have a direct association to a value center, or a direct association to a business service, or an indirect association to a business service through the configuration item specified in the incident.

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Rules Example: Case 2 Example: Case 3 Define rules Associations Working with impact rules

Example: Case 2

In this case, the impact rule has a named value center and 0 – n business services. The incident can specify the same value center as the impact rule, or the incident can specify a business service that is associated with the same value center.

DecisionCenter allocates the total impact to the value center named in the impact rule. Even if the incident identifies a business service with an association to the named value center, there is no impact to the business service.

For example, if the impact rule specifies one value center, and the impact cost for each occurrence is $100, DecisionCenter allocates the total impact to the value center named in the impact rule (1 x $100 = $100). There is no impact to the business service.

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The cumulative impact to the organization is $100.

DecisionCenter allocates no impact if the impact rule has a specific value center, but the same value center is not associated directly or indirectly with the incident.


Related topics


Example: Case 3

In this case, the impact rule has a named business service and a value center. If the incident is associated with the same business service and value center, DecisionCenter allocates the total impact cost as follows:

• The total impact is allocated to the business service named in the impact rule. And

• The total impact is allocated to the value center named in the impact rule.

For example, if the impact rule specifies one business service and one value center, and the impact cost for each occurrence is $100, here is how the rules apply:

• DecisionCenter allocates the total impact to the business service named in the impact rule (1 x $100 = $100). And

• DecisionCenter allocates the total impact to the value center named in the impact rule (1 x $100 = $100).

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The cumulative impact to the organization, which includes both the business service and value centers, is $200.

DecisionCenter allocates no impact if the impact rule has both a value center and business service, but the same value center and business service are not associated with the incident.


Related topics


Define rules

Impact rules define the effect of an incident or change event on a business service or a value center. Each impact rule is associated with an incident or change type, such as outage, defect, performance, or a request for information.

For example, you can calculate the impact of an outage at the business service level, which is the immediate impact; or at the value center level, which extends the impact to include customer good will, lost revenue, and more.

When you define an impact rule, you can associate it with a business service or a value center. You can also associate the impact rule with a schedule that defines when the rule applies, such as the time of day, day of the week, month, and so on. Each impact rule contains information about:

• The type of impact

• How broad the impact is (scope)

• The time of day when the rule applies

• The cost by the minute, hour, or day

DecisionCenter applies impact rules when you use the Impact Calculator, Impact Planner, Change Planner, and Simulation Manager. Increasing the granularity of the rules improves the accuracy of the impact calculations.

Related topics

Business Impact Analysis Generic impact rules Value Center impact rules

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How do I add an impact rule?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Definition > Rules.

2 Click New.

3 Type a rule Name.


5 Choose the Incident impact type from the drop-down list.

6 Choose the Impact scope from the drop-down list.

7 Choose an Impact schedule from the drop-down list. DecisionCenter displays the details of the selected impact schedule. You can click New to add a schedule.

8 Choose an Impact calculation from the drop-down list. DecisionCenter displays the details of the selected calculation. You can click New to add an impact calculation.

9 Click Save. DecisionCenter enables you to add new impact rule associations to the rule.

10 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of rules.

11 Click View Diagram to see the new rule.

For more information about impact rule forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.


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Define rules How do I delete an impact rule? How do I filter a list of impact rules? How do I update an impact rule?

How do I delete an impact rule?


2 Select the check box for the impact rule to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


Related topics

Define rules How do I add an impact rule? How do I filter a list of impact rules? How do I update an impact rule?

How do I filter a list of impact rules?





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3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘rule,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact rules that contain the letters ‘rule,’ such as OutageRule001, Rule for holidays, or Newrule. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘rule*,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact rules that begin with the letters ‘rule,’ such as Rule for holidays.

• If you type ‘*rule,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact rules that end with the letters ‘rule,’ such as Newrule.


Related topics

Define rules How do I add an impact rule? How do I delete an impact rule? How do I update an impact rule?

How do I update an impact rule?


2 Click the impact rule link to be updated.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save, or Save and Close to return to the complete list of rules.


Related topics

Define rules How do I add an impact rule? How do I delete an impact rule? How do I filter a list of impact rules?

Associations

Associations are relationships and dependencies among business services, configuration items, impact rules, and value centers.

From an impact rule, you can add business services and value centers.

From a business service, you add impact rules, configuration items, or value centers.

From a value center, you add impact rules or business services.

Related topics

Rules Impact rule associations How do I add an impact rule association? How do I delete an impact rule association? How do I manage associations?

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Impact rule associations

From an impact rule, you can create a relationship with an existing business service or value center. These defined relationships create dependent conditions for the impact rule to apply to an incident.

When DecisionCenter evaluates an impact rule, the relationship that you establish with a business service or a value center (or both) becomes a condition that must be true for the rule to apply.

For example, if ImpactRule 1 applies to the Accounts Payable business service and any other value center, the calculated impact described by ImpactRule 1 aggregates each time an incident occurs that affects Accounts Payable.

Related topics

Associations How do I add an impact rule association? How do I delete an impact rule association? How do I manage associations?

How do I add an impact rule association?


2 Create a new rule and save it or select an existing rule.

3 Click Modify in the Impact Rule Associations section.

4 Choose By business service or By value center. If you choose By business service, a list of available business services appears. If you choose By value center, a list of available value centers appears. You can type a few characters and click Filter to narrow the selection list.

2 Click an item in the list. If you select a business service, a list of associated value centers appears. If you select a value center, a list of associated business services appears.

3 Select an item from the list in the second box. To multi-select, press and hold the ctrl key as you click multiple items.

4 Click Add.

5 Click Save or Save and Close.


Related topics

Associations Impact rule associations How do I delete an impact rule association? How do I manage associations?

How do I delete an impact rule association?




4 Select the checkbox for an association.

5 Click Remove to delete the association, not the impact rule.

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6 Create a new association, or click Save and Close to return to the list of impact rules.


Related topics

Associations Impact rule associations How do I add an impact rule association? How do I manage associations?

How do I manage associations?

Associations are relationships and dependencies among business services, configuration items, impact rules, and value centers.

Business service associations


2 Click an existing business service.

3 To associate a new impact rule, configuration item, or value center, click Add.

4 To delete an association, select the check box of an associated impact rule, configuration item, or value center, and click Remove. This action deletes the association, not the impact rule, configuration item, or value center.

Value center associations


2 Click an existing value center.

3 To associate a new impact rule or business service, click Add.

4 To delete an association, select the check box for an existing impact rule or business service, and click Remove. This action deletes the association, not the impact rule or business service.

Configuration item associations


2 Click an existing configuration item.

3 To associate a new business service, click Add.

4 To delete an association, select the check box for an existing business service, and click Remove. This action deletes the association, not the business service.

Impact rule associations



3 To create a new association, click Modify in the Impact Rule Associations section.


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7 Click Add.

8 To delete an association, select the checkbox for an association.



Related topics

Associations Impact rule associations How do I add an impact rule association? How do I delete an impact rule association?

Working with impact rules

Impact rules define the effect of an incident on a business service, application, or the organization.

To add an impact rule


2 Click New.

3 Type a rule Name.


5 Choose the Incident impact type from the drop-down list.

6 Choose the Impact scope from the drop-down list.

7 Choose an Impact schedule from the drop-down list. DecisionCenter displays the details of the selected impact schedule. You can click New to add a schedule.

8 Choose an Impact calculation from the drop-down list. DecisionCenter displays the details of the selected calculation. You can click New to add an impact calculation.

9 Click Save. DecisionCenter enables you to add new impact rule associations to the rule.

10 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of rules.

11 Click View Diagram to see the new rule.

To delete an impact rule


2 Select the check box for the impact rule to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To filter a list of impact rules


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3 Click Filter.

To update an impact rule


2 Click the impact rule link to be updated.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save, or Save and Close to return to the complete list of rules.

To add an impact rule association







7 Click Add.

8 Click Save and Close.

To delete an impact rule association




4 Select the checkbox for an association.




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Related topics

Rules Example: Case 1 Example: Case 2 Example: Case 3 Define rules Associations

Calculations

The Impact Planner uses the Impact Calculator, which evaluates pre-defined rules and schedules against each incident or planned change. The impact total is a quantitative estimate of the cost to IT for incidents, changes, planned outages, degraded performance, and so on. The precision of the calculation depends on the granularity of the pre-defined impact rules and schedules.

Related topics

Two: Define impact Types of impact calculations How do I add an impact calculation? How do I delete an impact calculation? How do I filter a list of impact calculations? How do I update a fixed amount calculation? How do I update a fixed rate calculation? How do I update a stepped rate calculation? How do I create a custom calculation? Working with impact calculations

Types of impact calculations

There are three types of impact calculations that you can select for each impact calculation rule.

Calculation type Description Example

Fixed amount A static cost for an outage. The fixed cost for an outage in the Claims Processing department on Monday from 8am until 12pm is $2,000,000.00.

Fixed rate A predictable unit cost for an outage.

The fixed rate for an outage in the Order/Entry department is $50,000.00 for each hour that the outage persists.

Stepped An incremental cost that escalates depending on the schedule.

An outage in the Claims Processing department on Monday from 8am until 12 pm is $2,000,000.00 for the first hour. Thereafter, the cost for each additional hour is $1,000,000.00.

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Calculations How do I add an impact calculation? How do I delete an impact calculation? How do I filter a list of impact calculations? How do I update a fixed amount calculation? How do I update a fixed rate calculation? How do I update a stepped rate calculation? How do I create a custom calculation? Working with impact calculations

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How do I add an impact calculation?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Definition > Calculations.

2 Click New.

3 Type a Name for the calculation.


5 Choose a Calculation type from the drop-down list:

— If you choose Fixed Amount, type the Cost.

— If you choose Fixed Rate, type the Cost and select the unit of time (Per) from the drop-down list.

— If you choose Stepped, you can create an escalating cost structure:

– Type the length of the first interval when an event occurs and select the unit of time for that interval from the drop-down list. For example, the first event duration might be 2 hours.

– Type the cost for each unit of time during the event and select the unit of time from the drop-down list. For example, the cost might be $100 for each minute within the first two hours.

– Type the cost for each increment of time beyond the first interval and select the unit of time from the drop-down list. For example, after the first hour, the cost might be $250 for each additional minute that the event continues.

– Click New to define more measured intervals. For example, if the event duration for the second interval is 6 hours, the cost might be $500 for each minute.

6 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations or to continue defining a new impact rule.

A stepped impact calculation can define the cumulative financial impact if the event lasts for a minute, an hour, a day or a week. You can also specify the cost of an event for a specified duration.

For more information about impact calculation forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.


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How do I delete an impact calculation?


2 Select the check box for the impact calculation to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.

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For more information about the Impact Calculations form and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

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How do I filter a list of impact calculations?







3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘fix,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact calculations that contain the letters ‘fix,’ such as New Fixed Amount or Fixed rate. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘Fix*,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact calculations that begin with the letters ‘Fix,’ such as Fixed Amount.

• If you type ‘*fix,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact calculations that end with the letters ‘fix,’.


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How do I update a fixed amount calculation?


2 Click the impact calculation to be updated.

3 Change the Cost field.

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4 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations.


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How do I update a fixed rate calculation?



3 Change one or more of these values:

— The cost of the impact for each unit of time

— The unit of time

4 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations.


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How do I update a stepped rate calculation?



3 Change the duration, duration time unit, cost, or cost time unit fields.

4 Click Save or Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations.

To add a new stepped rate:

1 Click New.

2 Type the length of the interval when an event occurs and select the unit of time for that interval from the drop-down list.

3 Type the cost for each unit of time during the event and select the unit of time from the drop-down list.

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4 Type the cost for each increment of time beyond the first interval and select the unit of time from the drop-down list.

5 Click New to define more measured intervals.


To delete a stepped rate:

1 Select the stepped rate to be deleted.

2 Click Delete.

To save your changes:

• Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations.


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How do I create a custom calculation?

DecisionCenter does not support custom calculations. By combining fixed amount, fixed rate, or stepped calculations with refined impact schedules, you can configure a variety of calculations to meet your needs.

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Working with impact calculations

Impact calculations produce a quantitative estimate of the cost to IT for incidents and outages.

To add an impact calculation


2 Click New.

3 Type a Name for the calculation.

4 Choose a Calculation Type from the drop-down list:

— If you choose Fixed Amount, type the Cost.

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— If you choose Fixed Rate, type the Cost and unit of time (Per).

— If you choose Stepped, you can create an escalating cost structure.

– Type the length of the first interval when an event occurs and select the unit of time for that interval from the drop-down list. For example, the first event duration might be 2 hours.

– Type the cost for each unit of time during the event and select the unit of time from the drop-down list. For example, the cost might be $100 for each minute within the first two hours.

– Type the cost for each increment of time beyond the first interval and select the unit of time from the drop-down list. For example, after the first hour, the cost might be $250 for each additional minute that the event continues.

– Click New to define more measured intervals. For example, if the event duration for the second interval is 6 hours, the cost might be $500 for each minute.


To delete an impact calculation


2 Select the check box for the impact calculation to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To update an impact calculation



3 Change the event duration, interval, cost, or Per field.

To add a new stepped rate

1 Click New.

2 Type the length of the interval when an event occurs and select the unit of time for that interval from the drop-down list.

3 Type the cost for each unit of time during the event and select the unit of time from the drop-down list.

4 Type the cost for each increment of time beyond the first interval and select the unit of time from the drop-down list.

5 Click New to define more measured intervals.


To delete a stepped rate

1 Select the stepped rate to be deleted.

2 Click Delete.

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To save your changes

Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of calculations.


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Impact schedules

Impact schedules function as a constraint against the cost of downtime. An outage that occurs during peak operating hours is more expensive than an outage that occurs during off-peak time. The hour of the day, day of the week, season, or other calendar event can also impact the cost of downtime.

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Two: Define impact Impact schedules and time zones Types of impact schedules How do I add an impact schedule? How do I delete an impact schedule? How do I filter a list of impact schedules? How do I update an impact schedule? Working with impact schedules

Impact schedules and time zones

DecisionCenter uses both schedules and time zones. Schedules provide information about the availability of technicians who can respond to, and close, incidents. Time zones are critical for planning change events, setting work schedules, calculating whether availability and response Service Level Objectives are met on time, or whether Service Level Agreements are breached.

For example: technicians assigned to a typical day schedule in Europe are off-duty during general business hours in the United States. DecisionCenter must calculate the offset from Universal Time (Coordinated) to determine the local time for technician schedules and the location of configuration items.

Another example: you want to upgrade the mail server but typical downtime hours in North America are prime business hours in Europe and Asia. You need to find a conversion window that has the least impact on the e-mail community.

Note: DecisionCenter does not support customized versions of time zones. For example, custom time zones occur when a country or locale decides to begin or end daylight savings time on a different day than the rest of the world. In a simulation or optimization, a customized time zone that affects a relatively small number of incidents is not likely to influence the outcome when there are a large number of incidents in the data set.

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Impact schedules Types of impact schedules

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How do I add an impact schedule? How do I delete an impact schedule? How do I filter a list of impact schedules? How do I update an impact schedule? Working with impact schedules

Types of impact schedules

Impact schedules describe operational availability. There are standard costs associated with events that occur within typical business day schedules, holidays, or peak business hours. When incidents occur that cause outages or require extra resources, costs become incremental, depending on the response required to ensure business continuity. If you plan change events that impose downtime on critical resources, the costs are also incremental. The following table shows typical impact schedules that you can define to describe your environment.

Schedule Description

24/7 Complete availability.

Holiday A schedule with availability that is extended or abbreviated. It varies from the default daily schedule. A holiday schedule for a bank has a different definition from a holiday schedule for a retailer.

Weekdays Typically, a Monday through Friday schedule with no Saturday or Sunday availability.

Weekend Only Saturday and Sunday availability.

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How do I add an impact schedule?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Definition > Impact Schedules.

2 Click New.

3 Type the Name of the schedule.


5 You can specify any combination of schedules for the Impact Calculator.

— Use time range: Select a beginning time of day and an ending time of day from drop-down lists if the range is fewer than 24 hours. If you omit a time range, the default value is 24 hours.

— Use start date: Define the schedule start date by clicking the calendar and choosing a date.

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— Use end date: Define the schedule end date by clicking the calendar and choosing a date. You can omit a start or end date. If you omit both, the default value is a perpetual schedule. Clear any check box to remove a schedule type.

6 Choose a Recurrence type. If you select None, the start and end dates are the absolute schedule boundaries. If you select Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly, DecisionCenter calculates how often the time interval occurred since January 1 of the current calendar year.

7 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of schedules or to continue defining a new impact rule.

Notes:

• Because DecisionCenter uses a recurrence model since January 1 of the current calendar year, it is best to avoid creating schedules that span calendar years.

• Field names that you create can contain up to 200 characters. However, the length of the text box may exceed the width of your viewing area. The best practice is to create meaningful names that are as short as possible.

For more information about schedule forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.

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How do I delete an impact schedule?


2 Select the check box for the schedule to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


Note: You cannot delete a schedule if it is associated with an impact rule.


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How do I filter a list of impact schedules?



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3 Click Filter.

Examples

• If you type ‘week,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact calculations that contain the letters ‘week,’ such as First week of the month, Weekly schedule, or End of the week. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘week*,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact schedules that begin with the letters ‘week,’ such as Weekly schedule.

• If you type ‘*week,’ DecisionCenter will find all impact schedules that end with the letters ‘week,’ such as End of the week.


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How do I update an impact schedule?


2 Click the schedule to be updated.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of impact schedules.


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Working with impact schedules

Impact schedules enable you to isolate time intervals that can affect business impact when you define impact rules and calculations.

To add an impact schedule


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2 Click New.

3 Type the Name of the schedule.


5 You can specify any combination of schedules for the Impact Calculator.

— Use time range: Select a beginning time of day and an ending time of day from drop-down lists if the range is fewer than 24 hours. If you omit a time range, the default value is 24 hours.

— Use start date: Define the schedule start date by clicking the calendar and choosing a date.

— Use end date: Define the schedule end date by clicking the calendar and choosing a date. You can omit a start or end date. If you omit both, the default value is a perpetual schedule. Clear any check box to remove a schedule type.

6 Choose a Recurrence type. If you select None, the start and end dates are the absolute schedule boundaries. If you select Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or Yearly, DecisionCenter calculates how often the time interval occurred since January 1 of the current calendar year.

7 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of schedules or to continue defining a new impact rule.

To delete an impact schedule


2 Select the check box for the schedule to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


Note: You cannot delete a schedule if it is associated with an impact rule.

To filter a list of impact schedules







3 Click Filter.

To update an impact schedule


2 Click the schedule to be updated.

3 Edit any field.

4 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of schedules.

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To view an impact schedule


2 Select a schedule.


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Three: Calculate impact

DecisionCenter impact analysis has three components.

Component Description

Impact Calculator

The Impact Calculator applies user-defined rules to real or generated incidents to assign an impact cost to each incident. The parameters of the applied rule determine what the cost will be.

Impact Planner The Impact Planner simulates a series of incidents where impact rules increase or decrease the aggregate cost of the incidents or planned change scenarios. You can display the results in charts that show:

• Average daily impact • Total impact for each staggered time interval that you define

Change Planner The Change Planner accepts an external Change ID from ServiceCenter or Service Manager to simplify definition of the change events.

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Incident impact

Incident impact is the cost of incidents to the organization. DecisionCenter quantifies downtime in terms of when an incident occurs, how much staff is allocated to resolve the incident, or how many business services might be affected because of the incident.

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Assessing incident impact can determine the current cost of maintaining the IT infrastructure, or the predicted costs when the parameters and constraints vary. You can define:

• Simulations to determine the historic cost of operations.

• What-if simulations to predict the future cost of operations.

• Simulations to determine the optimum time to schedule a change event.

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Change impact

Change impact is the aggregate cost to the organization when you make a change to the IT infrastructure. A change usually involves planned downtime for devices that serve business services and value centers. You cannot eliminate the cost of downtime, but you can reduce the financial impact by creating change impact scenarios that simulate scheduled change events. Then you can experiment with scheduling change events at optimum times to reduce the impact of the change.

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Three: Calculate impact Incident impact Impact Calculator Impact Planner Change Planner Working with planned changes

Impact Calculator

The Impact Calculator enables you to quantify the financial impact of an incident or a planned change by identifying the key contributors that drive the cost up or down. Each key contributor has an underlying impact rule that governs the associated cost. The Impact Calculator runs each rule and accumulates the result into a total impact for a historical or potential incident, or for a planned change event. These key contributors are the:

• Affected value center

• Affected business service

• Incident impact type

• Impact scope

• Date of the incident

• Time of the incident

• Duration of the incident

For example, performance degradation at midnight has a different financial impact from a complete outage in an ATM system at noon.

You can use a real incident, create a hypothetical incident, or plan a change event to experiment with varying values.

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Impact Calculator and BIA

The Impact Calculator is a tool that supports Business Impact Analysis (BIA), change planning, or building what-if scenarios. Use the calculator to compare the historical cost of supporting your entire catalog of business services to potential increases (or decreases) in services. When you ascertain the cost, you can use this information to plan changes, business recovery strategies, and set priorities for adding support for new services.

Business recovery planning

Recovery strategies usually contain a list business services and the order of recovery for each service, depending on the business impact. Because business services are associated with dependent configuration items (CIs), Impact Calculator results help you prioritize the order that CIs should be restored.

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Impact Calculator associations







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Testing impact

The Impact Calculator enables you to test the effect of pre-defined impact rules on a hypothetical incident or planned change event. You can use the Impact Calculator to test changes to the

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variables that alter the financial impact of an incident. For example, you can select a business service and value center, then vary these impact values:

• Incident impact type

• Impact scope

• Incident date

• Incident time

• Incident duration

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How do I use the Impact Calculator?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Analysis > Impact Calculator.

2 Choose an optional Value center from the drop-down list.

3 Choose an optional Business service from the drop-down list. If there is no associated business service, the list will contain only the value <None>.

4 Choose an Incident impact type from the drop-down list.

5 Choose an Impact scope from the drop-down list.

6 Click the calendar icon to choose an Incident date.

7 Choose an Incident time from the drop-down list.

8 Type the Incident duration and choose a unit of time from the drop-down list.

9 Click Calculate Impact. DecisionCenter applies the rules that meet the incident criteria, lists the applicable rules, and provides the total.

Note: The Impact Calculator generates impact only when you have rules that apply to planned changes or incidents.

Guidelines

Use these guidelines when you select a value center and business service.





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Working with the Impact Calculator

The Impact Calculator enables you to test the impact of pre-defined impact rules on a hypothetical incident.

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Analysis > Impact Calculator.

2 Choose an optional Value center from the drop-down list.

3 Choose an optional Business service from the drop-down list. If there is no associated business service, the list will contain only the value <None>.

4 Choose an Incident impact type from the drop-down list.

5 Choose an Impact scope from the drop-down list.

6 Click the calendar icon to choose an Incident date.

7 Choose an Incident time from the drop-down list.

8 Type the Incident duration and choose a unit of time from the drop-down list.

9 Click Calculate Impact. DecisionCenter applies the rules that meet the incident criteria, lists the applicable rules, and provides the total.

Guidelines

Use these guidelines when you select a value center and business service.





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Impact Planner

The Impact Planner is the interface where you can create and maintain change scenarios. Each scenario contains a description of one or more discrete events that occur within the change scenario.

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For example, the IT department wants to install a new e-mail system throughout the organization. Their strategy is to roll out the change incrementally by department. For each department, there will be server downtime for the physical software installation, degraded performance during the time required to configure and tune the application, a training class for all users, and a period of troubleshooting and incident response. Each of these activities is an event, but all events do not occur concurrently. One phase must be complete, or almost complete, before the next phase can begin. The cost to the organization is called impact.

You can use the Impact Planner to:

• Construct the e-mail system change scenario.

• Specify the start time of the change scenario.

• Specify the number of potential change intervals and how much time is to be allocated to each interval.

• Define a separate event to install and test, train each department, troubleshoot problems, and so on.

• Define the start time for each event (offset) relative to the scenario start time.

• Identify the affected business service, related value centers, and configuration items.

• Change the baseline start time or event details to create new impact calculations.

You can also use the Impact Planner to build a suite of hypothetical incidents that are related. For example, you might want to project the total impact for a series of incidents that describe the effects of a natural disaster on IT systems.

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Impact

Impact is the cost of an outage, unavailability, or degraded performance. The impact of downtime can depend on a number of factors:

• What time does the outage occur? The cost of an outage that occurs in off-peak hours might be negligible.

• Which IT components are affected? Is this a primary or secondary system?

• Do these components directly affect revenue generation? Some configuration items are more critical than others to support normal business operations.

• Does the outage cost accelerate in some proportion to the number of hours of downtime? A short outage may be tolerable; an extended outage might be catastrophic.

Downtime impact aggregates the financial and operational cost of an outage within the IT infrastructure. DecisionCenter quantifies impact using:

• Impact rules

• Impact calculations

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• Impact schedules

You must define impact before you begin to construct scenarios.

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Example: Outage impact

In May, 2005, a "DNS-related issue" caused an outage in some Google services for a few hours.

The outage lasted for several hours and affected the Google.com home page, Gmail, Google News, Froogle, Google Images, Google Groups and Google Local. The outage also caused service failure on advertisements from Google's AdSense service. (Source: http://www.eweek.com)

Given that the company had sales of $1.256 billion in the previous quarter, or about $581,481 an hour, apparently the company lost about $145,370 as a result of the outage. Some folks reported that Google and its service were unavailable to them for a longer stretch of time, it is still hard to estimate how much this cost the company. (Source: Om Malik, senior writer at Business 2.0 magazine)

If revenue for an organization like Google depends on consumer hits, connectivity downtime is expensive. The outage occurred on a Saturday evening, which is not prime time for some businesses, but it could be for an internet enterprise.

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Planning change impact

The Impact Calculator produces a projected cost of hypothetical incidents and prospective changes. Because a planned change consists of a series of outage or degraded performance incidents, the same impact rules and calculations apply to both changes and incidents.

The Impact Planner enables you to construct a scenario that identifies all associated events or incidents, and relate each one to affected business services, value centers, and configuration items. You can set up an iterative calculation cycle that tests varying start times for the different events. Experimenting with the start times of these events helps to identify the optimum change window.

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Change impact rules

Change impact and incident impact calculations use the same rules. Impact rules describe the variables that increase or decrease the cost of the planned change or incident. Each rule describes a unique relationship among value centers and business services, the type of impact, the scope, and a schedule. When the rule applies to a change event or an incident, the Impact Calculator determines the associated impact. When more than one rule applies to a change event or an incident, the Impact Calculator aggregates all associated impact into a total cost. As more rules apply, the total increases.

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Start time, interval, offset, and duration

Start time, interval, offset, and duration all play a role in calculating impact for a change scenario.

Term Definition

Start time As you vary the start time date and time of day, the impact can increase or decrease depending on how much the downtime affects normal business operations.

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Term Definition

Interval You can establish time boxes to experiment with the best time to begin a change scenario. Each defined interval has a length and the number of times to replicate the interval. For example, the interval is a two-hour window and there are six intervals spread over a 24-hour period. The Impact or Change Planner will calculate the cost of starting the scenario at six different two-hour windows during that 24-hour period of time.

Offset This value defines the time delay within the interval before an individual change event begins. You can control whether change events are overlapped, sequential, or staggered.

Duration This is the least variable value. The length of time for a change event is not modifiable unless you have more resources available, or you impose a limit on the amount of time required for the event.

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How do I add a planned change?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Impact Analysis > Impact Planner.

2 Click New.

3 Type a Name.


5 Click the calendar icon to select a Start time.

6 Click the drop-down list to select the time of day.

7 Type the Number of calculations.

8 Type the duration of the Interval between calculations. Note: Type whole integers in the Number of calculations and Interval between calculations. Do not specify fractional values.

9 Choose Hours or Days from the drop-down list.

10 Click Save and Close to return to the list of planned changes.

11 Click Save to add a change event associated with the planned change.

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For more information about planned change forms and fields, insert the cursor in any field and click the Help icon.


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How do I delete a planned change?


2 Select the check box for the planned change to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.



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How do I filter a list of planned changes?



– Type a filter value in the text box at the top of the Name column.

– Type a partial filter value.

– Type a partial filter value and insert a wildcard (*) character before or after the filter value.

3 Click Filter.

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Examples

• If you type ‘scenario,’ DecisionCenter will find all change scenarios that contain the letters ‘scenario,’ such as OutageScenario001, ScenarioX, or Newscenario. A wildcard character is assumed before and after the filter value.

• If you type ‘scenario*,’ DecisionCenter will find all change scenarios that begin with the letters ‘scenario,’ such as ScenarioX.

If you type ‘*scenario,’ DecisionCenter will find all change scenarios that end with the letters ‘scenario,’ such as Myscenario.


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How do I add a change event?


2 Create a new change plan and save it, or select an existing change plan.

3 Click Add in the Manage Change Events section.

4 Select an optional Value center from the drop-down list.

5 Select an optional Business service from the drop-down list.

6 Select an optional Configuration item from the drop-down list. Although selecting a value center, business service, or configuration item is optional, you must choose at least one of the three to create a valid scenario that triggers an impact rule. If you choose only a configuration item, that CI must be associated with a business service to trigger an impact rule.

7 Select an Impact type from the drop-down list.

8 Select the Impact scope from the drop-down list.

9 Type a value for the Offset from start time, and select a unit of time from the drop-down list (Minutes, Hours, Days, or Weeks). Change events can run sequentially or concurrently. They can also have staggered offset times. For example, the planned change might begin at midnight, but the individual event might start 30 minutes later. Each sequential event in the planned change would likely have an increasing offset value, but some events could occur concurrently.

10 Type a value for the Event duration and select a unit of time from the drop-down list.

11 Click Save and New to define another change event.

12 Click Save and Close to return to the change scenario.

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Related topics

Impact Planner Impact Example: Outage impact Planning change impact Change impact rules Start time, interval, offset, and duration How do I add a planned change? How do I delete a planned change? How do I filter a list of planned changes? How do I delete a change event? Calculate change impact

How do I delete a change event?


2 Select the change scenario that contains the change event.

3 In the Manage Change Events section, select the check box for the change event to be deleted.

4 Click Delete.


Related topics

Impact Planner Impact Example: Outage impact Planning change impact Change impact rules Start time, interval, offset, and duration How do I add a planned change? How do I delete a planned change? How do I filter a list of planned changes? How do I add a change event? How do I delete a change event? Calculate change impact

Calculate change impact

DecisionCenter uses the Impact Calculator to assess the impact of a planned change. The Impact Calculator evaluates pre-defined rules and schedules against each change event. The impact total is a quantitative estimate of the cost to IT for planned change. The precision of the calculation depends on the granularity of the pre-defined impact rules and schedules.

Related topics

Impact Planner Two: Define impact Example: Outage impact Planning change impact Change impact rules Start time, interval, offset, and duration How do I add a planned change? How do I delete a planned change? How do I filter a list of planned changes? How do I add a change event? How do I delete a change event?

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How do I calculate change impact?


2 Create a new scenario with defined change events, or click an existing scenario with defined change events.

Case 1: Impact by Hours

1 Type the Number of intervals.

2 Type the number of hours in each Interval. Note: Type whole integers in the Number of intervals and Interval fields; do not specify fractional values.

3 Select Hours from the drop-down list.

4 Click Calculate Impact. DecisionCenter displays a bar chart and a table that shows the average impact that is required to complete the change events. Each bar in the chart and row in the table represents one 24-hour day. For example, if you specify 24 intervals, each interval is two hours long, and the offset from the start time is 0.0 minutes, DecisionCenter requires two days to complete the scenario. There will be two bars in the chart and two rows in the table. Each bar and row shows the average impact for each day.

5 Click one of the bars in the chart to view the total impact for each interval during the day. DecisionCenter displays one bar in the chart and one row in the table for each interval that occurs during one day. The impact total varies depending on the rules that apply impact to schedules. For example, an interval during business hours may generate more impact than an interval during off-peak hours.

6 Click one of the interval bars to view more information:

— A list of the impact rules that met the criteria described by the change events, the impact amount for each rule, and the total impact when DecisionCenter applies all the rules.

— A list of the change events in the planned change, and the impact of each event.

Case 2: Impact by Days


2 Type the number of days in each Interval. Note: Type whole integers in the Number of intervals and Interval fields; do not specify fractional values.

3 Select Days from the drop-down list.

4 Click Calculate Impact. DecisionCenter displays a bar chart and a table that shows the total impact that is required to complete the change events. Each bar in the chart and row in the table represents one interval.

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For example, if you specify 10 intervals, each interval is two days long, and the offset from the start time is 0.0 minutes, DecisionCenter requires 20 days to complete the scenario. There will be 10 bars in the chart and 10 rows in the table. Each bar and row shows the total impact for a two-day interval.

5 Click one of the interval bars to view more information:

— A list of the impact rules that met the criteria described by the change events, the impact amount for each rule, and the total impact when DecisionCenter applies all the rules.

— A list of the change events in the planned change, and the impact of each event.

Note: The Change Planner calculates impact only when you have rules that apply to the change events.


Related topics

Calculate change impact Testing impact

Testing change impact

You should be able to verify change impact calculations by entering the details of each change event in the Impact Calculator and clicking Calculate Impact.

Related topics

Calculate change impact How do I calculate change impact?

Change Planner

The Change Planner enables you to build and run change impact scenarios using change record information imported from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. For example, when you define a Service Manager request, it creates a change record and assigns a change request identifier to the record, such as CR12345. You can import this change record into the DecisionCenter data warehouse using a defined ETL process. When the record exists in the DecisionCenter data warehouse, you can access the Change Planner directly from Service Manager with a URL that includes the Service Manager change identifier (CR12345). The Change Planner accesses the change record from the DecisionCenter data warehouse and enables you to experiment with potential schedules for implementing the change.

Each time you create new external change records, you must repeat the import process to ensure those records are available to the Change Planner if accessed remotely.

Use the Change Planner to assess the cumulative impact of change on users, departments, business units, and the enterprise on the planned start date. You can experiment by varying the number of intervals and the duration of an interval to calculate the optimum time to begin change activities.

What-if change scenarios

To experiment with different start dates as well as time of day, you can use the Impact Planner to build a what-if change scenario that re-creates the various change events and details of the external change. If you want to initiate a change request and pre-plan the schedule for the change, the Impact Planner enables you to construct a change scenario with staggered change events. You can experiment with different schedules before you create change records in ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

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Related topics

Expanded functionality Three: Calculate impact Remote access to the Change Planner Remote change IDs How do I use the Change Planner? Working with the Change Planner Impact Planner

Remote access to the Change Planner

The ETL process can extract both incident and change records from ServiceCenter or Service Manager. DecisionCenter enables you to access the Change Planner from the ServiceCenter or Service Manager application with a URL that adheres to this format:

http://<server_name>:<port_number>/decisionCente r/changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId=<changeID>

where

• <server_name> is the DecisionCenter application web server. For example: DecisionCenter.server.com

• <port_number> is the port number that you assigned to the DecisionCenter application. For example: 8080

• decisionCenter is the root of the deployed application on the DecisionCenter application web server. For example: decisionCenter

• changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId= is a required element of the URL.

• <changeID> is the original ServiceCenter or Service Manager change ID that matches a change record ID extracted from ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

Example

If you access a change record from Service Manager, your URL might look like this:

http://DecisionCenter.server.com:8080/decisionCenter /changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId=CH12345

Related topics

Change Planner Remote change IDs How do I use the Change Planner? Working with the Change Planner

Remote change IDs

Change data extracted from ServiceCenter or Service Manager has an associated change ID number used for tracking purposes in the original application. Using a direct access URL requires the change ID number assigned by the external application. Make sure that you:

• Verify the change ID with the external application.

• Import the change record into the DecisionCenter data warehouse before you try to access the record from an external application.

Related topics

Change Planner Remote access to the Change Planner How do I use the Change Planner? Working with the Change Planner

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How do I use the Change Planner?

You can access the Change Planner externally or internally.

External access

1 Type the ID of the change record to be accessed in this format: http://<server_name>:<port_number>/decisionCenter /changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId=<changeID>

2 Type a valid User name and Password


4 Type the Interval between calculations. Note: Type whole integers in the Number of calculations and Interval between calculations fields; do not specify fractional values.

5 Select the unit of time from the drop-down list.

6 Click Calculate Impact.

Internal access

1 Click Impact and Optimization > Impact Analysis > Change Planner.

2 Select an existing change record.






Related topics

Change Planner Remote access to the Change Planner Remote change IDs Working with the Change Planner

Working with the Change Planner

You can access the Change Planner externally or internally.

Remote change ID format

The URL to access a change record has this format: http://<server_name>:<port_number>/decisionCenter /changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId=<changeID>

where

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• <server_name> is the DecisionCenter application web server. For example: DecisionCenter.server.com

• <port_number> is the port number that you assigned to the DecisionCenter application. For example: 8080

• decisionCenter is the root of the deployed application on the DecisionCenter application web server. For example: decisionCenter

• changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId= is a required element of the URL.

• <changeID> is the original ServiceCenter or Service Manager change ID that matches a change record ID extracted from ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

External access

1 Type the ID of the change record to be accessed in this format: http://<server_name>:<port_number>/decisionCenter /changeImpactFromSource.jsf?changeId=<changeID>

2 Type a valid User name and Password





Internal access

1 Click Impact and Optimization > Impact Analysis > Change Planner.

2 Select an existing change record.






Related topics

Change Planner Remote access to the Change Planner Remote change IDs How do I use the Change Planner?

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Working with planned changes

A change impact scenario enables you to define all the events in a change action, calculate the cumulative impact of these events, and make subsequent changes to the scenario to improve the impact total.

To add a planned change


2 Click New.

3 Type a Name.


5 Click the calendar icon to select a Start time.

6 Click the drop-down list to select the time of day.


8 Type the duration of an Interval Note: Type whole integers in the Number of intervals and Interval fields; do not specify fractional values.

9 Choose Hours or Days from the drop-down list.

10 Click Save and Close to return to the list of planned changes.

11 Click Save to add a change event associated with the planned change.


To add a change event


2 Create a new change plan and save it, or select an existing change plan.

3 Click Add in the Manage Change Events section.

4 Select an optional Value center from the drop-down list.

5 Select an optional Business service from the drop-down list.

6 Select an optional Configuration item from the drop-down list. Although selecting a value center, business service, or configuration item is optional, you must choose at least one of the three to create a valid scenario.

7 Select an Impact type from the drop-down list.

8 Select the Impact scope from the drop-down list.

9 Type a value for the Offset from start time, and select a unit of time from the drop-down list (Minutes, Hours, Days, or Weeks). Change events can run sequentially or concurrently. They can also have staggered offset times. For example, the planned change might begin at midnight, but the individual event might start 30 minutes later. Each sequential event in the planned change would likely have an increasing offset value, but some events could occur concurrently.

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10 Type a value for the Event duration and select a unit of time from the drop-down list.

11 Click Save and New to define another change event.

12 Click Save and Close to return to the change scenario.

To delete a planned change


2 Select the check box for the planned change to be deleted.

3 Click Delete.


To delete a change event


2 Select the change scenario that contains the change event.

3 In the Manage Change Events section, select the check box for the change event to be deleted.

4 Click Delete.

To filter a list of change scenarios






3 Click Filter.

To calculate change impact


2 Create a new scenario with defined change events, or click an existing scenario with defined change events.


4 Type the number of days or hours in each Interval. Note: Type whole integers in the Number of intervals and Interval fields; do not specify fractional values.

5 Select Days or Hours from the drop-down list.


Notes:

• Field names that you create can contain up to 200 characters. However, the length of the text box may exceed the width of your viewing area. The best practice is to create meaningful names that are as short as possible.

• The Change Planner calculates impact only when you have rules that apply to the change events.

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Related topics

Three: Calculate impact Incident impact Change impact Impact Calculator Impact Planner Change Planner

Four: Build the history

After you extract historical impact information from mined incident data, the History Builder applies your pre-defined impact rules to create a baseline summary of the overall financial impact. These results are assembled into two tables:

• regular_result_metrics contains summary data by assignment group, business services, value centers, categories, and impact rules.

• history_metrics contains summary data by cost, mean time between incidents, and men time to repair.

You can construct queries to view the contents of these tables and you can view the historical impact results in a standard DecisionCenter result or analytic format.

Related topics

Getting started with BIA How do I run the History Builder? When do I run the History Builder? Working with the History Builder

How do I run the History Builder?

1 Click History Builder.

2 Click Build History.

3 Upon completion, click View Results.

Related topics

Four: Build the history When do I run the History Builder? Working with the History Builder

When do I run the History Builder?

After you review and define your business model, impact rules, calculations, and schedules, you must run the History Builder to build a baseline historical impact result. Use this to compare with planned impact, changes, or similar scenarios.

You should rerun the History Builder whenever you:

• Make significant changes to your impact rule structure.

• Refresh your data source.

You may decide to refresh data on a daily basis. Each time that you re-run the ETL process, you need to repeat any data mining steps, then re-run the History Builder. This ensures consistency when you compare projected costs with historical costs.

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Related topics

Four: Build the history How do I run the History Builder? Working with the History Builder

Working with the History Builder

The History Builder collects historical impact information from mined incident data. The History Builder creates a scenario that uses the impact rules to create a baseline summary of the overall financial impact.

To run the History Builder




Related topics

Four: Build the history How do I run the History Builder? When do I run the History Builder?

Search

There are two types of searches: a keyword search and a relationship search. To begin either search, click Search in the left navigation pane.

DecisionCenter supports optional wildcard (*) characters for searches. For example, if Marketing is a defined business service, any of these search strings will produce a match:

• market

• market*

• *market*

Search results appear in a separate window.

Related topics

Concepts and definition Keyword search Relationship search

Keyword search

A keyword search can be global or filtered by category.

• Click Search in the left navigation pane.

• To create a global keyword search, type a value in the Name contains text box.

• To create a filtered keyword search, type a value in the Name contains text box and clear any categories to be omitted from the search. Select All Categories to re-select or clear all category criteria.


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Related topics

Search Relationship search

Relationship search

A relationship search is valuable because there are so many interdependencies among DecisionCenter categories. You can search for categories with no other category associations. For example, you can search for business services that have no associated impact rules.

You can also type a partial search argument to find associations among:


• Configuration items

• Impact rules

• Value centers

To create a relationship search:

1 Click Search in the left navigation pane.

2 Choose a Business Service, Configuration Item, Rule, or Value Center from the drop-down list. For example, choose Configuration Item.

3 Choose the second category in the relationship from the drop-down list. You can choose an exclusion category if you want to find one-to-many relationships. For example, if you choose Business Services, DecisionCenter returns all configuration item relationships with rules and value centers.

4 Type a Name contains value to filter the relationship results.



Related topics

Search Keyword search

Getting started with Optimization DecisionCenter Optimization adds simulation capability to analyze historical performance and predict future performance. Impact rules, calculations, schedules, and an Optimization engine refine historical data to predict future performance.

To start using DecisionCenter Optimization

First ensure that the application is installed and configured according to the directions in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

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1 Start the optimizer.

— From the server where you installed the Optimization engine, navigate to this directory: \\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\Optimization\bin

— Start run_optimizer.bat.

2 Log on to the application web server.

— Make sure that you have a valid login name and password.

— Type the DecisionCenter URL in your browser. For example, type:


— Type a valid Username and Password.

— Click Log in.

— Click Impact and Optimization > Simulation Manager to build and run simulation scenarios.

Note: To stop the optimizer, close the command window created by the run_optimizer.bat file.

Related topics

What is Optimization? Optimization engine Five: Create simulations Optimization Analytics

What is Optimization?

HP DecisionCenter Optimization is a component of DecisionCenter that, used in conjunction with ITPA and BIA, enables you to analyze historical performance and predict future performance when impacted by enterprise-wide changes to business services. Optimization adds the Simulation engine to enable predictive analysis.

Optimization software creates visibility into the effects of IT investment change on service availability. It enables IT to efficiently use resources to maximize high-value availability.

The Optimization component includes:

• Dashboards

• Analytics: Asset Management, Business Impact, Help Desk, Incident, Service Level Management, and Service Management


• Data warehouse schema for HP ServiceCenter, AssetCenter, and Connect-It


• Impact definition

• Business and Environment models

• Data Mining tool

• Historic Downtime Impact tool


• Change Impact Manager

• Simulation engine

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Related topics

Getting started with Optimization What is Optimization? Optimization engine Five: Create simulations Optimization Analytics

Optimization engine

DecisionCenter has two components: the Optimization engine, which evaluates your historic infrastructure and models scenarios, and Analytics, which produces business intelligence analytics.

The Optimization engine evaluates your historic infrastructure, enables you to define simulation and guided optimization scenarios, and produces result sets. The Optimization engine maps a set of operating parameters, such as business services, Service Level Agreements, and staffing levels, and adds the constraints of business impact rules to produce a result set. The result can show the current cost of maintaining the IT infrastructure, or the predicted costs when the parameters and constraints vary.

Business service owners can define combinations of parameters and constraints to create unique models, then use the results to guide decision making.

Related topics

Getting started with Optimization What is Optimization? Optimization engine Five: Create simulations Optimization Analytics

Five: Create simulations

The Simulation Manager can do the following:

• Build and run historical incident impact scenarios using mined data aggregated by the History Builder.

• Build and run what-if and guided optimization scenarios that project future impact when you change resource levels.

• Compare the results of incident impact scenarios.

• Interact with Business Objects tools to display result sets.

Related topics

Getting started with Optimization Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

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Scenarios

Scenarios are your tools to show how a series of incidents or planned changes result in an impact value. The incidents might be an historic view of how your organization reacts when an outage occurs or a system upgrade occurs.

Each scenario has a unique name so that you can modify it or run it again with new data. A typical scenario contains information about:

• Timeframe

• Staff allocation

• Service Level Objectives


The scenario can reflect the current baseline, or include variations that alter the outcome. When you compare the results of a baseline scenario to the results of other scenarios with adjusted values, you can hypothesize how changes in the IT infrastructure will affect the entire organization or individual business units.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Simulation

A simulation uses ServiceCenter or Service Manager data to model how changes or incidents affect critical business units within the organization. You can specify a block of incidents that occur over a specific time interval, apply different constraints (impact rules), and create results that indicate how IT response will change when constraints change. You can save the set of constraints in a reusable scenario that you can run with new data, or change to consider the effect of new constraints.

The Optimization engine runs scenarios. It can sample historical incident data and generate ‘simulated’ incidents. DecisionCenter moves these simulated incidents through the organization model that you define, applies the impact rules that you define, and aggregates the impact of these defined operational constraints:

• Timeframe



• Changes to business services

The simulation result set appears in a report format. You can:

• Customize the views by selecting different combinations of simulation scenarios, measures, and ranking.

• Run a simulation to project impact when the constraints vary.

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• Compare the results of one simulation to another to make informed decisions about changing your IT infrastructure.

• Duplicate a saved simulation scenario, give it a unique name, and edit the associated values to simplify creating a new simulation scenario.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Simulation tips

When you run a simulation scenario more than once, there is always an existing set of results from the last run available for viewing. If you click View Results while a new scenario simulation run is in progress, what you see is that existing set of results from the prior run. DecisionCenter replaces the existing set only when the new run is complete.

If you cancel a scenario simulation before it finishes, DecisionCenter creates no results. Therefore, for a new scenario simulation, no results exist. For an existing scenario simulation, the result set from the prior run is available if you click View Results.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Using simulations to make decisions

Projecting the cost of planned changes and incidents when constraints change is the easiest way to determine the appropriate course of action. For example, you can create a group of scenarios using the Duplicate feature:

• Scenario 1: A baseline scenario that approximates the historical cost of doing business.

• Scenario 2: Scenario 1 with a reduced number of resources assigned to incident resolution.

• Scenario 3: Scenario 1 with three new business services and no changes to resources or Service Level Objectives (SLOs).

• Scenario 4: Scenario 1 with three new business services but reduced SLO requirements.

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Running these scenarios and comparing the aggregate impact associated with each scenario shows how costs vary depending on how constraints vary. You can use this information to make business decisions about future IT effectiveness and efficiency.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

How do I run a simulation?

1 From Impact and Optimization, click Simulation Manager.

2 Choose a scenario from the list of available scenarios.

3 Click Run at the end of the row to start processing; click Abort to stop processing.

4 DecisionCenter updates the run date and elapsed time, displays the completion metrics, and saves the results. When processing finishes, click View to see the simulation results.

5 You can view the results in different ways:

— Choose the Report type from the drop-down list.

— Choose the Measure from the drop-down list.

— Choose the report Rank. This is the order of magnitude for the units in the statistical analysis. For example, if the report type is Business Services and the measure is Incidents, First 4 displays the top four business services with the largest number of incidents. Last 4 displays the four business services with the fewest number of incidents. Max rank lists the number of business services in the statistical analysis.

6 Click Display.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Guided optimization

A guided optimization is a DecisionCenter wizard that leads you through the steps required to create a scenario. The guided optimization relies on two scenarios. The first is an existing baseline scenario that DecisionCenter uses for comparison. The second scenario becomes a template for the

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new optimization scenario. As you design the new scenario, you can change assignment group variables.

When you complete the guided optimization configuration, DecisionCenter displays the operating cost and assignment group variations between the baseline scenario and the new scenario. You can save this new scenario and introduce new changes to the variables in subsequent scenarios to refine the results.

DecisionCenter does not allow you to choose the same scenario as the baseline and also as the guide.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Guided optimization tips

If you create a guided optimization, you must choose a baseline scenario and a second scenario that is the guide, or template, for the new optimization. Do not choose the same scenario for both the baseline and the guide.

If the baseline scenario for a guided optimization already has staffing allocations and the new optimization scenario has staffing allocations, DecisionCenter uses this formula to create a combined staffing allocation:

(Baseline staffing + new staffing) – duplication

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

How do I run a guided optimization?


2 Select the check box for an existing optimization.

3 Click Run to start processing; click Abort to stop processing. DecisionCenter updates the run date and elapsed time, and saves the results.

4 When processing finishes, click View to see the simulation results.

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6 Click Display.

To run a new guided optimization


2 Click Guided Optimization.

3 Select a baseline scenario. This is an existing simulation scenario that is not adjustable. DecisionCenter compares a second what-if scenario to this scenario. For example, the baseline might be the historical performance results for the last year.

4 Click Next. If you want to use your history as a baseline, click Use History as Baseline.

5 Select a second (what-if) scenario that you can adjust. You can create a new scenario, or choose an existing scenario. To create a new scenario:

— Type a Name for the new simulation scenario.

— Choose a Starting month from the drop-down list.

— Type the Starting year in yyyy format.

— Choose a Duration from the drop-down list.

— Type the Number of simulation runs that the optimization engine should complete. The larger the number, the more statistically significant the results are; however, the larger the number, the longer the run time. You must balance the need for statistical accuracy with reasonable processing time.

— Type the percentage to Increase assignment group head count. You can specify a negative value to decrease head count.

— Click Run. You must run a new simulation scenario to use it in an optimization scenario.

— When the simulation run is complete, click Next.

To use an existing scenario:

– Choose the existing scenario.

– Click Next.

6 From the Assignment Groups Worksheet, you can change the Proposed head count by increasing or decreasing the head count value. If you reallocate labor, DecisionCenter automatically distributes the total labor resources across all available shifts.

7 Click Next.

8 If you changed a head count value, you must provide a new name for the adjusted scenario to differentiate it from the original scenario that you selected for the baseline. Type the Name,

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optional Owner and Description, and the Number of simulation runs that the optimization engine should complete.

9 You can make additional changes to the scenario by selecting:

— Timeframe

— Reallocate Staff

— Change Service Level Objectives

— Take Existing Business Services Offline

— Bring New Business Services Online

10 Click Save.

11 Click Run. DecisionCenter runs the new scenario and creates a set of results. The progress bar and Elapsed time value show you how the optimization run is progressing.

12 When processing finishes, click Next to see the optimization results.

Each time that you adjust and run a simulation scenario, save it with a new name. You can compare one or more versions with the current version to view the results in an analytic format. For example, you might use an historic simulation for a recent year (2005) as the baseline, create a what-if simulation for the current year (2006), and save variations (2006-1, 2006-2, and 2006-3) to gauge the potential effects of varying labor allocations.


Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Starting and stopping the optimization engine

The optimization engine must be running to produce simulation and guided optimization results. Running a batch file starts the optimization engine in a separate command window.

1 To start the optimizer, navigate to this directory: \\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\Optimization\bin

2 Start run_optimizer.bat.

3 To stop the optimizer, close the command window created by the run_optimizer.bat file.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions

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How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Working with a simulation scenario

A simulation is a scenario that DecisionCenter runs only once. The simulation processes the source data to produce an aggregate cost of defined operational constraints.

To add a simulation scenario


2 Click New Simulation.

3 Type a Name for the new simulation scenario.

4 Type the name of the optional scenario Owner.


6 Click Save to add constraints to the new simulation scenario.

7 Choose constraints, such as:

— Timeframe





8 Click Save and Close to return to the complete list of scenarios.

To compare simulation scenarios


2 Select the check box for each simulation to be compared.

3 Click Compare to display the results of each simulation.

To duplicate a simulation scenario


2 Select the check box for the scenario to be duplicated.

3 Click Duplicate.

4 Specify a name for the new scenario.

5 Add, change, or delete constraints as needed.

6 Click Save and Close to return to the list of scenarios.

To update a simulation scenario


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2 Click the scenario to be updated.

3 Edit any field.


To view simulation constraints


2 Click any simulation to view its details.

To view simulation results


2 If no results exist, click Run to produce simulation results; click Abort to stop processing.

3 When processing finishes, click View to see the simulation results. If there is an earlier processing date, you can view results from a previous run without running the simulation again.

4 You can view the results in different ways: click Summary, by Business Service, or Detail.

5 Click Run Simulation to restart processing.


Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a guided optimization Working with results

Working with a guided optimization

A guided optimization is a DecisionCenter wizard that leads you through the steps required to create a scenario. The guided optimization relies on two scenarios.

To run an existing guided optimization


2 Select the check box for an existing optimization.

3 Click Run to start processing; click Abort to stop processing. DecisionCenter updates the run date and elapsed time, and saves the results.




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— Click Display.

To run a new guided optimization



3 Select a baseline scenario. This is an existing simulation scenario that is not adjustable. DecisionCenter compares a second what-if scenario to this scenario. For example, the baseline might be the historical performance results for the last year.

4 Click Next. If you want to use your history as a baseline, click Use History as Baseline.




— Type the Year in yyyy format.



— Type the percentage to Increase assignment group head count. You can specify a negative value to decrease head count.




— Choose the existing scenario.

— Click Next.

6 From the Assignment Groups Worksheet, you can change the Proposed head count by increasing or decreasing the head count value. If you reallocate labor, DecisionCenter automatically distributes the total labor resources across all available shifts.

7 Click Next.

8 If you changed a head count value, you must provide a new name for the adjusted scenario to differentiate it from the original scenario that you selected for the baseline. Type the Name, optional Owner and Description, and the Number of simulation runs that the optimization engine should complete.

9 You can make additional changes to the scenario by selecting:

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— Timeframe





10 Click Save.

11 Click Run. DecisionCenter runs the new scenario and creates a set of results. The progress bar and Elapsed time value show you how the optimization run is progressing.



Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with results

Working with results

Running simulation and optimization scenarios produces a result set that you can view. You can select viewing parameters to customize the way that DecisionCenter displays the results.

To generate scenario results


2 If no results exist, click Run; click Abort to stop processing.


To generate History Builder results




To view results

1 Choose the Report type from the drop-down list.

2 Choose the Measure from the drop-down list.

3 Choose the report Rank. This is the order of magnitude for the units in the statistical analysis. For example, if the report type is Business Services and the measure is Incidents, First 4

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displays the top four business services with the largest number of incidents. Last 4 displays the four business services with the fewest number of incidents. Max rank lists the number of business services in the statistical analysis.

4 Click Display to view the results in an analytic format.

Related topics

Five: Create simulations Scenarios Simulation Simulation tips Using simulations to make decisions How do I run a simulation? Guided optimization Guided optimization tips How do I run a guided optimization? Starting and stopping the optimization engine Working with a simulation scenario Working with a guided optimization

Working with optimization

You can define DecisionCenter optimization components in any order as long as you define all of the required components before you run a scenario. If you follow the suggested workflow, it can serve as a checklist to gather the information you need to run the scenario and associated optimizations.

Related topics

Getting started with Optimization What is Optimization? Optimization engine Working with an optimization scenario Optimization Analytics

Working with an optimization scenario

An optimization scenario is a way to prototype the impact of incidents when your IT resources or service objectives change.

To add a new scenario


2 Click New Simulation.

3 Type a Name for the new simulation scenario.

4 Type the name of the optional scenario Owner.


6 Increase the Number of simulation runs that the optimization engine should complete. The larger the number, the more statistically significant the results are; however, the larger the number, the longer the run time. You must balance the need for statistical accuracy with reasonable processing time.

7 Choose the Starting month from the drop-down list.

8 Type the Starting year in yyyy format.

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9 Choose the Duration from the drop-down list.

10 Click Save before you add constraints.

11 Click any of the following section titles and add, change, or delete constraints as needed.






To compare scenarios


2 Select the check box for each scenario to be compared. You must select at least two scenarios to be compared.

3 Click Compare to display the results of each scenario.

To duplicate a scenario


2 Click Duplicate.

3 Select the scenario to be duplicated.

4 Click Finish.

5 Type a Name for the new scenario.

6 Type an optional Owner and Description.

7 Increase the Number of simulation runs that the optimization engine should complete. The larger the number, the more statistically significant the results are; however, the larger the number, the longer the run time. You must balance the need for statistical accuracy with reasonable processing time.

8 Choose the Starting month from the drop-down list.

9 Type the Starting year in yyyy format.

10 Choose the Duration from the drop-down list.

11 Click Save before you add constraints.

12 Click any of the following section titles and add, change, or delete constraints as needed.





13 Click Save, or Save and Close to return to the list of scenarios.

To run an existing scenario


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2 Choose a scenario.

3 Click Run at the end of the row to start processing; click Abort to stop processing. DecisionCenter updates the run date and elapsed time, displays the completion metrics, and saves the results.






6 Click Display.

To run a guided optimization scenario



3 Select a baseline scenario. This is an existing simulation scenario that is not adjustable. DecisionCenter compares a second what-if scenario to this scenario. For example, the baseline might be the historical performance results for the last year. If you have no existing scenarios to use as a baseline, you must create one.

4 Click Next.




— Type the Year in yyyy format.



— Type the percentage to Increase assignment group head count. You can type a negative number to decrease the head count. For a new simulation scenario, DecisionCenter increases or decreases the total number of resources populating all assignment groups in the Environment model as the baseline head count. The percentage that you specify will increase or decrease that total. When you make adjustments in Step 6, you can make more adjustments.



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— Choose the existing scenario.

— Click Next. DecisionCenter displays the two simulation scenarios that you selected

6 From the Assignment Groups Worksheet, change the labor allocation by increasing or decreasing assigned head count.

7 Make additional changes to the what-if scenario, such as

— What-if simulation Details

— Timeframe

— Reallocate staff


— Take existing business services offline

— Bring new business services online

8 Click Save. If the name of the second scenario already exists, you should save the guided optimization with a descriptive new name.

9 Click Run. The progress bar and Elapsed time value show you how the optimization run is progressing.


Each time that you adjust and run an optimization scenario, save it with a new name. You can compare one or more versions with the current version to view the results in an analytic. For example, you might use an historic simulation for a recent year (2005) as the baseline, create a what-if simulation for the current year (2006), and save variations (2006-1, 2006-2, and 2006-3) to gauge the potential effects of varying labor allocations.


Related topics

Getting started with Optimization What is Optimization? Optimization engine Working with optimization Optimization Analytics Guided optimization How do I run a guided optimization?

Optimization Analytics

DecisionCenter Optimization has a series of out-of-box reports that guide IT decision-making.


Related topics

Getting started with Optimization Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization

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Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Assignment Group

This analysis displays the top ranked assignment groups in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal assignment group composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.

Usage Users: Department managers, Directors, Corporate-level executives Frequency: Whenever simulations are run


Assignment Group Name Layout details

AG value


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Business Service

This analysis displays the top ranked business services in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal business service composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.

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Business Service Name Layout details

BS value


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Impact Rule

This analysis displays the top ranked impact rules in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal impact rule composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.



Impact Rule Name Layout details

IR value

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Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Impact Type

This analysis displays the top ranked impact types in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal impact type composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.



Impact Type Name Layout details

IT value


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

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Incident Category

This analysis displays the top ranked incident categories in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal incident category composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.



Incident Category Name Layout details

IC value


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

ITPO Simulation Optimization

This analysis provides a monthly average detail of simulation data summarized in the Assignment Group, Business Service, Enterprise Summary, Impact Rule, Impact Type, Incident Category, and Value Center reports. The calculation for both mean time between failures (MTBF) and mean time to repair (MTTR) is in hours.


Purpose To provide an overview of the detail information of the source data that all reports use. The detail is available for further analysis, troubleshooting, or optimization configuration parameters.

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Guided analysis Standalone or from DecisionCenter view

Assignment Group Name, Business Service Name, Impact Rule Name, Impact Type Name, Incident Category Name, Refresh Date, Scenario Name, Value Center, Value Center Name

Layout details

Cost, Count, Impact, MTBF, MTTR


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Value Center Details

This analysis displays the individual detail value centers in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal value center composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.



Value Center Name Layout details

VC value

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Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details Value Center Summary

Value Center Summary

This analysis displays the top-level value centers in the designated metric, which captures the results of the selected DecisionCenter Optimization scenarios. You can compare up to three scenarios at one time and drill from Value Center Level 0 through Level 4.


Purpose To enable organizations to determine the optimal value center composition by using an analysis of up to three scenarios by cost, incident count, impact, mean time between failures (MTBF) in hours, or mean time to repair (MTTR) in hours.



Level Name Layout details

VC value


Related topics

Optimization Analytics Assignment Group Business Service Impact Rule Impact Type Incident Category ITPO Simulation Optimization Value Center Details

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Concepts and definitions Read this section of the help system for information about key DecisionCenter concepts and terminology that relates to business intelligence and data storage.

Related topics

The optimal IT environment Business Impact Analysis Types of universes Glossary

The optimal IT environment

Business leaders and infrastructure managers need the ability to measure the future impact of decisions and mitigate the risk of these decisions. When you have an optimal IT environment, you can model and predict business service performance. Subsequently, the organization can allocate resources and services to minimize the impact of downtime caused by incidents or planned changes.

DecisionCenter can assess an IT environment by reviewing historical data, evaluating past performance, and using modeling tools to determine the optimum values for:

• Expected service performance

• Impact of business application downtime or performance degradation

• Business application response time and resolution times

• Resource allocation

• IT investment

The assessment provides a baseline that enables you to create change scenarios and evaluate the potential impact to the enterprise. Review the related topics for information about the steps required to prepare an organization for Optimal IT.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions

Steps to the optimal IT environment

An optimal IT environment means that the organization can model and predict business service performance. Knowing how many resources and services to assign can minimize the impact of planned or unplanned downtime. There are a series of steps that the organization can take to optimize the IT infrastructure. Ensure that you have:

• A supported version of ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

• A well-designed CMDB.

• A business intelligence analysis suite.

• IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) best practices.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions Supported ServiceCenter and AssetCenter versions Configuration Management Database Business intelligence analysis ITIL best practices

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Supported ServiceCenter and AssetCenter versions

Optimization uses data from ServiceCenter or Service Manager to model business service performance. ServiceCenter or Service Manager tracks incidents, problems, change requests, and Service Level Agreements. They provide the right data to make business decisions.

Analytics uses data from ServiceCenter, Service Manager, or AssetCenter to generate all types of business intelligence and performance analytics. AssetCenter tracks assets, ownership, purchase information, maintenance history, and labor costs. By using the latest product versions, you can ensure that you are collecting the right data using the most efficient techniques.

To ensure that you have the supported versions, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix (http://support.openview.hp.com/). From Reference info, click Support matrices.

Most of the support areas require that you register as an HP Passport user and sign in. Many also require an active support contract. To register for an HP Passport ID, go to the HP Passport Registration web site (http://www.managementsoftware.hp.com/passport-registration.html).

Related topics

Concepts and definitions Configuration Management Database Business intelligence analysis ITIL best practices

Configuration Management Database

A well-designed Configuration Management Database (CMDB) is a critical building block that stores configuration, asset, and incident data. The CMDB integrates information about assets, incidents, problems, change requests, configuration items (CIs), Service Level Agreements and their interrelationships.

DecisionCenter uses the data in the CMDB to run optimization scenarios and produce analytics that suggest how to tune your business services and IT infrastructure. Historical information about assets and CIs, and how well they meet performance commitments, helps you make decisions about future IT investments and cost-saving strategies. The more robust your data, the more precise these scenarios and reports will be.

A well-tuned CMDB can:

• Relate assets to CIs.

• Provide information about asset class availability and CI performance cost.

• Relate asset and service availability to business service performance.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions Supported ServiceCenter and AssetCenter versions Business intelligence analysis ITIL best practices

Business intelligence analysis

DecisionCenter has a central data warehouse populated with imported data from ServiceCenter, Service Manager, or AssetCenter. DecisionCenter uses this data to produce optimization scenarios, dashboards, and a variety of reports. It enables you to analyze historical data for performance, optimum service levels, labor distribution, and cost containment.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions Supported ServiceCenter and AssetCenter versions




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Configuration Management Database ITIL best practices

ITIL best practices

DecisionCenter users need to adhere to the best practices advocated by the IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL)®. When you adhere to the ITIL best practices and processes for problem, change, and service level management, you have a business maturity model that is compatible with DecisionCenter processes and objectives. To validate the benefits of ITIL best practices, you can evaluate comparative industry process metrics to confirm the improved efficiency and effectiveness of your internal processes.

DecisionCenter follows ITIL version 3 guidelines for naming conventions and to categorize analytics.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions Supported ServiceCenter and AssetCenter versions Configuration Management Database Business intelligence analysis

IT Service Portfolio Management

The goal of each organization is to provide a variety of business services that support its mission and deliver value to its internal and external customers. The goal of IT is to ensure that the entire portfolio of business services is available to these internal and external customers.

IT uses Service Level Agreements to set priorities, define customer objectives, requirements, and operational quality, and manage the portfolio of services.

Service portfolio management enables organizations with enterprise business services to avoid the high cost of outages or degraded performance when those services fail. For example, if there is a hardware failure in a claims processing environment, there are two costs incurred. The number of claims processed drops to zero but the claims processor who receives an hourly wage must continue to be paid despite the lack of activity.

Related topics

Concepts and definitions The service delivery component Service Level Agreements Service catalogs Prioritization Resource allocation Upstream and downstream effects

The service delivery component

Service delivery is a crucial component of Service Portfolio Management. Service delivery depends on defining the services that you offer (perhaps in a catalog) and defining the supporting Service Level Objectives and Service Level Agreements (SLAs). If you can define the dependencies for these components, you can model scenarios to decide where you need to add or subtract equipment and personnel to achieve desired performance levels.

Adding new services also requires predictive analysis to evaluate how the new service impacts your existing resources. For example, if you are managing service delivery for a bank with 100 branch locations, what is the expected impact of adding another 10 branches?

Related topics

IT Service Portfolio Management Service Level Agreements

229

Service catalogs Prioritization Resource allocation Upstream and downstream effects

Service Level Agreements

A Service Level Agreement (SLA) describes service guarantees between service providers and customers. It defines service goals and responsibilities for configuration items (CIs). An SLA can be internal, among the departments within an organization, or external, between an organization and a vendor. These agreements cover two important aspects of service:

• Availability agreements describe the availability of a CI within a specified time frame.

• Response agreements describe performance guarantees.

SLAs normally run automatically to continuously recalculate availability and response metrics. SLAs usually guarantee service for applications and hardware systems, but not necessarily for business services. Therefore, some business service components can have varying service guarantees that can reduce the overall response time for a business service outage.

Related topics

Review Service Level Agreements IT Service Portfolio Management How do I view a Service Level Agreement? Working with Service Level Agreements

Service catalogs

A Service catalog contains a comprehensive list of enterprise products and services available to internal and external customers, depending on their business role. Service catalogs set expectations for both customers and service providers about the delivery, quality, and level of services.

Related topics

IT Service Portfolio Management The service delivery component Service Level Agreements Prioritization Resource allocation Upstream and downstream effects

Prioritization

When the number of services required exceeds your capacity, you must establish rules to organize open incidents into a work queue. The most urgent incidents are at the beginning of the queue; incidents with lower priority are at the bottom of queue. The prioritization rules usually depend on Service Level Agreements and Service Level Objectives affected by the outage.

Related topics

IT Service Portfolio Management The service delivery component Service Level Agreements Service catalogs Resource allocation Upstream and downstream effects

Resource allocation

The challenge for IT is to reduce costs without compromising services. Reducing personnel can reduce costs, but may seriously affect services, especially if you have existing Service Level Agreements that require high service levels and minimal outages. DecisionCenter enables you to

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plan for resource needs, the cost of reducing head count, and validate that resources levels are correct for your service requirements.

For example, increased revenues may mean increased demand for services and more unplanned outages. How much budget do you need to assign enough technicians to cover expected demand?

Related topics

IT Service Portfolio Management The service delivery component Service Level Agreements Service catalogs Prioritization Upstream and downstream effects

Upstream and downstream effects

Outages can have downstream impacts on other business services. Downstream events can also impact an upstream line of business. When you define impact rules, it is important to consider how far the impact of an outage or event extends within the enterprise.

Related topics

IT Service Portfolio Management The service delivery component Service Level Agreements Service catalogs Prioritization Resource allocation

Business Impact Analysis

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) analyzes the effect if a specific business process fails or loses efficiency. BIA can also identify the minimum required performance level of any business process required to continue normal operations. These processes can include applications, data, networks, information systems, facilities, and more. BIA shows how the organization is affected if these functions and processes are interrupted.

A basic BIA assumption is that every organizational component relies on continuous functioning of every other component. Some are more crucial than others and require a greater allocation of funds when a disaster occurs. For example, a business may be able to continue if the cafeteria is out of service, but would come to a complete halt if the information system shuts down. (Source: www.whatis.com)

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) is essential to identify risks and assess the impact of those risks. Some of the risks are:

• Interrupted cash flow

• Non-functional equipment

• Overtime to reduce the work backlog

• Lost revenue

BIA can also show the impact of adding new projects to an enterprise without adding resources. The ultimate effect of BIA is to show the effect on profitability when you run risk scenarios.

Related topics

Concepts and definition Leveraging your continuity plan How do I calculate impact? Predictive models

http://www.whatis.com/

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Define rules The efficient frontier

Leveraging your continuity plan

Business Impact Analysis should be part of the organization’s continuity plan. This plan usually contains information about perceived vulnerabilities, and planned strategies to minimize risk. The result of analysis is a business impact analysis report, which describes the potential risks to the organization. A good BIA report should identify the cost of outages in terms of lost revenue, replacement of equipment, salaries, and other opportunity costs. The impact should be quantified financially to ensure that comparisons among business services are equivalent.

One of the basic assumptions behind BIA is that every component of the organization relies on the operation of every other component. Some, like IT, are essential and require more money for ongoing operations and are critical in recovery from a disaster. For example, an online brokerage can operate normally if the coffee service fails, but would come to a complete halt if the web server shuts down. There are a broad range of BIA consultants and service providers who can produce a BIA report that contains the financial data you need to apply to impact rules and calculations.

Related topics

Business Impact Analysis How do I calculate impact? Predictive models Define rules The efficient frontier

How do I calculate impact?

It is more difficult to calculate the direct cost of a damaged reputation that affects customer loyalty, competitive advantage, suppliers, financial markets, business partners. There are also costs associated with financial performance, such as revenue recognition, cash flow, credit rating, stock price, and even regulatory fines.

The problem is how to obtain accurate data and reduce it to financial terms. Fortunately, there are related disciplines, like Business Impact Analysis and Business Continuity Planning, which produce quantitative results that can provide input for DecisionCenter.

Related topics

Concepts and definition Leveraging your continuity plan Predictive models Define rules The efficient frontier

Predictive models

Predictive modeling is a process used in predictive analytics to create a statistical model of future behavior. A predictive model has predictors, which are variable factors that are likely to influence future behavior or results. For example, in marketing, a customer's gender, age, and purchase history might predict the likelihood of a future sale.

The usual steps to create a predictive model are:

• Collect data for the relevant predictors.

• Formulate a statistical model.

• Make predictions.

• Validate the model as new data becomes available.

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• Revise the model as necessary.

For example, I might build a model that can predict shoe sizes based on height. To build this model, I need to collect data about individual heights and shoe sizes. A small sample will not be very reliable. The larger the sample, the more I can depend on the predictions. Next, I need to obtain (or build) software that can do the required statistical analysis. It will generate results that can predict shoe size based on height.

Validation will tell me if the model works correctly. Gender may affect the results. I may need to revisit the data to add gender information, and revisit the statistical model to refine the results.

DecisionCenter uses these same techniques to analyze historical data and predict the results of certain scenarios.

Source: www.whatis.com.

Related topics

Business Impact Analysis Leveraging your continuity plan How do I calculate impact? Define rules The efficient frontier

Define rules

Impact rules define the effect of an incident or change event on a business service or a value center. Each impact rule is associated with an incident or change type, such as outage, defect, performance, or a request for information.

For example, you can calculate the impact of an outage at the business service level, which is the immediate impact; or at the value center level, which extends the impact to include customer good will, lost revenue, and more.

When you define an impact rule, you can associate it with a business service or a value center. You can also associate the impact rule with a schedule that defines when the rule applies, such as the time of day, day of the week, month, and so on. Each impact rule contains information about:

• The type of impact

• How broad the impact is (scope)

• The time of day when the rule applies

• The cost by the minute, hour, or day

DecisionCenter applies impact rules when you use the Impact Calculator, Impact Planner, Change Planner, and Simulation Manager. Increasing the granularity of the rules improves the accuracy of the impact calculations.

Related topics

Business Impact Analysis Generic impact rules Value Center impact rules

Generic impact rules

A generic impact rule is not associated with a specific value center. Generic impact rules define the single greatest impact. For example, you might define these generic impact rules:

• An outage at the end of the month has an impact of $1000 for each hour of downtime.

• An outage anytime during the holiday season has an impact of $2000 for each hour of downtime.

http://www.whatis.com/

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The Total Impact is the sum of all applicable impact rules.

Related topics

Define rules Value center impact rules

Value center impact rules

Value center impact rules define additional accumulated impact. For example, you might define these value center impact rules:

• An outage at the end of the month has an impact of $100,000 for each hour of downtime.

• An outage anytime during the holiday season has an impact of $200,000 for each hour of downtime.

The Total Impact is the sum of all applicable generic impact and value center impact rules.

Related topics

Define rules Generic impact rules

The efficient frontier

The efficient frontier is the intersection of efficiency and effectiveness. You can use the information that you gather from simulations and guided optimizations to right-size essential business components and balance essential costs with optimum revenue. You can use the information provided by the efficient frontier to:

• Increase or protect revenue.

• Decrease costs, or avoid increasing costs.

• Increase business flexibility.

• Reduce risk.

• Meet regulatory requirements.

• Predict business service capacity.

• Calculate optimum staffing levels.

• Calculate optimum equipment levels.

• Predict the effect of infrastructure changes.

Related topics

Business Impact Analysis Leveraging your continuity plan How do I calculate impact? Predictive models Define rules

Types of universes

DecisionCenter Analytics provides information to support Service Management and Asset Management reports that are compliant with IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) solutions for optimal IT service.

Service Management solutions enable IT to improve service levels, balance resources, and control costs.

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Asset Management solutions help IT track and optimize resources at every stage of the asset life cycle.

Related topics

Concepts and definition Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Alignment universes

The Alignment analytic and metric universes are a component of Service Management. They provide analytical information about the cost to organizations related to Service Level Agreements (SLA).

The reports help management answer:

• What SLAs are the most expensive for the organization to maintain?

• What are the cost trends for service expenditures for Configuration Item (CI) types?

• Are there particular CIs that weigh more on SLA expenses?

• At what point do expenses for the CI, including maintenance or replacement part costs, break with expected trends?

• Are more of our expenses coming from incidents or changes?

Related topics

Types of universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Asset Management universe

The Asset Management analytic universe provides information that organizations can use to make relevant business decisions. This information enables the organization to function as a business entity and to allocate resources, time and cost across the IT environment to maximize business performance. The dashboards enable users to access real-time data to identify and track key performance indicators.

With the information from the analytics, organizations can proactively:

• Address questions regarding their asset management processes and data

• Enable cost avoidance and mitigate risks

• Control or reduce expenditures

• Make business decisions in a timely manner

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The out-of-box analyses focus on Asset Tracking and Expense Control.

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Business Impact universes

The Business Impact analytic and metric universes provide reports that help match IT services with department and business unit needs.

Establishing and gaining control over IT services is only the first step in building a world-class service environment. To be effective, services must be aligned continually with changing department and business unit needs.

Business Impact Analytics analyze how organizations can:

• Determine impact trends over time spanning the entire organization or focusing on one department

• Automate catalog management and request management

• Provide tools for measuring the business value of IT services

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Change universes

The Change analytic and metric universes are a component of Service Management. They provide analytical information about the impact of change so that organizations can properly plan when scheduling changes.

The analytics enable organizations to:

• Identify the number of changes in each category or location.

• Focus on scheduling changes that will decrease outages.

• Provide the percent of changes that were planned and successfully completed.

• Examine the backlog to optimize staffing and assignments.

• Analyze the time changes spent in each phase to identify bottlenecks in the process .

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes

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Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Helpdesk universes

The Helpdesk universes are a component of Service Management. They provide analytical information about calls that organizations can use to make relevant business decisions that align to the service desk.

The reports enable organizations to:

• Improve the business process of the help desk organization

• Focus on process improvements that will decrease costly call management procedures

• Identify the efficiency metrics that call center managers need to optimize resource management in either a single department or the entire organization

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Incident universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Incident universes

The Incident analytic and metric universes are a component of Service Management. They provide analytical information that organizations can use to make relevant business decisions that align to IT services.

The reports enable organizations to:

• Identify trends over time regarding average times required to repair incidents

• Identify the average time between failures with respect to incidents

• Identify service desk efficiency in resolving incidents

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Request Management universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

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Request Management universes

The Request Management analytic and metric universes are a component of the ServiceCenter Request Management module and Service Catalog. They provide analytical information about the request processes related to products and services.

The reports help management answer:

• Which approvers are the slowest, thus creating a bottleneck?

• Which types of requests take the longest?

• Are surge requests related to location or requestor?

• What are the most requested products and services?

• Which products or services are most frequently missing Service Level Agreements (SLAs)?

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Service Management universe Simulation Optimization universe

Service Management universe

The Service Management analytic universe provides information to support effective standardized enterprise-wide service procedures. Without these procedures, service desk personnel cannot consistently provide the right answers to user questions, and IT management cannot track and analyze incidents to spot problems or measure performance. The view provides analytics that analyze how to establish change management, problem management, and self-service controls.

After basic service management processes are in place, IT must address deeper service issues related to making changes to the infrastructure, identifying weaknesses in the infrastructure, and managing user interactions with the service desk. This requires creating standardized and automated processes for change management, problem management, and user self-service.

The Service Management analytics help IT organizations to:

• Optimize service desk operations

• Implement effective incident and configuration management processes

• Analyze service performance

• Reduce the risk of infrastructure change

• Streamline incident response with trend and root-cause analysis

• Establish employee self-service controls

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes

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Request Management universes Simulation Optimization universe

Simulation Optimization universe

The Simulation Optimization analytic universe provides information to identify the current cost of maintaining the IT infrastructure or the predicted costs when the parameters and constraints vary. When Business service owners view simulation results, they can select multiple dimensions and measures to create a variety of reports.

These combinations can create unique models that guide decision making.

Related topics

Types of universes Alignment universes Asset Management universe Business Impact universes Change universes Helpdesk universes Incident universes Request Management universes Service Management universe

Glossary

DecisionCenter uses a variety of terms to describe its functionality and objectives. For more information, click any term in Related topics.

Related topics

Concepts and definition Assignment groups Business process Business service Business service downtime impact Configuration item Crosstab Dashboards Data warehouse Efficiency and effectiveness Impact rules Predictive analysis Risk Scenarios Simulation Universe Value center

Assignment groups



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Business process

A business process is a set of business services that support a single corporate purpose.

Business service

A business service is the combination of one or more business applications plus the supporting configuration items that enable delivery of the business service to the customer. The products that IT offers its customers are internal and external business services. A business service supports zero-to-many value centers, and a business service incident usually impacts associated value centers. A value center can rely on one-to-many business services; however, an incident that affects the value center may not always affect the associated business service.

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Enterprise resource planning (ERP) is a good example of a business service. ERP is a business management system that integrates all facets of the business, including planning, manufacturing, sales, and marketing. There can be many component business applications such as inventory control, order tracking, customer service, finance, and human resources.

Business service downtime impact

Business service downtime impact (BSDI) is a metric that quantifies the cost of service downtime in monetary terms. This includes both productivity impact and business opportunity impact.

Configuration item

A configuration item (CI) is a component of your infrastructure or a business service. CIs are cataloged in your Configuration Management Database (CMDB). A CI can be a hardware component in a larger hardware system, a software application, or any other identifiable item that supports a business service.

For example, these are CIs:

• An operating system

• A monitor

• An accounting application

• A router

• A telephone

• A handheld display device

Crosstab

Crosstab (cross tabulation), also known as a contingency table, is a combination of two or more variable tables. A contingency table analyzes whether the value of one variable is associated with, or "contingent" on, another.

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Dashboards

Dashboards are a collection of analytics that contain information of interest that you want to access on a regular basis. Dashboards provide an immediate view of business activities across your organization. You can decide which analytics that you want to use in your personal dashboard.

Dashboard Manager makes it easy to choose the right out-of-box or custom analytics to populate your dashboard.

Some of the most commonly used analytics are:

• Alerts

• Gauges (such as speedometers and traffic lights)

• Interactive Metric Trends

• Maps

• Metric trees

• Pareto charts

Although dashboards do not have drill down functionality, you can drill through to other analytics.

For more information, see the Business Objects documentation: Getting Started Creating Dashboards.

Data warehouse

The data warehouse is a repository of integrated information that is available for queries and analysis. It contains the universe, which stores information in the data warehouse database.

The data warehouse enables users to run queries against a database without having to know anything about the underlying data structures in the database.

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Efficiency and effectiveness

Efficiency describes how well IT meets customer expectation with minimal resources, expense, or unnecessary effort. Effectiveness measures the degree of success in achieving a given goal.

Unlike efficiency, effectiveness does not measure the resources expended, the expense incurred, or the effort, but only the degree of success.

IT can be effective without being efficient. DecisionCenter enables you to construct scenarios that alter resources, expenses, or other efficiency components to improve effectiveness.

Impact rules

Impact rules define the effect of an incident on a business service, value center, application, or the organization. Each impact rule is associated with these characteristics:

• Incident type, such as degraded performance, limited capacity, corruption, an outage, or a request for information.

• Scope of the impact. For example, the impact might affect one user, an entire department, a business unit, or the entire enterprise.

• A schedule that defines when the rule applies. An outage at midnight might not be as expensive as an outage during normal business hours.

• Fixed amount, fixed rate, or stepped rate impact calculation.

These variables make each impact rule unique. As you expand the number of impact rules to cover different scenarios, your impact calculations become more precise. For example, if all impact rule variables are the same except for the scope, the impact cost is exponentially greater as a larger segment of the organization is affected. Different rules also enable you to calculate the impact of an outage at the:

• Business service level, which has immediate impact.

• Organization level, which extends the impact to include customer good will, lost revenue, and more.

DecisionCenter uses impact rules to calculate the impact of historical events as well as what-if scenarios.

Predictive analysis

Predictive analysis uses data mining techniques to predict future behavior, probability, and trends. The more historical data that you have, the more accurately you can predict the likelihood of future events.

For example, auto insurance companies use safety predictors such as age, gender, and driving record when they issue car insurance policies. Mortgage underwriters use financial predictors such as income, debt ratio, and payment history when they issue home mortgages.

Risk

Risk is the possibility of loss that is measurable in dollars and cents, or it could be an intangible opportunity cost. The business service owner must define the level of risk, such as the amount of acceptable downtime or economic risk. IT uses Service Level Agreements to define those requirements and set expectations for how it will support the applications and infrastructure of business service and mitigate the risk.

Here are some examples of risk:

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• A corrupt database

• A power outage

• A natural disaster that disrupts business

• A network outage during banking hours

• A fire

The list of business risks is large. Some are common to all enterprises, like a natural disaster; some are more specific to your organization or line of business.

Scenarios

Scenarios are your tools to show how a series of incidents or planned changes result in an impact value. The incidents might be an historic view of how your organization reacts when an outage occurs or a system upgrade occurs.

Each scenario has a unique name so that you can modify it or run it again with new data. A typical scenario contains information about:

• Timeframe




The scenario can reflect the current baseline, or include variations that alter the outcome. When you compare the results of a baseline scenario to the results of other scenarios with adjusted values, you can hypothesize how changes in the IT infrastructure will affect the entire organization or individual business units.

Simulation

A simulation uses ServiceCenter or Service Manager data to model how changes or incidents affect critical business units within the organization. You can specify a block of incidents that occur over a specific time interval, apply different constraints (impact rules), and create results that indicate how IT response will change when constraints change. You can save the set of constraints in a reusable scenario that you can run with new data, or change to consider the effect of new constraints.

The Optimization engine runs scenarios. It can sample historical incident data and generate ‘simulated’ incidents. DecisionCenter moves these simulated incidents through the organization model that you define, applies the impact rules that you define, and aggregates the impact of these defined operational constraints:

• Timeframe



• Changes to business services

The simulation result set appears in a report format. You can:

• Customize the views by selecting different combinations of simulation scenarios, measures, and ranking.

• Run a simulation to project impact when the constraints vary.

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• Compare the results of one simulation to another to make informed decisions about changing your IT infrastructure.

• Duplicate a saved simulation scenario, give it a unique name, and edit the associated values to simplify creating a new simulation scenario.

Universe

When you run a report, modify an existing one, or create a custom report, you use the data in the universe.

The universe file contains dimension and measurement objects that map to structures in the database. Objects represent structures such as columns, tables, and database functions.

Object Icon Description

Dimension Dimensions are non-quantifiable attributes such as Name, Company, and Location. Typically, this data creates report sections or shows detail.

Measurement Measurements contain common numeric data. They are quantifiable attributes that you include in totals, averages, and other metrics.

You can save the universe as a PDF to create a file with Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) information that shows the structure of the database tables. See the Business Objects Designer’s Guide for more information.

Value center

A value center is that part of your business that provides a product or service to an internal or external customer. It can be an entire business unit, a cost or profit center, or a functional department. It is an entity that adds value directly, or indirectly, to your customer community. An enterprise business service can have multiple associated value centers. A Claims service is an example of a business service; Claims entry, Claims processing, and Claims arbitration are examples of value centers that support the Claims business service.

It is easy to see that any revenue producing business unit can be described as a value center. However, cost centers also affect corporate value. For example, a finance department is a value center. It does not sell a product to an external customer, but its forecasts, balance sheets, public statements and other outputs affect the profitability of the enterprise.

IT is another example of a value center. How effectively it meets its Service Level Agreements obligations affects the performance and profitability of the customers that it serves.

Value centers and the Impact Calculator




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DecisionCenter administration Administrators can read the topics in this information plug-in to manage user security for DecisionCenter.

If you are a new user, the Table of Contents provides a top-down description of available features and related tasks.

• Click the plus sign (+) to expand parent topics and view the subordinate topics.

• Review the list of topics in sequential order to learn how to use each product feature successfully.

If you are an experienced user, the Search feature supports a keyword search. You can query the entire documentation set at once.

1 To search, type a value in the Search field.

2 Click Go.

Related topics

Data Data warehouse administration Customization workflow Connect-It scenario customization Data warehouse schema customization Universe customization Working with the data warehouse Data warehouse system tables Security

Data DecisionCenter needs data to produce results. The DecisionCenter Analytics component mines existing data to report historical IT metrics. The DecisionCenter Optimization component uses the same data to produce two results:

• An historical profile of IT performance levels

• A predictive profile of potential performance levels when certain constraints are applied

The Optimization feature depends on what-if scenarios that you construct to determine if your IT resource allocations are at their optimum level for cost and efficiency.

Related topics

Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

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Assignment groups




Related topics

Review assignment groups How do I change the hourly wage? Working with assignment groups

Assignment groups and data collection

Uncomplicated outages that do not require re-assignment, escalation, or intervention by multiple users are the least expensive. Re-assignment and escalation can reflect the complexity of the incident or the degree of difficulty required to close the incident. DecisionCenter uses re-assignment as a key indicator for evaluating historical cost and performance.

Historical data contains assignment group information and tracks the number of times incidents are re-assigned before they close. DecisionCenter applies work schedule data to assignment group shifts when you construct what-if scenarios.

Related topics

Assignment groups How do I add an assignment group?

How do I add an assignment group?

New assignment groups cannot influence historical performance. DecisionCenter gathers assignment group information from incident records and uses it to generate scenario results.

Note: You cannot add assignment groups, Service Level Agreements, or work schedules to your environment model.

Related topics

Assignment groups Assignment groups and data collection

CMDB role

The Configuration Management Database (CMDB) contains information about all configuration items (CIs) in the organization. IT efficiency and effectiveness depends on how well and how quickly CI outages and incidents are resolved.

In most cases, the CMDB takes advantage of database technology that offers ad hoc query functionality. A robust CMDB usually contains this CI information:

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• Hardware and software CIs (including version numbers)

• Request for Change history

• CI history

• Problem history

• Business service relationships to CIs

ServiceCenter accesses the CMDB to populate incidents and other related records automatically.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Date and time considerations

There are certain DecisionCenter processes that reference dates and time zones. ServiceCenter uses time zone information for:

• Work schedules

• Alerts

• Service Level Agreements (SLAs) and service contracts

DecisionCenter evaluates data with dates that occur only within a specified time interval. The creation date of an incident record is the date associated with the record. When you configure scenarios, you can choose the month and year when the scenario begins, and the duration of the scenario, up to a year. DecisionCenter limits simulation and optimization scenarios to one year of data.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Historical data

DecisionCenter relies on historical data that you export from ServiceCenter, transform, and load into the DecisionCenter data warehouse. All ServiceCenter tables are not required. You need to

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extract only the relevant ServiceCenter tables that contain information about incidents and the activities required to track and close them.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Incident-related costs

There is a business cost associated with each incident assigned to IT. The costs vary, depending on how complex the incident is to resolve. These variables can increase or decrease the cost to close an incident:

• Associated business services

• Availability or response Service Level Objectives

• Impact type

• Impact scope

• Staffing (labor costs)

• Timeframe (schedule)

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

ITIL considerations

The maturity of an IT organization depends on the quality of IT service delivery. IT Infrastructure Library (ITIL) standards advocate a growth model that transforms the organization each time the organization reaches a new stage. DecisionCenter works well for organizations that have relatively mature ITIL-compliant processes for:

• Service management

• Service delivery

• Service enablement

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• Service support

This maturity implies that there is a robust Configuration Management Database and that the organization adheres to ITIL best practices for each of these processes.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Labor costs

Labor costs are that part of the annual budget devoted to the number of employees in assignment groups. Assignment groups manage an incident from inception to closure. DecisionCenter calculates labor cost by mapping an individual technician to a prototypical full-time equivalent (FTE) who represents a typical employee in any assignment group. The labor cost attributed to the FTE is an average of the collective cost of assignment group employees. As an incident progresses toward closure, assignments usually change, depending on the skills required to resolve and close the incident.

When a technician is not working on an incident, the organization continues to incur a labor cost for the idle time; therefore, there must be a balance between the number of employees and SLO achievement goals. If there are aggressive availability and response time constraints, the pool of employees might need to be larger or to have advanced technical skills. These requirements escalate labor costs.

Historical scenarios calculate historical labor costs. Simulation scenarios project labor costs when constraints vary, such as increased (or decreased) staffing or changes to availability and response targets. Optimization scenarios show how potential labor costs will impact performance goals.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter

DecisionCenter requires a series of steps to transform ServiceCenter data into DecisionCenter data:

• Import ServiceCenter data into a data warehouse using HP Connect-It.

• Populate new tables that require a query or mapping to extract the right data.

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• Export data warehouse data into the DecisionCenter Optimization schema using HP Connect-It.

For more information about the ServiceCenter source tables, data warehouse tables, the Optimization tables, and the data mining steps, see the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables Mapping the bizservice table Mapping the cigroup table Mapping the cirelationship table

Mapping Request Management tables

The Request Management tables store information about service and asset requests. By default, the ocmq, ocml, and ApprovalLog (request – ApprovalLog) produced documents related to request management are checked in the ServiceCenter connector.

The related mapping documents in the Mapping (RM – Request) connector also are checked. Make sure that you do not check any mappings in the catalog connector because the two connectors cannot run at the same time.

Note: INCIDENT_D is an existing table that has additional fields to support the catalog.

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps four HP ServiceCenter Request Management tables to the DecisionCenter data warehouse tables.

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The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the incidents table to the INCIDENT_D table.

ServiceCenter table: incidents Data warehouse table: INCIDENT_D

Column name Data type Column name Data type Maximum character length

approval.status APPROVAL_STATUS

APPROVED_COUNT

SVCCART_CARTID

SVCCART_COSTID

The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the ocmq table to the REQUEST_D table.

ServiceCenter table: ocmq Data warehouse table: REQUEST_D

Column name Data type Column name Data type

Maximum character length

ALTERNATE_SOURCE_ID

APPROVAL_DURATION float

approval.status APPROVAL_STATUS varchar

APPROVED_COUNT float

APPROVED_TIME datetime

assigned.dept ASSIGNMENT_GROUP varchar 60

close.date CLOSED_TIME datetime

DATA_SOURCE varchar 30

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ServiceCenter table: ocmq Data warehouse table: REQUEST_D



DURATION float

FULFILLMENT_DURATION float

priority PRIORITY varchar

requested.for RECIPIENT varchar 140

number REQUEST_ID varchar 60

requestor.name REQUESTOR varchar 140

SEVERITY varchar 60

status STATUS varchar 60

submit.date SUBMITTED_TIME datetime

sysmodcount SYSMODCOUNT float

sysmodtime SYSMODTIME datetime

sysmoduser SYSMODUSER varchar

total.cost TOTAL_COST float

update.date UPDATED_TIME datetime

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The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the ocml table to the REQLINE_D table.

ServiceCenter table: ocml Data warehouse table: REQLINE_D


CATALOG_ID varchar 60

DATA_SOURCE datetime

unit.cost ITEM_COST float

status ITEM_STATUS varchar 60

category LINE_ITEM_CATEGORY varchar 140

LINE_ITEM_ID varchar

part.desc LINE_ITEM_NAME varchar 140

phase.num PHASE_NUMBER float

phase.num PHASE_NUMBER_KEY varchar

quantity QUANTITY float

ocmq.requested.for RECIPIENT varchar 140


REQUEST_DURATION float 60

ocmq.number REQUEST_ID varchar 60

ocmq.requestor.name REQUESTOR varchar 140

SLA_BREACHED_COUNT float

submit.date SUBMITTED_TIME datetime

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ServiceCenter table: ocml Data warehouse table: REQLINE_D





The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the ApprovalLog table to the REQ_APPROVALLOG table.

ServiceCenter table: ApprovalLog Data warehouse table: REQ_APPROVALLOG



counter COUNTER varchar 60

file.name FILE_NAME varchar


unique.key REQUEST_ID varchar 60

group APPROVER_GROUP varchar 140

name APPROVER_NAME varchar 60

APPROVAL_START_TIME datetime 1

date APPROVAL_END_TIME datetime 140

APPROVAL_DURATION float 60

Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping Service Catalog tables

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Mapping Service Catalog tables

The Service Catalog tables store information about service and asset requests. By default, the produced documents in the ServiceCenter connector related to Service Catalog are unchecked. The mapping documents in the Mapping (RM – Catalog) connector also are not checked. Make sure that you clear any mappings in the request connector and place check marks in the mappings of the catalog connector. The two connectors cannot run at the same time.

To enable requests from ServiceCatalog:

1 Clear the ocmq, ocml, and ApprovalLog (request – ApprovalLog) produced documents related to request management in the ServiceCenter connector.

2 Clear the related mapping documents in the Mapping (RM – Request) connector.

3 Check the svcCart, svcCartItem, ApprovalLog (category – ApprovalLog), and svcCatalog produced documents related to ServiceCatalog in the ServiceCenter connector.

4 Check the related mapping documents in the Mapping (RM - Catalog) connector.

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps the ServiceCenter Service Catalog tables to the DecisionCenter data warehouse tables.

The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the svcCart table to the REQUEST_D table.

ServiceCenter table: svcCart Data warehouse table: REQUEST_D

Column name Data type Column name

Data type


cartId ALTERNATE_SOURCE_ID

APPROVAL_DURATION float

interaction.'approval.status' APPROVAL_STATUS varchar

APPROVED_COUNT float

APPROVED_TIME datetime

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ServiceCenter table: svcCart Data warehouse table: REQUEST_D


Data type


interaction.assignment.assignment ASSIGNMENT_GROUP varchar 60

interaction.'close.time' CLOSED_TIME datetime


DURATION float

FULFILLMENT_DURATION float

interaction.'priority.code' PRIORITY varchar

interaction.'contact.name' RECIPIENT varchar 140

sdId REQUEST_ID varchar 60

interaction.'callback.contact' REQUESTOR varchar 140

interaction.severity SEVERITY varchar 60

interaction.open STATUS varchar 60

interaction.'open.time' SUBMITTED_TIME datetime

interaction.sysmodcount SYSMODCOUNT float

interaction.sysmodtime SYSMODTIME datetime

interaction.sysmoduser SYSMODUSER varchar

cost TOTAL_COST float

interaction.'update.time' UPDATED_TIME datetime

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The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the svcCart table to the BISVCCART_D table.

ServiceCenter table: svcCart Data warehouse table: BISVCCART_D


cartId REQUEST_ID




The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the svcCartItem table to the REQLINE_D table.

ServiceCenter table: svcCartItem Data warehouse table: REQLINE_D


Data type


svcCatalogId CATALOG_ID varchar 60

DATA_SOURCE datetime

cost ITEM_COST float

status ITEM_STATUS varchar 60

svcCatalog.parent LINE_ITEM_CATEGORY varchar 140

cartItemId LINE_ITEM_ID varchar

item.description LINE_ITEM_NAME varchar 140

cartItemId PHASE_NUMBER float

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ServiceCenter table: svcCartItem Data warehouse table: REQLINE_D


Data type


cartItemId PHASE_NUMBER_KEY varchar

quantity QUANTITY float



REQUEST_DURATION float

sdId REQUEST_ID varchar 60

requested.by REQUESTOR varchar 140

sla.breach SLA_BREACHED_COUNT float

request.time SUBMITTED_TIME datetime




APPROVAL_DURATION

FULFILLMENT_DURATION

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The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the svcCartItem table to the BISVCCARTITEM_D table.

ServiceCenter table: svcCartItem Data warehouse table: BISVCCARTITEM_D


cartItemId PHASE_NUMBER

cartItemId PHASE_NUMBER_KEY



sysmodcount SYSMODCOUNT

The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the ApprovalLog table to the REQ_APPROVALLOG table.




counter COUNTER varchar 60

file.name FILE_NAME varchar


unique.key REQUEST_ID varchar 60

group APPROVER_GROUP varchar 140

name APPROVER_NAME varchar 60

APPROVAL_START_TIME datetime 1

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date APPROVAL_END_TIME datetime 140

APPROVAL_DURATION float 60

The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the svcCatalog table to the SERVICE_CATALOG table.

ServiceCenter table: svcCatalog Data warehouse table: SERVICE_CATALOG


active ACTIVE varchar

category.type TYPE varchar

description DESCRIPTION varchar

id ID float

name NAME varchar

non.cart NON_CART varchar

owner OWNER varchar

parent PARENT_CATEGORY varchar




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Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping Request Management tables

Mapping the bizservice table

A business service is the combination of one or more business applications plus the supporting Configuration Items (CI) that enable delivery of the business service to the customer. An Email service is an example of a business service. The Email business service contains three other business services: Email A, Email B, and Email C.

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps the ServiceCenter bizservice table to the DecisionCenter data warehouse BIZSERVICE table.

The following layout shows how DecisionCenter directly maps the two tables.

ServiceCenter table: bizservice Data warehouse table: BIZSERVICE


logical.name character LOGICAL_NAME varchar 60

problem.manager character PROBLEM_MANAGER varchar 60

sysmodcount number SYSMODCOUNT float

sysmoduser character SYSMODUSER varchar 30

sysmodtime date/time SYSMODTIME datetime

Z_RDSACTIVESTATUSIND varchar 1

Z_RDSDELETEDDATE datetime

The rds_etl.xml schema defines the new directMapping table.

 <directMapping name="BIZSERVICE" dataSourceTableName="bizservice" rdsVersion="5.4"

attributeAction="add" parentDimensionTableName="DEVICE"> <directMappingFields> <directMappingField name="LOGICAL_NAME" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="PROBLEM_MANAGER" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="SYSMODCOUNT" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="SYSMODUSER" type="char" size="60"/>

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<directMappingField name="SYSMODTIME" type="date"/> </directMappingFields> <directMappingIndexes> <directMappingIndex name="UNIQBIZSERVICE_IDX"> <DirectMappingIndexKey fieldName="LOGICAL_NAME" srcFieldName="''logical.name''" srctype="char"

size="60" seqIndex="1"/> </directMappingIndex> <directMappingIndex name="DELBIZSERVICE_IDX"> <DirectMappingIndexKey fieldName="LOGICAL_NAME" srcFieldName="LOGICAL_NAME" srctype="char"

size="60"/> </directMappingIndex> </directMappingIndexes> </directMapping>

Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping the cigroup table Mapping the cirelationship table

Mapping the cigroup table

The cigroup table in HP ServiceCenter identifies a list of devices to simplify associating Configuration Items (CI) from ServiceCenter Change Management, Problem Management, and Service Level Management. The table stores information about how the CIs are grouped together. The mapped table allows reporting on CI groups.

The data warehouse mapping includes:

• Generating associations from the top CI group to the bottom leaf CI members.

• Generating relationships between the physical parent CI to children CIs.

• Providing drill-up and drill-down capability from the top CI to leaf CI members.

• Providing accurate Online Analytical Processing (OLAP) drill paths from Change Management, Problem Management, and Service Level Management.

• Providing the ability to track cigroup history changes.

Staging table

All cigroup records are mapped to the DecisionCenter data warehouse. The ServiceCenter stage.cigroup RAD application passes the information to the cigroupstage table. The staging table then maps to the DecisionCenter DEVICEGROUP_D and DEVICEGROUPMAP_D tables.

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps the ServiceCenter tables to the DecisionCenter data warehouse, creating new tables in the data warehouse. The rds_etl.xml schema defines the new tables and fields, which contain information from ServiceCenter cigroup and cigroupstage.

Mapping 1 converts the baseline ServiceCenter cigroup array into multiple records in the data warehouse DEVICEGROUP_D table. Mapping 2 tracks cigroups modtime into

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CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME and CIGROUPSTAGEMODUSER in the data warehouse DEVICEGROUP_D table.

The DEVICEGROUPMAP_D dimension table gets its information from the ServiceCenter cigroupstage table.

New tables

The rds_etl.xml schema contains three new tables to support cigroup:

• DEVICEGROUP_D dimension table

• DEVICEGROUPMAP_D dimension table

• DEVICEGROUPMAP_F fact table

When you run data synchronization, the ETL process creates the DEVICEGROUPMAP_F fact table.

The tables map the following columns:

Table name Columns

DEVICEGROUP_D GROUPNAME VERSION CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME CIGROUPSTAGEMODUSER

DEVICEGROUPMAP_D TOPCIGROUPNAME TOPCIVERSION LEAFMEMBERCI CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME CIGROUPSTAGEMODUSER

DEVICEGROUPMAP_F Z_RDSDEVICEGROUP_DID Z_RDSDEVICE_DID EXTRACT_DATETIME_ID EXIST

The rds_etl.xml schema defines the new tables.

 <dimension name="devicegroup" rdsVersion="5.4" attributeAction="add"> <dimensionTableName> DEVICEGROUP_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> cigroup </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="GROUPNAME" type="char" size="100"/>

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<dimensionTableField name="VERSION" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME" type="date"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIGROUPSTAGEMODUSER" type="char" size="60"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="devicegroup_unique"> <uniqueKey fieldName="groupname" srcFieldName="''logical.name''" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="1"

defaultValue="no match"/> <uniqueKey fieldName="version" srcFieldName="''baseline.version''.''version.number''" srctype="char"

size="100" seqIndex="2" defaultValue="no match"/> </uniqueKeys> <facts/> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension>  <dimension name="devicegroupmap" rdsVersion="5.4" attributeAction="add"> <dimensionTableName> DEVICEGROUPMAP_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> cigroupStage </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="TOPCIGROUPNAME" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="TOPCIVERSION" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="LEAFMEMBERCI" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME" type="date"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIGROUPSTAGEMODUSER" type="char" size="60"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="devicegroupmap_unique"> <uniqueKey fieldName="topcigroupname" srcFieldName="TopCIGroup" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="1"

defaultValue="no match"/> <uniqueKey fieldName="topciversion" srcFieldName="TopCIVersion" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="2"

defaultValue="no match"/> <uniqueKey fieldName="leafmemberci" srcFieldName="LeafMemberCI" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="3"

defaultValue="no match"/> </uniqueKeys> <facts> <fact name="DEVICEGROUPMAP_F"> <factKeys> <factKey name="Z_RDSDEVICEGROUPMAP_DID"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSDEVICEGROUP_DID" fieldName="TOPCIGROUPNAME" tableName="DEVICEGROUP_D"

matchFieldName="GROUPNAME"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSDEVICE_DID" fieldName="LEAFMEMBERCI" tableName="DEVICE_D"

matchFieldName="LOGICAL_NAME"/> <factKey name="EXTRACT_DATETIME_ID" fieldName="CIGROUPSTAGEMODTIME" tableName="RDS_TIMEDIM_D"

matchFieldName="FULLDATE"/> </factKeys> <factMeasures> <factMeasure name="EXIST" srcType="rdsfactless"/> </factMeasures> </fact> </facts> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension>

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Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping the bizservice table Mapping the cirelationship table

Mapping the cirelationship table

HP ServiceCenter defines the relationships of the business service and the CIs they contain in the cirelationship table. This table replaces the ServiceCenter deviceparent table. In addition, ServiceCenter has a bizservice table that stores the business services.

The cirelationship table contains the following information:

• Relationship Name

• Relationship Type; for example, Physical and Logical

• Relationship Subtype

• Upstream CI (parent CI)

• Downstream CI (children CIs)

The cirelationship table can also contain information that does not involve a business service. For example, the table can define hardware relationships: Relationship Name=hub001, Relationship Type=Physical, Relationship Subtype=Connects, Upstream CI=hub001, Downstream CIs=PC1, PC2, PC3.

Staging tables

All cirelationship records are mapped to the DecisionCenter data warehouse in a two-step process. In the first mapping, the ServiceCenter stage.cirelationship RAD application passes the information to the cirelationshipStage table that maps to the data warehouse CIRELATIONSHIP_D table.

In addition to cirelationship information mapping to CIRELATIONSHIP_D, some of the information in cirelationship maps to the DEVICEPARENT table. In this second mapping, the data warehouse manages the hierarchy structure of Business Services to process outages. The stage.cirelationshipBS RAD application creates the ServiceCenter cirelationshipBSStage.

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps the cirelationshipStage table to the DecisionCenter data warehouse CIRELATIONSHIP_D table.

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The following layout shows how DecisionCenter maps the two tables.

ServiceCenter table: cirelationshipStage Data warehouse table: CIRELATIONSHIP_D

Column name Data type Comments Column name

Data type


PhysicalParentCI character From cirelationship logical.name field

PARENTCI varchar 100

ChildCI character From cirelationship related.cis array

CHILDCI varchar 100

CIRelationshipName character From cirelationship relationship.name field

CIRELATIONSHIPNAME varchar 100

CIRelationshipType character From cirelationship relationship.type field

CIRELATIONSHIPTYPE varchar 100

CIRelationshipSubtype character From cirelationship relationship.subtype field

CIRELATIONSHIPSUBTYPE varchar 100

sysmodtime date/time CIRELATIONSHIPSTAGEMODTIME datetime

sysmoduser character From cirelationship logical.name field

CIRELATIONSHIPSTAGEMODUSER varchar 60

outage.dependency logical From cirelationship outage.dependency field

OUTAGE_DEPENDENCY varchar 10

outage.threshold number From cirelationship outage.threshold field

OUTAGE_THRESHOLD float

Z_ETLSTATUS varchar 10

Z_RDSCIRELATIONSHIP_DID numeric

Z_RDSTRANSENDDATE datetime

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ServiceCenter table: cirelationshipStage Data warehouse table: CIRELATIONSHIP_D


Data type


Z_RDSTRANSLASTIND varchar 1


Z_RDSTRANSDELETEDATE datetime

Z_RDSTRANSCREATEDATE datetime

Z_RDSTRANSLASTMODDATE datetime

The ETL process maps the cirelationshipBSStage table to the DecisionCenter data warehouse DEVICEPARENT table.

ServiceCenter table: cirelationshipBSStage Data warehouse table: DEVICEPARENT


Data type


parentCI character From cirelationship logical.name field

PARENT varchar 50

childCI character From cirelationship related.cis array

LOGICAL _NAME varchar 60

nbrLvl * character Computed by the stage.cirelationshipBS RAD application

RELATIONSHIP varchar 50

outage.threshold number From cirelationship outage.threshold field

PORT_NO float

sysmodtime date/time SYSMODTIME datetime

sysmoduser character SYSMODUSER varchar 30

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ServiceCenter table: cirelationshipBSStage Data warehouse table: DEVICEPARENT


Data type


SYSMODCOUNT float


Z_RDSDELETEDDATE datetime

The rds_etl.xml schema defines the new table.

 <dimension name="cirelationship" rdsVersion="5.4" attributeAction="add"> <dimensionTableName> CIRELATIONSHIP_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> cirelationshipStage </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="PARENTCI" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CHILDCI" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIRELATIONSHIPNAME" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIRELATIONSHIPTYPE" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIRELATIONSHIPSUBTYPE" type="char" size="100"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIRELATIONSHIPSTAGEMODTIME" type="date"/> <dimensionTableField name="CIRELATIONSHIPSTAGEMODUSER" type="char" size="60"/> <dimensionTableField name="OUTAGE_DEPENDENCY" type="char" size="1"/> <dimensionTableField name="OUTAGE_THRESHOLD" type="float"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="cirelationship_unique"> <uniqueKey fieldName="cirelationshipname" srcFieldName="CIRelationshipName" srctype="char" size="100"

seqIndex="1" defaultValue="no match"/> <uniqueKey fieldName="parentci" srcFieldName="PhysicalParentCI" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="2"

defaultValue="no match"/> <uniqueKey fieldName="childci" srcFieldName="ChildCI" srctype="char" size="100" seqIndex="3"

defaultValue="no match"/> </uniqueKeys> <facts/> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension> </dimensions>

Outage dependencies

The cirelationship table is important when identifying outages and their impact on business services. A CI relationship can define outage dependency and outage threshold.

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The outage dependency field indicates whether there is an outage dependency in the relationship. If so, the outage threshold indicates the number of downstream (children) CIs must be unavailable to cause an outage on the immediate upstream (parent) CI.

Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping the bizservice table Mapping the cigroup table

Pre-processing checklist

The out-of-box version of DecisionCenter relies on ServiceCenter or Service Manager data; however, this data requires some cleansing and customization before DecisionCenter can process the data. Required skills include knowledge of SQL, data mining techniques, and HP Connect-It.

The Data Mining tool that is part of the Business Impact Analysis (BIA) tier can assist in extracting some of the required information and populating (BIA) PREP tables. In some cases, you may require assistance from HP Professional Services.

Use this table to plan your data preparation steps. Follow the required steps in sequence. For more information, see the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Task Required? Method Required skills Notes

Import basic incident data into a DecisionCenter data warehouse.

Yes Connect-It HP Connect-It knowledge.

Create a list of business services. Yes Use ServiceCenter Client to create business services as devices, identified by the bizservice type. Define their relationship with other devices.

Business knowledge; ServiceCenter knowledge.

This is a business decision.

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Create a list of value centers. Yes Option 1: Use ServiceCenter to create the value centers as departments. Make sure that the departments are correctly associated with the incidents and the business services. Option 2: Create your own value center table; find a way to associate the value centers to the incidents and the business services. This can do this in ServiceCenter or directly in the data warehouse. This option requires a good deal of customization on the ETL tool as well.

Business knowledge; ServiceCenter knowledge or database knowledge; ETL knowledge.

This is a business decision. There is no historical significance for value centers unless you associate incident records with these value centers.

Identify a date that is the data set starting point.

Yes Business knowledge; SQL/Data analysis knowledge.

This is a business decision.

Populate the PREP_ASSIGNMENT_GROUP table with a list of assignment groups .

Yes Use the Data Mining tool (template SQL scripts).

Business knowledge.

Know about the history of assignment group reorganizations that occurred during the period to be analyzed.

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Populate the PREP_ASSIGNMENT_SHIFT table.

Yes Use the Data Mining tool (template SQL scripts). Use database tools to create new assignment shift records.

Business knowledge. Run a SQL query of the ASSIGNMENT table.

DecisionCenter needs to know the shifts in which people work in the different assignment groups. Each shift is identified by its assignment group, its work schedule (record in the CALDUTYHOUR table), and its time zone.

Populate the PREP_OPERATOR table with a list of valid operators .

Yes Use the Data Mining tool (template SQL scripts).

Business knowledge; ServiceCenter knowledge.

Know how the operators are used in your ServiceCenter instance so as to find multiple operators associated with one person, operators corresponding to automated processes, and so on.

Populate the PREP_ASSIGNMENT_TRANSITION table.

Yes Use the Data Mining tool.

Run a Java utility.

May require Professional Services, third-party utilities, or a combination of both.

Populate the PREP_BS_CI table. Yes Use the Data Mining tool (template SQL scripts).

Run a SQL query.

Creates relationships between the business service and the configuration items that support the business service. If the CI dependencies are configured correctly in ServiceCenter, the relationships are inferred automatically.

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Import new tables and data mining information into the same DecisionCenter data warehouse.

Yes Connect-It HP Connect-It knowledge.

The data warehouse will have all the information required to run impact calculations and optimization scenarios.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

Preparing data for DecisionCenter

DecisionCenter relies on incident data. Incidents are the primary input that drive IT efficiency and effectiveness metrics. Incident data usually contains a lot of details about the outage, configuration items, alerts, Service Level Objectives, and so on. Before you can use DecisionCenter effectively, you must review the baseline data to ensure that it will provide the information that DecisionCenter uses. For example, the data must reside in a supported relational data store.

Review the pre-processing checklist and ensure that your data meets the requirements. You may need to consult HP Professional Services if you need assistance preparing the data.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data ServiceCenter tables

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Sample data

DecisionCenter has out-of-box sample data that helps you understand the relationships among DecisionCenter components and how to configure your optimization scenarios. As you become skilled at using DecisionCenter with your own data, you can delete the sample data.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter ServiceCenter tables

ServiceCenter tables

DecisionCenter requires data mapping from a number of ServiceCenter tables. Most of the required mapping is accomplished using HP Connect-It scenarios. Some business decisions will determine where you obtain the data to be mapped. Ensure that you understand and complete all the data mapping tasks described in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide. You can also find a complete list of the required ServiceCenter tables and the target data warehouse and Optimization tables in the DecisionCenter Installation Guide.

Related topics

Data Assignment groups CMDB role Date and time considerations Historical data Incident-related costs ITIL considerations Labor costs Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Pre-processing checklist Preparing data for DecisionCenter Sample data

Administration troubleshooting DecisionCenter relies on third-party software for operating systems, application and Web servers, and database servers. see the documentation that is specific to your organization’s deployment.

You can deploy DecisionCenter in any environment that the compatibility matrix supports. For more information, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix (http://support.openview.hp.com/). From Reference info, click Support matrices.





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Some general troubleshooting guidelines are valid for all deployments.

• Verify that your operating system, application server, web server, and database server are compatible with the support matrix.

• If the web server is not responding, validate the network connections and make sure that there are no port conflicts.

• Ensure that the ServiceCenter server Auth code and port setting are set correctly.

DecisionCenter produces two log files that you can access to troubleshoot errors. The best practice is to install the application and Optimization engine on different servers to ensure that the logs remain separate.

The DecisionCenter application log is in this location on the Tomcat server:

\\…\WINDOWS\system32\dc.log

The DecisionCenter Optimization engine log are is in this location on the Optimization engine server:

\\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\Optimization\bin\dc.log

When troubleshooting problems with Business Objects components, see the Business Objects documentation. If the Business Objects Central Management Server (CMS) stops responding when using DecisionCenter, unexpected behavior may occur when the server restarts; for example, incorrect screens may display when trying to open a report. To avoid potential problems, do the following:

1 Log off DecisionCenter.

2 Close the browser.

3 Open a new browser.

4 Log onto DecisionCenter.

Data warehouse administration Administrators can customize the data warehouse by editing the data warehouse schema, Connect-It scenario, and the universe.

If you are a new user, the Table of Contents provides a top-down description of available features and related tasks.

1 Click the plus sign (+) to expand parent topics and view the subordinate topics.

2 Review the list of topics in sequential order to learn how to use each product feature successfully.

If you are an experienced user, the Search feature supports a keyword search. You can query the entire documentation set at once.

1 To search, type a value in the Search field.

2 Click Go.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Schema description Basic tasks: Data warehouse Synchronization Configuring the connectors

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Overview: Data warehouse

The data warehouse is a repository of integrated information that is available for queries and analysis and includes Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processes and metadata.

Some advantages of the data warehouse include:

• Reduced reporting pressure on the database

• Ability for administrators to restructure data to speed up data analysis and reporting capabilities

• Ease of use in generating new reports

• Ability for administrators to create clean data that does not require wholesale changes to the ServiceCenter or AssetCenter transactional system or business processes

• Ability to use hierarchy analysis

• Ability to use aggregate tables for better performance

• Availability of historical analysis by providing a data source that supports a longer span of time

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Design Naming conventions Overview: Metadata Data warehouse schema Extract, Transform, Load mapping information Data warehouse universe

277

Design

The data warehouse uses dimensional modeling to present data in a standard framework that is intuitive and allows for high performance access. It is extendable and provides easy management of aggregates.

The data warehouse defines tables based on the following categories.

Table category Description

Dimension HP Connect-It maps most dimension table fields directly from ServiceCenter and AssetCenter tables. Dimension tables add additional data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) attributes. Tables that include historical or time-associated data can be dimension tables. You can use dimension tables as search criteria for multiple ServiceCenter and AssetCenter reporting modules. Each dimension table has the Z_RDS(tablename)ID system key. The surrogate keys allow the data warehouse to:

• Assign a new key version for Slowly Changing Dimensions. • Encode uncertain, not known, not recorded, and null record types.

To adhere to best practices, base every join between dimension and fact tables on surrogate keys.

Fact Fact tables are the data warehouse tables created for measurements for the associated dimension tables that the reporting modules use.

Associate You can use associate tables to bridge dimension tables in the data warehouse. They can normalize many-to-many relationships and prevent data inaccuracies caused by ambiguous joins.

Direct mapping You can use ServiceCenter and AssetCenter transaction tables for detail reporting and as search criteria. These tables directly map from ServiceCenter and AssetCenter into the data warehouse.

Aggregate You can summarize your data more quickly by grouping the measures on common sort fields.

Hierarchy In ServiceCenter, hierarchy tables contain fields to create parent-child relationships between records. AssetCenter builds hierarchy tables from the fullpath field in structured data. The maximum hierarchy level is 10.

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System System tables track the data warehouse schema metadata, user security, ETL process status, and time dimension. All system table names, except BIRECORDDELETE, begin with RDS_.


Dimension HP Connect-It maps most dimension table fields directly from ServiceCenter and AssetCenter tables. Dimension tables add additional data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) attributes. Tables that include historical or time-associated data can be dimension tables. You can use dimension tables as search criteria for multiple ServiceCenter and AssetCenter reporting modules. Each dimension table has the Z_RDS(tablename)ID system key. The surrogate keys allow the data warehouse to:

• Assign a new key version for Slowly Changing Dimensions. • Encode uncertain, not known, not recorded, and null record types.

To adhere to best practices, base every join between dimension and fact tables on surrogate keys.

Fact Fact tables are the data warehouse tables created for measurements for the associated dimension tables that the reporting modules use.

Associate You can use associate tables to bridge dimension tables in the data warehouse. They can normalize many-to-many relationships and prevent data inaccuracies caused by ambiguous joins.

Direct mapping You can use ServiceCenter and AssetCenter transaction tables for detail reporting and as search criteria. These tables directly map from ServiceCenter and AssetCenter into the data warehouse.

Aggregate You can summarize your data more quickly by grouping the measures on common sort fields.

Hierarchy In ServiceCenter, hierarchy tables contain fields to create parent-child relationships between records. AssetCenter builds hierarchy tables from the fullpath field in structured data. The maximum hierarchy level is 10.

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System System tables track the data warehouse schema metadata, user security, ETL process status, and time dimension. All system table names, except BIRECORDDELETE, begin with RDS_.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Naming conventions Overview: Metadata Data warehouse schema Extract, Transform, Load mapping information Data warehouse universe

Naming conventions

Data warehouse tables use consistent naming conventions.

• Dimension table names end with _D and have a maximum length of 18 characters. The primary key for a dimension table is Z_RDSXXX_DID.

• Dimension table names use the first 15 characters from the original source table names without the S.

• Fact table names end with _F.

• Measurement names for fact tables do not use the count character.

• Aggregate table names end with _AGG.

• Associate or bridge table names use the first eight characters from the two associated table names with an underscore (_) as the separator.

• Direct mapping table names use the same name as the source name.

• The underscore (_) character replaces the dot (.) character when converting ServiceCenter and AssetCenter field names to data warehouse field names. For example, parent.name becomes parent_name.

• The maximum Direct Mapping Indexes length is 18 characters.

• Data warehouse system table names begin with RDS_.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Design Overview: Metadata Data warehouse schema Extract, Transform, Load mapping information Data warehouse universe

280

Overview: Metadata

Data warehouse metadata consists of the schema, the Extract, Load, and Transform (ETL) process, and the semantic layer (universe).

Data type Description

Schema The rds_*etl.xml file provides the schema data. The rds_etl.xsd file defines the XML schema syntax. These files are in the conf directory of the data warehouse installation: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM.

ETL mapping information

The HP Connect-It rds_*.scn scenarios describe the ETL mapping. You can use the Connect-It Scenario Builder to view the scenario files.

Universe You can use the Business Objects Designer tool to develop the data warehouse universe. You can view the object definitions, which determine how to map the fields of data warehouse tables. You can save the universe file as a PDF document with the Designer tool.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Design Naming conventions Data warehouse schema Extract, Transform, Load mapping information Data warehouse universe

Data warehouse schema

The files that define the schema data and schema syntax are in the conf directory of the data warehouse installation: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM.

File Description

rds_etl.xml Provides the data warehouse ServiceCenter schema data.

rdsac_etl.xml Provides the data warehouse AssetCenter schema data.

rds_etl.xsd Defines the XML schema syntax.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Design

281

Naming conventions Overview: Metadata Extract, Transform, Load mapping information Data warehouse universe

Extract, Transform, Load mapping information

The HP Connect-It rds_sc.scn scenario describes the metadata for Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) mapping information.

The scenario is in the /cit folder of the data warehouse installation directory.

You can use the Connect-It Scenario Builder to:

• View the scenario.

• Edit the mapping.

• Review the ETL mapping information.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Design Naming conventions Overview: Metadata Data warehouse schema Data warehouse universe

Data warehouse universe

The universe stores information in the data warehouse database. When you run a report, modify an existing one, or create a custom report, you use the metadata in the universe. The universe is in the Business Intelligence Archive Resource (BIAR) file that you import from the data warehouse installation CD.

You can use the Business Objects (BO) designer tool to:

• Develop the universe.

• View the object definitions.

• Determine how to map the data warehouse table fields.

• Create a universe metadata PDF file.

When you save the universe as a PDF, you create a file with Entity Relationship Diagram (ERD) information that shows the structure of the database tables. See the Business Objects Designer's Guide for more information.

Related topics

Overview: Data warehouse Design Naming conventions Overview: Metadata Data warehouse schema Extract, Transform, Load mapping information

282

Schema description

The schema defined in the RDS_*etl.xml file uses the XML schema in rds_etl.xsd. It is the basis for the data warehouse database. These two files are in the conf directory of the data warehouse installation: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM.

The following table definitions organize the data warehouse schema in sequential order:

• Dimension table schema (including Fact and Aggregate schemas)

• Associate table schema

• Hierarchy table schema

• Direct mapping table schema

The data warehouse schema uses the following XML syntax.

<rds> <dimensions/> <associates/> <hierarchies/> <directmappings/> </rds>

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Dimension table schema Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Dimension table schema

Dimension tables belong to the dimensions root element. You can have one or more dimension table definitions under this root element. Each dimension table definition has a dimension element name.

A dimension table definition contains the following information.

Attribute type Description

Required Dimension table name Data source table name List of field definitions List of unique key definitions

Optional List of fact table definitions List of SCD key definitions List of aggregate key definitions

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The definition section in rds_etl.xsd uses a detailed XML schema that illustrates a complex dimension table schema .

The following code shows the data warehouse schema definition for the ServiceCenter Device table.

 <dimension name="DEVICE" > <dimensionTableName>DEVICE_D</dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName>device</dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="logical_name" type="char" size="60"/> <dimensionTableField name="vendor" type="char" size="60"/> . . . <dimensionTableField name="comments" type="long"/>  <dimensionTableField name="cost_center" type="char" size="60"/>  <dimensionTableField name="assignment" type="char" size="60"/> <dimensionTableField name="port_desc" type="long"/> . . . </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="device_unique"> <uniqueKey fieldName="logical_name" srcFieldName="‘‘logical.name’’" srctype="char" size="60" defaultValue="no match"/> </uniqueKeys> <facts> <fact name="DEVICE_F"> <factKeys> <factKey name="Z_RDSDEVICE_DID"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSCONTACT_DID" fieldName="CONTACT_NAME" tableName="CONTACT_D" matchFieldName="CONTACT_NAME"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSLOCATION_DID" fieldName="LOCATION" tableName="LOCATION_D" matchFieldName="LOCATION"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSMODEL_DID" fieldName="part_no" tableName="MODEL_D" matchFieldName="part_no"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSVENDOR_DID" fieldName="VENDOR" tableName="VENDOR_D" matchFieldName="VENDOR"/> <factKey name="z_rdscompany_did" fieldName="COMPANY" tableName="COMPANY_D" matchFieldName="COMPANY"/> <factKey name="z_rdsdept_did" fieldName="dept" tableName="DEPT_D" matchFieldName="DEPT"/> <factKey name="install_dateID" fieldName="install_date" tableName="RDS_TIMEDIM_D" matchFieldName="FULLDATE"/> <factKey name="last_scanID" fieldName="last_scan" tableName="RDS_TIMEDIM_D" matchFieldName="FULLDATE"/> </factKeys> <factMeasures>  <factMeasure name="pcount" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="total_downtime" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="breaks" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="DEVICE_number" srcType="rdsfactless"/> <factMeasure name="DEVICE_SCAN" srcType="rds" sqlConditions="LAST_SCAN is not null" resetCount=""/> </factMeasures> </fact> </facts> <scdKeys>

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<scdKey rdsFieldName="network_name" srcFieldName="‘‘network.name’’" srctype="char"/> <scdKey rdsFieldName="domain" srcFieldName="domain" srctype="char"/> <scdKey rdsFieldName="contact_name" srcFieldName="‘‘contact.name’’" srctype="char"/> </scdKeys> <aggregateKeys> <aggregateKey name="type" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="subtype" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="Istatus" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="vendor" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="install_date" type="TIME"/> </aggregateKeys> </dimension>

Related topics

Schema description Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Fact table schema

You can define a fact tables in the facts element of a dimension object. A fact table cannot exist without a related dimension table.

The following code shows the XML schema definition for the FactType table.

<xsd:complexType name="FactType"> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="factKeys"> <xsd:complexType> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="factKey" type="FactKeyType" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded"/> </xsd:sequence> </xsd:complexType> </xsd:element> <xsd:element name="factMeasures"> <xsd:complexType> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element name="factMeasure" type="FactMeasureType" minOccurs="1" maxOccurs="unbounded"/> </xsd:sequence> </xsd:complexType> </xsd:element> </xsd:sequence>  <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType>

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<xsd:complexType name="FactKeyType"> <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="fieldName" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="tableName" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="matchFieldName" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType> <xsd:complexType name="FactMeasureType">    <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="srcType" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="sqlConditions" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="resetCount" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType>

The following code is an example of a fact table definition in the DEVICE dimension table.

<facts> <fact name="AMCONTRACT_F"> <factKeys> <factKey name="Z_RDSAMCONTRACT_DID"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSAMCOMPANY_DID" fieldName="LCPYID_KEY" tableName="AMCOMPANY_D" matchFieldName="LCPYID_KEY"/> <factKey name="Z_RDSAMCOSTCENTER_DID" fieldName="LCOSTID_KEY" tableName="AMCOSTCENTER_D" matchFieldName="LCOSTID_KEY"/> <factKey name="START_TIMEID" fieldName="DSTART" tableName="RDS_TIMEDIM_D" matchFieldName="FULLDATE"/> <factKey name="END_TIMEID" fieldName="DEND" tableName="RDS_TIMEDIM_D" matchFieldName="FULLDATE"/> </factKeys> <factMeasures> <factMeasure name="REF_FACTOR1" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="REF_FACTOR2" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSDURATION" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSLESSORNOTICE" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSNOTICE" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSPURCHNOTICE" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSRENNOTICE" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSDEFRENDUR" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="TSRETNOTICE" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MINTPAYAST" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MPOCOMMITMENT" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MAMOUNT" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="PDEFLRF" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MINTPAY" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MINTPAYTAX" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="PINTRENTPERCENT" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="PDEFRENPERCENT" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MASTINTPAYTAX" srcType="src"/> <factMeasure name="MMARKETVAL" srcType="src"/> </factMeasures> </fact> </facts>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema

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Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Associate table schema

Associate tables belong to the associates root element. Each associate table definition has an associate element. You can have one or more associate table definitions under this root element.

An associate table definition contains the following information.


Required Associate table name:

• Table name and field name for table 1 of the association relationship

• Table name and field name for table 2 of the association relationship

Optional Long field name Data warehouse version string

The following code shows the XML schema definition for an associate table.

<xsd:complexType name="AssociateType"> <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="rdsVersion" type="xsd:string" use="optional"/> <xsd:attribute name="tableName" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="fieldName" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="longFieldName" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="tableName2" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="fieldName2" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> </xsd:complexType>

The following code is an example of an associate table in ServiceCenter defining the link between CM3R and DEVICE.

<associates> <associate name="CM3R_DEVICE_ASS" tableName="CM3R" fieldName="logical_name" longFieldName="assets" tableName2="DEVICE" fieldName2="LOGICAL_NAME"/> </associates>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema Fact table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema

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Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Hierarchy table schema

Hierarchy tables belong to the hierarchies root element. Each hierarchy table definition has a hierarchy element. You can have one or more hierarchy table definitions under this root element.

A hierarchy table definition contains the following information.


Required Hierarchy table name Type string Level string Unique field name One of the following: Parent table name and parent field name Full path field name

Optional Data warehouse version string

The following code shows the XML schema definition for a hierarchy table.

<xsd:complexType name="HierarchyType"> <xsd:attribute name="tablename" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="rdsVersion" type="xsd:string" use="optional"/> <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="level" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="uniquefieldName" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="parenttableName" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="parentfieldname" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="fullpathfieldname" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType>

The following code is an example of the hierarchy table type.

<hierarchies> <hierarchy tablename="location" rdsVersion="5.0" type="fullpath" level="5" uniquefieldName="location" fullpathfieldname="location_full_name"/> </hierarchies>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema Fact table schema Associate table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

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Direct mapping table schema

Direct mapping tables belong to the directMappings root element. You can have one or more direct mapping table definitions under this root element. Each dimension table definition has a directMapping element name.

The following code is an XML schema definition for the directMapping table type. It references two additional definitions: directMappingFields and directMappingIndexes, which are in the RDS_etl.xsd.

<xsd:element name="directMapping">    <xsd:complexType> <xsd:sequence> <xsd:element ref="directMappingFields"/> <xsd:element ref="directMappingIndexes"/> </xsd:sequence> <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="rdsVersion" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="dataSourceTableName" type="xsd:string"/> <xsd:attribute name="parentDimensionTableName" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType> </xsd:element>

The following code is a direct mapping table for the ServiceCenter ASSIGNMENT table.

<directMapping name="assignment" dataSourceTableName="assignment"> <directMappingFields> <directMappingField name="name" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="assignment2" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="assignment3" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="reassignment" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="calendar_name" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="duty_hours" type="char" size="30"/>

<directMappingField name="type" type="char" size="30"/> <directMappingField name="reassign" type="char" size="1"/> <directMappingField name="route_to" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="route_if" type="char" size="60"/>

<directMappingField name="wdManagerName" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="sysmodcount" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="sysmoduser" type="char" size="30"/> <directMappingField name="sysmodtime" type="date"/> <directMappingField name="company" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="operators" type="long"/> </directMappingFields> <directMappingIndexes> <directMappingIndex name="UNIQASSIGNMENT_IDX"> <DirectMappingIndexKey fieldName="name" srcFieldName="name"

srctype="char" size="60" seqIndex="1"/> </directMappingIndex> </directMappingIndexes> </directMapping>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema

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Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Slowly changing dimension keys schema

Slowly changing dimension (SCD) keys belong to the scdKeys element of a dimension object. Each SCD key definition has the scdKey element with the following required attributes:

• data warehouse field name

• source field name

• source type

The Slowly Changing Dimension data problem applies to cases where the attribute for a record varies over time.

• You can solve the problem with one of the following solutions.

Problem Solution

Type 1 Replace the original record with the new record. No trace of the old record exists.

Type 2 Add a new record to the table to represent the new information. Mark the original record as non-active.

Type 3 Modify the original record to reflect the change.

The data warehouse uses the second solution. This creates a new dimension record that partitions the historical data and maintains historical accuracy of the data warehouse.

The following code shows the XML schema definition for the SCD key.

<xsd:complexType name="scdKeyType"> <xsd:attribute name="rdsFieldName" type="xsd:string" use="required"/>  <xsd:attribute name="srcFieldName" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="srctype" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> </xsd:complexType>

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The following code is an example of SCD keys defined in the ServiceCenter DEVICE table schema in the data warehouse database.

<scdKeys> <scdKey rdsFieldName="network_name" srcFieldName="‘‘network.name’’" srctype="char"/> <scdKey rdsFieldName="domain" srcFieldName="domain" srctype="char"/> <scdKey rdsFieldName="contact_name" srcFieldName="‘‘contact.name’’" srctype="char"/> </scdKeys>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

Aggregate keys schema

Aggregate keys belong to the aggregateKeys element of a dimension object. Each aggregate key definition has an aggregateKey element.

The following code shows the XML schema definition for an aggregate key.

<xsd:complexType name="aggregateKeyType">  <xsd:attribute name="name" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="type" type="xsd:string" use="required"/> <xsd:attribute name="size" type="xsd:string"/> </xsd:complexType>

The following code is an example of aggregate keys defined in the schema for the ServiceCenter DEVICE table.

<aggregateKeys> <aggregateKey name="type" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="subtype" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="Istatus" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="vendor" type="char" size="60"/> <aggregateKey name="install_date" type="TIME"/> </aggregateKeys>

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Dimension table system keys RDSInitRun Command

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Dimension table system keys

Dimension table attributes provide information to help track changes to data warehouse table reporting.

Action Result

New records are added to data warehouse dimension tables (XXX_D)

Z_RDSCREATEDDATE is set to the current time

Records are updated to data warehouse dimension tables (XXX_D)

Z_RDSLASTMODDATE is set to the current time

Records are deleted from ServiceCenter Dimension table attributes are updated: Z_RDSACTIVESTATUSIND = 'N' Z_RDSDELETEDDATE is set to the deleted synchronization time Z_RDSLASTMODDATE is set to the current time

The records are updated as slowly changing dimension (SCD)

• The original dimension table record attributes are updated: Z_RDSTRANSLASTIND='N' Z_RDSTRANSENDDATE is set to the current time

• The new record is added as ADD case • Z_RDSTRANSLASTIND = 'N' or

Z_RDSACTIVESTATUSIND = 'N' means the dimension record is no longer active

Related topics

Design Naming conventions

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RDSInitRun command

The RDSInitRun command causes the changes you make in the default rds_etl.xml file to take effect.

In the following sample commands, m means modified.

RDSInitRun RDS-Schema-XML-File Modification-Indicator

RDSInitRun

RDSInitRun rds_etl.xml

RDSInitRun testdirect.xml m

RDSInitRun testdim.xml m

RDSInitRun rds_etl.xml time

RDSInitRun rds_etl.xml m_upgrade

Related topics

Schema description Dimension table schema Fact table schema Associate table schema Hierarchy table schema Direct mapping table schema Slowly changing dimension keys schema Aggregate keys schema Dimension table system keys

Basic tasks: Data warehouse

The data warehouse interacts with the Business Objects server, HP Connect-It scenarios, and an application server. When customizing the data warehouse, administrators need to start and stop the services associated with the servers.

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Starting programs and processes Stopping programs and processes

Starting programs and processes

You can test your data warehouse customization changes after you start the servers and processes.

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To ensure you have the supported versions, see the DecisionCenter Support Matrix (http://support.openview.hp.com/). From Reference info, click Support matrices.


See your server documentation to start the Business Objects, application, and Web servers.

Related topics

Basic tasks: Data warehouse How do I start the Business Objects server? How do I start the Connect-It Scenario Builder? How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

How do I start the Business Objects server?

1 Click Start > Programs > BusinessObjects XI Release 2 > BusinessObjects Enterprise > Central Configuration Manager.

2 Select Central Management Server and click Start.

3 Select additional servers based on your environment and click Start.

Related topics

Starting programs and processes How do I start a Connect-It scenario? How do I start the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

How do I start the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

• Click Start > Programs > HP Openview > Connect-It 3.8 en > Connect-It Scenario Builder.

Related topics

Starting programs and processes How do I start the Business Objects server? How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP OpenView > Connect-It 3.8 en > Service Console.

2 Select the scenario name from the Scenario panel.

3 Click Start.

Related topics

Starting programs and processes How do I start the Business Objects server? How do I start the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

Stopping programs and processes

You need to limit user access during the customization process. Plan for a time when the system has little traffic and warn users in advance of the downtime.

See your server documentation to stop your application and Web servers.

Related topics

Basic tasks: Data warehouse How do I stop the Business Objects server?




294

How do I stop a Connect-It scenario? How do I stop the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

How do I stop the Business Objects server?


2 Select Central Management Server and click Stop.

3 Select additional servers based on your environment and click Stop.

Related topics

Stopping_programs_processes How do I stop a Connect-It scenario? How do I stop the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

How do I stop the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

• Click File > Exit.

Related topics

Stopping_programs_processes How do I stop the Business Objects server? How do I stop a Connect-It scenario?

How do I stop a Connect-It scenario?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP Openview > Connect-It 3.8 en > Service Console.


3 Click Stop.

Related topics

Stopping_programs_processes How do I stop the Business Objects server? How do I stop the Connect-It Scenario Builder?

Synchronization

DecisionCenter allows you to synchronize user records with the data warehouse. You can also synchronize your AssetCenter and ServiceCenter deletion event records in the data warehouse.

You can use the HP Connect-It Scheduler Editor to schedule automatic data synchronization.

The following table lists the files that DecisionCenter uses or creates during the synchronization process.

File name Description

rds_ac.scn rds_sc.scn

Contains the data scenario information.

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rds_ac.ini rds_sc.ini

Contains the tables that are in the sync and the time of the next scheduled data sync.

rds_ac.log rds_sc.log

Contains the data sync activity records. The system continuously appends information to this file while the service is active. You can check the log file to monitor the status of your data synchronization.

You can find the SCN and INI files in the cit directory of the data warehouse installation. The LOG files are in the logs directory of the data warehouse installation. The data warehouse installation default path is: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM for ServiceCenter and Service Manager \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM for AssetCenter

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Synchronizing deleted records Synchronizing data with Connect-It

Synchronizing deleted records

The DecisionCenter synchronization process marks AssetCenter and ServiceCenter deletion event records in the data warehouse.

To improve the general performance for identifying the records to delete, AssetCenter uses the Record Deletion Synchronization workflow and ServiceCenter invokes a delete trigger.

Related topics

Synchronization Synchronizing AssetCenter record deletions with the data warehouse Synchronizing ServiceCenter record deletions with the data warehouse

Synchronizing AssetCenter record deletions with the data warehouse

You can find the AssetCenter tables that are in the data warehouse AssetCenter schema in the import script files on the DecisionCenter installation media. The deletion workflow defined for each table triggers record deletion event logging in the AssetCenter output event table.

The deletion workflow sequentially follows these events:

1 AssetCenter updates the record deletion event log.

2 HP Connect-It extracts the event deletion information from AssetCenter and adds it to the data warehouse BIRECORDDELETE table.

3 The data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) data synchronization process reviews the outstanding deletion information stored in the data warehouse, then marks the records as deleted.

The expected outcome is that AssetCenter deletes all category="BI Deletion" event records in the amOutputEvent table from the database. The BIRECORDDELETE table in the data warehouse AssetCenter database is also empty.

Related topics

Synchronizing deleted records Synchronizing ServiceCenter record deletions with the data warehouse

296

Synchronizing ServiceCenter record deletions with the data warehouse

DecisionCenter uses ServiceCenter triggers and the data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process to synchronize record deletions.

DecisionCenter processes the data recorded in each event by:

• Finding the data warehouse table corresponding to the specified ServiceCenter table.

• Selecting the deleted record based on the primary keys.

• Marking the status of the record as Inactive, updating the deletion timestamp of the record, and updating the record accordingly.

The deletion synchronization events include:

• Saving the events: ServiceCenter triggers save deletion events for each deleted record. The system saves the table name, primary key(s) of the specified deleted record, and the timestamp of the deletion.

• Retrieving the events: When the next data warehouse data synchronization cycle starts, the data warehouse ETL process retrieves these deletion events from ServiceCenter.

• Deleting the events: After the data warehouse ETL process completes, all the deleted ServiceCenter records are properly synchronized in the data warehouse. The ServiceCenter deletion event records in ServiceCenter are removed.

Related topics

Synchronizing deleted records Synchronizing AssetCenter record deletions with the data warehouse

Synchronizing data with Connect-It

You can use HP Connect-It to populate the data warehouse database with data from the AssetCenter and ServiceCenter databases.

HP Connect-It scenarios perform the initial data population and periodic synchronization based on pre-defined scenarios. The scenario files are in the cit folder of the data warehouse installation directory. The default path is: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM for ServiceCenter \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM for AssetCenter

Connect-It Service Console

After the scenarios are configured, you can start the services in the HP Connect-It Service Console. For initial population, you must delete pre-existing rds.ini files before you can start the services.

You can start the rds_ac or rds_sc service to perform the initial data population. You can schedule data synchronization at a predefined time interval. The log files contain the synchronization activity records. The data synchronization is error-free if the log file does not contain the string -53.

Related topics

Synchronization How do I start the Connect-It service? How do I stop the Connect-It service? AssetCenter AMASSET_D table record types

How do I start the Connect-It service?


2 Select the service name from the Service panel.

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3 Click Start.

Related topics

Synchronizing data with Connect-It How do I stop the Connect-It service? AssetCenter AMASSET_D table record types

How do I stop the Connect-It service?


2 Select the service name from the Service panel.

3 Click Stop.

Related topics

Synchronizing data with Connect-It How do I start the Connect-It service? AssetCenter AMASSET_D table record types

AssetCenter AMASSET_D table record types

The data warehouse synchronizes the following records in the AMASSET_D table.

Record type Asset data type

Model.Nature.seMgtConstrain = Unique asset tag

Portfolio items with one associated asset. The value of each portfolio item record is in the General Tab > Category Section > Management constraint Field = Unique asset tag.

Computer records Records from the amComputer table with one associated Portfolio item

Software installation records Records from the amSoftInstall table with one associated Portfolio item

Related topics

Synchronizing data with Connect-It How do I start the Connect-It service? How do I stop the Connect-It service?

298

Configuring the connectors

The data warehouse installation has one out-of-box HP Connect-It (CIT) scenario for AssetCenter and one for ServiceCenter.

Database Scenario Description

AssetCenter rds_ac Synchronizes data between AssetCenter and the data warehouse database.

ServiceCenter rds_sc Synchronizes data between ServiceCenter and the data warehouse database.

The data warehouse installer automatically configures the scenarios based on the data entered during the installation process. The system displays an error message if the installer cannot automatically configure these scenarios. You must then resolve the problem and manually configure the scenarios using the Connect-It Service Console.

Related topics

Data warehouse administration How do I configure the connectors?

How do I configure the connectors?


2 Select the rds_ac.scn scenario for AssetCenter or the rds_sc.scn scenario for ServiceCenter.

3 Click Configure to open the Connector Configuration dialog box.

4 Select the ServiceCenter or Asset Management connector and click Configure connector.

5 Click Next.

6 For ServiceCenter, type the server name and port number, separated by a period (scserver.12670). For Asset Management, select a connection from the drop-down list.

7 Type the appropriate login information. The default login is bi_connector with no password.

8 Click Test to verify that the connection works.

9 Click Finish.

10 If your scenario contains the ServiceCenter_noPointer connector, repeat Step 4 through Step 9 for that connector.

11 Select the RDS connector and click Configure connector.

12 Click Next.

13 Select a Connection Type:

— For Oracle, select Oracle (native).

— For SQL Server, select ODBC.

14 Click Next.


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— For Oracle, enter a TNS name for your server.

— For SQL Server, select a DSN.

16 Type the appropriate login information. The default login is rds_dba with the password passw0rd.

17 Click Test to verify that the connection works.

18 Click Finish.

19 If your scenario contains the RDS_noModtime connector, repeat Step 11 through Step 18 for that connector.

20 After you successfully configure each connector, click Validate to close the Connector configuration dialog box.

Related topics

Configuring the connectors

Request Management scenario layout

The Request Management scenario has two connectors. You cannot run the connectors at the same time. The default Mapping (RM – Request) connector uses data from the HP ServiceCenter Request Management module. The Mapping (RM – Catalog) connector uses data from the ServiceCenter Service Catalog module. The unload file adds the required triggers for Request Management. See the Installation Guide for detailed information about setting up the Request Management scenario layout.

To set up the Request Management scenario layout:

1 Unload the DCA20.unl file to ServiceCenter or Service Manager.

2 Before you run the scenario, copy the following files from the ITPA installation media SupportFiles/CIT directory and post them to your Connect-It installation.

Copy from SupportFiles/CIT Post to Connect-It

rds.bas \\Program Files\HP OpenView\Connect-It 3.8 en\config\rds\bas\rds.bas

scdb62.cfg \\Program Files\HP OpenView\Connect-It 3.8 en\config\sc\config\scdb62

rds.scp \\Program Files\HP OpenView\Connect-It 3.8 en\config\rds\const\rds.scp

ETL data workflows

The Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process maps the following ServiceCenter tables to the DecisionCenter data warehouse tables.

Note: INCIDENT_D is an existing table that has additional fields to support the catalog.

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ServiceCenter module ServiceCenter table Data warehouse table

incidents INCIDENT_D

ocmq REQUEST_D

ocml REQLINE_D

REQUEST

ApprovalLog REQ_APPROVALLOG

svcCart REQUEST_D

svcCart BISVCCART_D

svcCartItem REQLINE_D

svcCartItem BISVCCARTITEM_D

ApprovalLog REQ_APPROVALLOG

CATALOG

svcCatalog SERVICE_CATALOG

Related topics

Mapping data warehouse data to DecisionCenter Mapping Request Management tables Mapping Service Catalog tables

Customization workflow

Data warehouse customization is a complex, multi-step process. It is important that you properly plan these changes and run them in the correct order. The recommended workflow helps you create useful and effective customizations. Contact Professional Services for any complex customization.

Note: Always customize in a test environment before implementing the changes to your production environment.

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Step 1: Plan and gather information Step 2: Stop programs and processes Step 3: Back up crucial files Step 4: Edit the data warehouse schema Step 5: Edit the Connect-It scenario Step 6: Edit the universe Step 7: Edit security profiles Step 8: Start programs and processes

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Step 1: Plan and gather information

Before you customize the data warehouse, you need to consider the impact of your changes and how new, edited, or deleted fields and tables will relate to other database objects.

Related topics

Customization workflow Who should be involved? How do I plan and gather information? What happens if I add data structures? What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

Who should be involved?

Customization impacts multiple systems in your business intelligence network. Contact your AssetCenter and ServiceCenter administrator, the database administrator (DBA) for your data warehouse database, and report designers. Give timetables to Information Technology (IT) personnel who start and stop your servers.

Related topics

Step 1: Plan and gather information How do I plan and gather information? What happens if I add data structures? What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

How do I plan and gather information?

You need to consider the following questions:

• Who should be involved?

• What happens if I add data structures?

• What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

Related topics

Step 1: Plan and gather information Who should be involved? What happens if I add data structures? What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

What happens if I add data structures?

You will want to add new AssetCenter and ServiceCenter tables and fields to the data warehouse. Answer these questions before you make any changes.

• How does this new data link to existing tables? Do you need to define a join in the RDBMS? If so, what type? Do you need to create aliases for any tables for the joins to work correctly?

• How do you want to index the new data in the RDBMS?

• Do you plan to map your tables as a DirectMapping table, or will you create Dimension, Fact, and Aggregation tables? The latter tables are more versatile but require more effort to create.

• Do you need to create a Hierarchical table to display some of the data properly?

• Do you want to track historical data in the new structures? If so, what fields will trigger the creation of an historical record?

• Do you need to create new Filter objects in the universe?

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• Do you need to edit your field and data level security to include the new data? What types of restrictions do you want to implement?

• Does AssetCenter need to add Deletion Workflows?

• Does ServiceCenter need to add Delete Triggers?

Related topics

Step 1: Plan and gather information Who should be involved? How do I plan and gather information? What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

What happens if I edit or delete existing data structures?

The data warehouse strongly discourages deletions. It is preferable to remove fields from the HP Connect-It scenario mappings or hide the related objects in the universe instead of deleting the fields from AssetCenter and ServiceCenter.

Before you edit or delete fields, consider your previous answers, and then answer the following questions.

• Are you editing data objects that link to other data objects? Do you use the edited field as a link between two tables, as part of an index or unique key combination, or part of a parent-child relationship?

• What impact does deleting or hiding this object have on other data? Does it create orphan data or render the data obsolete?

• If this is not a DirectMapping table, how does the change affect related Fact and Aggregation tables?

• Do any of the changed fields have a flag for historical tracking? Does this change require a change to that flag?

• Do you need to edit field and data level security to delete non-existing fields or update filter queries?

• Do you have to edit existing reports to reflect the database changes?

• Does AssetCenter need to edit or delete Deletion Workflows?

• Does ServiceCenter need to edit or delete the Delete Triggers function?

All customization is unique. This list of considerations is the beginning of your planning sessions.

Related topics

Step 1: Plan and gather information Who should be involved? How do I plan and gather information? What happens if I add data structures?

Step 2: Stop programs and processes

You need to limit user access to some programs during the customization process. Schedule the shutdown when the system gets little traffic and warn users of impending downtime.

Stop the following services:

• HP Connect-It rds_ac and rds_sc scenarios

• Business Objects (BO) server

• Application server

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You can then proceed to customize without clashing with existing processes.

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I stop programs and processes?

How do I stop programs and processes?

To stop the Connect-It scenario



3 Click Stop.

To stop the Business Objects server


2 Select Central Management Server.

3 Select the Business Objects services and click the Stop icon.

To stop the application server

• See your server documentation.

Related topics

Step 2: Stop programs and processes

Step 3: Back up crucial files

Before making row-level changes to your business intelligence system, back up your critical files. If you cannot complete the changes successfully, these files allow you to restore much of your original configuration quickly and accurately.

These files reflect out-of-box names.

File Description

rdsac_etl.xml rds_etl.xml

Data warehouse schema file

rds_ac.scn rds_sc.scn

HP Connect-It scenario file

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File Description

alignment analysis.unv alignment metrics.unv business impact analysis.unv business impact metrics.unv itpa asset management.unv itpa service management.unv itpm change analysis.unv itpm change metrics.unv itpm helpdesk analysis.unv itpm helpdesk metrics.unv itpm incident analysis.unv itpm incident metrics.unv itpm request analysis.unv itpm request metrics.unv simulation optimization analysis.unv

Business Objects (BO) universe file

rdms_keywords.xml Database reserved words list

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I back up crucial files?

How do I back up crucial files?

Contact your system administrator to determine the preferred backup method for your operating system.

Related topics

Step 3: Back up crucial files

Step 4: Edit the data warehouse schema

To edit the data warehouse schema file, you first start with the XML files that define the schema: rdsac_etl.xml and rds_etl.xml, located in the conf directory of the data warehouse installation: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM.

Navigate to the file and open it in a text editor or XML parser. Study the file and its structures. You can edit this file to:

• Add new tables and fields.

• Edit out-of-box fields.

• Set unique keys.

• Define Dimension, Fact, or Direct Mapping tables.

• Create Aggregated fields.

• Define the fields that trigger Historical records.

Run the data warehouse initialization tool to validate your changes.

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You need to synchronize the new tables and record deletions during the data warehouse synchronization cycle. For AssetCenter, edit the Deletion Workflows. For ServiceCenter, edit Delete Triggers.

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I edit the data warehouse schema?

How do I edit the data warehouse schema?

1 Back up the rdsac_etl.xml or rds_etl.xml schema file.

2 Use an XML editor to edit, validate, and save the schema file.

3 From the command line, navigate to the scenario location.


— If you need to initialize the database with data, run the rds_init command.

— If you have data in the tables from the initial data synchronization, run the rds_init_migrate command.

5 Verify that the data warehouse database contains the new table or field.

Related topics

Step 4: Edit the data warehouse schema

Step 5: Edit the Connect-It scenario

After editing the data warehouse schema file, you need to edit the mapping that pulls data from AssetCenter and ServiceCenter to the data warehouse.

You can open the rds_ac.scn and rds_sc.scn scenario files in HP Connect-It Scenario Builder. The files are in the data warehouse installation cit directory. The default path is: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM for ServiceCenter \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM for AssetCenter

Refresh your view of the database and add or edit mappings to reflect your changes. Then validate and test the scenarios.

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I edit the Connect-It scenario?

How do I edit the Connect-It scenario?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP OpenView > Connect-It 3.8 en > Connect-It Scenario Builder to view the current scenario.

2 Add a new mapping to the scenario.

3 Add a new field to an existing mapping.

4 Edit an existing mapping.

5 Test the customization.

6 Schedule automatic data synchronization.

Related topics

Step 5: Edit the Connect-It scenario

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Step 6: Edit the universe

After your AssetCenter and ServiceCenter data is in the data warehouse, you need to edit the metadata layer to expose this data to your end user.

You can use the Business Objects Designer to edit the ITPA Asset Management and ITPA Service Management universes. Import files in Business Objects Designer.

Change this file to:

• Create objects to expose fields to InfoView.

• Edit the objects to reflect your database changes.

• Define links and aliases for tables.

• Rename and re-order fields into meaningful objects.

• Supply descriptions for universe objects.

Make your changes and validate your links. You can then export the universe for online viewing.

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I edit the universe?

How do I edit the universe?

1 Click Start > Programs > BusinessObjects XI Release 2 > BusinessObjects Enterprise > Designer.

2 Log on as Administrator with no password.

3 Open a universe and do the following tasks as needed:

— Add a new table.

— Edit the context.

— Add a new field.

— Edit an existing field.

Related topics


Step 7: Edit security profiles

This optional step is for users who have row level security.

You can log on Business Objects Designer to edit the rights of appropriate users to the newly modified data structures. For more information, see the Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Customization workflow

Step 8: Start programs and processes

You are ready to start the system and begin testing. As a final step, restart the following processes in the specified order:

Business Objects services

HP Connect-It rds_ac and rds_sc scenarios

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Application server

Make sure to test that:

• The data shows your changes.

• Aggregations roll up correctly.

• Multiple-table queries create proper joins.

• Security settings filter data correctly.

• All standard reports still run correctly.

Related topics

Customization workflow How do I start programs and processes?

How do I start programs and processes?

To start the Business Objects server


2 Select Central Management Server.

3 Select additional servers based on your environment.

4 Click the Start or Restart icon.

To start the Connect-It scenario



3 Click Start.

To start the application server


Related topics

Step 8: Start programs and processes

Connect-It scenario customization

The data warehouse uses HP Connect-It (CIT) scenarios to import and synchronize data. You can customize the AssetCenter rds_ac.scn and ServiceCenter rds_sc.scn mappings with Connect-It Scenario Builder. You can use Scenario Builder to:

• Add new mappings

• Edit existing mappings

• Test the scenario

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• Schedule automatic data synchronization

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Step 1: View the data warehouse scenario Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario Step 3: Add a new field to an existing mapping Step 4: Edit an existing mapping Step 5: Test the customized data warehouse scenario Step 6: Schedule automatic data synchronization

Step 1: View the data warehouse scenario

The data warehouse HP Connect-It scenarios contain a collection of connectors. You can use HP Connect-It Scenario Builder to view the detailed mapping information of the configured connectors.

When HP Connect-It opens the AssetCenter or ServiceCenter data source, the document types are then available for you to select and map to the destination data warehouse database.

HP Connect-It displays a list of status messages that highlights information as it opens available document types defined in the AssetCenter or ServiceCenter source against those defined in the scenario. A red stop sign flags any inconsistency between the scenario and the source.

Warning: Do not change the scenario connector names. There is logic dependency on these names.

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I view the data warehouse scenario?

How do I view the data warehouse scenario?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP Openview > Connect-It 3.8 en > Connect-It Scenario Builder.

2 Click File > Open and navigate to the scenario. The default AssetCenter path is: \\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM\cit\rds_ac.scn

3 The default ServiceCenter path is: \\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM\cit\rds_sc.scn

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4 For AssetCenter, right-click the HP Connector for Asset Management. For ServiceCenter, right-click the HP Connector for ServiceCenter.

5 Click Open connector.

Related topics

Step 1: View the data warehouse scenario

Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario

You must add new data mappings to the scenario when you add new tables or new data fields to existing tables in the AssetCenter or ServiceCenter database. When you customize the scenario file to include the mapping information, the data in the source database tables synchronizes with the data warehouse database to make the data available for reports.

After you add the new mapping, you can use HP Connect-It Scenario Builder to:

• Define the reconciliation key of the new mapping. The reconciliation key is a unique key or combination of keys. It often is the primary key of a table.

• Add the new document to the scheduling process.

• Add additional "Z_" fields to dimension tables. These require special code. For more information, see existing dimension table mappings.

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I add mapping for a new table? How do I define the reconciliation key of a new mapping? How do I add a new document to the scheduling process?

How do I add mapping for a new table?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP OpenView > Connect-It 3.8 en > Connect-It Scenario Builder.

2 Click Open and navigate to the scenario. The default AssetCenter path is:

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM\cit\rds_ac.scn

The default ServiceCenter path is:

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM\cit\rds_sc.scn

3 For AssetCenter, right-click the Asset Management connector. For ServiceCenter, right-click the ServiceCenter connector.


5 Click the Document types tab.

6 Click Create under Produced document types.

7 In Define the produced document type, select the new table from the Document types list box.

8 Click Add to add a new table mapping to the Document types frame.

9 Click OK to add the new table as a new document type.

10 Click the Mapping connector.

11 Click the Mapping tab in the lower pane, then click Create.

12 Click the new document from the Document type drop-down list.

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13 Click OK. After Connect-It processes the new mapping definition, a mapping window opens for the new document.

14 Click the new table from the Destination list box.

15 Click Add to add the mapping from the source table to the destination table.

16 Drag the field from the source document to the corresponding field in the Element Mapping list of the destination table.

17 Define the reconciliation key.

Related topics

Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario How do I define the reconciliation key of a new mapping? How do I add a new document to the scheduling process?

How do I define the reconciliation key of a new mapping?






3 Right-click the Mapping connector.


5 Click the Mappings tab.

6 Select the new field and click Edit.

7 In the mapping panel, click the transparent key icon in front of the new field. The key turns red.

8 Click OK.

Related topics

Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario How do I add mapping for a new table? How do I add a new document to the scheduling process?

How do I add a new document to the scheduling process?

1 Click Start > Programs > HP OpenView > Connect-It > Connect-It Scenario Builder.

2 Click Open and navigate to the scenario.

3 Click Scenario > Schedulers.

4 From the Once connector, select your new document mapping in the Produced document type column.

5 Drag the entry from connector Once to connector rds_all.

6 For AssetCenter, select the new mapping, and using the Move Up icon, move it before amOutputEvent (amOutputEventSrc).

7 Save the scenario.

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Related topics

Step 2: Add a new mapping to the scenario How do I add mapping for a new table? How do I define the reconciliation key of a new mapping?

Step 3: Add a new field to an existing mapping

You must add new data mappings to the scenario when you add new data fields to existing tables in the AssetCenter or ServiceCenter database. When you customize the scenario file to include the mapping information, the data in the source database tables synchronizes with the data warehouse database to make the data available for reports.

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I add a new field to an existing mapping?

How do I add a new field to an existing mapping?






3 For AssetCenter, right-click the Asset Management connector. For ServiceCenter, right-click the ServiceCenter connector.


5 To add the field, click the Document types tab.

6 Select the table in the Produced document type pane.

7 Click Edit.

8 Click the new field from the Element list box in the left pane and click Add.

9 Click OK.

10 To add the new field mapping, click the Mapping connector.


12 Select the new mapping relationship and click Edit.

13 Select the new field from the Destination Element list box.

14 Click Add.

15 Drag the field from the Source Element list box to the Mapping Element list box.

16 Click OK.

17 Start the scenario to test it.

Related topics

Step 3: Add a new field to an existing mapping How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

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Step 4: Edit an existing mapping

When the attributes for existing fields in the ServiceCenter database and data warehouse database change, you must update the mapping information for these fields in the rds_sc.scn scenario file. After you include the mapping information, the data in the source database tables synchronizes with the data warehouse database to make the data available for reports.

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I edit the mapping of an existing field?

How do I edit the mapping of an existing field?


2 Click Open and navigate to the scenario. The default ServiceCenter path is:


3 Click Scenario > Open all connectors, then click OK to close any messages.



6 Select the mapping and click Edit a mapping pane.

7 Click OK to close any messages.

8 In the Mapping pane, select the mapping element that you are modifying and click Remove selected element.

9 Click OK.

10 Click the ServiceCenter connector.

11 Click the Document Types tab.

12 In Produced document types, select the document and click Edit produced document types.

13 Click OK to close any messages.

14 In the Document type pane, delete the field being modified.

15 In the Document types pane, double-click the field being modified to add it to the Document type pane with the new data type.

16 Click OK.



19 Select the mapping and click Edit mapping.

20 In the Source pane, drag the updated field to the equivalent field in the Destination pane.

21 Click OK.

22 Click File > Save, then Exit.

23 Start the scenario to test it.

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Related topics

Step 4: Edit an existing mapping How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

Step 5: Test the customized data warehouse scenario

After you make scenario changes, run a data synchronization to test the changes. You can view the data synchronization activities in the log file. Information appends to this file while the service is active. To adhere to best practices, check the log file to monitor your data synchronization.

The log files are in the logs directory of your data warehouse installation: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00.

Database File name

AssetCenter \ITPA-AM\rds_ac.log

ServiceCenter \ITPA-SM\rds_sc.log

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I start a Connect-It scenario?

Step 6: Schedule automatic data synchronization

The data warehouse has a set of pre-defined HP Connect-It scenario schedulers to run different synchronization tasks.

Some of the synchronization tasks require more system resources than others. To adhere to best practices, do not reconfigure the tasks to occur more frequently than the default time intervals.

You can schedule automatic data synchronization for the following scenarios.

Database Scenarios

AssetCenter rds_ac.scn

ServiceCenter rds_sc.scn

The rds_all schedule synchronizes new and updated records at the default interval of once a day at midnight.

See the HP Connect-It documentation for more information about the Scheduler Editor.

Related topics

Connect-It scenario customization How do I schedule data synchronization?

314

How do I schedule data synchronization?


2 Click the scenario.

3 Click Scheduling.

4 Click Edit Schedulers.

Related topics

Step 6: Schedule automatic data synchronization

Data warehouse schema customization

You can customize the data warehouse schema by editing the out-of-box AssetCenter rdsac_etl.xml and ServiceCenter rds_etl.xml files. When customizing any XML file, use an XML editor tool such as XML Spy, which validates your changes against the schema file.

You need to customize the data warehouse if you tailored your AssetCenter or ServiceCenter database. Data warehouse customization can include:

• Adding a new table

• Adding a new field

• Changing an existing field

Before you customize the data warehouse schema, ensure that your changes produce the desired results.

• Determine the fields and tables you need for the reports you want to create.

• Use naming conventions. To adhere to best practices, use a prefix for new tables or fields; for example, use your company initials.

The customizing instructions are for an initial setup. See the HP Software Support web site (http://www.hp.com/go/hpsoftwaresupport/) if you need to customize an existing data warehouse database.


Warning: Data loss occurs when you run the rds_init.bat file against an existing data warehouse database. Initialization drops all existing tables and recreates the database by using the currently defined schema.

Related topics

Data warehouse administration Step 1: Add a new table to the schema Step 2: Add a new field to the schema Step 3: Edit an existing field in the schema ServiceCenter triggers AssetCenter deletion workflow

Step 1: Add a new table to the schema

When you add a new AssetCenter or ServiceCenter table, you must add it to the data warehouse database if you want to include the table when you create reports. Make sure that the new table has data.




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Use the data warehouse naming conventions for the new table.

Tip: Add the system-required sysmodtime field with valid date/time data to your new ServiceCenter table to smooth data synchronization by using HP Connect-It.

Related topics

Data warehouse schema customization How do I add a new AssetCenter table to the data warehouse schema? How do I add a new ServiceCenter table to the data warehouse schema?

How do I add a new AssetCenter table to the data warehouse schema?

1 With a text editor or XML parser, edit the rdsac_etl.xml schema file to add the new table definition.

2 Save the schema file.

3 At the Command Prompt window, change the directory to the data warehouse installation directory. The default path is:

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM

4 To initialize the data warehouse database, type the following commands:

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM > cd common\bin

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM\common\bin > rds_init

5 Use the DBMS vendor tool to verify the new table.

The following example adds amPhone, a directMapping table in the AssetCenter database, to the data warehouse database. The AssetCenter table has 10 fields with lPhoneId as the primary index.

<directMapping name="AMPHONE" rdsVersion="5.2" dataSourceTableName="amPhone"> <directMappingFields> <directMappingField name="LPHONEID" type="float"/>

<directMappingField name="DTLASTMODIF" type="date"/> <directMappingField name="PHONENUM" type="char" size="30"/> <directMappingField name="EXTENSION" type="char" size="5"/> <directMappingField name="C_BVOICEMAIL" type="char"

size="10"/> <directMappingField name="C_BSPEAKER" type="char" size="10"/> <directMappingField name="CLI" type="char" size="40"/> <directMappingField name="LICONID" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="LCFO" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="LITEMID" type="float"/> </directMappingFields> <directMappingIndexes> <directMappingIndex name="UNIQAMPHONE_IDX"> <DirectMappingIndexKey fieldName="LPHONEID" srcFieldName= "lPhoneId"srctype="float" seqIndex="1"/> </directMappingIndex> </directMappingIndexes> </directMapping>

Related topics

Step 1: Add a new table to the schema How do I add a new ServiceCenter table to the data warehouse schema?

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How do I add a new ServiceCenter table to the data warehouse schema?

1 With a text editor or XML parser, edit the rds_etl.xml schema file to add the new table definition.



\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM


\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM > cd common\bin

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM\common\bin > rds_init


The following example adds companycar, a directMapping table in the ServiceCenter database, to the data warehouse database. The ServiceCenter table has 7 fields with car.id as the primary index.

<directMapping name="companycar" rdsVersion="5.2" dataSourceTableName="companycar"> <directMappingFields> <directMappingField name="name" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="car_id" type="float"/> <directMappingField name="make" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="model" type="char" size="60"/> <directMappingField name="year" type="char" size="8"/> <directMappingField name="mileage" type="long"/> <directMappingField name="sysmodtime" type="date"/> </directMappingFields> <directMappingIndexes> <directMappingIndex name="UNIQCOMPANY_CAR_IDX"> <DirectMappingIndexKey fieldName="car_id" srcFieldName="car_id" srctype="float"/> </directMappingIndex> </directMappingIndexes> </directMapping>

Related topics

Step 1: Add a new table to the schema How do I add a new AssetCenter table to the data warehouse schema?

Step 2: Add a new field to the schema

When you add a new AssetCenter or ServiceCenter field to an existing table, you must add the field to the data warehouse database if you want to include it when you create reports.

Use the data warehouse naming conventions for the new field.

Related topics

Data warehouse schema customization How do I add a new AssetCenter field to the data warehouse schema? How do I add a new ServiceCenter field to the data warehouse schema?

How do I add a new AssetCenter field to the data warehouse schema?

1 With a text editor or XML parser, edit the rdsac_etl.xml schema file to add the new field.


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\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM


\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM > cd common\bin

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-AM\common\bin > rds_init


The following example shows the new Description field in the AssetCenter amContract table. The counterpart data warehouse field name is DESCRIPTION.

<dimension name="AMCONTRACT" rdsVersion="5.2"> <dimensionTableName> AMCONTRACT_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> amContract </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="CONTRACTNO" type="char" size="20"/> ...(many dimensionTableField definitions are omitted) <dimensionTableField name="C_MPOCOMMITMENT" type="char" size="40"/> <dimensionTableField name="REF_FACTOR1" type="float"/> <dimensionTableField name="REF_FACTOR2" type="float"/> <dimensionTableField name="DESCRIPTION" type="char" size="100"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="contact_unique"> ... </uniqueKeys> <facts/> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension>

Related topics

Step 2: Add a new field to the schema How do I add a new ServiceCenter field to the data warehouse schema?

How do I add a new ServiceCenter field to the data warehouse schema?

1 With a text editor or XML parser, edit the rds_etl.xml schema file to add the new field.





\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM > cd common\bin

\\Program Files\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM\common\bin > rds_init


The following example shows the new car.id field in the ServiceCenter contacts table. The counterpart data warehouse field name is CAR_ID.

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<dimension name="CONTACT"> <dimensionTableName> CONTACT_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> contacts </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="contact_name" type="char" size="140"/> ...(a lot of dimensionTableField definitions are omitted) <dimensionTableField name="comments" type="long"/> <dimensionTableField name="car_id" type="float"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="contact_unique"> ... </uniqueKeys> <facts/> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension>

Related topics

Step 2: Add a new field to the schema How do I add a new AssetCenter field to the data warehouse schema?

Step 3: Edit an existing field in the schema

To adhere to best practices, edit the data warehouse schema if you do any of the following:

1 Change the attributes of an existing field.

2 Rename a data field.

3 Change the data field type.

4 Change the data field size.

Related topics

Data warehouse schema customization How do I edit an existing ServiceCenter field in the data warehouse schema?

How do I edit an existing ServiceCenter field in the data warehouse schema?

1 With a text editor, edit the rds_etl.xml schema file to edit the existing field.





C: >cd common\bin

C: >rds_init


The following example renames the existing cost_center field in the ServiceCenter contacts table to my_cost_center.

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<dimension name="CONTACT"> <dimensionTableName> CONTACT_D </dimensionTableName> <dataSourceTableName> contacts </dataSourceTableName> <dimensionTableFields> <dimensionTableField name="contact_name" type="char" size="140"/> ... <dimensionTableField name="my_cost_center" type="char" size="30"/> ... <dimensionTableField name= "comments" type="long"/> <dimensionTableField name="car_id" type="float"/> </dimensionTableFields> <uniqueKeys name="contact_unique"> ... </uniqueKeys> <facts/> <scdKeys/> <aggregateKeys/> </dimension>

Related topics

Step 3: Edit an existing field in the schema

ServiceCenter triggers

A ServiceCenter record deletion requires synchronization with the data warehouse database so that the information is the same in both databases. The data warehouse tracks the ServiceCenter log record deletion events.

The data warehouse tool processes deletion events during the data synchronization and marks the corresponding data warehouse record with an inactive status.

Related topics

Data warehouse schema customization Predefined ServiceCenter triggers How do I add a trigger for a new ServiceCenter table? How do I delete a trigger from a ServiceCenter table?

Predefined ServiceCenter triggers

DecisionCenter uses predefined post-delete triggers to track ServiceCenter deletion events.

The following table contains the ServiceCenter table names, corresponding data warehouse table names, and table types.

ServiceCenter table Data warehouse table Table type

activity ACTIVITY DIRECT_MAPPING

assignment ASSIGNMENT DIRECT_MAPPING

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category CATEGORY DIRECT_MAPPING

clocks CLOCK DIMENSION

cm3groups CM3GROUPS DIRECT_MAPPING

cm3r CM3R DIMENSION

cm3rcatphase CM3RCATPHASE DIRECT_MAPPING

cm3t CM3T DIMENSION

cm3tcatphase CM3TCATPHASE DIRECT_MAPPING

cmlabor CMLABOR DIMENSION

cmparts CMPART DIMENSION

company COMPANY DIMENSION

computer COMPUTER DIRECT_MAPPING

contacts CONTACT DIMENSION

country COUNTRY DIRECT_MAPPING

dept DEPT DIMENSION

device DEVICE DIMENSION

deviceparent DEVICEPARENT DIRECT_MAPPING

displaydevice DISPLAYDEVICE DIRECT_MAPPING

expline EXPLINE DIMENSION

furnishings FURNISHINGS DIRECT_MAPPING

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handhelds HANDHELDS DIRECT_MAPPING

incidents INCIDENT DIMENSION

knownerror KNOWNERROR DIRECT_MAPPING

location LOCATION DIMENSION

mainframe MAINFRAME DIRECT_MAPPING

model MODEL DIMENSION

networkcomponents NETWORKCOMPONENTS DIRECT_MAPPING

officeelectronics OFFICEELECTRONICS DIRECT_MAPPING

operator OPERATOR DIMENSION

outage OUTAGE DIMENSION

outagedetail OUTAGEDETAIL DIRECT_MAPPING

outageevent OUTAGEEVENT DIRECT_MAPPING

pcsoftware PCSOFTWARE DIRECT_MAPPING

probcause PROBCAUSE DIRECT_MAPPING

probsummary PROBSUMM DIMENSION

resolution RESOLUTION DIRECT_MAPPING

rootcause ROOTCAUS DIMENSION

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screlation SCRELATION DIRECT_MAPPING

servicecontract SERVICEC DIMENSION

servicereviews SERVICEREVIEWS DIRECT_MAPPING

sla SLA DIMENSION

slamonthlyag SLAMONTHLYAG DIRECT_MAPPING

slaresponse SLARESPONSE DIRECT_MAPPING

slo SLO DIMENSION

sloavail SLOAVAIL DIMENSION

sloresponse SLORESPONSE DIMENSION

software SOFTWARE DIRECT_MAPPING

softwarelicense SOFTWARELICENSE DIRECT_MAPPING

storage STORAGE DIRECT_MAPPING

telecom TELECOM DIRECT_MAPPING

vendor VENDOR DIMENSION

You can add and delete triggers for ServiceCenter tables.

Related topics

ServiceCenter triggers How do I add a trigger for a new ServiceCenter table? How do I delete a trigger from a ServiceCenter table?

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How do I add a trigger for a new ServiceCenter table?

This example adds a trigger to the companycar table.

1 Click Start > Programs > ServiceCenter Client 6.x > ServiceCenter Client.

2 Click File > Connect > Connections.

3 Select or configure a connection with administrative rights.

4 Click Connect.

5 Click Menu Navigation > Toolkit > Database Manager.

6 Type or select the table name triggers in the File text box.

7 Click the Search icon.

8 Type the following information. Trigger Name: companycar.bi.after.delete Table Name: companycar Trigger Type: After Delete Application: trigger.BI. eventout.write

9 Click Add.

Related topics

ServiceCenter triggers Predefined ServiceCenter triggers How do I delete a trigger from a ServiceCenter table?

How do I delete a trigger from a ServiceCenter table?

1 Click Start > Programs > ServiceCenter Client 6.x > ServiceCenter Client.

2 Click File > Connect > Connections.

3 Select or configure a connection with administrative rights.

4 Click Connect.

5 Click Menu Navigation > Toolkit > Database Manager.

6 Type or select the table name triggers in the File text box.

7 Click Search.

8 Type at least one search parameter and click Search.

9 Select the record you want to delete and click Delete. The system prompts you to confirm the deletion request.

Related topics

ServiceCenter triggers Predefined ServiceCenter triggers How do I add a trigger for a new ServiceCenter table?

AssetCenter deletion workflow

Each table in the AssetCenter database that the data warehouse references requires a defined deletion workflow. Although you can interactively define the deletion workflows in the AssetCenter user interface, by importing the definitions into the AssetCenter database you facilitate data warehouse deployment. The import script contains the following collection of script files.

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dca.lst and bi.str (dca.lst is the lead script file for the import operation) biworkflow.scr and biworkflow.scx stdactiv.txt stdevent.txt stdrelac.txt stdstart.txt stdtrans.txt stdwactn.txt stdwf.txt stdchoic.txt, stdrole.txt, stdalrm.txt A collection of VB script files in subdirectory, script_memComment, one for each dimension table.

Because the contents of these script file are cross-referenced, it is important that you do not manually edit these files.

You need to define deletion workflow for both dimension and direct mapping tables for the following 25 tables.

AMWFSCHEME key #

AMWFACTIVITYkey #

AssetCenter table name

AssetCenter Unique Key field

BI001 BI001001 amPortfolio lPortfolioItemId

BI002 BI001002 amPeriod lPeriodId

BI003 BI001003 amModel lModelId

BI004 BI001004 amBrand lBrandId

BI005 BI001005 amLocation lLocaId

BI006 BI001006 amCompany lCpyId

BI007 BI001007 amEmplDept lEmplDeptId

BI008 BI001008 amContract lCntrId

BI009 BI001009 amBudgCenter lBudgCntrId

BI010 BI001010 amCostCenter lCostId

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AMWFSCHEME key #

AMWFACTIVITYkey #

AssetCenter table name

AssetCenter Unique Key field

BI011 BI001011 amBudgLine lBudgLineId

BI012 BI001012 amExpenseLine lExpLineId

BI013 BI001013 amCntrRent lCntrRentId

BI014 BI001014 amCurrency lCurId

BI015 BI001015 amCurRate lCurRateId

BI016 BI001016 amAstProjDesc lAstProjDescId

BI017 BI001017 amProject lProjId

BI018 BI001018 amStock lStockId

BI019 BI001019 amWorkOrder lWorkOrderId

BI020 BI001020 amItemListVal lItemListValId

BI021 BI001021 amNature lNatureId

BI022 BI001022 amCostCategory lCostCatID

BI023 BI001023 amCountry lCountryId

BI024 BI001024 amBudgetCategory lBudgCatId

BI025 BI001025 amBudget lBudgId

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Related topics

Data warehouse schema customization AssetCenter VB script action definition AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter How do I import AssetCenter script files? Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

AssetCenter VB script action definition

The script file defines how AssetCenter builds the memMessage field of an amOutputEvent record for a deleted record of a specific table. The following example defines the amOutputEvent record that corresponds to a deleted amPortfolio record.

Dim lErr as long Dim hrOE as long hrOE = AmCreateRecord("amOutputEvent") lErr = AmSetFieldStrValue(hrOE, "Category", "BI Deletion" ) lErr = AmSetFieldStrValue(hrOE, "memMessage", "<BIDeletion table=amPortfolio ID=" &

[LPortfolioItemId] & "/>" ) lErr = AmInsertRecord(hrOE) ’ release handle lErr = AmReleaseHandle(hrOE)

In the predefined import scripts, each table has one action definition:

• The AssetCenter table name.

• The unique column name used inside the data warehouse AssetCenter database for the specified AssetCenter table.

The action definition in this example tracks record deletion of the AMASSET_D table in the data warehouse AssetCenter database. The AMASSET_D table maps to the amPortfolio table in the AssetCenter database. The key to finding the correct record in the AMASSET_D table for deletion handling is the lPortfolioItemId field.

Related topics

AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter How do I import AssetCenter script files? Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content

When AssetCenter deletes a record of a table with deletion workflow defined, it adds a corresponding record to the amOutputEvent table with the following content.

Field Name Description Example

CATEGORY Type of event BI Deletion

DTCREATED Date and time of event

03/07/2006 15:17:15

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creation

MEMMESSAGE Detail of the deletion event

<BIDeletion table=amPortfolio ID=20105/> means that AssetCenter deletes the amPortfolio record with LPortfolioItemId field =20105.

The import script creates the BI_Connector user to access the AssetCenter database. The user rights for BI_Connector allow for amOutputEvent record deletions. If you want to use a different user, make sure that the designated user has BI_Admin rights assigned. This ensures that processed event records are properly deleted from the AssetCenter amOutputEvent table.

Related topics

AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter VB script action definition Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter How do I import AssetCenter script files? Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter

The data warehouse for AssetCenter installation CD has the script file that imports the workflow. The file path is:

\\ITPA\ITPA-AM\SupportFiles\import\dca.lst

The deletion workflow definition and the BI-specific user profile and rights definition are in the first script file, dca.lst.

After you import the deletion workflow definitions, AssetCenter logs record deletions in the amOutputEvent table in the AssetCenter database for the data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process.

Related topics

AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter VB script action definition AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content How do I import AssetCenter script files? Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

How do I import AssetCenter script files?

1 From the DecisionCenter installation CD, copy this folder to your local computer.

\\ITPA\ITPA-AM\SupportFiles\import\dca.lst

2 Click Start > Programs > HP OpenView > AssetCenter 5.00 en > HP OpenView AssetCenter.

3 Click File > Import.

4 Click Execute a Script.

5 Click Browse to locate the folder you copied to your local computer.

6 Change the Files of Type drop-down to All Files (*.*).

7 Select dca.lst.

8 Click Import.

Related topics

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AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter VB script action definition AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information

You extract record deletion information from the AssetCenter database to the data warehouse AssetCenter database. During the data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) update cycle, HP Connect-It processes the record deletion events logged in amOutputEvent.

Connect-It filters the records in the amOutputEvent table of the BI Deletion category. For each selected amOutputEvent record, Connect-It extracts the needed information from the source event record to create a corresponding BIRECORDDELETE record in the data warehouse with the following content mapping.

AssetCenter amOutputEvent field

Data warehouse BIRECORDDELETE field

DTCREATED TIMESTAMP

Table=<> in memMessage TABLENAME

Id=<nnn> in memMessage KEYVAL1

Related topics

AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter VB script action definition AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter How do I import AssetCenter script files? Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

Marking deleted records in the data warehouse

The data warehouse inspects the content of the BIRECORDDELETE table near the end of the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process. It then processes all the records in the table. For each record in the BIRECORDDELETE table, the data warehouse process includes:

• Finding the record, as keyed by the value of KEYVAL1, in the data warehouse table that corresponds to the specified AssetCenter table. For example, it finds the value of TABLENAME.

• Marking the record inactive by updating the Z_RDSACTIVESTATUSIND field from "Y" to "N."

• Updating the deletion timestamp of the record. For example, it sets the Z_RDSDELETEDDATE field to the value of the TIMESTAMP field of the corresponding BIRECORDDELETE record.

The data warehouse removes these records from the table when it processes all the records in the BIRECORDDELETE table. At the end of the ETL process, HP Connect-it tracks the data synchronization status. AssetCenter then removes the existing BIDeletion-specific records that it finds in the amOutputEvent table.

Related topics

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AssetCenter deletion workflow AssetCenter VB script action definition AssetCenter amOutputEvent record content Importing predefined deletion workflow into AssetCenter How do I import AssetCenter script files? Extracting AssetCenter record deletion information

Universe customization

The Business Objects Designer tool allows you to customize the universe (UNV) file. The universe is the metadata layer that contains data attributes and data structures.

The universe files are in your Business Objects directory. The default path is:

\\Program Files\Business Objects\BusinessObjects Enterprise 11.5\FileStore\Input

Package Universe file name

Performance Analytics alignment analysis.unv alignment metrics.unv itpa asset management.unv itpa service management.unv itpm change analysis.unv itpm change metrics.unv itpm helpdesk analysis.unv itpm helpdesk metrics.unv itpm incident analysis.unv itpm incident metrics.unv itpm request analysis.unv itpm request metrics.unv

Business Impact Analytics business impact analysis.unv business impact metrics.unv

Impact and Optimization simulation optimization analysis.unv

After you customize the data warehouse, you need to edit the universe to show this data to your end user. You can then check database integrity and export the universe file to the Business Objects server.


Related topics

DecisionCenter administration Step 1: Edit the universe Step 2: Check the database integrity Step 3: Export the universe


The universe needs to reflect changes to the data warehouse schemas. You can use the Business Objects Designer tool to perform the following tasks:

• Add new tables with links to existing tables.

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• Add new fields.

• Change existing fields.

When you customize the universe, do the following tasks in sequential order:

1 Add a new table or field.

2 Edit the existing Context.

3 Add a new table or field to the object browser.

To adhere to best practices when you update universe objects, include a common text string in the descriptions you add or edit so that a quick search can identify them during future upgrades.


Related topics

Universe customization How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I edit the context? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I add a new field to the object browser? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

How do I add a new table to the universe?



3 Click File > Import and select the universe you want to edit.

4 Click Insert > Tables.

5 Select the table and then click Insert.

6 Click Close. The table appears in the right pane of the main window as a table object.

7 Click Insert > Join.

8 In Table 1, select the first table of the join from the drop-down list, then click the field that linked to this table.

9 In Table 2, select the data warehouse table and the field linked to this table.

10 Click Detect to determine the Cardinality of your join.

11 Read the text beneath the button that describes the join. If appropriate, change the Cardinality.

12 Click OK. A line connects the joins. You can right-click this line and select Join Properties at any time to edit the settings again.

13 Add the new join relationships to the existing Context.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I edit the context? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I add a new field to the object browser? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

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How do I edit the context?



3 Click File > Import and select the universe you want to edit.

4 Click View > List Mode.

5 Select the Context you want to edit and right-click Context Properties.

6 Add the new link to the existing context.

7 Click OK.

Tip: Press the CTRL key when adding the link so that you keep the existing links.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I add a new field to the object browser? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

How do I add a new table to the object browser?




4 Navigate to the universe file and click OK.

5 Expand the folders to open the folder with the new table.

6 Drag the new table from the right pane to the left pane.

7 To rename an object, right-click it and select Class Properties for folders or Object Properties for fields.

8 Edit the name.

9 Click OK.

10 To hide a field, right-click the object and select Hide Item(s).

11 To move an object, drag it to the desired folder.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I edit the context? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I add a new field to the object browser? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

How do I add a new field to the universe?


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5 Click Insert > Tables.

6 Expand the table to see individual fields.

7 Click the new field.

8 Click Insert.

9 Click Close.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I edit the context? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the object browser? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

How do I add a new field to the object browser?





5 Expand the folders to open the folder with the new field.

6 Right-click the folder and select Object.

7 In Edit Properties of Object 1, type a name in the Name text box.

8 In the Type drop-down list box, select a type.

9 In the Description text box, type a description for the field.

10 In the Select text box, browse or type the field in the format <tablename>.<fieldname>.

11 If appropriate, you can add filters in the Where text box.

12 Click OK to apply the changes.

13 If necessary, drag the new object to a different folder or location.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I edit the context? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I edit an existing field in the universe?

How do I edit an existing field in the universe?



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5 Browse to the field in the left pane.

6 Right-click and select Object Properties.

7 In Edit Properties, edit the Name, Type, and Description fields as needed.

Related topics

Step 1: Edit the universe How do I add a new table to the universe? How do I edit the context? How do I add a new table to the object browser? How do I add a new field to the universe? How do I add a new field to the object browser?

Step 2: Check the database integrity

After you make your changes to the universe, you need to verify that the database links are valid. Business Objects has a utility that checks the universe for problem areas.


Related topics

Universe customization How do I check database integrity?

How do I check database integrity?



3 Click File > Open.

4 Navigate to the universe file and click Open.

5 Click Tools > Check Integrity.

6 Select Check All.

7 Click OK. The utility scans the universe and suggests potential problems.

8 Correct any problems.

9 Save your changes.

Related topics

Step 2: Check the database integrity

Step 3: Export the universe

After you complete your changes to the universe and verify the integrity of the database, you can export the changes to the Business Objects server.

If you changed objects in the universe, check existing reports on your server that reference the objects. You may need to edit the query to reflect your new changes.


Related topics

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Universe customization How do I export the universe to the Business Objects server?

How do I export the universe to the Business Objects server?



3 Create a new connection, as necessary, to your data warehouse.


5 Select the universe you want to import from the Available Universes pane.

6 Click OK.

7 When a success message appears, click OK.

8 Click File > Export.

9 Verify that any exported universe has the same directory destination.

Related topics

Step 3: Export the universe

Working with the data warehouse

The data warehouse is a repository of integrated information that is available for queries and analysis. It contains the universe, which stores information in the data warehouse database.

The data warehouse interacts with the Business Objects server, HP Connect-It scenarios, and an application server.

To start the Business Objects server


2 Select Central Management Server and click Start.

3 Select additional servers based on your environment and click Start.

To stop the Business Objects server


2 Select Central Management Server and click Stop.

3 Select additional servers based on your environment and click Stop.

To edit the universe



3 Open a universe and do the following tasks as needed:

— Add a new table.

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— Edit the context.

— Add a new field.

— Edit an existing field.

To export the universe to the Business Objects server



3 Create a new connection, as necessary, to your data warehouse.


5 Select the universe you want to import from the Available Universes pane.

6 Click OK.

7 When a success message appears, click OK.

8 Click File > Export.

9 Verify that any exported universe has the same directory destination.

To edit the data warehouse schema

1 Back up the rdsac_etl.xml or rds_etl.xml schema file.

2 Use an XML editor to edit, validate, and save the schema file.

3 From the command line, navigate to the scenario location.


— If you need to initialize the database with data, run the rds_init command.

— If you have data in the tables from the initial data synchronization, run the rds_init_migrate command.

5 Verify that the data warehouse database contains the new table or field.

To start the Connect-It scenario



3 Click Start.

To stop the Connect-It scenario



3 Click Stop.

To start the Connect-It Scenario Builder

• Click Start > Programs > HP Openview > Connect-It 3.8 en > Connect-It Scenario Builder.

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To stop the Connect-It Scenario Builder

• Click File > Exit.

To view the data warehouse scenario






3 For AssetCenter, right-click the HP Connector for Asset Management. For ServiceCenter, right-click the HP Connector for ServiceCenter.


To start and stop the application server


Related topics

Data warehouse administration Overview: Data warehouse Basic tasks: Data warehouse Synchronization Customization workflow Data warehouse schema customization Connect-It scenario customization Universe customization Data warehouse system tables

Data warehouse system tables

The system tables in the data warehouse provide information about schema metadata, the data warehouse environment, Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processing, and time dimension reporting.

Table purpose Table name

Track schema metadata RDS_SCDCOLUMN RDS_SEQUENCE RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN

Store environment data RDS_DBINFO

Track ETL processing RDS_CIT_LOG RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG RDS_CITSYNC_LOG RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG

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Table purpose Table name

RDS_LOGINFO

Provide time measurements RDS_TIMEDIM_D

Related topics

DecisionCenter administration RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_CIT_LOG table

The RDS_CIT_LOG table tracks the internal data warehouse Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) processing status.

Name Null? Type Description

ID Not NULL NUMBER(10) Unique system key

STATE_FLAG VARCHAR2(60) ETL process status

CIT_TIME DATE ETL process time

The STATE_FLAG values show the ETL process status.

Value Description

CIT_START Data warehouse HP Connect-It scenario initial or periodic synchronization starts

CIT_FAILED Connect-It scenario initial or periodic synchronization fails

RDS_SYNC_FACT_START Data warehouse fact tables population starts

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Value Description

RDS_SYNC_ASSOCIATE_START Data warehouse associate tables population starts

RDS_SYNC_DELTRAN_START Data warehouse deletion synchronization starts

RDS_SYNC_SYSTEM_START Data warehouse system tables population starts

RDS_AGG_START Data warehouse aggregation tables population starts

RDS_HIER_START Data warehouse hierarchy tables population starts

COMPLETED ETL process is completed

Related topics

RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table

The RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table tracks the Connect-It schedule pointer records, which enable you to recover only those records that were modified or created since the last scenario startup.


RDS_CITSCHEDLOG_ID Not NULL NUMBER Unique ID

TABLE_NAME Not NULL VARCHAR(80) Source table name

LASTSYNC_DATE DATE Last synchronization time

SCENARIO_NAME Not NULL VARCHAR(30) Connect-It scenario name

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Z_RDSCREATEDDATE DATE Date record was created

Z_RDSMODIFIEDDATE DATE Date record was modified

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table

The RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table tracks records mapped in source and target connectors.


RDS_CITSYNCLOG_ID Not NULL

NUMBER Unique ID

TABLE_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR(80) Source / target table name

CONNECTOR_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR(80) Connect-It connector name

SYNC_RECORD_COUNT Not NULL

NUMBER Number of synchronized records

DATE_LOGGED DATE Date logged in CITLOG table in Connect-It monitoring database

ETYPE Not NULL

NUMBER Type of log in CITLOG table in Connect-It monitoring database

LLOGID Not NULL

NUMBER Unique ID in CITLOG table

LSESSIONID Not NULL

NUMBER Unique Connect-It session ID

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SCENARIO_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR(30) Connect-It scenario name


Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_DBINFO table

The RDS_DBINFO table stores information about the data warehouse deployment environment.


Z_RDS_DBINFO_ID Not NULL NUMBER(10) Unique system key

OSTYPE VARCHAR2(20) Operating systems type

DATABASETYPE VARCHAR2(20) Database type

DATABASENAME VARCHAR2(20) Database name

DATABASEURL VARCHAR2(100) JDBC URL to connect

USERID VARCHAR2(20) User name to access the database

USERPASSWORD VARCHAR2(20) User password

PROG_PATH VARCHAR2(100) Data warehouse installation path

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PROG_NAME VARCHAR2(100) Data warehouse program name

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table

The RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table provides information about the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) synchronization volume.

The following example contains RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG information.


RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG_ID Not NULL NUMBER Unique system key

TABLE_NAME Not NULL VARCHAR2(80) Populated table name

TABLE_ACTION Not NULL VARCHAR2(80) ETL process updating action codes:Add Update Update with SCD Delete Log

SYNC_RECORD_COUNT Not NULL NUMBER Total record number of the updating described by the action code

SYNC_DATETIME DATE Sync date time

Z_RDSCREATEDDATE DATE Track record creation date time

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table

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RDS_DBINFO table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_LOGINFO table

The RDS_LOGINFO table tracks the status of the Extract, Transform, and Load process.


RDS_LOGINFO_ID Not NULL

NUMBER Unique ID

CHKPOINT_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR(30) Name of validating tool

STATUS Not NULL

VARCHAR(80) Process status

ERRORCODE NUMBER Error code from CITLOG table in Connect-It monitoring database

ERRORDESC VARCHAR(255) Error description

CONTEXT VARCHAR(255) Message context from CITLOG table in Connect-It monitoring database

LSESSIONID NUMBER Unique Connect-It session ID

SCENARIO_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR(30) Connect-It scenario name


Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

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RDS_SCDCOLUMN table

The RDS_SCDCOLUMN table tracks the Slowly Changing Dimension (SCD) columns for dimension tables. The data warehouse HP Connect-It scenario uses this information to update the information with a simple overwrite procedure or the SCD Type Two update in the Extract, Transform, and Load (ETL) process. The SCD Type Two updating process creates a new record and marks the existing record as old in dimension tables.

The following example contains RDS_SCDCOLUMN table columns in an Oracle database.


LRDS_SCDCOLUMN_ID Not NULL

NUMBER(10) Unique system key

TABLE_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the table as it appears in the data warehouse database, without any suffixes

SRC_SCDCOLUMN Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the column as it appears in the original data source. If this contains a period, it must have single quotation marks.

RDS_SCDCOLUMN Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the column as it appears in the data warehouse

TYPE_SCDCOLUMN Not NULL

VARCHAR2(30) The data type of the column in the original source data

TABLE_SCDNUMBER Not NULL

NUMBER(10) The sequence number of the SCD column if more than one

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_SEQUENCE table

The RDS_SEQUENCE table stores the next available sequence value for the unique system keys for all data warehouse tables.

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LRDS_SEQUENCE_ID Not NULL NUMBER(10) Unique system key

TABLE_NAME Not NULL VARCHAR2(80) Data warehouse table name

TABLE_SEQUENCE Not NULL NUMBER(0) Sequence value

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_TIMEDIM_D table

The data warehouse time dimension table provides the mechanism for DecisionCenter reporting based on days, months, quarters and years.

All data warehouse aggregation tables end with _AGG. Table name conventions pertain to weeks, quarters and months, and years. RDS_TIMEDIM_D stores the calendar days from 1995 to 2010. The data warehouse installer sets the start-year and end-year values, and saves them in the rds.properties file of the data warehouse installation conf directory: \\…\HP\DecisionCenter 2.00\ITPA-SM.

rds.startDate=1995 rds.endDate=2010

The following example contains time dimension table columns information.

Name Null? Type

RDS_TIMEDIM_DID Not NULL

NUMBER

FULLDATE VARCHAR2(20)

WEEK VARCHAR2(10)

MONTH VARCHAR2(20)

QUARTER VARACHAR2(4)

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Name Null? Type

YEAR VARCHARS2(10)

FISCALPERIOD VARCHAR2(4)

LASTDAYINMONTHFLAG CHAR(1)

FULLDATE_D DATE

MONTH_NUMERIC NUMBER

QUALIFIED_QUARTER VARCHAR(15)

QUALIFIED_MONTH VARCHAR(15)

QUALIFIED_WEEK VARCHAR(15)

FISCALYEAR VARCHAR(10)

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table

The RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table tracks the unique columns for the reporting tables. It also includes unique fields for the ServiceCenter and AssetCenter source files. The data warehouse schema creation program uses this information to create unique indexes for data warehouse reporting tables. The HP Connect-It scenarios use the unique field values to add new or update existing records in the Extract, Transform, and Load process.

The following example contains RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN table columns in an Oracle database.


LRDS_UNIQUECOLUMN_ID Not NULL

NUMBER(10) Unique system key

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TABLE_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the table as it appears in the data warehouse database, without any suffixes

TABLE_TYPE VARCHAR2(80) Data warehouse table type as one of following values: DIMENSION DIRECT_MAPPING

DS_TABLE_NAME Not NULL

VARCHAR2(30) The name of the table or file as it appears in the original ServiceCenter or AssetCenter data source

DS_TABLE_TYPE Not NULL

VARCHAR2(30) File type has the following values: DATA_SOURCE (as a source file) PARENT_DIM Note: Use PARENT_DIM information for cascading delete. When the value of DS_TABLE_NAME is deleted from the data source, the corresponding record in the TABLE_NAME table is marked as inactive.

SRC_UNIQUECOLUMN Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the column as it appears in the original data source. If this contains a period, it must have single quotation marks.

RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN Not NULL

VARCHAR2(80) The name of the column as it appears in the data warehouse

TYPE_UNIQUECOLUMN VARCHAR2(30) The data type of the column in the original data source

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TABLE_UNIQUENUMBER Not NULL

VARCHAR2(10) Index of the field in the unique key. Note: If the table uses a single field key, it is always 1. If the key contains multiple fields, this lists the field order in the key.

In the following example, the CLOCK table uses four fields to build its key.

DS_TABLE_NAME SRC_UNIQUECOLUMN RDS_UNIQUECOLUMN TABLE_UNIQUENUMBER

clocks TYPE TYPEPRGN 1

clocks ‘KEY.CHAR’ KEY_CHAR 2

clocks ‘KEY.NUMERIC’ KEY_NUMERIC_KEY 3

clocks NAME NAME 4

Related topics

RDS_CIT_LOG table RDS_CITSCHPTR_LOG table RDS_CITSYNC_LOG table RDS_DBINFO table RDS_ETLSYNC_LOG table RDS_LOGINFO table RDS_SCDCOLUMN table RDS_SEQUENCE table RDS_TIMEDIM_D table

Security

DecisionCenter security models use predefined access levels and security roles. Administrators must grant access rights to the groups and security roles in Business Objects.

DecisionCenter supports Lightweight Directory Access Protocol (LDAP) authentication. The BI Authentication Processing filter validates users and groups.

The steps to enable LDAP are:

1 Set up the LDAP server.

2 Create DecisionCenter users and groups in the LDAP server.

3 Configure LDAP authentication in Business Objects.

You must configure the Business Objects LDAP host server to authenticate in Business Objects.

For more information about LDAP in Business Objects, see your Business Objects documentation.

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Related topics

DecisionCenter Administration Access levels Security roles Security profiles Data level access restrictions Out-of-box report safeguards

Access levels

Each DecisionCenter access level has associated folders and groups that require authentication.

Access level name Folder and menu access Folder access rights

Performance Analytics (ITPA) IT Financial Management Service Level Management Change Management Incident Management Problem Management Request Management Service Desk

SSTR IT Financial Management SSDA Service Level Management STRN Change Management SOPR Incident Management SOPR Problem Management SOPR Request Management SOPR Service Desk

Business Impact Analysis (BIA) Business Impact SSTR Business Impact

Performance Optimization (ITPO) Not applicable ITPO Simulation and Optimization

For more information about granting access to folders for groups, see your Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Security Security roles Security profiles Data level access restrictions Out-of-box report safeguards

Security roles

The DecisionCenter security roles determine group access levels. The roles map to Business Objects Central Management Server (CMS) and Performance Management (PM) rights.

Role Activity Mapping to CMS Mapping to PM

General Management (GM)

Analytics capability to view historical and operational statistics and access analytics function capabilities

View on Demand predefined access level

Advanced predefined access level with General category to view dashboards

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Role Activity Mapping to CMS Mapping to PM

Advanced Analysis (AA)

Analytics capability to view and edit analytics and metrics and access analytics function capabilities

Full Control predefined access level

Advanced predefined access level with App Foundation category

Administration (Admin)

Access to all GM and AA capabilities plus all administration system tasks

Advanced predefined access level

Advanced predefined access level with all PM access categories

For more information about predefined access levels, see your Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Security Access levels Security profiles Data level access restrictions Out-of-box report safeguards

Security profiles

Administrators must validate users and groups in the LDAP server. Changes to group names require changes to both the web.xml file and the LDAP server. DecisionCenter has the following out-of-box groups.

Analytic type

General Management role

Advanced Analysis role

Administration role

Performance Analytics

ITPA_GM ITPA_AA ITPA_Admin

Business Impact Analytics

BIA_GM BIA_AA BIA_Admin

Performance Optimization

ITPO_GM ITPO_AA ITPO_Admin

For more information about mapping LDAP group in Business Objects, see your Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Security Access levels Security roles Data level access restrictions Out-of-box report safeguards

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Data level access restrictions

DecisionCenter has no predefined data level security. Administrators can use the Business Objects universe security level to implement their own data levels.

Level type Description

Object Objects that are not available to the universe query.

Row WHERE clause that restricts access to row and limits the result set that the query returns.

For more information, see your Business Objects documentation.

Related topics

Security Access levels Security roles Security profiles Out-of-box report safeguards

Out-of-box report safeguards

You can prevent users from overwriting customizations to the out-of-box reports by applying security access settings. To adhere to best practices, save a copy of the out-of-box reports to another folder, and then modify the copy.

You can use the Business Objects Central Management Console to set security access to folders.

1 Click Start > Programs > Business Objects XI Release 2 > BusinessObjects Enterprise > BusinessObjects Enterprise Java Administration Launchpad.

2 Click Central Management Console.

3 Log on as Administrator.

4 Select Folders > Folder Title (for example, ITPA Service Management).

5 Click the Rights tab.

6 In the Access Level column next to the user or group, select Advanced from the drop-down menu.

7 On Advanced Rights, change the Advanced Access Level setting for The Right To:

— Copy object to another folder, select Explicitly Granted.

— Edit objects, select Explicitly Deny.

By setting the edit object function to deny, the user or group cannot save or overwrite the report. Because the modify link is available on the report, users have the save as option to save the report to another folder where they have rights to modify that report. All report modifications must be on the copy, not the original, out-of-box reports.

For more information about security access settings, see your Business Objects documentation.

Documents

DC 2.00 User Guide