Some weeks ago I released the first Version of the SCSM Extensions OIP. This OIP allows Administrators to create workflows in Opalis to automate things. It contains some activities that are not contained in the SCSM OIP from Microsoft. During my work with Service Manager, I learned what customers are expecting from the product and what their needs are. To make life easier, I created a new Version of the OIP that now contains 15 Activities that can be used to build workflows in Opalis. This was some hard work, but I think the result was worth it.

Here we go with the Activities …

• Auto-Close resolved Incidents
• Auto-Close resolved Problems
• Auto-Close completed Change requests
• Get overdue Incidents
• Get escalated Incidents
• Get unassigned Incidents (not assigned to Analyst)
• Get unassigned Incidents (not assigned to Support Group)
• Get unassigned Incidents (not assigned to Analyst nor to a Support Group)
• Get unassigned Problems
• Get unassigned Change Requests
• Get overdue Change Requests
• Get unassigned Manual Activities
• Get overdue Manual Activities
• Get Review Activities without Reviewers
• Export unsealed Management Packs

Here is a simple example how the OIP can be used. It shows how to detect unassigned Problems and send them by Mail to a Manager that can then assign it to the correct Analyst.

First, lets take a look at the complete workflow. The workflow will get all unassigned Problems from Service Manager and store the results in a file. This file will then be used as a data source to send an e-mail.

• Delete File

I use a temporary file to store information. Because this is the same file every time the workflow runs, it will be deleted first.

• Get unassigned Problems

This is the Activity from the OIP that gets all unassigned Problems from Service Manager. Normally you only want to have active Problems in the result set, but the Activity lets you also choose another status. Just enter the desired status.

• Compare Values

To make sure that a mail is sent only in situations when there are unassigned Problems, this Activity checks if the previous Activity returned results or not. I use Published Data (Problem Title) to check that.

It’s now important to configure the next Link correctly. To workflow should only proceed when the Published Data (Problem Title) is not empty.

• Append Line

If one or more Problems were returned, the desired information is written to a text file.

• Junction

The Junction Activity is needed to make sure that only a single Mail is sent to the recipient. Without a Junction, the recipient will get one Mail for every unassigned Problem. No special configuration is needed for this Activity.

• Read Line

With the next activity we are going to read back the information that was written to the temporary file before. It’s important to flatten the results with line breaks.

• Send Email

The last activity sends out the mail. I again use Published Data from the previous Activity to insert the text to the mail body.

Now let’s see the result. If unassigned Problems are detected, a mail is sent to the specified recipient.

Of course, to automate things you have to run this workflow on a regular basis for example by using a “Monitor Date/Time” Activity.

What do you think? Is this OIP useful for your work with Service Manager? Do you have any ideas for more Activities that could be added? I very appreciate your input on this!

Get the SCSM Extensions OIP from Codeplex!

See SCSM Extensions 2.0 Documentation (PDF) for all details –> http://download.codeplex.com/Project/Download/FileDownload.aspx?ProjectName=scsmoip&DownloadId=234481

regards
Marcel