This section of the documentation focuses on activities carried out in CDESK on a regular and automated basis — that is, according to predefined rules, repeatedly and without the need to create each record manually. Instead of a one-off response to the current situation, you set up a rule or plan here and CDESK takes care of it from then on – it generates a record at the right time, notifies you of an approaching date, informs those concerned about the scheduled work or, in certain presentations, indicates the status of routine maintenance.
This chapter covers three features – Regular requests, Reminder (CMDB) and Planned work. What they have in common is that they work with time and recurrence – whether it be regularly recurring maintenance, a timely reminder of an important date, or a pre-planned and announced intervention.
Key features:
- Automated record creation – requests and reminders are generated automatically based on pre-set rules, without the need for manual entry.
- Schedule recurrence – tasks are run at regular intervals (daily, weekly, monthly, annually or by calendar week).
- Generation based on parameters – certain activities are run based on the value of a monitored object from the configuration management database (CMDB), not just by time.
- Timely notices of dates – the system tracks important dates and alerts users to approaching dates well in advance.
- Informing those affected – customers and users are informed in advance of planned work via announcements, a widget on the dashboard and email notifications.
- Connection with the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) – activities can be linked to specific objects (Devices, Services, Contracts), providing you with accurate records and data for reports.
- Evidence to demonstrate reliability – lists of planned works and actual outages serve as proof of compliance with agreed service availability targets.
Overview of features
Each of these functions handles a different aspect of routine and scheduled activities – from the automatic generation of requests, through the monitoring of important dates, to the planning and notification of interventions.
Regular requests
Regular requests are rules from which CDESK automatically and repeatedly generates common requests. They are suitable for activities that are carried out on a regular basis, such as periodic maintenance, inspections, checks or routine servicing. Instead of repeatedly creating the same request manually, you simply need to set up a single rule, and CDESK will use it to create a specific request in the request list at the appropriate time.
- Generation can be based on a schedule (daily, weekly, monthly, annually, by calendar week) or on a CMDB object parameter (for example, when a monitored value rises or falls by a specified amount).
- Generated requests are viewed in the request list with the ‘Regular request’ flag and are handled according to the standard procedure.
- Response and completion deadlines are specified precisely (in number of days); the SLA does not apply to these requests.
- The generation process has a clearly defined start and end and can be paused at any time.
Reminder
The Reminder (CMDB) automatically tracks important dates and sends you a warning well in advance of the approaching date. It links to the date properties of objects in the configuration management database (CMDB) — typically dates such as contract or licence expiry dates, inspection dates, check dates or warranty expiry dates.
- It monitors the date properties of objects in the configuration management database (CMDB) and evaluates upcoming dates without the need to manually track individual dates.
- Generated reminders are recorded in a clear Reminder List alongside their current state (active, pending, done by).
Planned work
Planned work is used to record and make announcements to customers about pre-planned interventions, such as scheduled maintenance or outages. The aim is to inform affected customers and users in good time so that they are not caught off guard by a planned outage, whilst also recording the proceedings of the work and any actual outages.
- It provides an overview of planned work and informs those affected in advance via the linked ‘Announcements’ module, a widget on the home screen, the calendar and via email notifications.
- It records actual outages and assesses whether the agreed service availability has been met.
- When linked to objects in the configuration management database (CMDB), it provides