Configuration
LiveTime Help Desk uses a centralized Configuration Management System (CMS) to control infrastructure information. The CMS is the focal point of LiveTime’s integrated service and support processes including Incident Management, Service Level Management and Configuration Management.
LiveTime’s active CMS can be scheduled to automatically synchronize with third party asset discovery and management tools. This ensures service desk staff access the most up to date infrastructure information when working on support issues.
At its simplest level the CMS can be used to store corporate hardware and software asset details and the dependencies (relationships). This can be refined within LiveTime using the item-type templates. These allow users to define custom attributes or specific information that is to be recorded against a configuration item.
Snapshots and Rollbacks
The CMS allows Configuration Item (CI) baselines to be set by Users. This means a snapshot of a CI is frozen at a point in time, so if any future changes made to a CI are not successful, the CI can be easily reverted to its previous state.
LiveTime’s CMS implementation also enables users to define CI lifecycles (stages). It defines lifecycles and attributes to record and report on previous, current and planned states of a CI. This allows items to be moved, tracked and checked for things like cost, time, authorization and completion.
ITIL Compatible
LiveTime’s CMS is ITIL compatible and meets all the objectives of ITIL’s configuration management process for identifying and recording infrastructure information.
Service Catalogs
Once you’ve synchronized your asset management register(s) with LiveTime Help Desk, the next step is to define the service catalog using LiveTime’s advanced item configuration, relationship and lifecycle editors.
The service catalog defines the relationships between items managed by LiveTime. LiveTime Help Desk is deployed with default relationships that can be edited to suit your environment. Build item relationships using either a top-down or bottom-up approach.
- Service Oriented: a top down relationship view, that starts with the service and breaks it down it components.
- Component Oriented: a bottom up relationship view, that builds up to the service with individual components.
When the relationship orientation has been defined then CI relationships can be set using any of the following types:
- Hierarchical – defines ownership, such as Parent/Child relationship. For example, an application is installed on an Operating System.
- Connection – defines an association, such as something accesses something. For example, an application draws from a database installed on another machine.
The service catalog, through its use of the CMS lifecycle and relationship management ensures organizations look at the big picture when is comes to measuring the impact of IT service and support.
