Q&A: Separate Ivanti Service Manager (ISM) instance for AP ticketing?

This is a question from a client in Canada.

Q: If needed are we able to create a separate instance for AP Ticketing?

So by “Ticketing” the Service Desk Manager is referring to incident management and service requests that Accounts Payable is currently handling with eMail and want to replace with Ivanti Service Manager which is already used by their IT Service Desk.

Funny enough I had a similar question from a client in the UK that wants to onboard other divisions and groups using email and other systems in Asia.

A. You could but a better way would be to configure your existing tenant (instance) with a new role specific for AP with record level access rights for AP to have access to only their “tickets” and no access to IT and vice versa. You can also customize the Self Service portal with “extended roles” so that Vendors and AP Customers have a Self Service portal separate from the IT Self Service portal.

In other words, if you have a big enough property and house, then why buy another property and house when you can turn your house into a duplex or multi-family dwelling by adding entrances, dividing walls, and restricting access with joining doors and common areas. Think HR, HSE, Supply Chain, Sales, Marketing, etc.

More on this topic here on my podcast:

Q & A. Separate Ivanti Service Manager (ISM) instance for AP? – Independent ITSM Podcast covering Ivanti Service Manager ISM HEAT Latest Solutions & Best Practices

Question from an ITSM client regarding their Ivanti Service Manager tenant: If needed, are we able to create a separate instance for the AP ticketing?

1. Q & A. Separate Ivanti Service Manager (ISM) instance for AP? 09:04
2. Do you really need a Project Manager for your Ivanti Neurons for ITSM/ITAM Implementation? 08:50
3. What makes a great Ivanti HEAT Neurons Administrator/Developer/Consultant? 11:03
4. Ivanti Developer or Consultant? 03:33
5. Is Ivanti a Professional Services Provider? 12:30

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Best Practices – File Naming Convention

An often overlooked best practice is that for file naming conventions.

Files should always be renamed with a prefix of the last modified date in YYYY-MM-DD format, for sorting purposes, and contain a meaningful name and version number.

Descriptions such as “final” and “complete” should also be discouraged as 99% of the time there will be revisions.

This best practice ensures files are easily found, sorted, and clearly indicate the last modified date, version, and file contents.   

Note that the file saved date/time often changes as files are sent via email, download again, or saved by mistake.

For example, Task #8043 has two attachments:

1. Copy of 2020-09-11 – Sample UAT Test Scripts Complete.xls
   should be
   2020-09-11 – UAT Test Scripts v2
   
2. 2020-09-11 – Sample UAT Test Scripts Complete.xls
   should be
   2020-09-14 – UAT Test Scripts v3

WHAT IS ISM BLACKOUT?

Blackout, is a point in time in the development process when a system becomes unavailable (off-line) by design. The term comes from Electricity “blackouts” when there is a complete electric shut down.

A best practice is to take the UAT system off-line when UAT is undergoing maintenance or configuration in preparation for End User Acceptance testing. This is to prevent any unauthorized access by end users that might want to start testing the system before it’s ready, which is never a good idea. After all, you don’t call the building inspector until you’re up to code, right? Leaving UAT available during configuration can be disastrous. Don’t make this rookie ISM mistake, you will thank me later!

ISM Blackout
UAT Best Practice Tip

Best Practice Tip – UAT Action Plan

One of the most crucial steps in System Development Life Cycle (SDLC) is User Acceptance Testing (UAT), a type of system and business objective validation, performed by the end users, and business objective sign off by the project owner; not to be confused with System Testing which is performed by the Ivanti Developer and/or ISM Administrator

Many Ivanti Service Manager implementations fall short when it comes to proper UAT Testing, be it due to a lack of resources, time, or budget, but more often than not due to a shortcoming of proper UAT Action Plan and UAT Test Cases and Scripts.

Today we will focus on a sample high level UAT Action plan:

• Refresh UAT with PROD (ISM Administrator)
• Push Asset Scanner Packages to UAT (ISM Consultant)
• Create UAT Test Cases/Scripts (ISM Administrator/Knowledge Manager; with assistance from ISM Consultant)
• Create Documentation for ISM Users (ISM Administrator/Knowledge Manager with assistance from ISM Consultant)
• Test Data Preparation (ISM Administrator)
• Test Run (ISM Administrator)
• UAT Run (ISM Administrator+ Storage Managers)
• Remediation (ISM Consultant)*
• UAT Run (ISM Administrator+ Storage Managers)*
  • Including Validation of Documentation and Knowledge Article Creation (ISM Administrator/Knowledge Manager)  
• Confirm Business Objectives – Sign Off (Project Owner)
• Schedule Push to PROD (ISM Consultant)
• Communication Plan (Core Team)
  • ISM Change Control Announcement
  • ISM Change Control Email with Documentation
    • Determine schedule
      • Before – for example 3 days before
      • At PROD Push
      • After – optional – follow up 
• PROD Push (ISM Consultant)
• Validate PROD Push (Core Team)
• PROD Emergency Support – 1 to 2 hours after push – (ISM Consultant)

If you’re looking for sample ISM UAT Test Cases and Scripts from the a19 Consulting – Ivanti Best Practice System then be sure to contact us!

How to embed an image in Global Constants and business object fields

Binary Max field for pictures

If you want to add an image to a business object then you can use the Binary/Max field type which is a good way of displaying a screenshot or picture that you can open with a single click, opposed to attachments that you need to save locally first.

HTML text fields with Base 64 Code

Another way is to use an HTML field, first select Text as the field type you want to add and then change it to HTML.  Now you can paste images which which will be converted to Base 64.   To view the base 64 code click source edit to copy it and voila!

Global Constants

Now you can copy and paste the base 64 code OR entire HTML code to Global Constants such as a “generic” Email Footer for example for ALL outgoing email notifications.

Tip:  If you do not have any HTML fields, then you can create an Email with Ivanti Service Manager and use the email body (it’s HTML) 

and then click source edit to reveal the base 64 code

and then copy the code into the Global Constant.

Calling Global Constants

In your email notification body, or anywhere else in ISM you can call the Global with the function GetGlobal()

UPDATE January 2023:  It seems that Ivanti has made some changes and now you need to 1) You may not be able to generate base64 images and find an online tool to do this for your.   2)  You need to select Text as the attribute type for your global constant, HTML is no longer a valid option.

Ivanti Service Manager support for Mobile Notifications

Ivanti Service Manager (HEAT) has two options for sending mobile notifications.

• Send Mobile Notification Quick Action  – is very limited, only works with Apple Devices and requires push notifications to be working and enabled.
• Email Notification Quick Action – the better way is to set a Quick Action to send straight, small text emails to the user’s mobile device. Most all Cellular Providers have this option.Some of the email addresses to use are below:

  Alltel: phonenumber@message.alltel.com
  AT&T: phonenumber@txt.att.net
  T-Mobile: phonenumber@tmomail.net
  Bell Canada: phonenumber@bell.ca
  Rogers Canada:  phonenumber@pcs.rogers.com
  Virgin Mobile: phonenumber@vmobl.com
  Sprint: phonenumber@messaging.sprintpcs.com
  Verizon: phonenumber@vtext.com
  Nextel: phonenumber@messaging.nextel.com
  US Cellular: phonenumber@mms.uscc.net

  If your provider is not on the list you will want to contact them regarding email to SMS functionality.

 

Zapier Integration

Zapier is a web-based service that allows you to integrate web applications.

Ivanti Service Manager HEAT ITSM Zapier Integration

With Ivanti Service Manager 2017.3.1 onward you can now trigger the creation of an Incident, Change, Request, Service Request, or Incident note from other supported Zapier integrations such as a Google Sheet, Excel Spreadsheet, Google Calendar, Twitter, Chatbot, etc.

You can also trigger an integration when a new Incident, Change Request, or Service Request is created, for example, trigger the creation of a Google Calendar Entry when a Change Request is created or a Service Request is created (Computer Loaner Service Request for example).

The Zapier Pricing model is by # of Zaps (Integrations)  and Tasks, starting at $25 USD per month.

Ivanti Service Manager HEAT ITSM Zapier Integration Pricing

 

Relevancy Searching

Ivanti Service Manager 2017.1 onward uses a new “model” for relevancy searching.

For example if you search Incidents for a customer with the keyword Consultant your search may NOT be in the order of your list view however if you use double quotes for specific phrases such as “Consultant” then your search will be in the correct order.

The solution is to add a Global Constant as outlined here:

https://help.ivanti.com/ht/help/en_US/ISM/2018/admin/Content/Configure/Search/Configuring%20Search.htm

Defining a New Global Constant for Full Text Search Relevancy

Customers who want to roll back the Full Text Search Relevancy to the older model used for releases prior to Ivanti Service manager 2017.1, must define a new Global Constant. Changing the settings for the global constant will either enable or disable the feature. For information about how to create a global constant see Creating a Global Constant.

Parameter	Description
Name	FullTextSearchRelevanceRanking Enter the name for the constant exactly as shown.
Value	False False disables the new model and reverts the search relevancy to 2016.x functionality. Set the Value to True to enable the newer functionalityThe value for the global constant.
Type	Boolean
Description	Revert search behavior

What does HEAT stand for?

For those of you going back to the early days.  HEAT for DOS and HFW 2.0.  That’s right, HEAT for Windows 2.0, or HEAT ticketing system, you will likely remember the acronym for HEAT:

Helpdesk Expert Automation Tool

I still think it’s alot better than ISM.  Ivanti Service Manager.