Guide to using Steelman Metalink

Guide to using Steelman Metalink

Introduction

The metalink is a useful on-line reporting tool that facilitates a clear understanding of how action requests (AR’s) are processed by Steelman. An action request can be any of the following types of request:

1. A bug in the software – you may find by searching our database that this is a known bug or you may need to report a new bug. The more detail you can provide of which form it occurred in and the context of the problem, the better.
2. An enhancement request
3. A request for an upgrade of any aspect of your system components
4. A catastrophe – fire, flood etc. that means you need help now!
5. A procedural question
6. Anything that you think we can help you with – customer service request.

How it works

After you have entered a request, it gets directed automatically to our service desk. The Service desk manager monitors requests and assigns them to appropriate support technicians to resolve. Any time the AR gets worked on, you will get an email that tells you what has changed. At some point the issue will be resolved. You will have been notified of the progress every step of the way.

This Steelman Metalink system is based on “Bugzilla” reporting software, which is in use in many of the Fortune 500 companies. You can read more about Bugzilla at https://bugzilla.mozilla.org

This guide talks more about the specifics of the Steelman Metalink and our standards. Since we are in relatively early adoption, we may amend a few of the finer adjustment points, but fundamentally, the AR’s that you report will become a permanent record for later reference, and you will always be able to refer to them.

Your initial usage

We will set you up as a user, based on your email address. You will be able to set your own password. The initial password is “test123” and you should change that on first login.

The system is located at http://metalink.esteelman.net. You can bookmark this page or even more useful, you can add a Bugzilla search to your toolbar. It looks like this:

This is set up by clicking on the “Install the Quick Search plugin” from the common actions list on the Steelman Metalink  “Go Home” page. It allows you to click into the AR quickly by typing one word or identifier for the AR into the search. It will log you in and display the AR immediately.

To enter your first AR

• Click on Enter a new Action Request
• You will see a list of products appear: AccPac, Miscellaneous, SEMS

• Click on “SEMS” – assuming that the issue is with Steelman software
• If you are writing an AR for a Bug, you should read “bug writing guidelines” which will provide some useful tips on clearly describing your issue.
• Assign the Version – most recent is 4.2, 4.5 is the development version.
• Assign the Component – this governs who is the default assignee, so pick your appropriate customer issues component
• Platform and OS should be specified for bugs to let us know which environment you were in when the problem occurred
• Initial state is NEW – it means unassigned so far
• Estimated hours is a useful guide if you want to specify it. We will amend it when we have assessed the problem
• Deadline should only be specified if you truly have a deadline that you would have mentioned to a support person in a live call.
• Alias is a simple one word Alias that you will remember to use to search for this AR. It is not required.
• URL describes a page that is useful in understanding this issue – not required
• Change Workflow. – For anything that changes the code we have a quality process that goes through a cycle of direction and approval. We will enter this field.
  • Service Desk assessment – Your AR may be resolved without software changes by the Service desk.
  • Change Manager Approval – If your AR requires a software amendment, it is first assessed by the Change Manager. He will make an assessment of the scope of the change and submit it to the Change advisory Board – (CAB)
  • The CAB is comprised of the system architects for SEMS. The CAB assesses the requirement and plans when the change can be accomplished. For more complex changes they will assign a Business Analyst to design the change. Otherwise they will assign a developer to make the change
  • Once a change has been completed and tested by the development team and the BA, it is passed to Quality Assurance for a final review.
  • The Change Manager reviews the change and assures that all of the appropriate documentation is completed
  • The Release Manager assigns the release number to the change and groups it into a release.
  • The Service Desk coordinates with the customer to arrange the installation of the release into the customer’s testing environment.
  • The Customer then reviews the changes made in the release and approves moving the changes to the live environment.
• Customer – identifies which customer reported this request
• Form Id – identifies the Form associated with the AR
• External Ref. – identifies the identifier in any external system that is associated to the AR
• Summary – A really good and succinct description of the AR (Required)
• Description – the details of the AR (Required)
• Attachment – add an attachment – attachments can be uploaded if they are smaller than 6MB. AR’s can have multiple attachments
• Keywords – Keywords can be helpful in identifying or classifying AR’s. More standard keywords will evolve as our usage of Metalink continues.
• Depends on – If this AR cannot be completed until another AR is completed, this box refers to the AR that has to be completed first.
• Blocks – This AR blocks another AR and must be completed first. For example, if an OS upgrade is required before a feature will function.
• Only users in all of the selected groups can view this bug: – You can set a flag that effectively makes this AR private to your user group and to Steelman staff only. The lowest level of privacy access is to only be able to see your own requests. In the case of multiple individuals reporting from one customer, it is a good idea to make the AR accessible to the others in your user group.
• Commit – this saves the changes and sends Emails to the assignee and QA – Note that if you go straight from the Notes edit field to the Commit button, the screen will appear to jump and you will have to press commit again – this is because the editor has to exit before commit will work.

To find out what is outstanding and what progress is being made

• Every time any of your AR’s is updated, you will receive an Email that details who has made a change and what it entails. It looks like this:

You can see that for AR 48, Marcel Gagne has changed the status from New to Assigned,  and added himself to the CC list. To see even more details, you can click on the http link and see or update the entire AR.

• If you want to see all of your AR’s in a list, use the search option in the menu bar. There are two search levels provided, the “Find a specific Action Request” and the “Advanced Search”.  There is also a search menu item called “My Action Requests” that lists every action request that you have initiated.
• The advanced search provides very detailed search capability based on almost any possible parameter or criteria. Once you have established a standard search, you can save the search parameters for subsequent re-use.
• The list that is displayed can be customized and extended according to your specific requirements by clicking “Change Columns”. It can be sorted by clicking the column header.
• You can output the list in CSV format by clicking CSV
• You can see the details and report every action request in your selected list by clicking on “Long Format” – useful for management meetings.
• The Reports facility provides tabular and graphic views of selected AR’s. Once you have a favourite format you can save it for easy re-use.

How will your staff remember to service my requests?

The Metalink has an automated “whining” process that complains if items are left open and unattended for a specified period of time. However as you can see from the attached chart of “How to use Priority and Severity in Metalink” the support staff are directed to accept and clear AR’s in priority sequence. That may mean that lower priority items may be delayed by emergency response requirements. We will monitor response times and ensure adequate and prompt service.

When is an AR closed?

An AR is closed when you have agreed that the problem or issue is resolved. At that time you can change the resolution to FIXED. It will stop appearing on your open AR list. If subsequently the problem reoccurs, you can re-open the AR.

Summary

We suggest that you try out the Steelman Metalink and then let us know if you have any further questions or issues. Metalink is designed to be a friendly and useful system for setting expectations and communicating and monitoring progress. Please provide feedback on your use of Metalink to: janp@sems.us

Appendix 1  How to use Priority and Severity in Metalink