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Connect with Remedy - Remedy Version 9 - Webinar Q&A
April 29, 2015
Contents
Remedy AR System............................................................................................................................................................... 2
CMDB .................................................................................................................................................................................. 11
ITSM, SRM, RKM .............................................................................................................................................................. 13
MISC .................................................................................................................................................................................... 17
Upgrade Related.................................................................................................................................................................. 24
Smart IT /MyIT Related..................................................................................................................................................... 26
Remedy AR System
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Q: Are there improvement for federal customers?
A: Absolutely. All the enhancements in Remedy 9.0, Smart IT 1.1 and MyIT 2.5 are available to and valuable for federal customers.
Note that there are no special features that apply just to federal customers.
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Q: Will there be an intuitive way to analyze Remedy license (fix / float) utilization and usage in order to better understand what type
of license should be allocated to a user?
A: There are no new tools in Remedy 9.0 for measuring, analyzing or reporting on license utilization. BMC already offers a variety of
capabilities for that in previous versions. Note that Smart IT doesn’t not require any special user licenses. It uses the standard Remedy
ITSM user licenses and all license control and reporting capabilities apply to use via Smart IT UI.
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Q: Will Remedy 9.0 have fixed / floating kind of user licenses like we use currently in 7.6?
A: Yes, version 9.0 will support the same license model that you have today. There has been no change to the licensing model with
this release.
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Q: Is there a more effective way to monitor which server users are getting logged into on a load balanced system?
A: In a load balanced environment where the session persistence is off ( sometimes called the "sticky bit" ) the user will end up using
all of the servers that are behind the VIP. Since 7604 ( not sure which service pack) we recommend persistence to be off. No, there
are no new tools in 9.0 for monitoring or tracking user sessions across multiple servers behind a load balancer.
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Q: Will there be changes to the database structure
A: Yes, there are changes to server metadata and new information stored by the reporting functionality. But the changes are backward
compatible and any upgrades needed are handled at time of install/upgrade. And, all the changes to the metadata are additive to the
structures currently in place.
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Q: I mean the performance about Remedy 9.0
A: The overall performance of 9.0 has been tested and it is at least as good as the previous releases and better in many areas. The
reporting does not degrade performance -- unless you build reports that have joins on un-indexed fields and you run multiple
reports. But that is no different than if you run un-indexed or inefficient searches any other way.
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Q: How often can the replicated DB be replicated? can it be every 5 min?
A: Replication would be done by the DB, not by AR. So, that will determine the rate of replication. This can be anything up to
continuous. There are a number of mirroring technologies available that do everything from real time updates of the mirrored
database to running of transaction logs.
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Q: We have been trying to install the Remedy AR System Server 9.0 beta version on Linux OS . We have been facing few issue with
DB connectivity . We have observed that there hasn't been any window in the installation where we could mention the oracle client
path , Could you help
A: 9.0 is java based server and does not require oracle client. It uses JDBC protocol to connect to the DB server. If you experience DB
connectivity issues with the GA version of Remedy AR System 9.0, the please contact BMC Support.
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Q: Is development model same what's there in earlier version or any change?
A: Same as before
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Q: What are the changes in the API & Web Service?
A: No changes as such. The same API works as before. Web Services remains the same as well, however we have new JSON based
REST API in 9.0. The SOAP webservices consumption used to be through a java plug-in, that is not the case anymore. The
webservices consumption code is now run within the AR Server process.
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Q: When we say Server is built with Java, Any custom APIs built in C language for connecting to Remedy will work?
A: Yes, old clients will continue to work
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Q: Is Apache Tomcat 8 and Java 8 fully supported by the new 9.0 platform?
A: Yes.
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Q: What are the plug-ins that will remain in C? Can we know their estimated transition time?
A: BMC does not have C plug-ins anymore besides SLM. SLM is not a plug-in, it is an engine. SLM, Dispatcher, armonitor, RE
engines remain as C engines. There is a C plug-in that is used for the signaling mechanism other C components. Other than that, it is
possible arealdap and ardbcldap plug-ins are still run in the C plug-in server along with their configuration counterparts.
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Q: Is RHEL 6.2 compatible with remedy 9.0?
A: We support RHEL 6.5 x64 version
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Q: how about client tools (dev studio, pentaho spoon etc), will be available on linux or mac?
A: At this point they are only available on windows.
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Q: is only server changed to Java or do weed to use Java coding also for development?
A: You don't need java for coding. Everything remains the same. You still build your apps and work with remedy Apps the same
way as before.
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Q: Is Pentaho Spoon 5.x also included in Remedy 9?
A: There is no change to Pentaho in Remedy 9.0 (same as 8.1)
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Q: Does the Restful API work on any custom form, or only the Remedy BMC Applications?
A: Yes, it will work on any form. The REST API is a full API to the AR System. It is a capability of the platform and is not tied into
or related to any application.
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Q: Does the Restful API replace DRIVER?
A: No, driver is an API program and still available.
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Q: Can the REST api be used to create on display only forms?
A: Yes. You can make API calls to forms through the REST API just like you can through the C and Java API.
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Q: Will 9.0 require more hardware resources compared to 8.1? Do we need to upgrade RAM / CPU, etc? Is 9.0 more resource hungry
comparatively?
A: The server process will consume slightly more memory compared to 8.1 but there is no significant changes that would need a
major upgrade. However a 64 bit JVM is required for the server. CPU is not impacted.
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Q: Will the Restful API allow you to call out to external applications as well?
A: No, we are providers but not consumers. For consuming external REST api calls, the best option is to implement a FilterAPI plugin.
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Q: How about FTS functionality as currently we are seeing lot of issues related to it
A: FTS is updated and performs much better. Updates include moving to the latest version of Lucene, reorganization of the collection
folder to be on a per-schema basis, high availability option with multiple indexers in server group, and moving the indexer into the
server process instead of being a plug-in
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Q: So archive maybe be stored in external database for performance?
A: No. It will be in the same database as the AR database.
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Q: Is archiving configuration multi-tenancy sensitive in 9.0?
A: The archive policy is defined once per form (ex. HPD:Help Desk) and not multiple times (per tenant). I think the question is asking
if archiving can be based on a per tenant basis, the answer is, No, per-tenant archiving is not supported. The system does not allow
configuring archive policies per tenant.
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Q: can a REST call request an Incident, and system knows whether it is in HPD:Help Desk or in an archive table, or will this be two
calls?
A: The REST call specifies the form to be queried. This will be two queries if you also query archive.
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Q: has there been any improvements with respect to referential integrity ?
A: If you create enforced association then server can enforce referential integrity. However, enforced associations are not shipped as a
part of ITSM or SRM applications.
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Q: We solved the archiving issue 4 years ago in much the same manner, thanks for catching up!
A: This is why we allow you to do development on the platform. If you have a need we haven't gotten to, you can do it
yourself. Then, we constantly try and add new features to enhance for everyone so that more features are just present. And, this
feature added the concept of Associations that are going to be used well beyond the bounds of just archive (already are for cascade
deletes for example). And, the archive feature itself is enhanced to clone indexes to the archive forms and there are more capabilities
that take it further (and I suspect past where you have gone) that are planned for the future.
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Q: Can we move data from one DB to another in Archiving process? and do it as a scheduled task?
A: Archiving is to a table in the same database. If you want to archive to another system, what you would do is to use the archive
feature to copy the data to the archive tables and then use the DSO functionality of the system to copy the data reliably between
systems to transfer it to the alternate system. You can transfer from an archive table to a non-archive table without issue if you wanted
the data in regular tables on the alternate system.
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Q: will FTS Failover for FTS Indexer server works well in Remedy 9 ?
A: Yes, high availability of FTS has been implemented in 9.0.
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Q: Will the REST api documentation be available prior to the v9 release?
A: It will be available when the V9 product is available.
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Q: Is Deployment manager a replacement for Migrator?
A: No. Just make it easy to promote. Deployment manager is all about you creating a package of items to allow movement and
installation on the new system. There is no comparison feature and no process managing the transfer. It can be used instead of
Migrator for planned “releases”. So, in that sense, it is a replacement for a capability you may have used Migrator for previously. But,
it does not remove the value of Migrator in determining differences and identifying the things that need to be moved.
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Q: will downtime be required for archiving?
A: No, Archive policy should be set in continuous mode so as any data that qualifies for archival gets archived daily. If this is done
periodically (every 6 months), it will have some impact on server since lot of data will be moving to archive.
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Q: Are the improvements in FTS regarding the how the index search is performed such newest to oldest instead of oldest to newest.
We have issues that user searches run into a record limit and miss the data they are attempt to query.
A: No changes in that area.
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Q: Can we deploy the package without developer studio? if so through which tool we can deploy the package?
A: New Deployment Management Console is introduced. You can select your objects and create a package, save it, import it to the
new system, and execute it all through the console FORM which is just an AR System form and so is available through the browser or
through an API call (C, Java, or Restful API), and through web services.
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Q: Can we automate package delivery between environments ?
A: yes, package is an attachment in the record. You can add workflow to send it using Web Services for example. This is not out of
the box automated at this point. But, if it is important, you can add some workflow to the form to allow automated transfer of the
package.
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Q: Is Delta data migrator updated for 9.0? Will Migrator 9.0 be released as well?
A: DDM is the same as before. Just new mappings as needed.
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Q: When will the flash interface be gone?
A: Flash is not needed any more in the GUI rendering, like round corner. But some plug-in modules may still need Flash, for example,
dashboard. In addition, the use of Flash on the CMDB console interfaces is still present. It is planned to be removed, but it has not
been completed for the 9.0 release.
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Q: For FTS is it necessary to have separate physical server?
A: No.
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Q: So do you still need Migrator with the new Deployment Manager?
A: Migrator is still present and available. Deployment Manager can handle moving KNOWN sets of definitions and data. However,
it does not have any diff capability or any synchronize two systems capability. If you are moving a known set of definitions/data, you
can use Deployment Manager and not use Migrator. If you are using other capabilities of Migrator, it is still present. Deployment
Manager is not intended to replace all Migrator features.
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Q: Will the deployment tools move the differences only or move all parts in the package?
A: It moves complete definitions and it moves the entire set of definitions/data in a package. You cannot run to load a “part” of a
package. Everything in the package is done as a complete set.
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Q: any changes in mid-tier architecture in Remedy 9.0?
A: Yes, there are some changes in 9.0. Like multi tenant support, centralized configuration support, etc. However, they are all additive
changes that can be consumed if needed.
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Q: how about installation in a server group environment for Unix environment. Can we just do a installation directory copy to all the
other servers after first server is done
A: No. You run the installer (upgrader) on secondary server, that should be very quick and smooth since imports of data and def files
are not repeated.
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Q: So...maybe I get my Data Dictionary and more sophisticated change tracking capabilities in Dev Studio?
A: The existing modification log is utilized, no actual changes to dev studio
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Q: is there any improvement to make reading workflow log files more readable
A: No changes have been done to workflow logging, its format or content.
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Q: is AR Server logging going to use log4j format, or use existing formats?
A: We have retained the existing format so that any log analyzer tools work. We have also moved some other logs to follow the same
server format to be consistent. New AR Server use logback Plug-in server continues to use log4j Just to clarify, the logging
technology used in the java stack is log4j, logback, slf4j depending on the component. However, the format of the logs (api, sql, filter
logs etc) are completely backward compatible and remain the same.
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Q: can midtier 9.0 be stood up in front of ARS 7.6.04 server?
A: Yes
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Q: will Atrium SSO 8.1 works with Mid Tier 9.0?
A: AR 9.0 needs ASSO 9.0.
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Q: Does ARS 9 contains some improvements for attachments ? For instance different solution than attachments pool with predefined
number of attachments.
A: 9.0 does not have any changes in the area of attachments.
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Q: Is there SSO support in ARS9 ?
A: Atrium SSO continues to work with ARS9 Atrium SSO continues to be supported. It has recently had a set of enhancements to
improve configuration and there is another round of work underway. The 9.0 release will continue to interact and support operation
with Atrium SSO.
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Q: Is Redhat Linux 6.0 supported?
A: We support RHEL 6.5 x64
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Q: Is Chrome going to be supported as a client in 9?
A: yes
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Q: Will there be the ability to use RegEx in 9.0?
A: No new abilities there
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Q: Does AR System 9.0 has the cloud compatibility...means can it be deployed on paas cloud platform?
A:If the question is, can AR 9.0 be deployed on the cloud, e.g. Amazon, then, the answer is, Yes.
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Q: Do we still need to flush cache on the Midtier? Will there be the caught exceptions on ITSM 9.0 TOO?
A: In a full development environment I have seen no need to ever flush (SYNC cache handles quickly and efficiently) mid-tier
caching has been improved, and there should be no need to flush the cache. The full solution for this problem was introduced in the
8.1 sp2 version of the mid-tier (most fixes in sp1, but an issue with images in sp2). All reports we have from customers on 8.1 sp2
mid-tier indicate this problem is gone.
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Q: Is log4j supported on AR server for logging (api/sql...)?
A: Log4j is used for plug-ins, server logs do not use log4j. Underneath, the 9.0 Server itself uses slf4j/logbck for logging. Plug-in
server continues to use log4j. However, from the log files and logging format point of view, server logs are exactly as they used to
be. If the question is about using log4j level configuration to log more information, yes, it can be done selectively. But there should be
no need to, all logging controls remain the same as previous releases.
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Q: Any Changes in Web Service calls to get/send data from Third Party Tools?
A: still have SOAP-based web services publishing/consuming, the new REST API is "publishing" only
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Q: is there new version of developer studio? And will User Tool be available for developer level use in 9.0?
A: There is a new version of developer studio. User tool is no longer updated or distributed.
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Q: Is multifactor authentication supported out of the box in Remedy 9?
A: No, not yet.
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Q: Are there any enhancements in terms of debugging? i.e. collecting server/client logs?
A: We have new logs, and an ability to filter prior to writing them so that they can be used without affecting performance. Yes, more
logs are using same format. We added filtering to server logs ( API,Filter, SQL) log per user, client type for example
________________________________________________________________
Q: Any changes to workflow actions, functions, etc?
A: No.
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Q: Has there been any consideration without having to write custom code for logging in with a smart card?
A: unfortunately you'll still need a custom AREA plug-in to handle authentication with a smart card I don't know if you have looked at
Atrium SSO. There are a number of additional integrations and capabilities there for interaction with other sign on system and with
SmartCards.
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Q: Can you use the REST api with a reverse proxy for ssl offloading?
A: Yes, you can.
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Q: Will 9.0 finally eliminate the Remedy User Tool?
A: We have not supported ITSM applications with User Tool since version 7.6.04 and have no longer shipped User Tools since 8.0
release. No change with 9.0 (it does not come back!). You can open forms and work with data, but you will not able to work with
ITSM.
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Q: I may have missed this earlier. Is the C-API deprecated in 9? or will that continue to work? (i.e. do I need to port all of my existing
external processes to the REST API before deploying 9)?
A: C API is not officially deprecated, but not all new functionality is going into it. Java API is fully updated.
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Q: does the REST API replicate all of the functions of the existing C and Java APIs? Or do we expose functionality directly to REST
(i.e. create a webservice object)?
A: It does not replicate all functionality (it works only with entry operations). REST API exposes entry operations like create, get, set,
delete, search and merge There is no need to create a separate web service object.
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Q: Does Rest API require ITSM 9?
A: No. It is a platform feature. Works with ITSM or any custom forms
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Q: Will be Flash used to render Flashboards (graphs), vertical panels or menus?
A: Flash was used in the previous version for rendering the UI (color/round corner, etc.), Flash is not needed anymore in 9.0 for
rendering. But some plug-ins are still requiring Flash, like CMDB, Flashboard. Vertical panels or menus do not need Flash.
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Q: Is it possible to have access controls on the REST API? since we aren't creating explicit web services in ARS, can we specifically
expose / not-expose things on REST?
A: Permissions are enforced, and the REST API calls are performed as a user. It exposes only what is already exposed to the C and
Java APIs.
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Q: does the deployment management modules have a way to determine changed items to include in a package, or is it still on the
developer to determine what has changed?
A: The developer must know. The object modification log is available for this.
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Q: Can you enable forms for REST, or is all forms accessible if you have permission to the form and fields?
A: Yes, All forms are accessible if you have permission to them.
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Q: Any REST APIs for package migration? Reason - To either automate or mobilize the deployment of packages with the assumption
there are no errors.
A: Package migration uses the Java API
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Q: Adobe Flash in Remedy performs poorly. I discussed this with Remedy individuals at last year's Engage that this is targeted to be
removed. Do you have any timeline for when that will become a priority?
A: Flash has been removed from all aspects of the environment except for the Atrium CMDB console and use in Atrium Explorer. It
is planned to be removed from use in the Atrium CMDB console in the future. There is still evaluation of the plan for Explorer.
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Q: For Archive Forms, are the Associations included where a REST call for an Incident from the Archive Help Desk table would
retrieve all archived data like WorkLogs, etc. from their archived form?
A: No, you cannot use associations on archive forms to get related data from archive forms via REST.
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Q: When we introduced Restful API in 9.0.. Is there any way to convert SOAP Web services to Restful services automatically
A: No, there isn't. There is no need to create a webservices object for REST API, you don't have to convert the SOAP-based web
services since all forms are available via REST API just like they would with the C and Java API
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Q: Is the REST api defined as a client? You can deny access from specific clients
A: REST is a transport, not a client type.
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Q: Do you have any plans to improve your support to WebSphere? Cause every manual is written for Windows (Tomcat) and its very
difficult to do the same steps in installations..
A: No changes in this area.
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Q: Is there still silent installer mod for AIX environment? Is there any changes in this installation process?
A: AIX is not supported in 9.0. Installation process remains the same. There are some pre checks that are un prior to install to help
identify potential problems beforehand.
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Q: On schema specific indexing, Which environments did you see 11x improvement? For example, Oracle Partitioned vs. nonPartitioned?
A: By schema specific indexing, if you mean the new FTS enhancement to maintain schema specific index separately, it is not
affected by the DB. It is a lucene level index organization and only affects FTS searches.
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CMDB
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Q: Does the CMDB use the association object?
A: No. CMDB does not at this time, but will in the future for concrete classes.
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Q: Will ADDM sync work as expected with 9.0? Has it been tested?
A: Being CMDB client, there is no change on ADDM CMDB Sync operation and will work with 9.0 as well. Yes, it will.
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Q: Are you going to have a seminar on the CMDB changes and features or do you have documentation somewhere I can read about it?
A: We will share information as part of Q&A release. Check docs.bmc.com for information on the Atrium CMDB 9.0 updates.
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Q: is the core console still flash?
A: Yes, the CMDB console is still flash -- although you should find that the home page is no longer flash -- so a start!
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Q: Does the CMDB explorer run with HTML5?
A: Not yet. CMDB Explorer uses Flash.
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Q: What enhancement on CMDB normalization and reconciliation and impact analysis?
A: CMDB Normalization and Reconciliation both have performance enhancements and there are several functionality enhancements
that will be covered in the CMDB webinar.
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Q: Any improvement on troubleshooting AI Jobs
A: Atrium Integrator is built on top of Pentaho and Spoon is very good thick client on troubleshooting AI job issue. With that in mind,
we don't have such any enhancement for troubleshooting. I would appreciate more input to Product Management team
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Q: is there failover support for norm like recon engine in server group
A: Yes, failover for the normalization engine in a server group has been added.
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Q: Is AIE available with 9.0
A: No. AIE is not being shipped with 9.0. AIE will still work, but is not being updated. We have enhanced the documentation for AIE
to AI migration and we highly advise moving existing AIE jobs to AI.
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Q: How does the Out of the box SCCM to CMDB integration compare to the solution provided by SEAMLESS
A: Seamless use their own technology for enabling integration. BMC provided integration is built using Atrium Integrator (AI). When
you install the SCCM adapter for CMDB, all integrations via AI jobs (with appropriate mapping for SCCM 2007 as well as 2012),
SCCM dataset, additional attributes in Base_Element, NE and RE jobs, will be provided “out-of-the-box”. There's no manual
configuration or setup activity needed for this integration to work.
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Q: Understood - I was told that Seamless captured more data elements than what was done by BMC with AI
A: We don't have any specific comparative of BMC SCCM adapter and Seamless adapter. But we have ensured all elements from
SCCM are mapped to CMDB classes/relationships.
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ITSM, SRM, RKM
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Q: Please discuss data migration from 8.1.02 to v9.x in place?
A: If you use the standard upgrade in place data migration is handled through the upgrade. This is the recommended approach. If you
use a fresh install approach the DDM utility can help in this area to move data.
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Q: Does the new LDAP integration mentioned allow you to automatically feed data from active directory into Remedy to create user
profiles?
A:Yes. There is some configuration required from Pentaho required. The configuration steps are documented in the Remedy
documentation. The changes that were made were for the Onboarding Wizard. there is an existing LDAP integration for standard
UDM.
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Q: Will the ITSM Administration remain same on the new ITSM 9.0?
A: Yes. There are no changes at this level. ITSM is configured the same way (ITSM app level configuration, individual application
level configurations (ex. Change, Incident etc)
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Q: Will knowledge mgmt be fed from external sources or still IT staffs fed?
A: There are a number of options to use external data in RKM. You can load the data into RKM, you can create a vendor form to point
to the external data and manage it by RKM without copying anything. This is covered in the RKM documentation.
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Q: is Remedy 9 in line with KCS Methodologies ?
A: The KCS (Knowledge Centered Support) concepts have been used and followed in the design of the RKM module and its
interaction with the other modules. As with any model like this, there are many choices to make about how to follow it. We have
tried to select a reasonable path through this model that fits with ITIL to create a reasonable process flow.
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Q: Are there any features added with respect to Remedy Surveys?
A: No, aside from some defect fixes the Remedy Survey feature remains the same in 9.0.
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Q: What are all the modules that are available with ITSM 9.0?
A: All of AR, Atrium CMDB, ITSM updated with 9.0
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Q: What's the search engine used for this new RKM module?
A: Still Lucene. In 9.0 we have updated Lucene to the latest release.
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Q: Is it multi-language based? e.g. French, etc..
A: Remedy ITSM has been supporting multiple languages for a long time, and version 9.0 supports the same languages out-of-the-box
(with an option to create additional language support via customization)? Smart Reporting is localized to the same languages as in
ITSM.
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Q: Will ITSM 9.0 continue to integrate/support with RightAnswers?
A: There is no change in this area. So, it will continue to integrate and support just like it does today.
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Q: Can the questions be configurable without custom coding?
A: I assume this is about change risk question. Yes, those can be configured. That is even possible today in Remedy ITSM, and Smart
IT leverages the exact same question configuration.
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Q: Is MyIT required for ITSM 9.0 or will SRM still be available?
A: No. MyIT is not required for ITSM 9.0 or SRM 9.0. SRM is available with all its consoles and it serves also as the backend
fulfillment process to MyIT when it is installed.
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Q: But can we have this feature in future? Auto-assignment by support group rather than customer company.
A: There is definitely an outstanding request on this issue and it is something I would expect to see in a future release.
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Q: Few months back we upgraded to 8.1.02 Now if we have to go to 9.0 it is a big exercise. How much of an impact will it be on the
non MyIT / Smart IT applications with 9.0 upgrade.
A: ITSM 9.0 contains minimal changes to the core applications from that perspective it should be easier to upgrade from earlier
releases to 9.0. Additionally we have added a 3-way merge utility that is part of Dev Studio that will greatly simplify the
reconciliation work.
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Q: We've been told that Foundation Data loads can now be localized (i.e. both a French and English product categorization). How is
this enabled?
A: No. This is unchanged. Data is entered and stored in the language as it was defined.
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Q: Can you control access to Knowledge Articles?
A: Yes, there is full permission support. There is in addition a layer on top of the permissions all about who can access different
articles (implemented internally with computed groups so it is still permissions). The RKM documentation covers this. By the way,
this is not changed in 9.0. This model is available in the current release as well.
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Q: Does the SRM Request Entry Console go away with Remedy 9.0? Does the older ITSM Requester Console go away with Remedy
9.0?
A: No, both are still provided with version 9.0. If ITSM 9.0 only is installed the IT Requester Console will be available and if SRM
9.0 is installed the Request Entry Console is available.
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Q: How much of a change is it from 8.1.02 to 9.0 applications for old Non Smart IT applications
A: ITSM 9.0 contains minimal changes to the core applications from that perspective it should be easier to upgrade from earlier
releases to 9.0. The biggest addition to the ITSM apps in 9.0 is the out of the box support for Archiving of data.
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Q: Remapping the fields again without starting over when something goes wrong in the SRD mappings would be a great thing to have .
A: Thank you for this feedback. It would be a good Idea to submit on Communities as more could comment on it.
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Q: How complicated or simple will the integration with Atrium CMDB and the problem ticketing and/or the Change Management
modules within Remedy?
A: These products are already integrated out of the box -- and have been. They are all built on the same technology so integration is
straight-forward if there are additional interactions you want to add.
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Q: When do we have cloud based Remedy 9.0 available?
A: Remedy onDemand will be available very soon after version 9.0 release.
________________________________________________________________
Q: So turning on archiving on forms like incident, will it take care of all children / associated forms archiving as well like tasks,
service requests etc?
A: Yes, it will archive all records from associated forms based on follow association setting. In addition SRM has archiving enabled
for Service Requests, Work Orders and their respective children.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there any enhancements to the rich text editor for creating articles in Knowledge Management.
A: Not in mid-tier based RKM UI. But improving the knowledge authoring experience has been a key objective of Smart IT 1.1
release. Smart IT delivers a world-class user experience for knowledge article editing based on a completely new implementation of
rich-text editing feature using state-of-the-art technology.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will the views for Incident, Change, and Problem records remain the same in mid-tier based UI of Remedy ITSM 9.0?
A: There may be small subtle changes. In general they remain the same
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there any enhancement made to migrate the data?
A: No changes in this area
________________________________________________________________
Q: What are the enhancements to UDM in this release?
A: The Onboarding Wizard was introduced in 8.1.02 which is a simpler and guided way to onboard new foundation data into the
system. In 9.0 we added the ability to update specific data as well. In addition in 9.0, we have added integration to LDAP to the
Onboarding Wizard to move people data.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there enhancements in SRM 9.0 with respect to branding?
A: SRM 9.0 and ITSM 9.0 do not contain the recent BMC branding updates (logo and color). Archiving is the main new feature in
SRM 9.0 along with defect fixes. When accessing SRM functionality via Smart IT UI, new branding is shown. Note that all branding
can be customized to match your company’s brand identity.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Data Migration is also one are which I think needs to be improved. Especially when we are uploading bulk data, we do not have
proper tracking and loading mechanisms.
A: Need more specific information.
________________________________________________________________
Q: With the service operations and API monitoring, can those auto submit incidents?
A: Yes. We provide interfaces for creating tickets.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is it possible to use UDM to configure SRM?
A: UDM provides the capability to onboard select SRD process setup information.
_______________________________________________________________
Q: Is there some kind of shift roster feature now available in ITSM 9.0 so that one does not need to turn off and on Assignment
availability in people form manually ?
A: There has not been any changes in assignment in 9.0
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is there any new tools or features to modify existing Foundation data? Ex. User Login ID changes.
A: Data Wizard remains for this specific capability to alter user login ID's. UDM function also remains the same with the ability to
alter as well (given the necessary data is entered)
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there any enhancements in RBE in the new ITSM 9.0?
A: RBE functionality remains the same in 9.0.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is there any option to leverage Remedy KB using web service so that the results are displayed in another application and does it
require any additional licenses other than one account to connect
A: You can (and customers have) defined vendor forms (that could use web services) to point to other data sources and bring them
into the overall knowledge environment. And, when the article is opened, the vendor form is opened which could open another
product to display the resulting article using that other tool.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there any changes to the ITSM foundation data?
A: From a foundation data perspective, there hasn't been any significant changes.
________________________________________________________________
Q: UDM had a very difficult error handling - were that also addressed, please?
A: UDM continues to use the error management console to allow users to fix data in bulk. Please submit BMC Community
suggestions.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Multitenancy w.r.t different visibility of views for Different Operating companies ??
A: Customers can, as in the past releases create new views and map them to specific Company, Support Group, User.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Question was more about using Remedy KB data and engine so that we can display the results in another website rather than
rendering KB web page. is it possible using web service. So input to the web service will be a keyword and output KB results
A: If you want to access Remedy knowledge to display elsewhere, you can definitely do that. You can use web services to accomplish
this if desired today. In 9.0 you can use web services or the REST API. Please ensure that all licensing rules are followed.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is it possible to deploy Remedy 9 without Smart IT? And another modules (Incident, Problem, SLM, Asset, Change ...) are
following the same stand in forms, flows and process phases?
A: It is possible. Yes, you can upgrade only Remedy AR System. If you have Atrium CMDB, you must upgrade CMDB. You do not
have to upgrade Remedy ITSM applications or Smart IT.
________________________________________________________________
MISC
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will there be more in depth webinars on the modules themselves?
A: There are plans for future webinars with more focus on specific areas in more depth. This is the introducing/overview presentation.
Check communities for a schedule and recordings.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will there be more webinars / trainings, if we are to use the Smart IT / MyIT?
A: Yes, there will be lot more information - in webinars, in community, in formal Education, ...
________________________________________________________________
Reporting
________________________________________________________________
Q: With new reporting capabilities can reports be Scheduling to be delivered via email?
A: Yes, you can easily schedule and email the reports to recipients.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can it use reporting DB vs. OLTP for the KPI/Dashboards as it will be additional performance overhead on the OLTP system?
A: Yes. Smart Reporting can be deployed in multiple ways and can work with reporting DB as well You can setup database
replication and point Smart Reporting to this replicated DB instead of OLTP. Reporting connects to production data through AR APIs
via JDBC driver. The way you can avoid disturbing production OLTP is by having replicated database and have reporting talk to
replicated database.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does every user have access to the WYSIWYG report creation module?
A: Yes, all ITSM user can access reporting module
________________________________________________________________
Q: For creating the reports, will we be able to use fields that are custom fields in Remedy?
A: Yes, you can report on custom fields . You need to update the out of the box Views (Business layer) for this.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is ITSM 9.0 required for reporting or will it work with ARS 9 with ITSM 8.x ?
A: Need both AR and ITSM 9.0
________________________________________________________________
Q: What's the underlying reporting platform is it still BIRT?
A: There is still the BIRT based reporting module and that is still available. The new addition to 9.0 is a new reporting technology
with some additional capabilities. We have new OEM vendor provided Reporting technology for Smart Reporting.
________________________________________________________________
Q: is this reporting can be Custom AR Application also?
A: Smart Reporting is licensed with ITSM
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we link two areas for one report IE Infrastructure Changes and Equipment
A: Yes, no need to create join forms, reporting will take care.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does it integrate with IBM Connections? Or only Microsoft SharePoint?
A: It can connect only to Remedy Database and needs ITSM 9.0 version
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does it replace D&A? Is it end of road for D&A?
A: BMC will provide statement of direction for Remedy Reporting Solution that includes BIRT and D&A. In summary, there is
minimal impact to D&A in near future with release of new Smart Reporting
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can new reporting be used with our custom applications
A: Smart reporting is for ITSM application. Its mandatory to have ITSM 9.0 version in order to use Smart Reporting.
________________________________________________________________
Q: is this one of the items where you would want a separate reporting server?
A: Separate reporting server is optional. However such deployment is possible now and was not available with earlier in-app reporting
solution (BIRT based).
________________________________________________________________
Q: does the Social aspect require MyIT? or is this inherent in 9?
A: The social aspect of reporting is inherent in 9.0 with the new reporting functionality. Other social aspects are available only in
SmartIT.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does it replace D&A? Is it end of road for D&A? Is Analytics going away and being replaced with Smart Reporting?
A: BMC will provide statement of direction for Remedy Reporting Solution that includes BIRT and D&A. In summary, there is
minimal impact to D&A in near future with release of new Smart Reporting
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will the reporting tool support customizations to ITSM apps (added fields) or custom apps?
A: Yes
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we create calendar views i.e. reports with timelines?
A: Exactly calendar component not there but reports with dates can be created. We will take this as input for future.
________________________________________________________________
Q: In a heavily customized environment will this reports cause any performance issue for pulling dynamic data for reports from
multiple joins
A: No, but joining forms with high data volume will see some impact. If use case is must then replicated database deployment can be
used
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we write straight SQL statements for reports?
A: No, this solution is not there.
________________________________________________________________
Q: We have couple of Custom Applications, where similar need is there to have the scheduled Reporting, is BMC going to launch
similar kind of Reporting for Custom Application not Using ITSM Solution.
A: Currently 'Smart Reporting' is available to Customers having ITSM license. We will soon publish options for customers using AR
based custom applications.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can you share / collaborate on reports with certain people, as opposed to public to everyone or private?
A: Yes you can pick and chose people
________________________________________________________________
Q: Do we need separate license for Mobility?
A: Mobility in Smart IT/MyIT and Smart Reporting is included with the app licenses.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does the Web/AR reporting still exist or will our reports all need recreated?
A: The existing reporting exists. Web Reporting, BIRT, Crystal. We are adding an additional reporting module not removing any of
the existing options.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can the report-solution be load-balanced?
A: Yes, HA, Clustered supported
________________________________________________________________
Q: can all ITSM users build interactive reports?
A: All ITSM users will get access to reporting module. However, creation of reports depend on the roles given to the user. By Default
all users are Report Viewers and hence can view reports but not create reports.
________________________________________________________________
Q: do we need separate licenses for reporting or it will tie to itsm licenses
A: It will tie to ITSM 9.0
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we have a separate DB and user for the Smart Reporting all together ? And in that case would it affect the DB Performance as
such ?
A: You can replicate DB & use; no need to create separate users.
________________________________________________________________
Q: So the Architecture will be same like App Server, Mid Tier and Database ??? (am working on 7.6.04)
A: Smart Reporting will have its own Application Server - Tomcat and it has a database repository which stores reporting meta data
________________________________________________________________
Q: Hi, I can see beautiful exp, looks great, feels amazing.. but what about performance..are you going to talk about this??
A: Smart reporting provide different deployment option to handle performance. Outside of different deployment options for reporting,
the remedy 9 solution has provided increases in performance around Search and CMDB...
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is my reports created with BIRT with ARS 7.6.04 could works with ARS 9.0 ?
A: Yes, all BIRT and Web reports that you have created will continue to work with 9.0. You can create new ones if you want as
well. We are not removing any previous reporting capabilities.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can a read only user use Smart Reporting?
A: Yes
________________________________________________________________
Q: How well it supports customizations? Do we have capability to customize and add our app/forms
A: Yes, Smart Reporting have middle layer & admin can add these form to make accessible to user.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will all the users be provided with scheduling report option, to email reports on a particular time?
A: By default no, but reporting admin can restrict or provide access.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we still use SAP for reporting or is that changing to this new OEM vendor?
A: BMC will provide statement of direction for Remedy Reporting Solution that includes BIRT and D&A (based on SAP BO). In
summary, there is minimal impact to D&A in near future with release of new Smart Reporting. You can continue to use SAP BO
based 'Analytics' as earlier.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is Smart IT part of ITSM suite or separate module?
A: Smart IT is separate from ITSM.
________________________________________________________________
Q: and thanks to answer my earlier question on use of reporting db as we see a huge performance impact otherwise
A: Further, Reporting can be also deployed in cluster mode and pointed to replicated database. This deployment will isolate any
reporting load from production servers.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is the new ITSM Reporting Feature a part of ITSM 9.0 Installer or a different Entity??
A: The new reporting is built into the platform installer. You can selectively install it. Many will install onto a separate system but
will use the ARSuiteKit installer (platform) to do that.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Auto Assignment from assignment engine
We can only set it up either by Company or for the entire module. We cannot set it up by support group.
is auto assignment by support group something that will be available in Release 9 ?
A: Please confirm if your assignment question is ITSM 9.0 or Smart IT specific? ITSM 9.0 assignments have not changed so would
work as before.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will SAP BO be going away?
A: BMC will provide statement of direction for Remedy Reporting Solution that includes BIRT and D&A (based on SAP BO). In
summary, there is minimal impact to D&A in near future with release of new Smart Reporting.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does the new reporting including dashboards fully comply with multi tenant security?
A: The new reporting uses user permissions to retrieve data, so yes it works with multi-tenancy.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we change/add the meta data fields that is available in Smart Reporting
A: Yes. Much easily. BMC will provide 'Semantic View' for different ITSM applications by default. Customers can easily extend this
'Semantic View' for any custom forms or custom fields using drag-n-drop interface.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will the current version of BIRT be maintained (2.5.1) or will it be upgraded?
A: BIRT engine is left unchanged in 9.0 Release.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will remedy 9 email the report via a schedule like in Business Objects?
A: yes it can email the report.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is crystal reports web viewer included within v9 so we can run our existing crystal reports
A: We are not making any changes to BIRT and Crystal in 9.0 version.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Self Service Analytics looks nice. Is there some possibility how to run this feature against archive database in order to not affect
performance of production instance ?
A: You can replicate your DB and run against a server using that.
________________________________________________________________
Q: so we cannot run crystal reports from report console
A: This question has been answered verbally.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Currently there is no crystal web viewer with 8.1
A: This question has been answered verbally.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will there be a new ODBC driver available or will the current one still work
A: no new one, old one still works.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is there any limitation on number of records appear within report when scheduled via email?
A: No, but AR, connection & report row limit if set any then will come in picture.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Qs on reporting that was shown earlier - the existing Web/Birt reports in remedy are extremely limited and unusable. With new
reporting shown - can I build advanced metrics to show multidimensional KPIs?
A: Yes
________________________________________________________________
Q: yes? Are there some ootb reports you can show as examples
A: For KPI some OOTB reports are delivered.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is there any setting for limiting report entries when someone runs a report and expect all data should come independent of Server
Max Entries Setting? If yes, won't it have any performance impact?
A: Report data can be restricted at multiple places & to avoid performance impact even multiple deployment options available.
________________________________________________________________
Q: is smart reporting available for CMDB
A: Yes. Smart Reporting can be used for CMDB reporting however, its mandatory to have ITSM 9.0 version to be part of the stack.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Analytics is a big deal for us and a huge gap in Remedy. I know BMC moved away from Crystal Reports - but the level of graphs
that can be designed there is not possible in the Birt/Web tools today. None of the OOTB reports meet C-Level requirements
A: New Smart Reporting have some cool charting options. Crystal is lot customizable but need windows installation but Smart
Reporting is web base solution. In future we will continue to improve charting capabilities.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Any considerations to eliminating the need for JOIN forms?
A: For Smart Reporting, Join forms are no more needed. Concept of 'Semantic View' is at core of Smart Reporting.
________________________________________________________________
Q: What about distribution of reports? Currently if I schedule the report from Remedy - it sends it out even if report is empty - no data.
Users open the attachment and it is empty - Is this Fixed in 9.0?
A: In smart reporting there is alternative available to use alert base scheduling.
________________________________________________________________
Q: What is the difference? Will it handle empty report?
A: you can schedule report with alert for data greater than 0 .
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will BO still used in 9.0 and if so can we change the universe?
A: SAP BO based Analytics solution can be used with 9.0. Analytics 8.1 release will be compatible with ITSM 9.0.(Specifically, we
will provide a SP for Analytics 8.1 that will make it compatible with Remedy 9.0)
________________________________________________________________
Upgrade Related
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does the interactive upgrade to provide any kind of analysis report and suggest which path to choose for upgrade in highly
customized environment?
A: No, it does not do any analysis to recommend a path. There are descriptions of the different paths and options and discussion of
when to use different paths. It is up to the customer to select the path that they would like to use.
_________________________________________________________________
Q: Does upgrade / migration of Remedy to version 9.0 will be changed according to version 8.1.02, simplify?
A: Yes, we invested quite a bit into making upgrades easier.
________________________________________________________________
Q: What is the upgrade path to version 9.0? Specifically from version 7.6.04?
A: You can upgrade directly from version 7.6.04 to version 9.0. There is a new summary of upgrade options and different paths to use
with reasons to use which on the web site -- interactive Upgrade tool. Upgrade from 7.6.04 to 9.0 is through the standard installer
upgrade facility.
________________________________________________________________
Q: How is echat impacted by this upgrade?
A: No
________________________________________________________________
Q: In Remedy v.9.0 do we have Zero Downtime Upgrade feature, or not yet in this version?
A: Not yet.
________________________________________________________________
Q: If we need to upgrade from 8.00.SP2 to 9.0 do we have any Automated way for Reconciliation ??
A: There is no automated reconciliation (other than overlays that inherit changes made to base), but we have introduced a 3-way
reconciliation tool in Developer Studio. That tool will simultaneously show changes made by BMC in an upgrade and changes made
in overlays so that a developer can merge BMC changes into their overlay. Of course, they can also simply delete the overlay or
modify existing changes if that is more appropriate.
________________________________________________________________
Q: 7.6.4 to 8.1.02 old Applications didn’t had much impact and our upgrade was much easier.
A: And you should find any upgrade to 9.0 much easier than the 7.6.04 to 8.1.2 and the new tools like 3-way merge allow even the
hard bits to be easier.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does the upgrade work well with server groups as well?
A: No change with server groups, tools work with applications.
________________________________________________________________
Q: is it possible to upgrade from 7.5 to 9 directly?
A: Server needs to be upgraded to 8.1 first, perform all steps related to overlay and then you can upgrade to 9.0 remaining components
________________________________________________________________
Q: RE:Interactive Upgrade Tool - Huge applause from the Peanut Gallery!! Hip, Hip..Hooray!!
A: This tool has pulled all the different models/approaches/planning tools from around the company to one consistent set of
options/directions. And, this will continue to be augmented as we go forward.
________________________________________________________________
Q: we had to reconcile manually when we upgraded 8.1 sp2 :(
A: In 9.0 there is a nice feature that helps with the customization reconciliation. It is called 3 way merge. It is a visual merge tool that
is part of Dev Studio
________________________________________________________________
Q: I remember doug was mentioning abt white paper regarding upgrade without downtime in some of the post..is it officially
published now?
A: It has not been published yet. A set of directions for no downtime of PLATFORM upgrades (AR System, mid-tier, CMDB) is
planned as the first white paper to be added to the new interactive upgrade tool site. We hope to have that out within a few months.
________________________________________________________________
Q: ITSM 7.6.04 is supported on ARS 9?
A: Yes, but you have to upgrade CMDB to 9.0 as well. You will also apply a small hotfix for the ITSM app, very minimal.
_______________________________________________________________
Q: Do You have any approach to decrease the downtime for upgrade to 9.0
A: Use of a staging server and using it for production is the solution for that.
________________________________________________________________
Q: In our organizations, any software that has 'call home' is usually quickly shown the door.
A: It's opt-in. No need to use it if you don't want to. Just to emphasize, any call out is OFF as the product is shipped. You have to
take an active action to turn it on.
________________________________________________________________
Q: When the trainings will be available for version 9? Any plan?
A: Generally BMC need 30-60 days lag time post release for revised education.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will there be an 8.2 release? Or is the upgrade path from 8.1 simply to go to 9.0?
A: Go to 9.0. 8.1.x to 9.0. There is no minor release planned for 8.x.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will ITSM 9.0 be able to run on ARS 8.1
A: No, you must upgrade AR and Atrium to 9.0.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we upgrade AR Server alone and leave ITSM at our earlier version or both must be upgraded together?
A: Yes, you can upgrade only the platform, however for using Smart Reporting feature, you will need ITSM version to be 9.0 and
upgrade to Atrium CMDB 9.0. If you remain at the older version of ITSM you must apply a small patch to ITSM for it to work on AR
9.0. It is recommended to upgrade the entire suite.
________________________________________________________________
Q: With an 80% Custom solution running 7.6.4, does it make sense to bypass an 8.1.2 upgrade and go directly to 9.x, NEXT YEAR?
A: There is no requirement to go to 8.1 to get to 9.0. You need to consider the apps vs. platform question. I always recommend
keeping up to date on the platform with regular upgrades. Applications, go to when the new capability is useful.
________________________________________________________________
Smart IT /MyIT Related
________________________________________________________________
Q: I am very curious as to how that number of 75% more productivity was calculated.
A: We had a 3rd party company that focuses on usability testing let users perform a number of activities, based on realistic scenarios.
E.g. take a call from a customer, log an incident and resolve it on the first call (using knowledge): They measured time to complete
these activities using the mid-tier based Remedy ITSM UI and the Smart IT UI. That lead to the results that productivity of a Service
Desk agent for these use cases is improved up to 75%
________________________________________________________________
Q: We are looking into an implementation of Remedy with Smart IT with Remedy ITSM 8.1. I have noticed that the integration with
Remedy has to be somewhat manual. With version 9 will this be more seamless?
A: Even with Remedy ITSM version 8.1 the Smart IT integration is fully ootb, and that doesn't change with version 9.0. If you refer to
the Smart IT installation experience overall: yes, that has improved in Smart IT 1.1 - no matter whether you are using it with Remedy
ITSM versions 7.6.04, 8.0, 8.1 or 9.0
________________________________________________________________
Q: For Web interface, is SRM Request Entry console going away few years down the line? Should we encourage the customers to use
MyIT web interface or Request Entry Console? MyIT and Request Entry Console should not co-exist. Should it?
A: BMC is investing heavily in building the best business user experience in the market - via MyIT. SRM continues to be a core
component of our solution that is leveraged by the MyIT solution for the service request catalog, fulfillment processing, and work
order application. The SRM Request Entry console is part of SRM 9.0 and remains fully supported in version 9.0. But MyIT is the
strategic solution for business user experience going forward. You should be encouraging usage of MyIT due to its superior user
experience and all the social, crowd sourcing, location awareness capabilities.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are Smart IT and MyIT interdependent or these are two separate modules?
A: Smart IT and MyIT are separate, but closely related. You can install both at the same time, but you can activate each of them
separately.
________________________________________________________________
Q: We have started using Remedy with Smart IT 1.1 and it seems it's not flexible to work with custom multi tenancy model.
A: Smart IT fully supports multi-tenancy configurations of your Remedy ITSM applications. We cannot comment on any customized
tenancy implementation, because we don’t have any insight into it.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are there white papers showing system reqmts for the mobile RKM?
A: The online documentation made available Smart IT 1.1 covers system requirements. Please see
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/smartIT11/Planning. There are no specific system requirements for knowledge mgmt
features in Smart IT.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are Smart IT / MyIT included in Remedy AR System 9.0 or Remedy ITSM 9.0?
A: You have access to Smart IT / MyIT software via EPD, as part of the Remedy ITSM Suite or the Remedy Service Desk folders.
Even with versions 7.6.04, 8.0 and 8.1. But Smart IT / MyIT are installed separately - they are not part of Remedy AR System or
Remedy ITSM Applications installers. With your user license for Remedy ITSM applications, you are entitled to install and use the
corresponding modules in Smart IT.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is Blackberry supported for MyIT / Smart IT?
A: Not at this time... we are focusing on iOS and Android.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we customize Knowledge Mgmt for Smart IT with Remedy workflow?
A: The Smart IT UI for knowledge management can be personalized. Users can add columns to the knowledge console and can build
and save custom filter queries. Also, custom knowledge templates work with Smart IT UI. And any custom Remedy workflow that is
running only on the server still works, if Smart IT is used. But like with other functional modules, you cannot freely customize the
Smart IT UI.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is the new reporting module going to be available in mid tier or just Smart IT?
A: It's available with Remedy 9.0 mid-tier. It doesn't need Smart IT.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is Smart IT / MyIT available out of the box in Remedy on Demand?
A: Both are available as part of the Remedy On Demand offering. Customers have to submit a request to BMC to have these modules
activated.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can Smart IT 1.1 integrate with Remedy ITSM 8.1.02?
A: Yes, Smart IT 1.1 supports Remedy ITSM versions 7.6.04 SP2 and higher.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are Smart IT and MyIT exclusive products?
A: They share the same server and the bits are installed at the same time. But customers can activate them independently.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we use MyIT for millions of B2C end users allowing them to create accounts, etc?
A: We expect that the system can scale to handle large numbers of end users. Currently we don't support user self registration,
although we are seeing more and more adoption for different customer types specifically in the MSP type environments.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are all Android versions supported?
A: BMC supports current versions of Android, from 4.0 up to the latest version number.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Does the new Change Management interface include "affected assets" capabilities?
A: As part of creating a change request (or updating an existing change request), users can easily relate one or multiple affected CIs.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Can we have all our customized fields in the Remedy ITSM Change Management show up in Smart IT?
A: BMC supports bringing custom fields that you have added in Remedy ITSM UI into Smart IT UI (incl. change mgmt functionality).
Note that we only support specific field types, so you may have to check whether the types of fields you have added are supported.
This is an area that will be expanded further.
________________________________________________________________
Q: So which version of Smart IT is being released with Remedy ITSM 9.0?
A: We released Smart IT 1.1 at the same time as Remedy ITSM 9.0. This version 1.1 works also with Remedy ITSM v7.6.02 SP2 and
higher (i.e. including 8.0,.8.1.x, and 9.0)
________________________________________________________________
Q: Will there be Problem Management capabilities in the new Smart IT version?
A: Problem management is currently not implemented and is under consideration for futures Users can see a high-level summary of
problem investigations and known errors that are related to an incident, but it currently doesn't include full problem management
capabilities. That can be done via the Remedy ITSM UI. Problem management related personas are planned to be covered as part of
the Smart IT roadmap..
________________________________________________________________
Q: How do search capabilities of MyIT, Remedy ITSM, Smart IT work? Do they all use similar search logic ?
A: Smart IT looks at the same data and uses the same search mechanism (FTS, queries) as Remedy ITSM, so in most cases the search
results are same. There are a few areas where the search logic in Smart IT was changed on purpose to deliver a better user experience.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are SRDs using AIFs supported in the new versions of MyIT and Smart IT?
A: Yes, from MyIT and Smart IT you can use SRDs that have AIFs assigned. Users will have to fill out the original AIF form to
submit the request. AIFs are not a reason to stay with the SRM Request Entry console.
________________________________________________________________
Q: How exactly do Smart IT and MyIT communicate with Remedy ITSM? Are they using JSON / Restful APIs?
A: Smart IT and MyIT use the Java API to communicate with Remedy ITSM / SRM.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Are AIFs still not able to show up in MyIT 2.5?
A: AIFs can be used with the desktop version of the MyIT UI, although the experience is not optimal. We have invested in providing
similar advanced capabilities in the product to lessen the need for AIFs, and are continuing those enhancements upcoming releases.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is SRM required for MyIT?
A: SRM does not have to be installed to use MyIT. However, MyIT provides most value if used with SRM for request
fulfillment. MyIT is built on a provider framework allowing it to be used with other systems as well.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is SRM required for Smart IT?
A: SRM does not have to be installed to use Smart IT. However, Smart IT and Remedy ITSM overall provide most value if used with
SRM for request fulfillment automation. Smart IT supports the submittal of service requests on behalf of customers, the display of
service requests, and Smart IT supports the creation, view and update of work order records.
________________________________________________________________
Q: Is MyIT Base included with Remedy ITSM or licensed separately?
A: MyIT licensing situation depends on how you bought Remedy (e.g. whether you bought on premise user licenses vs. OnDemand
user licenses). In some cases base capabilities of MyIT are included up to a certain user capacity. Premium MyIT capabilities always
require an extra user license. Please check with your BMC sales team or partner to learn whether MyIT Base requires separate licenses
or not.
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Q: How is license model works for Smart IT? How is it related to Remedy Licenses?
A: Smart IT is the new user experience for Remedy ITSM. You just need your standard user licenses of Remedy ITSM to be entitled
to use Smart IT - no extra user license.
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Q: Are the Smart Reporting and Smart IT tools customizable?
A: They are configurable to address your custom requirements - e.g. around custom reports (Smart Reporting), custom branding, and
custom fields (Smart IT)
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Q: Do you have any updates on user chat and integration with MS Lync?
A: No, there are no enhancements in this area.
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Q: Will Smart IT support Active Links with Remedy ITSM 9.0?
A: Smart IT will not translate mid-tier UI-level customizations (Active Links) automatically into Smart IT UI customizations. That is
independent of the Remedy ITSM version. You'd have to check what these Active Links are doing and then there's different options
how to handle this.
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Q: Is there any enhancement in Smart IT fields configuration?
A: Yes, there are some enhancements, e.g. we are expanding the field configuration into the change mgmt area. But configurability is
a topic that we plan to enhance further.
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Q: Does Remedy 9 support access of custom application on Mobile platform?
A: Smart IT focuses currently on mobilizing the ootb ITSM applications. For custom apps, you may have to look at partner solutions
in the short term. Please contact your local BMC sales team for more information. In general BMC sees mobile devices as priority #1
UI platform and so we will evaluate this requirement for the future.
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Q: Will the error in MyIT & Smart IT will be user friendly as the number of application is increased and its difficult for developer to
go through MyIT & Smart IT & Remedy ITSM to find the root cause, impacted application.
A: How errors are handled and presented to users is an important part of good user experience. In many areas we have simplified the
error messages in Smart IT and made them more meaningful. The work is not completely done - we have more ideas to improve. For
troubleshooting purposes, error logging has been improved to better support the identification of root causes.
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Q: Does MyIT support integration with third party tool (Knowledge Source) for query and display of search results.
A: Yes, MyIT is built on a provider framework and supports integrations with 3rd party tools and knowledge sources
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Q: Are MyIT and Smart IT implemented with HTML5?
A: Yes, both MyIT and Smart-IT are built using the latest HTML5 technologies
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Q: Is Smart IT available for IM / PM / AM / CM and RM?
A: Smart IT 1.1 is now enabling different use cases for different personas, mostly related to Service Desk, incident management,
request management, work order management, task management, change management, knowledge management and asset
management (with focus on asset CI). We will keep expanding Smart IT for additional user personas and ITIL processes. More
information about the capabilities of Smart IT is available at https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/smartIT11/Home
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Q: Is the MyIT configuration in Remedy ITSM now documented and is that available?
A: Yes there will be lots of configuration data and documentation, and will be available on the Docs site when the latest versions GA
later this week
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Q: Deploying Smart IT with knowledge based is something very useful, but the pricing is the major factor for companies deciding
whether they should implement this as custom solution or via Remedy Knowledge Management. Has BMC done something about
this?
A: Yes, BMC has made changes to the licensing model around knowledge management to support more extended use of this
component. Please work with your local BMC sales team or partner to learn more about how this applies to your environment.
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Q: Are the multi tenancy defects in MyIT 2.5 already fixed?
A: We made significant improvements to the multi-tenancy model in 2.5. Now all MyIT features are multi-tenant and tied to Remedy
tenant companies.
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Q: Social Collab, does it support twitter, Yammer etc.,?
A: This question has been answered verbally.
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Q: Will impact simulations work in Smart IT 1.1 for change mgmt personas?
A: You can do impact simulations for changes created via Smart IT UI, but as this is typically an activity of change coordinator and
we haven't covered that persona yet, you'd still have to do that in the mid-tier based Remedy ITSM UI.
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Q: Is the asset management integrations has been done with MyIT?
A: MyIT 2.5's focus was mainly focused on Customization and Configuration. Asset management integrations is something we have
scheduled for our next release.
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Q: Is it possible in MyIT 2.5 to deactivate the people search functionality when I type @?
A: In 2.5 we have provided more granular control to enable and disable features. We have now included the ability to turn off social,
which in turn disables the ability to find and target specific users. This also disables superbox, and provides simple search
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Q: MyIT - Security for customers: Are we able to hide people for the @typing. e.g. CEO don't want to be shown here.
A: Currently disabling specific users is not possible, but something we are looking at for a future release. Disabling social in general is
now an out of the box capability
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Q: Do Smart IT and MyIT require out of the box Remedy ITSM applications?
A: Smart IT has been designed to work with Remedy ITSM applications. At minimum Service Desk and Knowledge Mgmt need to be
installed (though you don't have to create knowledge articles). Companies can have some customizations for these Remedy ITSM
applications. MyIT can be deployed standalone but you'll get the best value out of a deployment on top of Remedy ITSM / SRM.
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Q: Can Smart IT be accessed with a direct URL which includes an Incident # to go specifically to that incident?
A: Once you are on a specific incident screen, you see a URL which has a GUID in it. You can bookmark that URL and then directly
jump to the incident. But there's no option (yet) to construct a URL with the standard Incident ID. It's something we are looking at. I
recommend that you create an idea in the Remedy ITSM community.
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Q: MyIT & Smart IT has its own database? If yes, do we need to maintain foundation data in both along with ARS db or it will be run
time synch with ARS database?
A: MyIT and Smart IT have a database to store certain configuration data, but ITSM foundation data comes from Remedy ITSM.
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Q: Addition to first one - If SAML 2.0 is integrated with Remedy? do we need to integrate it with Smart & MyIT separately or no
need to integrate?
A: There is some setup that is needed in Smart IT and MyIT. There is a command line script that needs to be run. Please refer to the
Smart IT and MyIT documentation for detailed steps.
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/smartIT11/Configuring+Smart+IT+for+SSO?src=search&src=search
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Q: Mobile features being shown as part of Smart IT presentation - was mentioned they are supported on Tablet. Do these extend to
devices like iPhone?
A: Native Smart IT app is support on table and smartphones, both for Android and iOS.
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Q: Will Atrium SSO 8.0 support new Smart IT?
A: Yes, Atrium SSO is supported for Smart IT. It does support 8.0, but the latest Atrium SSO 9.0 version is recommended.
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Q: Can I use the Process Designer with Smart IT?
A: If Process Designer is only used to graphically define and execute workflow on the Remedy server, then yes, you can use Process
Designer with Smart IT. Users won’t see any information about Process Designer in the Smart IT UI.
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Q: Can searching for customers in Smart IT be case insensitive? Also how is it possible to change that to use another field for
searching?
A: Yes, searching for customers (e.g. in Smart Recorder) can be case insensitive. Searching for customers can be done based on name,
employee ID, login ID, or email address. At this point, this search logic cannot be changed.
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Q: Is there a restriction on the phone system integration for Smart IT? Can any phone system be used?
A: Any phone system can be used, as long as it has an option to launch external URLs / tools and pass information into that launch.
More information is available in the product documentation at
https://docs.bmc.com/docs/display/public/smartIT11/Integrating+Smart+IT+with+phone+systems .
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Q: Do we require different Tomcat instances for Mid Tier 9 and MyIT / Smart-IT?
A: Mid Tier 9 and MyIT/ Smart IT can be hosted on the same Tomcat instance as well. You would need to take care of the scalability
needs appropriately.
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Q: Is there support for the Asset Mgmt persona in new version of Smart IT ?
A: Users can look at Asset CIs information in Smart IT UI and can make certain edits. Users even have new innovative capabilities,
e.g. finding Asset CIs very quickly via barcode scanning. But we don't claim full coverage of Asset Mgmt persona until all typical
activities are covered, and that is part of the Smart IT roadmap.
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