Reserving Items

You may wish to reserve items, for example, if there is a new employee starting and you wish to reserve a computer for them, before actually allocating the computer to them when they actually start.

Before you start

Reserve/Allocate must be selected within the Execute Transactions sections in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management security role.

The items must be in the On Hand – Available pool. You can do this by adding a purchase, receiving an order, canceling a reservation or canceling an allocation.

You cannot reserve items already in use or retired.

  1. ClosedDisplay the Transaction Details window, if it is not already on screen.

    Display the Software Product or Inventory Details window by searching for the CMDB item, specifying Software Product or Inventory as the CMDB Item Type. Then select the Transactions explorer option from the explorer pane to the left of the window.

    Alternatively, you can access the Transactions window through the call, request or task details windows.

    The Transactions window accessed through the Transactions explorer option from calls, requests, or tasks does not record transactions added through a QD field on the call, request or task details window.

    The title and any description of the current software product or inventory appear at the top of this window. The Transactions window also has two tabs:

    Orders This tab allows you to add and manage your orders, that is record the number of items of a software product or inventory item you have ordered but have not yet received.
    Purchases This tab allows you to view and manage your purchases, that is the number of items of the software product or inventory item you have purchased as well as received from an order. The state of these items can change, that is they can be on-hand, in use, reserved, and retired. Each state (also referred to as a “transaction pool”) is represented by the tabs or views in the Purchases view (that is On Hand, In Use, Reserved, and Retired).

  2. Select the Purchases tab . This is just below the Description field. This tab has two browse tables. The top browse table is the list of purchases, and has columns for all the purchase transaction details. The bottom browse table has four tabs or views, On Hand, In Use, Reserved, and Retired. Each view represents the state of the purchased items after a particular transaction was performed.

    3. You can select below the table to show or hide columns. A blank value in a column means that this transaction detail was intentionally left unspecified or it is not relevant to the particular transaction.

    Select the Show transactions for selected purchase only radio button above the browse table to only display the items in the bottom browse table for a selected purchase. Clear this option to list the items in all purchases.

  1. Select the On Hand tab to display the transaction records for purchased items. (You may like to adjust the column widths to see all of the columns.)
  2. From the browse table, select the transaction from which you want to reserve items.
  3. Select . The Transaction Details Reserve window appears. The fields in the top half of the window are populated with details specified when adding the purchase or receiving the order. Complete the details in the bottom half.
  4. CMDB Item Search for and select a CMDB item for which the item is being reserved, if appropriate.

    You must specify a CMDB Item and/or a Person. You can specify both, for example the laptop for use by a particular analyst. You can select a CMDB item from any cost center.
    Person Search for and select a person for whom the item is being reserved, if appropriate.

    You must specify a CMDB Item and/or a Person. You can select a person from any cost center.
    Quantity Type the number of items you wish to allocate to the selected CMDB item or person. The quantity you specify must be equal to or below the value shown in the Available Quantity field.
    Status Select a status for the transaction. The default status is In Use, but others may be configured in the Asset Management - Transaction Status window.
  5. Select beneath the browse table.
  6. The details are displayed in the browse table and the Available Quantity and Total allocated in this transaction fields are updated.

  7. If any usage restrictions apply, you will receive an error message to this effect. Select OK to close the message and select a different CMDB item.

  8. Select to close the window. Then select the Reserved tab to see that an entry for each reservation added is displayed in the browse table.

  9. The Item Summary on the Software Product Details or Inventory Details is updated to reflect the new total quantity of items in the On Hand – Available or On Hand – Unavailable, and In Use pools.

  10. Now you can allocate the items, as required.

Canceling Item Reservations

Before you start

Reserve/Allocate must be selected within the Execute Transactions sections in the CMDB Items tab of your Configuration Management security role.

If you have reserved more items than you need, you can return them to the On Hand - Available pool so that they can be reserved for or allocated somewhere else.

  1. ClosedDisplay the Transaction Details window, if it is not already on screen.

    Display the Software Product or Inventory Details window by searching for the CMDB item, specifying Software Product or Inventory as the CMDB Item Type. Then select the Transactions explorer option from the explorer pane to the left of the window.

    Alternatively, you can access the Transactions window through the call, request or task details windows.

    The Transactions window accessed through the Transactions explorer option from calls, requests, or tasks does not record transactions added through a QD field on the call, request or task details window.

    The title and any description of the current software product or inventory appear at the top of this window. The Transactions window also has two tabs:

    Orders This tab allows you to add and manage your orders, that is record the number of items of a software product or inventory item you have ordered but have not yet received.
    Purchases This tab allows you to view and manage your purchases, that is the number of items of the software product or inventory item you have purchased as well as received from an order. The state of these items can change, that is they can be on-hand, in use, reserved, and retired. Each state (also referred to as a “transaction pool”) is represented by the tabs or views in the Purchases view (that is On Hand, In Use, Reserved, and Retired).

  2. Select the Purchases tab . This is just below the Description field. This tab has two browse tables. The top browse table is the list of purchases, and has columns for all the purchase transaction details. The bottom browse table has four tabs or views, On Hand, In Use, Reserved, and Retired. Each view represents the state of the purchased items after a particular transaction was performed.

    3. You can select below the table to show or hide columns. A blank value in a column means that this transaction detail was intentionally left unspecified or it is not relevant to the particular transaction.

    Select the Show transactions for selected purchase only radio button above the browse table to only display the items in the bottom browse table for a selected purchase. Clear this option to list the items in all purchases.

  1. Select the Reserved tab to see the reservations in the browse table.
  2. Select the entry you want to cancel and then select .
  3. The Transaction Details Return to On Hand window is displayed . The quantity reserved and details of the person/CMDB item they are reserved for are displayed at the top of the window. In the Unreserve section, complete the details.

    4. Quantity to Return Key in the quantity of the item you want to return to On Hand.
    Status Use the drop-down list to specify whether you want the status to be Available, so that it can be reserved or allocated to someone else, or Unavailable.

  4. Select to close the window. The details are updated in the window, as well as in the transaction history and item summary for the item.