CMDBuild Newsletter nr. 90

After the release of CMDBuild 3.4 at the end of January, we are defining the contents of the next minor version 3.4.1.

A first objective, typical of every release immediately following a major version, is to carry out adjustments and fine-tuning of the many recent innovations.

However, there will also be several new features, among which we have currently identified the following:

• search filters: possibility to define more complex advanced filters on the data cards by specifying criteria in “or” and/or “and”;
• email: new consultation and search page, localization of templates, display of unread emails and notification of receipt, control of the size of attachments, chronological display, templates filtered on classes;
• views from joins: improvements in the choice and management of attributes in the configuration phase, possibility of viewing the source data cards in the consultation phase;
• attached documents model: enabling foreign key attributes;
• Administration Module: new interface for defining the temporal criteria for scheduling tasks, defining retain criteria in the application logs;
• Mobile APP: enabling card search and changing attributes via RFID tag, login via RFID card.

Then there will be further interventions aimed at ensuring continuous improvement on the safety aspects of the application.

The release date of the next CMDBuild 3.4.1 version has not yet been defined, which is however expected by this summer.

During the last CMDBuild DAY we presented the migration project to CMDBuild READY2USE of the Service Desk of the Emilia Romagna Region, with the intervention of Luca Catti, at that time in the role of Asset & Support Manager of the Region, and with the presence of Riccardo Pandolfi, consultant of the HSPI company.

The implementation activities of the project have been completed and since last December 6^th the new Service Desk system, configured according to the needs of the Region, is in production.

The project has achieved the initial objectives, with everyone's satisfaction, and will continue to grow and evolve over time also following possible modifications of needs and organizational methods of the Customer.

CMDBuild READY2USE now constitutes the central element on which flow data and processes from other regional IT systems.

Through CMDBuild READY2USE over 600 technical operators provide services to approximately 6.800 regional collaborators belonging to 370 Organizational Units, divided into 10 tenants.

The application manages a Service Catalog consisting of 340 business services and about 1.000 types of requests, mainly IT but also from other areas (procurement, logistics, security, etc.).

Implements 7 workflows, of which the first three are already active and the others are ready to be activated: Incident Management (12.000 tickets registered in 3 months), Request Fulfillment (9.000 requests registered in 3 months), ICT Security Incident Management, Change Management, Problem Management, Asset & Configuration Management, Provisioning.

Users open their tickets via the Self-Service Portal (6.000 configured users) and via mailboxes (38 dedicated to different services).

The application manages through CMDB functions over 60.000 Configuration Items, including client, infrastructure objects (over 1.000 virtual servers) and software applications (over 6.000 instances), with over one and a half million total relationships.

The CIs stored in the system are subject to automatic checks and updates via 7 inbound connectors that collect data from different types of tools: LDAP (synchronization of Personnel and Organizational Units), VMware (server synchronization), SCCM (Workstations), Zabbix (event monitoring), Habble (mobile and SIM data), IDM (CMDBuild users), Rundeck (Release and Deployment tickets).

Other 3 outbound connectors export data to external systems: KnowAge (for creating customized reports and dashboards), ArcSight and SAP.

With the transition to production, the CMDBuild READY2USE system is now in charge of the “Presidio and Application Development Area” of ​​the Region.

After the general presentation articles published on the previous newsletters, let's now go into more detail on the different components of the system.

waterWAY has been designed to guarantee maximum flexibility and dynamism, in order to solve the increasingly numerous and different interoperability needs required to CMDBuild.

The descriptors (configuration scripts) executed by the engine are written in YAML and can be seen as a “container” made of different types of “elements” that interact with each other.

The most important are:

- ETL, also composed of “sub-elements” called “handlers”, which can include:

• “jdbc” connectors to a database;
• groovy scripts / generic custom java, which can for example be used to retrieve data from external webservices;
• template-like components that receive data and invoke an import / export template;
• “etl” components that invoke another “etl” defined inside or outside the same descriptor;
• custom components (“jar”) powered by a plugin / external library imported into CMDBuild.

The data follows an “ordered” flow depending on the order defined between the “handlers” of an “etl”.

To better understand the potential, we can, for example, define an “etl” that includes:

• a “A” jdbc handler that takes care of retrieving data from an external database using a specific SQL query;
• a “B” script handler that manipulates and transforms the data received from “A”;
• a “C” (import) template handler that deals with synchronizing the data received from “B” with a specific class / table of CMDBuild.

- TRIGGER, which can be of two types:

• job, corresponding to the pre-existing job scripts scheduled by a “cron”, which can be used to periodically execute a script written in groovy / java;
• event, through which specifying custom actions, such as the invocation of an “etl” when an event is triggered (such as the creation / modification / deletion of a data card).

- IMPORT / EXPORT TEMPLATES, usually invoked by an “etl” handler, correspond to import / export templates already available in the CMDBuild Administration Module.

- NOTIFICATION TEMPLATES, usually invoked at specific times during the execution of an “etl”, for example to send an in-app notification or email to a specific user / group at the end of an execution if some error has occurred.

Through the above mechanisms we are now migrating some of the standard connectors of CMDBuild READY2USE to obtain a complete validation in the field of the new Service BUS, which is in any case solving all the foreseen needs and also some not known in the design phase.

The iBrIDS (intelligent Bridge Information Decision System) project, developed by the University of Padua, has been completed. The project is focused on the definition of an innovative methodology for the intelligent management of existing bridges and viaducts, through bidirectional integration, in a digital and automated context, of geometric, material, performance and structural information with the deterioration conditions of the artefacts and active sensors.

The project, the results of which were illustrated on March 24^th in a public webinar, was structured in three different research paths, concerning the construction technique, the digital survey and the digitization of infrastructures in the BIM environment, the integration and management of information derived from sensors from an IoT perspective.

As part of this last research path, Tecnoteca made its openMAINT platform available to the University of Padua, through a company participating in the project, to carry out experimental tests on the integration and management of BIM data based on open IFC and sensor data from IoT devices.

openMAINT, already operating in the area of ​​bridge and road infrastructure management, first of all made it possible to illustrate the functionality of a BMS platform adapted to current regulations.

As a data integration platform based on open-source solutions, it then allowed to import tests of four different files in IFC format constituting the BIM models of some existing or ad hoc modeled bridges, relating in particular to the “Carbonifera bridge” in Venice, the “Viale del Piave overpass” in Verona and a generic three-span bridge whose BIM model also included the registry, geometric and spatial hierarchical structure of some sensor networks.

The experimentation confirmed the potential of the system, and in particular:

• the ease of access from the application to information synchronized by BIM;
• the navigation compatible with the hierarchical-spatial structure defined by the BIM-IFC databases;
• the correspondence between the components involved in maintenance and the data structure of the models;
• the immediate access to the geometric-spatial characteristics of the artifacts and individual components through the IFC 3D viewer;
• the possibility of associating IoT data with sensors defined in the BIM model and imported into openMAINT.

Starting from the functionalities already present in the platform and from the results that emerged from the tests and from the mapping and display of information from the different databases, the research was able to advance hypotheses for the development of methodological processes for BMS of bridges and viaducts.

It has been considered the implementation of procedures for identifying the risk of critical events linked to the instantaneous reading of real data compared with the threshold values ​​indicated in the BIM model (information check), on the trend analysis of sensors time series through future developments of predictive algorithms, on the automatic generation of corrective maintenance activities, on the early activation of scheduled maintenance activities (inspections).

Finally, the remote use of on-site platforms was considered to support inspection / maintenance / intervention operations through direct and interactive access to information, usable by browsing and querying the integrated BIM databases.

The second presentation webinar of CMDBuild 3.4 was held on February 17^th, dedicated in particular to the presentation of the CMDBuild Service Bus waterWAY. Here you can find the video.

An in-depth webinar on the Finance and Logistics Management Modules of openMAINT was then held on March 10^th. The related video is available here.

We have scheduled a new webinar next April 14^th, dedicated to CMDBuild READY2USE and in particular to the aspects of SLA and Service Management. The webinar will be held in English language, participation is free upon registration at this link.

The video recordings of the webinars already held remain available to interested people, here you will find the links to access.