CMDBuild Newsletter nr. 91

In the previous newsletter we have anticipated a first list of implementations that are in progress on the new 3.4.1 version of the CMDBuild platform.

The implementations already described included improvements on search filters, on emails, on views from joins, on DMS models, on some functions of the Administration Module and on the Mobile APP.

Further points of improvement of the new version are the following:

• data grids: ability to view the attributes to be included in the grid ordered by position in the card or alphabetically, automatic distinct for filters on the columns on the lookup values ​​in the case of subclasses, disabling the sorting on one or more columns from the Administration Module;
• relations graph: display of attributes on relations, display of relations on different domains between the same pairs of classes;
• permissions on data card TABs: added differentiation between read / write permissions;
• relationships: multiple relationships allowed on the same domain between the same pairs of cards with different attributes of the relationship;
• Service Bus: support for hierarchical domains (relationships on the same class);
• PostGIS update to version 3.

Among the bug fixes we are intervening in particular on some behaviors of the Service Bus and on improvements to the security aspects of the application.

The release date of the new CMDBuild 3.4.1 version is scheduled for the end of September.

The release of the new CMDBuild READY2USE 2.3 and openMAINT 2.3 versions are also expected in autumn.

In this newsletter we are going to describe the main new features of openMAINT, which will include:

Integrations and improvements to Maintenance Processes:

• introduction of a Knowledge Base to help maintenance technicians in resolving fault reports;
• possibility of automatic opening of a Corrective Maintenance in case a problem is identified during the execution of a Preventive Maintenance;
• possibility of indicating a specific assignee in addition to supplier and team;
• addition in the Corrective Maintenance workflow of the optional steps of “taking charge” and “suspension”;
• ability to view and possibly modify notification emails.

Extensions to other modules:

• improvements to the Energy Management module (reference to the asset and improvements of the graphs in the summary dashboard);
• extension of the Consumables class with new descriptive fields;
• new “Attachments list” report with the list of all files uploaded in the system divided by reference class.

Other implementations made possible by the new features made available by the CMDBuild “core” platform:

• numerous improvements to the visualizations on the map: info window, file fields on the form, navigation tree of the layers, etc.;
• sending push notifications "in app" in addition to email notifications;
• configuration of context-dependent and localization-dependent dynamic email templates;
• activation of consistency validations in the compilation of data cards.

As in all even years, also this year we are going to organize the CMDBuild DAY 2022, a biennial event that is now a “standard” for CMDBuild users.

The date has not yet been set, but will presumably be in November.

As for several editions now, it will be a videoconference event, with the participation of international speakers and listeners, held in English.

As always, the event will be aimed at giving the floor to those who have already adopted CMDBuild, CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT and want to share their experience.

From now on, we kindly invite those who are available to present their own case study to contact us.

On the CMDBuild website the videos of all the speeches held during the previous editions are available:

• CMDBuild DAY 2020 (online)
• CMDBuild DAY 2018 (online)
• CMDBuild DAY 2016 (online)
• CMDBuild DAY 2014 (Rome)
• CMDBuild DAY 2012 (Bologna)
• CMDBuild DAY 2010 (Udine)

After having shared many case studies of Companies and Organizations that work with CMDBuild, CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT all over the world, we believe that it would be interesting to talk about the use made of our software within Tecnoteca.

We remind that the CMDBuild project started in year 2005 and the first release took place in April 2006.

Tecnoteca immediately considered that the flexibility and configurability of the product would be useful for digitizing the main internal processes.

The first areas of use were those of CRM (Customer Relationship Management), Project Management, Ticketingand Customer Request Management. Over the years and thanks to the always new features implemented in the platform, the use of CMDBuild has expanded and has also involved other areas and company functions.

Now let's look at some implementations and features in more detail, with the aim of also providing examples and ideas for those wishing to implement similar features.

CRM and Contact Management

The contact forms for requesting information and requesting access to the online demos on the company websites (www.tecnoteca.com, www.cmdbuild.org, www.cmdbuilready2use.org, www.openmaint.org) send emails to the “Tecnoteca CMDBuild” that registers automatically all information in its archives. This generates some automatic processes, such as the creation of online demo accounts and the sending of login credentials via email, and the opening of any recall processes managed by the sales staff. Salespersons write the emails directly into CMDBuild, and the replies received automatically enter into the application, for complete traceability of the communications that have taken place. Notes and comments are entered, actions and follow up dates planned, business opportunities managed, report and dashboards made available. A direct integration with the Asterisk telephone switchboard is also available: a widget in the customer / contact card starts the call directly on the operator's phone.

Customer and Project Management

Customers are mapped in CMDBuild, with the related support services purchased. All important information about the project, product and installed versions, contacts, etc. are recorded. Tecnoteca's technical staff records the activities carried out for individual customer and project, for maintenance activities, pay-per-use support and training. This allows to always have under control the status of the order/project in terms of work expected and work actually carried out. Several reports and dashboards are available, as well as deadline reminders through the schedulerfeature. The management of the codes for the Mobile APP (non-open-source functionality) also takes place in and with CMDBuild. Customers are also geo-referenced thanks to the GIS functionality for map views and related statistics.

Help Desk with SLA

Tecnoteca has configured and made available for its customers a Self-Service Portal, similar to the one present in CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT (non-open-source functionality). Here customers can open tickets for support requests, which then enter into CMDBuild and are managed by the Technical Support Team in accordance with the SLAs (Service Level Agreements) present in the customer’s contracts. Priorities are managed and, if necessary, requests are forwarded to internal specialists. Automatic notifications related to SLAs are generated in the event that the ticket management does not take place on schedule.

Personnel Management

Employees record in CMDBuild the hours of work divided between “orders” and “activities”. Through a dedicated workflow they request to the management the days of vacation and hours of leave; once the holiday/leave request has been approved, the related hours are automatically recorded in the shared calendar and in the monthly counts of the hours worked. The attendance sheets of each employee are created and automatically sent to the external office that deals with the processing of pay-slips. A workflow was also implemented for the request to carry out business trips to customers and for material requests (for example a new monitor). Also in this case, automatic emails are generated to the related persons (manager and requester) and the approval phase of the request is managed within CMDBuild. The performance of these processes obviously requires that each employee, based on the role he belongs to, only has access to the functions pertaining to him.

Inventory and Document Archive Management

All company assets (IT and not only) are tracked and monitored in the system, with information on assignees / users, license expirations, maintenance activities, etc. QR Codes are also generated and associated with the various objects, for optimal management of the process through the APP. Internal and external server information is automatically synchronized and monitored via a connector with VMware vCenter. The document archive is also used to archive technical documentation, administrative documentation, images, videos, etc., and keep track of file versions.

Monitoring of "core" technical activities

Issues are imported into CMDBuild from the internal GitLab instance, where the technicians dedicated to the development of the CMDBuild platform manage their own development and bug fix activities. This has been implemented with the new Service BUS waterWAY. Dashboards have also been implemented for monitoring activities divided by period, operator, project, milestone, etc.

Knowledge base

An internal knowledge base has been created in CMDBuild, divided into general information (internal organization, code of ethics, parking lots, working hours, sickness, etc.), commercial (management of services offered, etc.) and technical (configurations, updates, sys activities, custom implementations, etc.).

Business Management

Corporate performance is also monitored with CMDBuild. The data present in the system, through aggregation and reprocessing mechanisms, make it possible to obtain corporate dashboards, through which is possible to verify the deviation from the predefined objectives and support decision-making processes. For example, the geography and sector of the market, the products / services factor, the commercial performance, the customer satisfaction, the profitability of orders, the performance of employees, are some of the indicators that CMDBuild allows to obtain and monitor.

Support for ISO 9001 Certification

The CMDBuild application proved to be a very useful tool even when Tecnoteca carried out the ISO 9001 Certification. The Knowledge Base was integrated with some additional information and these, together with the other procedures already present in the system, formed the procedures and instructions of the Quality Manual. Furthermore, the management of orders and their final balances satisfies the control needs envisaged by ISO 9001. Through the workflow mechanism it is possible to generate further approval processes for any changes to the procedures.

In general we can say that the standard functions of CMDBuild, such as ad hoc modeling of the database according to specific needs, implementation of workflows, custom reports and dashboards, interoperability with other systems, custom interfaces, Mobile APP for in-field activities, Self-Service Portal for end users / customers, document archive, email management, scheduler, etc. were developed by Tecnoteca to support the customers’ needs, but are also widely used within the company for the management of all daily activities.

A webinar about the CMDBuild READY2USE “Service Management Module” was held on April 14th.

The video is available at this link.

A second webinar, this time related to openMAINT and dedicated to “the Energy Management module and IoT”, was held last Thursday 26 May.

Here you can find the related video.

We have then scheduled a new webinar for next July 14th, again related to openMAINT and dedicated to “GIS and BIM support tools”.

Further webinars will be organized in autumn, to present the new versions of all our products: CMDBuild 3.4.1, CMDBuild READY2USE 2.3 and openMAINT 2.3.

The recordings of all the webinars already held remain available to interested persons at this page.