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Creating Patch Requests (Release Management End User)

The release management team, which may consist of representatives from the major functional groups, tracks the overall health of the product release. They monitor product status and stability. They monitor the development effort's progress through Siebel Quality's reports and charts. They then provide the final recommendations for shipment of the product.

The release management group also manages patch requests (PRs). A patch request (PR) is a resolved product issue whose fix must be delivered to a customer prior to the next scheduled release, through a maintenance release. The release management group makes sure that critical issues for which customers need fixes immediately get resolved as maintenance releases.

Generating Patch Requests from Change Requests

A member of the release management team generates a PR from a CR. The PR then forms the basis of a maintenance release. To generate a PR, use the procedure that follows.

To generate a patch request from a change request

1. Navigate to the Quality screen.
2. In the My Change Requests list, select the closed and verified CR record from which you want to generate a PR.
3. In the Change Requests form, click the view menu button and choose Copy To Patch.

   The Patch Requests view appears with the new PR record generated from the CR. Most fields are filled in from the CR.

4. In the Account field, select the customer that is to receive the patch.
5. In the Date Required field, enter the date on which the PR fix must be delivered to the customer.

Approving and Shipping Patch Requests

A PR is approved for shipping as a maintenance release in the Patch Requests view, which is used by the release management team. The main groups involved in product development must approve a patch before it can be delivered to a customer.

To record approvals and clear a patch for shipping, use the procedure that follows.

To approve and ship a patch request

1. Navigate to the Quality screen > Patch Request List view.
2. Find the patch record you want to ship.
3. In the All Patch Requests list, drill down on the Patch Request # field hyperlink.
4. As you receive approvals for the patch to be shipped, complete the Technical Services, Product Marketing, Engineering, and QA fields.
5. When all teams have approved the PR, in the Patch Status field, select Approved to Ship.
6. When the patch is shipped, in the Patch Status field, select Closed-Shipped.