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Creating Patch Requests (End User)

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

The release management group also manages patch requests. A patch request (PR) is a resolved product issue with a resolution that you must deliver to a customer prior to the next scheduled release, through a maintenance release. The release management group makes sure that users immediately resolve in maintenance releases critical issues for which customers need fixes.

This topic contains the following related information:

• Process Flow for Creating Patch Requests
• Generating Patch Requests from Change Requests
• Approving and Shipping Patch Requests

This task is a step in Process of Managing Siebel Quality.

Process Flow for Creating Patch Requests

After users close change requests (CRs) as verified, the release management group might determine that they must provide a CR fix to a customer immediately and not in the next release of the product. Figure 30 shows the process flow for the tasks in patch request creation.

Figure 30. Process Flow for Patch Request Creation

More information about the tasks in this process follows:

1. Find Verified Change Request with Urgent Customer Need for Fix. A member of the release management group identifies a closed and verified CR that represents a resolution for which a customer cannot wait until the next scheduled release to receive.
2. Generate Patch Request from Change Request. A release manager generates a patch request (PR) from a CR. For more information, see Generating Patch Requests from Change Requests.
3. Get Approvals. The release manager obtains the approvals necessary for shipping the patch, and records the approvals in the PR record. For more information, see Approving and Shipping Patch Requests.
4. Retest. If all approvers do not agree that the patch is ready to ship, then the release manager sends the patch back to engineering for further development, testing, and another approval cycle.
5. Ship Maintenance Release. After the release manager gathers all the approvals for the PR, the maintenance release is ready to ship to the customer. For more information, see Approving and Shipping Patch Requests.

Generating Patch Requests from Change Requests

A member of the release management team generates a patch request (PR) from a change request (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, then the Change Request List view.
2. Select the closed and verified CR record from which you want to generate a PR.
3. In the Change Requests form, click the menu button, and select Copy To Patch.

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

4. In the Account field, select the customer to receive the patch.
5. In the Date Required field, enter the date to deliver PR fix to the customer.

Approving and Shipping Patch Requests

You approve a patch request (PR) for shipping as a maintenance release in the Patch Requests view. The release management team uses this view. The main groups involved in product development must approve a patch before you can deliver it 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, then the Patch Request List view.
2. Drill down on the Patch Request number (#) field for a selected patch to ship.
3. When you receive approvals for the patch to ship, complete the Technical Services, Product Marketing, Engineering, and QA fields.
4. When all teams approve the PR, select Approved to Ship in the Patch Status field.
5. When you ship the patch, select Closed-Shipped in the Patch Status field.