TRM lifecycle timelines on Gantt chart
Summarize
Summary of TRM lifecycle timelines on Gantt chart
The Technology Reference Model (TRM) lifecycle timelines are visualized on a Gantt chart within the Enterprise Architecture Workspace. Application services, including hardware models and software products, are displayed hierarchically, with their lifecycle phases represented as bars on the chart. The TRM lifecycle data includes wildcard versions (denoted by an asterisk '') and provides detailed phase information such as start and end dates.
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Key Features
- Lifecycle Visualization: TRM lifecycles are shown as distinct timeline bars for each application service without aggregating them to higher-level services or business applications.
- Phase Information: Each bar on the Gantt chart can be hovered over to reveal TRM phase details including start and end dates, sourced from the TPM Discovered Technology and TRM Product Lifecycle tables.
- Phase Status Display: The TRM phase column shows the current status of software products or hardware models. If lifecycle data is missing or unapproved, statuses like "Not assessed" or "Unapproved" are displayed accordingly.
- Technical Debt Tracking: TRM technical debts are automatically created when products are not aligned with TRM phases or standards. These debts are tracked at both product and lifecycle levels to highlight gaps such as missing definitions or lack of production approval.
- Lifecycle End Date Logic: End dates for phases are automatically calculated based on the start date of subsequent phases or extended by a configurable system property if it is the last phase, ensuring consistent timeline representation without manual end date entry.
- Matching Criteria for Timeline Display: For software products, the product name and version or edition must match between TPM and TRM lifecycle records. For hardware models, the hardware model value must correspond to the TRM lifecycle entry to display timelines correctly.
- Color Coding and Customization: Lifecycle bars are color-coded based on phase status, with the ability to view and modify colors through the Legend and TRM phase settings to suit organizational preferences.
Practical Application for ServiceNow Customers
ServiceNow customers can use the TRM lifecycle Gantt chart to visually track the lifecycle phases of their application services, ensuring alignment with enterprise technology standards. The display of phase statuses and technical debt helps identify risks related to unapproved or undefined products and lifecycles. Automated lifecycle end date calculations reduce manual configuration errors. Customizable color coding enhances visual management of lifecycle statuses. Scheduling the "Populate TRM technical debts" job keeps technical debt data up to date, supporting proactive governance of technology assets.
Next Steps
- Create and maintain TRM products and their lifecycle requests following guidelines in the Enterprise Architecture Workspace.
- Approve or reject TRM product and lifecycle requests to ensure only production-approved lifecycles appear accurately on the Gantt chart.
- Manage TRM technical debt actively to address misalignments or missing lifecycle definitions.
- Adjust color coding as needed to optimize lifecycle status visualization.
For Technology Reference Model (TRM), the application services (hardware models and software products) are displayed in a hierarchical structure, similar to the TPM view. The corresponding lifecycle timelines of the application services are displayed as bars on the Gantt chart. It also displays the data for lifecycles with wild card versions. The TRM wildcard version ends with a ‘*’.
In TRM view, the lifecycles aren’t aggregated to application services or business applications.
- TRM Phase
- Start date
- End date
You can point to an individual bar in the Gantt chart to view the phase information.
The Application services column is populated from the TPM Discovered Technology table (sn_apm_tpm_discovered_technology).
TRM phase status
The TRM view also displays the status of the TRM phases of the software products or hardware models. The TRM phase column is populated from the TRM Product Lifecycle table (sn_apm_trm_standards_product_lifecycle).
If no TRM product lifecycle data is available for an application service, then the TRM phase for that service is displayed as Not assessed.
Also, if a TRM product phase doesn’t have the Production approved check box () selected, then the TRM phase column displays the status of the application service having that TRM phase as Unapproved. For details on how to approve a TRM phase, see Approve or reject TRM requests.
Only when the TRM phase is marked as production approved and the phase start date has already passed, the TRM phase for the application service is displayed in the TRM phase column. For example, the TRM phase Divest is marked as production approved and has a start date of 01-12-2023. The current date is 10-12-2023. In such a scenario, all application services associated with the TRM phase have their phase status as Divest in the TRM phase column.
If you have TRM products that aren't aligned with TRM phases and standards, then a TRM technical debt is created in the TRM Technical Debt (sn_apm_trm_standards_technical_debt) table. TRM technical debts are created at two levels. The following table contains information on TRM technical debts and their associated levels.
| TRM product | TRM phase | TRM level | Reason | Explanation |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Not applicable | Not applicable | Product | The software isn’t defined in TRM. | TRM product isn’t available. |
| TRM Product Name | TRM Product Phase | Product | The software isn’t approved for production. | TRM product isn’t production approved. |
| TRM Product Name | Not applicable | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t defined in the TRM product lifecycle. | No TRM lifecycle is available for the TRM product. |
| TRM Product Name | Not applicable | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t defined in the TRM product lifecycle. | TRM lifecycle with full version information isn’t available. |
| TRM Product Name | Not applicable | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t defined in the TRM product lifecycle. | TRM lifecycle with version information isn’t available. |
| TRM Product Name | Not applicable | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t defined in the TRM product lifecycle. | TRM lifecycle with version information isn’t available. |
| TRM Product Name | Lifecycle phase | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t approved for production. | TRM lifecycle with full version information isn’t production approved. |
| TRM Product Name | Not applicable | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t approved for production. | TRM lifecycle with full version isn’t available for current date. |
| TRM Product Name | Lifecycle phase | Product lifecycle | The software version isn’t approved for production. | TRM lifecycle with version and edition information isn’t production approved. |
You can schedule the Populate TRM technical debts in the EA Workspace job to update the TRM technical debt data in the EA Workspace. For more information, see Run a scheduled job to update TRM technical debt data in EA Workspace.
Lifecycle end-date calculation logic
Entering an end date isn’t required while creating a TRM product lifecycle.
For each TRM lifecycle phase, the end date of one phase is the start date of the next phase. For example, application service A has two TRM phases that are Divest and Approved with Constraints. The start date for the Divest phase is 01-12-2023 and the start date for the Approved with Constraints phase is 30-12-2023. No phase end date has been mentioned for the Divest phase. In such a scenario, the end date of the Divest phase is considered as 30-12-2023. An error message is displayed if the product lifecycle dates overlap.
For the last phase, the end date is calculated by adding the time value as defined in the system property sn_apm.endRangeofTPMLifecycle with the current date. For example, today is 01-12-2023 and the end date value as defined in the system property sn_apm.endRangeofTPMLifecycle is three years from the current date. Then, the end date of the phase will be 01-12-2026.
Application service timelines
- Software products: For software products, the TRM product Name and Product full version values for that particular software product as defined in the TPM Technology Lifecycle
table (sn_apm_tpm_technology_lifecycle) should match the TRM Product and Version values that are entered while creating the TRM lifecycle for that product.
Or the TRM product Name, Version, and Edition values for that particular software product as defined in the TPM Technology Lifecycle table (sn_apm_tpm_technology_lifecycle) should match the TRM Product,Version, and Edition values that are entered while creating the TRM lifecycle for that product.
- Hardware models: For hardware models, the TRM product hardware model value for that application service should match the hardware model value that is entered while creating the TRM lifecycle for that application service.
For details on how to create a TRM product, see Add a TRM product in Enterprise Architecture Workspace.
For details on how to create a TRM product lifecycle request, see Add a TRM product lifecycle.
For details on how to approve or reject a TRM product or lifecycle request, see Approve or reject TRM requests.
Color coding
The colors of the TRM lifecycle timeline bars are based on their TRM phase status. To see the colors associated with each TRM phase status, select the Legend button (
).
You can also change the TRM phase colors according to your requirement. For details on how to modify existing TRM phase colors, see Add or edit a TRM phase.