What is an Application

At a high level, the Application provides the main set of features which are experienced by a user, where a user can be either an Analyst or a Customer.

To put this into some context, there are three main steps to installing a Supportworks system.

1. Core Services: this includes web services and database functions
2. Supportworks ESP (Enterprise Support Platform): this encompasses the generic functions to enable the provision of Service Desk features. For example, email is provided by Supportworks and presented within the Supportworks Client. Supportworks is generally referred to as the Platform, but this term can also include Core Services.
3. Application (usually ITSM Enterprise): the majority of the forms used by an Analyst are included here, along with the functionality to support the operation of these forms. Features to allow Customers to interact with the system and leverage aspects of the Application are also provided; the main one being the Customer Portal which is aware of Application specific features.

In the majority of situations in which questions arise, it is beneficial to know the version of both Supportworks ESP as well as the Application. For example, the Application may send an email as part of a process; the Application will normally collate the information and then use the email functionality in the Supportworks Platform to send the email. In this instance, the version of both the Application and the Platform may be needed to clarify where an issue may lie or to determine the possible changes which can be made to meet a new requirement.

Due to the extent of the features provided by Supportworks, both in enabling the building of different Applications and providing integration options with other systems, the Application in most cases requires a minimum version of Supportworks in order to deliver its feature set.

Customisation and Configuration

The question "Is it customised?" arises on occasions. This relates to the Application and refers to alterations which have been made to alter the behaviour of the features. In some instances, the alterations have been made by changing a setting, such as a value in a database table. We refer to this as configuration, and in most cases, these settings will be retained following an upgrade of the Application.

The list below contains a number of areas in which changes would not be retained or may not operate as expected following an upgrade of the Application. Changes in these areas are referred to as customisation. These changes may either be delivered by Hornbill or by one of our Customers.

1. Form Layout and Configuration
2. Scripts which forms use to deliver functionality
3. Visual Process Manager Engine (VPME) scripts
4. Scripts used to provide web content such as Supportworks Today or the Customer Portal

If you intend to make changes to your implementation of Supportworks, it is highly recommended that you keep detailed notes of the changes. These may prove to be invaluable when considering future options to leverage more potential from the system.