CMDBuild Newsletter nr. 80

The development activities for the new CMDBuild 3.3 version are proceeding and we are reaching the conclusion.

We have divided the activities into four intermediate milestones and we are now starting the last block of implementations, followed by a period of tests and bug fixes to finally reach the final release in September.

We have already mentioned in previous newsletters the new features for the Document Management and the new Mobile APP.

Among the other main new functionalities coming with CMDBuild 3.3, we also remember:

• possibility to insert in the menu, hierarchies of data cards with configurable filters, to show for example the list of floors contained in a building, for each floor the list of rooms, for each room the list of technical assets and to follow the list of furnishings;
• retrieve of the massive modification function of the data cards, and implementation of the new mass cancellation function;
• improvements in the user interface: page help in data cards and processes, possibility of presenting some groups of attributes closed by default, opening in full screen mode of the HTML editor for text-type attributes, sums in the Master Detail pages;
• extension of import/export templates and automatic task system to configure and automate the import of DWG floor plans and IFC BIM models;
• improvements in the CSV/Excel files import/export templates, with import in ADD mode, use of the current filter in the export, formatting of dates and numbers, TAB separator;
• new dashboard as the initial page of the Administration Module with indicators on the entities configured, the volume of data present, the growth trend, active services, etc.;
• retrieve of the task for the scheduled sending of emails with reports attached;
• new permissions on custom pages, custom components and GUI controls;
• new authentication methods based on the OAuth 2.0 and ADFS4 standards.

In September we will release as well the new versions CMDBuild READY2USE 2.1 (see the news below) and openMAINT 2.1 (see the news here).

This year will take place the 6^th edition of the CMDBuild DAY, a consolidated biennial event and appointment with all the users of the CMDBuild project.

We have chosen October 28^th as the date, coinciding with the 20^th anniversary of the establishment of Tecnoteca, an important number in general but even more in a sector such as the IT, where the generations of hardware and software products are usually measured in a few years.

The objective of the event is to update the participants on the news and development plans of the CMDBuild project, and to offer them a space to share their experiences.

As in the last editions, the meeting will be held as videoconference.

To facilitate interactions between people we will use a new online platform, which, in addition to presentations and case histories as in the past editions, will allow one-to-one meetings, to be held in “special spaces” dedicated for example to the vertical products CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT, the basic platform, the Mobile interface and other aspects of the CMDBuild project.

The importance and the benefit of this working day will be greater having several moments of sharing the experiences of those who use CMDBuild.

We would like to ask your willingness to participate in the meeting with an active role by filling out this form by mid-September, to send us your proposal for intervention. All the experiences of using CMDBuild, CMDBuild READY2USE and openMAINT, in all the scenarios in which have been useful, are important.

The CMDBuild DAY 2020 will be held in English.

One of the main news of the new CMDBuild READY2USE 2.1 version concerns the introduction of a specific support for the Asset Manager in keeping under control the quality of the information stored in the CMDB.

By defining the appropriate metrics, it will be possible through a specific dashboard and some reports to check the excessive “seniority” of the data (index of infrequent updates) and their possible incompleteness (information classified as important, not valued). It will also be possible for the administrator to configure and differentiate the metrics parameters through a dedicated user interface.

The following further main improvements will also be present:

• extension of the hardware catalog (models associated with asset cards);
• improvements in the asset handling process (new reason for return from maintenance, evidence of the current operator, better integration with the Request Fulfillment process, new user interface to configure specific attributes to be filled in for the different types of assets);
• review of SLA controls in the provision of services to users and implementation of a new control dashboard;
• rewrite of the sync connector with VMware (now supports vCenter 6.7);
• refactor of the sync connector with Zabbix, to collect and store information on faults and to start Incident Management processes;
• new connector with Microsoft SCCM, for the synchronization of workplaces data.

CMDBuild READY2USE will also benefit from the improvements introduced in the new 3.3 version of the CMDBuild platform, on which it is based.

Since 2017 the Municipality of Codigoro has been using CMDBuild READY2USE for all activities managed by the Information Systems Service.

In particular, the platform is used to implement the inventory of all hardware and software resources, in compliance with the minimum ICT security measures for Public Administrations issued by AGID.

About 70 workstations and related peripherals, 20 virtual servers and all network devices are registered, with a degree of precision that for some devices reaches the description of the networks and services managed on each individual port.

Safety procedures have been formalized, which require the use of Change and Asset Management workflows for the management of the hardware.

The platform is integrated with OCS Inventory and the main items are georeferenced on the offices’ plans through the MapServer connector.

New classes have been created to extend the types of hardware cataloged, and in particular all the camera positions of the video surveillance system have been inventoried and georeferenced in the area.

The entire catalog of the Institution's software has been implemented with the related server installations, also used as a repository for documentation and knowledge base. OCS Inventory is used to periodically update and verify the software installed on the workstations, and any changes to the software are tracked through the Change Management process.

To complete a correct inventory overview, all purchase orders since year 2008 have been entered on the platform.

The CMDBuild READY2USE Self-Service Portal, in integration with Active Directory, allows users to report malfunctions (450 incidents in 2019) or request one of the 60 services provided by the structure (800 service requests in 2019). All the activities of the service staff are tracked within the relevant workflows, as well as the communications with users.

Given the particular nature of the Organization, new classes have been implemented for the management of all the service documentation, the collection of legislation, news and regulatory updates and for the management of a simple project and task management.

In compliance with the new privacy legislation, classes have been implemented for the management of data and infrastructure security: standard configurations, system administrators, administrative credentials, access register with shared credentials, implementation and maturity of security measures, policies, safety standards and procedures.

CMDBuild READY2USE has always included a connector with the open source discovery product OCS Inventory, mainly used for the synchronization of information relating to the client computers in use, collected directly in the field.

Following a recent direct contact between technicians of Tecnoteca (CMDBuild maintainer) and FactorFX (main OCS Inventory contributor), which happened at a common customer in USA, a collaboration relationship was born, which we plan to deepen in the future.

The first objective of this collaboration is to rewrite the current connector between the two products, which requires outdated versions of OCS Inventory, to support in the most complete and effective way the new OCS Inventory 2.8 version arriving in autumn 2020.

The collaboration between the two Companies is also aimed at promoting the services on the two products and increasing their visibility.

From April 1^st 2019 Italian Public Administrations will only be able to acquire IaaS, PaaS and SaaS services qualified by AgID and published in the Cloud Marketplace, as also specified in the AGID website.

Tecnoteca took the opportunity of a requirement within the contract in progress for the Public Administration ATS Milano to qualify its openMAINT application as a SaaS service.

SaaS qualification involves the use of a Cloud infrastructure qualified as a CSP (Cloud Service Provider) and for this purpose has been used the CSP service of Insiel SPA, the in-house ICT company of the Friuli Venezia Giulia Region.

To obtain the qualification it has been necessary to perform all the steps provided by AGID, with adaptation of its procedures regarding the organizational aspects (service delivery), security (OWASP test, CSA STAR Self-Assessment2 CAI questionnaire), performance, interoperability/portability and legislative compliance (GDPR in particular).

The positive outcome of the process has been communicated to us on June 30^th, with the publication of the openMAINT service card in the AGID marketplace.

The AGID qualified openMAINT SaaS service is now available to all Italian Public Administrations that need an information system for the management of their real estate assets and related maintenance activities.