You can add components by defining new components and specifying their data, as described below. Or you can import components based on IT products from IT-Pedia® as described in the next section.

In the navigation panel, go to Components to open the data workbench for components.

Add a new component. Click the New button to open the wizard.

Edit an existing component. Select the checkbox   for the component you want to edit and click the Edit    button to open the wizard. The Go to Step ​ field displayed at the bottom of the wizard should show Basic Data so that you can capture the mandatory information about the component.

Define the component's basic data. Define the following fields and click OK and Next to save your data. All mandatory fields must be defined to create the component and save it.

• Name: (Mandatory) Enter a name for the component. You can add an abbreviation (3-4 letters) of the name in the Short Name field to use in diagrams and other visualizations.
• Version: (Mandatory) Enter a version number for the component. It is recommended that you document major and minor release versions (<MajorVersion.MinorVersion>). For example, version 2.1 (<MajorVersion.MinorVersion>). You could document patch releases (<MajorVersion.MinorVersion.PatchRelease>) if your organization requires this level of detail.
• Start Date and End Date: (Mandatory) The start and end date captures the period when the component is actively used in the company. This is also when the Object State attribute should be specified as Active. Click the calendar icon to select the date or enter the date in the date format Month/Day/Year. For example: 4/30/2023
• Object State: (Optional) Describes the operational status of the component and indicates whether it is actively used, planned to be used, or has been used in the past. The component's start and end dates indicate the planned period of activity for the object. Therefore object state should be changed from Plan to Active once the start date is reached.
• Release Status: (Optional) Describes the level of approval of the documented information about the component. A component cannot be deleted when it has an approved release status. It cannot be edited when it has a retired release status. Possible values are:
  • Draft: The component has only mandatory data defined.
  • Under Review: The component is documented and being reviewed. A component with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Approved: The component has been approved by the responsible stakeholders. An component cannot be deleted when it has an approved release status. A component with this release status cannot be deleted.
  • Data imported: The data regarding this component has been imported from an external system. Additional changes may be required to improve the data quality. A component with this release status can be deleted.
  • Trash: The component is no longer valid and can be deleted.
• Component Type: Specify how the component is used:
  • Business: A component used in an application that provides business functions to end users. These components usually cater to specific business use cases and operations.
  • Software: A component that provides technical support to an application such as data processing, application level functionality, or communication between applications.
  • Infrastructure: A component that provides infrastructure level support and makes it possible to run business applications on devices. These components are usually installed on the infrastructure layer.
• Strategic Component: (Optional) Select the checkbox if the component is strategic for the company.
• Vendor: The vendor that supplies the component. Vendors must already be in the repository in order to define the vendor that provides the component.

  vendor

  A vendor is a supplier of components.

• Support Model: (Optional) The business support model of the component.
  • In-House: Support is provided from within the enterprise.
  • 3rd Party: Support is provided by an external vendor.
  • Other: Support is managed through other channels.
  • Unknown: Support model has not yet been assessed.
• IT Capability: (Optional) The IT capability that the component is assigned to. IT capabilities must already be in the repository in order to assign the component to the IT capability.

  IT capability

  An IT capability bundles and structures content-specific components necessary for the IT infrastructure of data center operations. Mainframe operations, database management, and backup and recovery procedures are examples of IT capabilities.

• Successor Component: (Optional) The component that is the next version or replacement for the component.
• Alias: (Optional) An alternative name of the component to use in search and filter functionalities.
• Standardization: Specify whether the component is a standard component. This helps you to promote the use of standard components and reduce non-standard technologies. Possible values are:
  • Not Classified: The component is not assigned to a standardization category.
  • Free for User: The component may be used. Users do not need approval to use the component.
  • Approval Required: The use of this component must be approved. Users should contact the authorized user or another person such as the IT Owner who has a role defined for the component to gain approval to use the component.

    authorized user

    An authorized user has primary responsibility to maintain the data for an object. Typically this is the user that has created the object. The authorized user as well as members of authorized user groups have write permissions to objects they are responsible for.

    role

    A role describes the functional relationship that a user or organization has for an object.

  • Not Permitted: The component may not be used.
• Authorized Access tab: The user who creates the component is the authorized user per default. This can be changed. Select one or more authorized user groups that shall have write permissions to the object. All users in the authorized user group can edit the component.

  authorized user

  An authorized user has primary responsibility to maintain the data for an object. Typically this is the user that has created the object. The authorized user as well as members of authorized user groups have write permissions to objects they are responsible for.

  authorized user group

  An authorized user group is a set of users that have been granted write permissions to an object. More than one authorized user group may be specified for an object.

IT-Pedia® is a comprehensive IT product library that provides an up-to-date source of data about IT products of all types including, for example, hardware, software, and network devices. Alfabet FastLane provides an out-of-the-box integration with IT-Pedia that allows you to import components and the vendors that supply them to the Alfabet FastLane repository.

Only the IT-Pedia model catalog is available in the integration to ITPedia. Items from the procurement catalog cannot be created in Alfabet FastLane.

When an IT product is imported form IT-Pedia, it is imported as a component. The following data will be imported with the component:

• Start and end dates: The Start Date of the component in Alfabet FastLane is based on the Release Date of the imported product. The End Date of the component is based on the End of Extended Support of the imported product.
• Lifecycle: The component lifecycle will be automatically created based on the lifecycle data in IT-Pedia. The following lifecycles phases are available for components imported from IT-Pedia: Plan, Production, End of Sale, End of Support, and End of Extended Support.

  lifecycle

  The lifecycle describes the planned schedule of a current real-world object in different lifecycle phases of a product. Lifecycle phases will be different depending on the object class. Lifecycle phases for an application are Pilot, Production, Retired, and Sunset.

• Vendors: The vendor that supplies the component will be specified based on the Manufacturer of the imported product. If the vendor already exists in the repository, the vendor will be automatically associated with the component. If the vendor does not yet exist in the repository, it will be automatically added to the repository along with the new component based on the Manufacturer.

Import components and vendors from IT-Pedia. In the navigation panel, go to Components to open the data workbench for components.

Click the three vertical dots  button in the right corner of the toolbar and select Import from IT-Pedia. Click the Update button to fill the selector with initial data. You can use the following fields to enter search criteria to find the IT products to add to Alfabet FastLane. You can enter the name or just part of the name.

• Product: Enter the name or part of the name of the products you want to find.
• Version: Add the version number to limit the results found based on the product name.
• Edition: Add the edition to limit the results found based on the product name.
• Manufacturer: Enter the name or part of the name of the manufacturer of the products.
• Model: Enter the product model name to find the products.

Review the IT-Pedia product data for components. Components that have been imported from IT-Pedia will be added to the Components data workbench.

• You can add columns for various IT-Pedia product attributes such as Product Name, Product ID, Manufacturer Name, Manufacture ID, Model Name, and Model ID.
• You can view a composite of all information about the IT-Pedia product that a component is based on. In the data table, click the navigate  button of the component you want to view. Click the More tab and select IT-Pedia Data to view all relevant information about the IT-Pedia product.

Review the IT-Pedia product data for vendors. Vendors that have been imported from IT-Pedia will be added to the Vendors data workbench.

In contrast to the concept of an authorized user or authorized user group which grants read/write permissions to an object, roles which are fulfilled by people or organizations may also be specified for an object. The role definition specifies the functional relationship or responsibility that a user or organization has to an object. The specification of a role is primarily for documentation purposes and provides additional information about stakeholders interested or responsible for the object. A person assigned to have a role for an object will not have read/write permissions based on the role definition. If the user shall have read/write permissions, they must be assigned to an authorized user group specified for the object.

Alfabet FastLane provides out-of-the-box role types that enable you to understand who is responsible for your IT assets in your IT portfolio. Additional role types that are relevant for your company can also be added.

Assigning users and organizations to roles is critical to understanding responsibility for assets in the IT and is required to answer the business question Who is responsible for our assets?.

To define the users and organizations that have a role for a component, either:

• Click the Edit button to open the wizard and select Responsibilities in the Go to Step field
• In the data table, click the navigate  button of the component you want to define. Click Overview and scroll to the Responsibilities page and open it.

Define the users that have a role for a component. In the toolbar, click Person to associate a user with the component. The user can have one of the following roles or a custom role added by your company:

• Architect: A person who is responsible for the governance of the component.
• Business Owner: A person or organization that owns the component and is responsible for managing the functional requirements.
• IT Owner: A person or IT organization that owns the component and thus typically responsible for approval decisions.
• Stakeholder: A person or organization that has an interest in the component and therefore requires read-only access permissions.

In the selector, find the user to assign the role to and click OK.

Define the organizations that have a role for a component.In the toolbar, click Organization to associate an organization with the component. The user can have one of the following roles or a custom role added by your company:

• Business Owner: A person or organization that owns the component and is responsible for managing the functional requirements.
• IT Owner: A person or IT organization that owns the component and thus typically responsible for approval decisions.
• Operations: An IT organization responsible for the operations of the component.
• Stakeholder: A person or organization that has an interest in the component and therefore requires read-only access permissions.

In the selector, find the organization to assign the role to and click OK.

An evaluation is a measurement of the performance of a component. Preconfigured indicator types and possibly custom indicator types added by your company are available to evaluate and are used in various analyses in Alfabet FastLane. Some indicator types are automatically computed by the system and others must be manually defined.

Update computed indicators. Click the Calculate button to update computed indicators via the Calculate button. The indicators will be recalculated based on the current. Please note that computed indicators that are calculated based on the current data.

Select an indicator type and click Edit Indicator or click Group Edit to open a dialog where all indicator types can be edited that are not automatically computed by the system.

Define the component's indicators. To do so, either:

• Click the Edit button to open the wizard and select Evaluations in the Go to Step field
• In the data table, click the navigate  button of the component you want to define. Click Overview and scroll to the Evaluations page and open it.

The component lifecycle describes the succession of stages that the component goes through over time. A robust component lifecycle management includes versioning and planning for successor components to ensure that IT continues to support critical business areas.

Not all company's document their component lifecycles and it is not mandatory in Alfabet FastLane. However, robust component lifecycle management is key to the health to the business and helps you to understand identify and manage lifecycle conflicts. By documenting the lifecycles of the components in your technology portfolio, you will be able to identify which components are approaching end-of-life but have no defined successor components. Furthermore, you can understand which applications are at risk if the relevant technologies are no longer available.

In Alfabet FastLane, a component lifecycle consists of the following stages:

• Manufacturer Support: Indicates that the technology is relevant to be used in a production environment.
• Manufacturer Extended Support: Indicates that the technology is still available, but should be avoided for use in a production environment.

The active period of the component is the time between the component's start and end date. Each lifecycle phase is aligned with the proceeding and succeeding lifecycle phase that has been defined. Typically, the object state is set to Active during the lifecycle phase Manufacture Support.

Go to Step > Lifecycle: A component lifecycle describes the different phases of the planned schedule of the component.

Gantt reports that visualize the component lifecycle will also reflect the component’s active period which is when the component is actually being used in the enterprise. This object state typically corresponds to the component’s start and end dates and should be set to Active when the active is in use.

Define the component's lifecycle. To do so, either:

• Click the Edit button to open the wizard and select Lifecycle in the Go to Step field
• In the data table, click the navigate  button of the component you want to define. Click Overview and scroll to the Lifecycle page and open it.

• Add lifecycle phases to the component's lifecycle.Include lifecycle phases by setting a checkmark in the checkbox for the lifecycle phase in the left pane. Only lifecycle phases that are selected can be defined.
• Set the start and end of a lifecycle phase.In the timeline, select a lifecycle phase (colored bar) and drag the handles to define the start and end dates for the lifecycle phase. Select the Keep Phases Duration checkbox to retain the current definition in the adjacent lifecycle phases . If you do not select the Keep Phases Duration checkbox, the adjacent lifecycle phases will increase or decrease proportionally.
• Set the start and end of the active period.Click the red bar for the active period and drag the handles to define the start and end dates for the active period. The selected object’s start and end dates will change correspondingly.
• Align the start and and of the active period with the lifecycle phase.Click Align Active Period to automatically align the start/end dates of the active period with the start/end dates of the lifecycle phases that begin and end the active period.