Managing Monitoring Information Changes in the TCR

To cope with the continuous requests to introduce more systems to be monitored by the Technical Control Room (TCR), and to keep the existing systems' data up to date, the Technical Control Desk (TCD) service was created at the end of 1999. The TCD offers a single point of entry to all CERN users who are responsible for systems monitored by the TCR, so that they may establish a request for changes. The TCD consists of a set of procedures to be followed by users and TCR operators and a set of computer based tools to record and manage the requests. The TCR pledges to reply to all requests made to the TCD within 48hrs. The implementation of changes in monitored systems involves a number of different activities from cabling, database modifications, and finally testing. The precise details of the changes requested and the activities impacted are recorded by the TCD so that both users and the TCR operators may view the progress of implementation throughout all stages.