SWSD August 25th: The Evolution of SolarWinds AI in Service Desk – Generate Runbooks from Text-Based Files, Automatic Data Masking, and More

Make the Most of Your Process Documentation by Generating New Runbooks in Just a Few Clicks 
With our Runbook generation feature, available as part of SolarWinds AI, your teams can automate the manual and time-consuming task of compiling and formatting your pre-written operational guides into new Runbooks. Input free text or upload a PDF or Word document to generate a draft automatically, step-by-step Runbook designed to be edited, published, and then added to corresponding tickets as a standardized resolution process to guide agents and teams. 

As part of our AI by Design principles, these Runbooks are completely editable and customizable, ensuring they are set up exactly as required, and a human remains always in the loop. As with current Runbooks permissions, only administrators can generate a Runbook using SolarWinds AI. 

This feature is available in Labs for customers with a Premier subscription plan. See Using GenAI to Generate a Runbook to learn more

Reduce Manual Efforts with Workflow Process Entity Switching  
Workflows often evolve as they’re being developed, and inflexible customization can create slow and convoluted setup experiences. As a part of our continued efficiency enhancements, we’re releasing an update that allows users to switch between different process entities while setting up steps in workflows, without the need to completely delete and create a new one. For example, a ‘task’ can become an ‘approval’ in just a couple of clicks. 

This feature is currently operating only on Runbooks while in Labs. This feature will be available in Runbook for the Premier plan and in catalog item workflows for all pricing plans upon its general release later this year. See Process Entities for more information. 

Secure Service Desk Data and Communications with Data Masking  

With so many industries governed by strict data protection regulations such as GDPR, HIPAA, and CCPA, Data Masking can improve organizations’ compliance with these regulations, helping to ensure sensitive information is not exposed to unauthorized personnel. Even within an organization, not all employees should have access to sensitive data. Data Masking limits exposure by ensuring only the necessary level of data is visible to service desk staff, as well as reducing chances of human error by removing the ability of sensitive information from being inadvertently shared. 

With Data Masking enabled in SolarWinds Service Desk, personally identifiable information (PII) and payment card information (PCI) will be masked. The masking can be done on file attachments and applies on multiple channels, no matter which path the document may travel; emails, MS Teams, Slack, Virtual Agent, and mobile. Only users who have been given unmasking permissions in settings by an administrator will be given the ability to reveal sensitive information. 

This feature is now available in Labs for our Premier tier customers. See Data Masking for more information. 

Coming soon: Data Masking for User Text Inputs 

To further advance SolarWinds Secure by Design principles, Data Masking capabilities will be expanded to include user text input throughout the product. Keep an eye out for the future launch of Data Masking for user text inputs. 

Reminder: To use all the new features listed in this post as part of the SolarWinds AI suite, please ensure each individual feature toggle is enabled in Labs and then navigate to Global Settings > GenAI Settings. If the ‘Ask for Learning’ button is visible below the page header, please ensure it has been clicked to make available. SolarWinds AI must be available before new feature activation. Please note that all generative AI Labs and features are currently only available in US and EU data centers. 

Other notable enhancements 

• Add more information to incident csv export 

• Assets automation phase II - Computer fields (part 1) 

• Custom field selection – The release of custom field selection for searching, sorting, and filtering, along with the ability to filter, sort, and search within service catalog custom fields, planned for August 25, has been delayed. We are working to confirm a new date and will update you as soon as it’s set. 

 Read the full release notes 

If you have any questions, please leave a comment below. 
See what else we’re working on. 
Have a feature request? Upvote or submit your request here.