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Catalog Connect

Concepts

Use the Catalog Connect application to create and manage aggregations.

The Organization Administrator can manage Service Manager Service Portal catalog items by creating aggregations. An Service Manager Service Portal aggregation contains catalog items that are imported from an end-point system (supplier) such as Service Manager (SM) . After an aggregation is created and the end-point system's catalog items are imported, the Organization Administrator publishes the Service Manager Service Portal catalog items into a catalog, and then they are available for fulfillment in the Service Manager Service Portal.

Companies that currently use SM will find Service Manager Service Portal aggregations to be a useful extension of their current environment. Service and product offerings from end-point systems are directly acquired and added to aggregations.

 

Tasks

The Organization Administrator uses the Catalog Connect application to create an aggregation and then aggregates items from an end-point system into the aggregation. The Organization Administrator controls the catalog items that are aggregated into an aggregation by the use of query filters. After the catalog items are aggregated into an aggregation, they can be published for consumer fulfillment in the Service Manager Service Portal.

The general procedure to create an aggregation and publish the catalog items for fulfillment is:

  1. Configure an end-point system to be a supplier. First, an end-point system must be configured as a supplier. Refer to the Suppliers help for details.
  2. Add an aggregation. Next, the Organization Administrator creates an aggregation so that service and product offerings can be acquired from the supplier. For some suppliers, the administrator can also specify whether newly added, revised, or deleted catalog items are automatically updated in the Service Manager Service Portal aggregation.
  3. Define the set of catalog items. Prior to adding catalog items to an aggregation, the Organization Administrator can preview the catalog items that would be added to the aggregation. To create a subset of catalog items, the Organization Administrator can specify filter criteria, such as the type of catalog item or the catalog item's owner. (For example, add only hardware catalog items to the aggregation.)
  4. Aggregate the catalog items. The Organization Administrator creates the aggregation and the supplier's catalog items are added to the aggregation. Note that the catalog items are not yet published (available) in a catalog for fulfillment in the Service Manager Service Portal.
  5. Publish the catalog items. After the Organization Administrator has aggregated the catalog items, they can be published in a catalog. After publishing, the catalog items are available in the Service Manager Service Portal for consumer fulfillment.

After an Service Manager Service Portal aggregation has been created, on-going aggregations (re-aggregations) can occur:

  • Automatic – This setting is available only for aggregations created with specific suppliers. After a catalog item is changed (added, updated, or deleted) in the supplier's system, the re-aggregation happens automatically for the catalog item and its status is updated in the Service Manager Service Portal aggregation.
  • Manual – This re-aggregation requires a manual action by the Organization Administrator. Manual re-aggregation requires the Organization Administrator to be aware of changed catalog items and manually trigger the re-aggregation to occur.

The Organization Administrator can perform the following tasks from the Catalog Connect application:

 

Best Practices

  • Using HTTPS: If HTTPS is used between the Service Manager Service Portal host and a supplier (end-point system), Secure Socket Layer (SSL) communication must be established. SSL certificates must be imported and trusted between Service Manager Service Portal and the supplier's system. For more information about configuring SSL, refer to the Service Manager Installation Guide.

  • Integrating Suppliers:

    • The Service Manager Service Portal aggregation web service must be loaded into Service Manager (SM) and the SM unloads must be applied before attempting to create an aggregation.

    Refer to the Service Manager Installation Guide for instructions to connect suppliers.

  • Re-aggregating: Configuring automatic re-aggregation is recommended because the Service Manager Service Portalcatalog items are automatically updated when they change on the supplier's system. (Manual re-aggregation requires the Organization Administrator to be aware of catalog items changing on the supplier's system and a manual re-aggregation action.)

  • Editing Catalog Items: Changes to an aggregation's catalog items persist in Service Manager Service Portal. That is, when an aggregation is re-aggregated, the catalog item's properties in the supplier's system do not override the catalog item's properties in the Service Manager Service Portal aggregation.