Service Catalog hierarchies

A hierarchy describes a collection of IT products or services in a Service Catalog. This collection is broad enough to break down into subordinate categories and subcategories. For example, Desktop Services, Employee Services, and Telecommunication Services are examples of hierarchies with categories and subcategories. The following example shows the hierarchy of Desktop Services that includes Software and Hardware categories.

Desktop Services (hierarchy)

    Software (category)

        Productivity Tools (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

        Microsoft Windows (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

    Hardware (category)

Service Catalog categories

A category describes similar IT products or services that users can select from an online catalog. Similar categories can become components of a product hierarchy. The Service Manager Service Catalog feature includes out-of-box hierarchies, categories, and subcategories. Hierarchies contain categories; categories contain subcategories. Administrators can create new categories and subcategories to meet their operational needs. For example, the hierarchy of Desktop Services includes Software and Hardware categories. The Software category contains the Productivity Tools and Microsoft Windows subcategories.

Desktop Services (hierarchy)

     Software (category)

        Productivity Tools (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

        Microsoft Windows (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

     Hardware (category)

Add a Service Catalog category

1. Click Service Catalog > Manage Items.
2. Click Add New Category.
   When you launch the New Service Catalog Category wizard, Service Manager prompts you for the required information.

3. Complete the following fields:

   Category Name (mandatory): The unique name of the Service Catalog entry.

   Display Name: The display name of the Service Catalog entry. If left empty, the Category Name is used.

   Description (mandatory): A brief description of the Service Catalog entry.

4. Click Next.
5. For a new category, click Top Level.
6. Click Next.
7. Specify whether the new category will contain subcategories or items/bundles.
8. Click Next.

9. Click OK to confirm the new category.

   Service Manager adds the new category.

Add a Service Catalog non-cart category

Before you can add non-cart items, you must create a non-cart category for them.

To add a non-cart category:

1. Click Administration > Manage Items.
2. Click Add New Category.
   When you launch the New Service Catalog Category wizard, Service Manager prompts you for the required information.

3. Complete the following fields:

   Category Name (mandatory): The unique name of the Service Catalog entry.

   Display Name: The display name of the Service Catalog entry. If left empty, the Category Name is used.

   Description (mandatory): A brief description of the Service Catalog entry.

4. Click Next.
5. For a new category, click Top Level.
6. Click Next.
7. Specify that the new category will contain items/bundles.
8. Click Next.

9. Click OK to confirm the new category.

   Service Manager adds the new category, and the new category record is displayed.

10. Select the Non-cart category checkbox.
11. On the Access tab, select one or more capability words to make this item available to certain users; or leave this field blank to make it available to all users.

12. Click Save.

    Now you can add non-cart items to this category. The items will be displayed on the Items/Bundles in this Category tab of this category record.

Edit a category

1. Click Service Catalog > Administration > Manage Items.
2. Select an existing category from the In Category drop-down list.
3. Click Search.
4. Select a category from the record list.

5. Add or change information on the form. If necessary, press F1 (web client) or Ctrl+H (Windows client) to view help for each field.

   For example, add or change the following fields on the Category Details tab.

   Field	Description
   Name	The unique name of the bundle or item. This is a mandatory field.
   Display Name	The display name of the bundle or item.
   Owner Group	The assignment group to which the owner of this category belongs.
   Owner	The contact who is the owner of the process related to this category.
   Parent Categories	The hierarchical parents of the bundle or item. A parent must be a category.
   Description	A short description of the bundle or item.
   Current Phase	This read-only field indicates the current phase of the item in the service lifecycle.
   Status	The current lifecycle status of the bundle or item. Available Status values vary depending on the current workflow phase of the bundle or item: Service Catalog phase: Requirements, Defined, Analyzed, Approved, and Chartered, Designed, Developed, Built, Tested, Released, Operational, and Retiring. Retired Service phase: Retired.
   Non-cart category	A check box that indicates if the category is a non-cart category that includes non-cart items. Once you select the Non-cart category check box, the Support category check box appears.
   Contains	Select either Categories or Items/bundles to indicate contents of the category.
   Sort Order	The sort order of the values in the Status list.

6. On the Access tab, update the list of capability words that control access to the category, or leave it blank to make the category available to all users.
7. On the Attachments tab, upload supporting documents for the category.
8. On the Subcategories tab, add subcategories for the category.
9. On the Image tab, specify an image for the category or remove the existing image.
10. Click Save.
11. Click OK.

Delete a Service Catalog category

1. Click Service Catalog > Administration > Manage Items.
2. Select an existing category from the In Category drop-down list.
3. Click Search.
4. Select a category from the record list.
5. Click Delete.
6. Click OK.

Service Catalog subcategories

Subcategories are a way to refine a category into smaller groups. For example, the hierarchy of Desktop Services includes Software and Hardware categories. The Software category contains the Productivity Tools and Microsoft Windows subcategories. You could add more subcategories as the need arises.

Desktop Services (hierarchy)

    Software (category)

         Productivity Tools (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

         Microsoft Windows (subcategory)
          Catalog item 1
          Catalog item 2
          Catalog item 3

    Hardware (category)

Subcategories are not localized and display in English.

Add a Service Catalog subcategory

1. Click Service Catalog > Manage Items.
2. Click Add New Category.
   When you launch the New Service Catalog Category wizard, Service Manager prompts you for the required information .
3. Type a Category Name and brief Description.
4. Click Next.
5. For a new subcategory, click Subcategory of and choose a parent category from the drop-down list.
6. Click Next.
7. Specify whether the new category will contain subcategories or items/bundles.
8. Click Next.

9. Click OK to confirm the new subcategory.

   Service Manager adds the new subcategory.