Searching the Help
To search for information in the Help, type a word or phrase in the Search box. When you enter a group of words, OR is inferred. You can use Boolean operators to refine your search.
Results returned are case insensitive. However, results ranking takes case into account and assigns higher scores to case matches. Therefore, a search for "cats" followed by a search for "Cats" would return the same number of Help topics, but the order in which the topics are listed would be different.
Words and Phrases
| Search for | Example | Results |
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| A single word | cat
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Topics that contain the word "cat". You will also find its grammatical variations, such as "cats". |
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A phrase. You can specify that the search results contain a specific phrase. |
"cat food" (quotation marks) |
Topics that contain the literal phrase "cat food" and all its grammatical variations. Without the quotation marks, the query is equivalent to specifying an OR operator, which finds topics with one of the individual words instead of the phrase. |
Using Boolean Operators
| Search for | Operator | Example |
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Two or more words in the same topic |
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| Either word in a topic |
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| Topics that do not contain a specific word or phrase |
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| Topics that contain one string and do not contain another | ^ (caret) |
cat ^ mouse
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| A combination of search types | ( ) parentheses |
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- Service Catalogs
- Out-of-box Service Catalog
- Service Catalog capability words
- Filter access to catalog items
- Shopping cart
- Service Catalog interface
- Self-service access
- Service Catalog approvals
- Service Catalog management
- Service Catalog Access
- Catalog Design
- Service Catalog Configuration Management: Service States
- Service Catalog Subscriptions
- Service Catalog Integration
- Service Catalog Ordering: Service Request Forms
- Service Catalog Audit Trail
- Service Catalog: Search
Catalog Design
Catalog Managers can design the catalog using native tools within Service Manager. The catalog structure is flexible and can be modified to accommodate any content structure. Here are some examples of the flexibility of the framework:
- Any Service Manager business service owner can create or maintain a catalog using a simplified Service Manager interface and wizards to guide them in adding or changing service offerings.
- Catalog items can include any type of service, from password reset to new application access, from mail box capacity upgrade to new service request (for example, a request for application hosting service not yet provided).
- Each business service can be associated with one or more categories thus reflecting the multiple facets of some of the more complex business services.
- The categories themselves are organized in a hierarchical manner, which is not only useful to the Catalog Manager, but also to the business users when they need to find a catalog item.
- The Service Catalog module allows Catalog Managers to create their own hierarchy of categories to more closely match their organization’s nomenclature.
Service Catalog Attachments
The Service Catalog provides a way to attach documentation to the catalog items. This allows Catalog Managers to include additional information about a catalog item, such as functional specifications of a requested workstation, or other instructions related to the service requested.
Bundle Design
Services are represented as CIs in Service Manager, which enables their access to all related support and delivery processes. Out-of-box lifecycle processes include:
- Defining a new service
- Discovering, defining, and managing CI relationships
- Adding service levels (service-oriented SLA)
- Publishing a service to the Service Manager Service Catalog
- Signing up customers and managing their subscriptions
- Fulfilling subscription requests through Service Manager Change Management
- Monitoring and supporting through Incident, Change, and Problem Management
- Monitoring SLAs and optimizing service delivery
Services are provided by IT to satisfy a range of business needs. Services can be delivered to individuals, departments, or an entire enterprise as defined by service subscriptions. Sample services can include email, a billing system, workstation backup or office automation. The service instance is the deployment of a service, modeled as a CI in the CMDB, and it can have related CIs, customers, incidents, and changes.
Once the service is deployed, the Service Catalog lists and describes all of the services that IT offers, providing customers with a view to browse and make requests. Catalog items can range from single user workstations to department or enterprise application support.
The Service Catalog module provides the ability to create bundles of services in customer- and business-relevant packages. Out-of-box it includes dozens of predefined bundles that span major categories. Bundles are exposed in the service catalog as other services. They are part of the same service category tree as simple catalog items. Bundles can be described with the same expressiveness as regular catalog items, with multiple descriptions, an image, attached documents, service level options, access rights, and other information. A wizard allows the Catalog Manager to add bundles in a very simple way, letting him add components from existing catalog items, or from brand new ones created specifically for the bundle. A bundle can be composed of simple catalog items, and can also contain other bundles. Some of the components can be mandatory, others can be optional.
Service Catalog Connectors Overview
The Service Catalog module allows the Catalog Manager define how a service request must be routed for fulfillment.
Request processing is automated using other appropriate Service Manager modules. For example, the Service Manager Request Management module may be used to automate a “new employee setup” request, because this type of request has goods and services components that require defined ordering and sequencing processes that can be facilitated by the Request Management module.
Other types of service requests can be fulfilled in the Service Desk, Change Management, or other modules.
A catalog administrator defines the modules required to fulfill each service catalog item. Fulfillment can include creating sequenced or parallel tasks to fulfill the request, routing tasks to appropriate groups or staff, gathering required approvals, generating notifications and alerts, measuring response time based on applied SLAs, and so on.
The service catalog uses an open connector architecture, where new fulfillment connectors can be added to integrate with third-party or legacy tools.
Service Descriptions
The Service Manager Service Catalog provides a user interface that allows the Catalog Manager to create and publish a comprehensive list of services available to the business user.
Within each catalog item, the Service Catalog collects information for a service, including such details as service descriptions, categorization, costs, access rights, service request approval rules, delivery and support service levels, and custom options. The out-of-box definitions can be used as templates to start defining the specific services supported in an enterprise. In addition, new services can easily be defined through a web-based, wizard-guided process.
The service offering description can be made as detailed as desired, from a simple text description, to a more detailed rich-text description, to attaching documents to the catalog item.
The Service Catalog lets the catalog manager define the service’s base price, which can be a onetime cost, a recurring cost, or both.
The Catalog Manager can also:
- Expose service options, which, when selected, can affect the price of subscribing to the service (for example, it is possible to describe access to optional modules of an application, or an optional data plan to a cell phone service).
- Expose optional service levels.
- Restrict access to business users based on their role.
Finally, the management user interface also allows Catalog Managers to duplicate existing services, thereby facilitating the creation of new catalog items.
After a service is defined, its details can be exposed to end users browsing or requesting services on the corporate intranet. For example, an email service may list available options, costs, and service levels.
Service Level
The Service Catalog user interface allows the Catalog Manager to describe the different service level available to the business users. The Service Catalog also has the ability to limit each business user’s access to specific service levels.
When ordering a service, a user can select his or her service SLA (if applicable) on the order screen.
Catalog Templates
The Service Catalog is hierarchical. Companies can use the categories, subcategories, and items that are provided. Companies also have the flexibility to modify, copy, and remove any of these to fit their needs. Any Service Manager business service owner can create or maintain a catalog using a simplified Service Manager interface and wizards to guide them in adding or changing service offerings.
Types of catalog entries within categories and subcategories can include the following:
- A pure service request—for example: office move
- A pure goods request—for example: business cards
- A single good with a service delivery component—for example: memory upgrade
- Bundle of goods and services—for example: new employee setup
- Project or Request for Services—for example: application-hosting service
It is very easy to create service templates from existing catalog items, and conversely to create services from services templates.
