Use the Service Manager service catalog to offer services

Important

This version of Service Manager has reached the end of support. We recommend you to upgrade to Service Manager 2022.

This article provides an overview of how to use the service catalog in Service Manager. This article also contains procedures that cover management configuration scenarios for the service catalog.

The service catalog is a collection of items, assistance, actions, or groupings of them that your IT staff and infrastructure provides and makes available to end-users in the Self-Service Portal in Service Manager. In the Service Manager console, you create catalog items to describe these items in the Library workspace using the following nodes:

  • Request Offerings

  • Service Offerings

The Request Offerings node is used to create a catalog item that describes an item, assistance, or action that is available to end-users. It also defines information that you want to prompt the users for and any knowledge articles that are associated with the offering.

After it's created, you can set the status of a request offering as either Draft or Published. Draft status indicates that a request offering isn't published and available to the service catalog. This prevents end-users from requesting the offering. When you set the request offering status to Published, it appears in the catalog where users can request it if they've been granted access to a catalog item group that contains the request offering.

The Service Offerings node is used to create a catalog item that categorizes request offerings.

Create your own service offering categories

By default, Service Manager includes only the General service offering category. However, your organization will likely need additional categories to help organize service offerings that are provided to end-users through the service catalog. You can use the following procedure to add additional categories to the service catalog.

To extend the service offering categories

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, select Lists, and then in the Filter box, enter offering.
  3. In the Lists view, select Service Offering Category, and then in the Tasks list under Service Offering Category, select Properties.
  4. In the List Properties dialog, add any service offering categories that you want, and select OK to close the dialog. For example, add the following categories:
    • Data Center
    • Access and Security
    • Communication Services
  5. Select OK to close the List Properties dialog.

Create a service offering

Service offerings are logical groups of request offerings. Both service offerings and their request offerings are available to Self-Service Portal users when their status is set to Published and if end-users have been assigned a corresponding Service Manager user role. Only users who have been assigned a user role that is associated with a catalog group that contains catalog items can use the Self-Service Portal to access the service catalog.

To create a service offering

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Service Offerings.
  3. In the Tasks pane under Service Offerings, select Create Service Offering to open the Create Service Offering Wizard.
  4. On the Before You Begin page, read the instructions, and select Next.
  5. On the General page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Title box, enter a title for the service offering. For example, enter Access Services.
    2. Optionally, next to Image, you can either Browse to an image file or leave the default selection.
    3. In the Category list, select a category that this service offering will be a part of. For example, select Access and Security.
    4. In the Language list, either leave the default selection or select a language.
    5. In the Overview text box, enter a short overview to describe the service offering that will be shown on the Self-Service Portal home page. For example, enter Access to AD Group, Access to Labs.
    6. In the description box, enter a description that will appear on the service offering page in the Self-Service Portal.
    7. Next to the Management pack, select an unsealed management pack of your choice, and select Next. For example, if you previously created the Sample Management Pack, select it.
  6. On the Detailed Information page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Service level agreement information box, enter a summary of the service level agreement (SLA) information. For example, enter The SLAs for these requests, depending on the criticality of the requests, range from 1-2 business days. For more information, click the link below.
    2. In the first Link for additional information box, enter a hyperlink that users can select to view additional information about the SLA for this service offering.
    3. In the Cost information box, enter a summary of any costs associated with requests that will be grouped in this service offering.
    4. In the second Link for additional information box, enter a hyperlink that users can select to view additional information about any costs associated with requests that will be grouped in this service offering.
    5. Select Next.
  7. Optionally, on the Related Services page, add related business services associated with the service offering, and select Next.
  8. Optionally, on the Knowledge Articles page, add related knowledge articles associated with the service offering, and select Next.
  9. Optionally, on the Request Offering page, add related request offerings associated with the service offering, and select Next.
  10. On the Publish page, in the Offering status list, select Published and set the Offering owner to yourself, and select Next.
  11. On the Summary page, review the information, and select Create.
  12. On the Completion page, select Close.

Create service request templates for new request offerings

By default, Service Manager includes a number of service request templates that are based on a generic incident template. By viewing the template, you can gain an understanding of the categories of information to collect and convey to end-users as they submit requests through the Self-Service Portal. You can use the following procedure to create a new service request template without using the default generic incident request template.

To create a service request template

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, select Templates, and then in the Tasks lists under Templates, select Create Template.
  3. In the Create Template dialog, in the Name box, enter a name for the template. For example, enter Request Membership to Group.
  4. In the Description box, enter a description for the template. For example, enter This template is used to request membership to a group.
  5. Next to Class, select Browse, select Service Request, and select OK.
  6. Select OK to close the Create Template dialog and open the Service Request Template form in template mode.
  7. In the Service Request Template form, in the Title box, enter Request membership to Active Directory group.
  8. In the Description box, enter a description of the purpose of the form. For example, enter This template is used to request membership to an Active Directory group.
  9. In the Urgency list, select Medium, and in the Priority list, select Medium.
  10. In the Source list, select Portal, and select the Activities tab.
  11. On the Activities tab, select the Add button to open the Select Template dialog, where you will add an activity.
  12. Select Default Review Activity, and select OK to close the Select Template dialog and open the Review Activity Template dialog.
  13. In the Title box, enter a name for the review activity. For example, enter Approval for the user Requesting Membership to AD Group.
  14. Select Add to open the Reviewer dialog and select a user who will approve requests for this service request, and select OK to close the dialog.
  15. Select OK to close the Review Activity Template form.
  16. Add another activity, and then select the Default Manual Activity template.
  17. In the Manual Activity Template form, in the Title box, enter a title for the manual activity. For example, enter Add the requesting user to list of Active Directory groups in the impacted configuration items.
  18. Next to Activity Implementer, select a user who is responsible for the activity, and select OK to close the Manual Activity Template form.
  19. Select OK to close the Service Request Template form.

Create a request offering

Request offerings are catalog items that describe the item, assistance, or action that is available to end-users in the service catalog. Request offerings are normally placed in logical groups of service offerings. Both service offerings and their request offerings are available to Self-Service Portal users when the status of the offerings is set to Published and if end-users have been assigned a corresponding Service Manager user role. Only users who have been assigned a user role associated with a catalog group that contains catalog items can use the Self-Service Portal to access the service catalog.

You can use the following procedure to create a request offering.

To create a request offering

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Request Offerings.
  3. In the Tasks pane under Request Offerings, select Create Request Offering to open the Create Request Offering Wizard.
  4. On the Before You Begin page, read the instructions, and select Next.
  5. On the General page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Title box, enter a title for the request offering. For example, enter Access to Active Directory group.
    2. Optionally, next to Image, you can either Browse to an image file, or leave the default selection.
    3. In the Description text box, enter a short description that describes the request offering that will appear on the Self-Service Portal page. For example, enter Use this request offering to request membership to an Active Directory Group.
    4. Under Select template, select Service Request, and then in the Select Template dialog, select a template that you created previously for a service request. For example, select the Request Membership to Group template, and select OK.
    5. Next to Management pack, select an unsealed management pack of your choice, and select Next. For example, if you previously created the Sample Management Pack, select it.
  6. On the User Prompts page, enter questions for users or define other instructions, which will appear in the Self-Service Portal when a user submits a request by completing the following steps:
    1. In the Form instructions box, enter a summary of the information that the user must provide for the request. For example, enter Provide the information below to request membership to the Active Directory Group
    2. Under Enter prompts or information text, select Add; in the User Prompts or Information box, enter Enter your cost center; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Integer.
    3. In the second Enter Prompts or Information box, enter Select the list of Active Directory groups that you need access to; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Query Results.
    4. In the third Enter Prompts or Information box, enter Enter your justification for this request; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Text.
    5. Select Next.
  7. On the Configure Prompts page, configure prompts to constrain user input to ensure that users provide the information required to fulfill their requests by completing the following steps:
    1. Select the Enter your cost center prompt, and select Configure.
    2. In the Configure Integer Control dialog, select Limit integer range, set the Minimum Value to 1000 set the Maximum Value to 6999, and select OK to close the dialog.
    3. Select the Select the Active Directory groups that you want access to prompt, and select Configure to open the Configure Instance Picker dialog.
    4. In the Configure Instance Picker dialog in the Frequently used basic classes list, select All basic classes; in the filter box, enter Active; and then select Active Directory Group.
    5. Select the Configure Criteria (optional) tab; in the list of properties under User, select Department; and select Add Constraint.
    6. In the Criteria box, select Department equals; in the Set Token list, select Select token; and select 1. Enter your cost center: Integer.
    7. If the condition is not set to equals, select equals.
    8. Select the Display Columns tab, and then select Display Name, Department, and Last Name.
    9. Select the Options tab, select Allow the user to select multiple objects, and then select Add user-selected objects as affected configuration items.
    10. Select Ok to close the Configure Instance Picker dialog, and select Next.
  8. On the Map Prompts page, associate prompts with various fields of a service request or its activities, depending on the complexity of the form and the extension of the class that you've made. Complete the following steps to associate the justification to the review activity:
    1. Select Approval for the user requesting membership to the Active Directory group - (Review Activity).
    2. Next to Description, select the box under Prompt Output, and then in the list, select 3. Enter your justification: String.
    3. Select Next.
  9. Optionally, on the Knowledge Articles page, you can select a knowledge article to associate with this request offering, and select Next.
  10. Optionally, on the Publish page, you can set publishing information, and select Next.
  11. On the Summary page, review the information, and select Create.
  12. On the Completion page, select Close.

Publish a request offering

You can publish draft request offerings by using the Publish task or by using a change request. When you publish a request offering by using the Publish task, no additional interaction is required, and the request offering appears in the Self-Service Portal as an uncategorized item. If you want to publish the request offering as part of a category, you must add the request offering to a service offering.

If you want to have an approval process added before publishing, you can associate the request offering to a change request. If you use a change request, you can also send email notifications as the approval process occurs.

Note

Various errors might occur if you create a request offering without mapped prompts or if you've erroneously mapped any prompts. The errors can occur after you associate a change request to the request offering and then you complete the change request. To avoid such errors, ensure that you've at least one prompt in the request offering and that all the prompts are mapped correctly.

You can use the following procedures to publish request offerings.

To publish draft request offerings

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Draft Request Offerings.
  3. In the Draft Request Offerings list, select one or more request offerings, and in the Tasks pane under RequestOfferingName, select Publish.

To use a change request to publish draft request offerings

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Draft Request Offerings.
  3. In the Draft Request Offerings list, select one or more request offerings, and in the Tasks pane under RequestOfferingName, select Create Change Request to Publish.
  4. In the Select Template dialog, select the Publish Offering change request template, and select OK to open a new change request form.
  5. In the ChangeRequestID: Publish Offerings form, notice that the catalog items to publish appear under Catalog items.
  6. Select the Activities tab, and notice that there is a review activity and an automated activity associated with the change request. Later, when the review activity is approved, the automated activity will set the publish status to Published.
  7. Select OK to save the change request.

Add request offerings to service offerings

Service offerings are logical groups of request offerings. For a service offering to appear in the Self-Service Portal, each service offering must have at least one request offering added to it. After a service offering and a request offering are published, it's a straightforward process to associate them as a collection.

To add request offerings to service offerings

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Published Request Offerings.
  3. In the Published Request Offerings list, select one or more request offerings, and in the Tasks pane under RequestOfferingName, select Add to Service Offering.
  4. In the Select objects dialog, select the service offering that you want to associate the request offering with, select Add, and select OK to close the dialog.

Create a catalog item group

Catalog item groups are lists of catalog items that are used to secure the service catalog and provide access to users based on membership in a corresponding Service Manager user role. In the following procedure, you create a simple catalog item group. After you create the group, use an existing user role, or create a new user role, to provide access to catalog items that have been associated with the group.

To create a catalog item group

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library, and select Groups.
  2. In the Tasks pane under Groups, select Create Catalog Group to open the Create Group Wizard.
  3. On the Before You Begin page, read the instructions, and select Next.
  4. On the General page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Group name box, enter a name for the catalog group. For example, enter Access Request Offering Group.
    2. In the Group description box, enter a description for the catalog group. For example, enter This group is used to consolidate and provide security to Access Request Offering catalog items.
    3. Next to Management pack, select an unsealed management pack of your choice, and select Next. For example, if you previously created the Sample Management Pack, select it.
  5. On the Included Members page, complete these steps to select catalog items and associate them with the catalog group:
    1. Select Add to open the Select objects dialog, select one or more catalog items that you created previously, select Add, and select OK to close the dialog.
    2. Select Next.
  6. Optionally, on the Dynamic Members page, you can select a class and specific objects, based on the criteria that you choose, to add as members of the group, and select Next.
  7. Optionally, on the Subgroups page, you can add other groups as members of the new group that you're creating, and select Next.
  8. Optionally, on the Excluded Members page, you can select a class and specific objects, based on criteria that you choose, to exclude as members of the group, and select Next.
  9. On the Summary page, review the information, and select Create.
  10. On the Completion page, select Close.

Specify a user role for catalog items

User roles provide access to catalog groups that contain catalog items. Both service offerings and their request offerings are available to Self-Service Portal users, when the status of the offerings is set to Published and if end-users have been assigned a corresponding Service Manager user role. Only users who have been assigned a user role associated with a catalog group that contains catalog items can use the Self-Service Portal to access the service catalog. You can use the following procedure to create a user role and associate catalog items and users with the role.

To create a user role and associate it with catalog items and users

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Administration.
  2. In the Administration pane, expand Security, and then select User Roles.
  3. In the Tasks pane under User Roles, select Create User Role, and select End User to open the Create User Role Wizard.
  4. On the Before You Begin page, read the instructions, and select Next.
  5. On the General page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Name box, enter a name for the user role. For example, enter Security Offerings End User Role.
    2. Optionally, in the Description box, enter a description of the purpose of the user role. For example, enter This user role provides access to security offerings to end users.
    3. Select Next.
  6. On the Management Packs page, complete these steps:
    1. In Management Packs list, select a management pack that is used by catalog items. For example, select Service Manager Service Request Configuration Library.
    2. Select Next.
  7. On the Queues page, there are no options that apply to security to catalog items; therefore, select Next.
  8. On the Configuration Item Groups page, there are no options that apply to security to catalog items; therefore, select Next.
  9. On the Catalog Item Groups page, select Provide access to only the selected groups, select the groups that you want to provide access to, and select Next.
  10. On the Form Templates page, ensure that All forms can be accessed is selected, and select Next.
  11. On the Users page, add the users and groups that you want to provide access to, and select Next.
  12. On the Summary page, review the information, and select Create.
  13. On the Completion page, select Close.

Copy request offerings and service offerings

After you create a request offering or a service offering, you can copy the offering so that you can easily modify the copied offering.

You can use the following procedures to copy a request offering and a service offering. Keep in mind that if you copy a published catalog item, the published status of the copy is set to Draft.

Select the required tab for steps to copy a request or service offering:

Follow these steps to copy a request offering:

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, expand Request Offerings, and then select All Request Offerings.
  3. In the All Request Offerings list, select the request offering that you want to copy, and then in the Tasks pane under RequestOfferingName, select Create a Copy to open the Copy Request Offering dialog.
  4. In the dialog, you can optionally select Also create a copy of the template referred to in this Request Offering to create a copy of the template.
  5. Optionally, you can change the management pack where information about the copied request offering is stored or you can create a new management pack.
  6. Select OK to close the dialog and create the copy.
  7. The copied item appears in the list, with a prefix of Copy of. For example, your copy might have the name Copy of Access to Active Directory Group.

Publish a service offering

You can publish draft service offerings by using the Publish task or by using a change request. When you publish a service offering by using the Publish task, the service offing must contain at least one published request offering before it appears in the Self-Service Portal. If you want to have an approval process added before publishing, you can associate the service offering with a change request. If you use a change request, you can also send email notifications as the approval process occurs.

You can use the following procedures to publish a draft service offering and then use a change request to publish it.

To publish a draft service offering

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Draft Service Offerings.
  3. In the Draft Service Offerings list, select one or more service offerings, and in the Tasks pane under ServiceOfferingName, select Publish.

To use a change request to publish a draft service offering

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, and then select Draft Service Offerings.
  3. In the Draft Service Offerings list, select one or more service offerings, and in the Tasks pane under ServiceOfferingName, select Create Change Request to Publish.
  4. In the Select Template dialog, select the Publish Offering change request template, and select OK to open a new change request form.
  5. In the ChangeRequestID: Publish Offerings form, notice that the catalog items to be published appear under Catalog items.
  6. Select the Activities tab, and notice that there's a review activity and an automated activity associated with the change request. Later, when the review activity is approved, the automated activity will set the publish status to Published.
  7. Select OK to save the change request.

Edit a service offering or a request offering

Request offerings are catalog items that describe the item, assistance, or action that is available to end-users in the service catalog. Request offerings are normally placed in logical groups of service offerings. Both service offerings and their request offerings are available to Self-Service Portal users, when the status of the offerings is set to Published and if end-users have been assigned a corresponding Service Manager user role. Only users that have been assigned a user role that is associated with a catalog group that contains catalog items can use the Self-Service Portal to access the service catalog.

You can use the following procedures to edit a service offering or a request offering.

Follow these steps to edit a request offering:

  1. In the Service Manager console, select Library.
  2. In the Library pane, expand Service Catalog, expand Request Offerings, and then select All Request Offerings.
  3. In the All Request Offerings list, double-click the request offering that you want to edit.
  4. In the Edit Request Offering form, you can edit information on the following pages:
  5. On the General page, complete these steps:
    1. In the Title box, enter a title for the request offering. For example, enter Access to Active Directory group.
    2. Optionally, next to Image, you can either select Browse to find an image file or leave the default selection.
    3. In the Description text box, enter a short description that will describe the request offering that will appear on the Self-Service Portal page. For example, enter Use this request offering to request membership to an Active Directory Group.
  6. On the User Prompts page, enter questions for users or define other instructions that will appear on the Self-Service Portal when a user submits a request by completing the following steps:
    1. In the Form instructions box, enter a summary of the information that the user must provide for the request. For example, enter Provide the information below to request membership to the Active Directory Group
    2. Under Enter prompts or information text, select Add; in the User Prompts or Information box, enter Enter your cost center; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Integer.
    3. In the second Enter Prompts or Information box, enter Select the list of Active Directory groups that you need access to; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Query Results.
    4. In the third Enter Prompts or Information box, enter Enter your justification for this request; in the Response Type list, select Required; and in the Prompt Type list, select Text.
  7. On the Configure Prompts page, configure prompts to constrain user input to ensure that users provide the information necessary to fulfill their request by completing the following steps:
    1. Select the Enter your cost center prompt, and select Configure.
    2. In the Configure Integer Control dialog, select Limit integer range, set the Minimum Value to 1000, set the Maximum Value to 6999, and select OK to close the dialog.
    3. Select the Select the Active Directory groups that you want access to prompt, and select Configure to open the Configure Instance Picker dialog.
    4. In the Configure Instance Picker dialog in the Frequently user basic classes list, select All basic classes; in the filter box, enter Active; and then select Active Directory Group.
    5. Select the Configure Criteria (optional) tab; in the list of properties under User, select Department; and select Add Constraint.
    6. In the Criteria box, select Department equals; in the Set Token list, select Select token; and select 1. Enter your cost center: Integer.
    7. If the condition is not set to equals, select equals.
    8. Select the Display Columns tab, and then select Display Name, Department, and Last Name.
    9. Select the Options tab, select Allow the user to select multiple objects, select Add user-selected objects as affected configuration items, and then select Add the requesting user to the list of Active Directory group in the impacted configuration items (Manual Activity).
    10. Select Ok to close the Configure Instance Picker dialog.
  8. On the Map Prompts page, associate prompts with various fields of a service request or its activities, depending on the complexity of the form and the extension of the class that you have made. Complete the following steps to associate a justification with the review activity:
    1. Select Approval for the user requesting membership to the Active Directory group - (Review Activity).
    2. Next to Description, select the box under Prompt Output, and then in the list, select 3. Enter your justification: .
  9. Optionally, on the Knowledge Articles page, you can select a knowledge article to associate with this request offering.
  10. Optionally, on the Publish page, you can set publishing information.
  11. Select OK to close the Edit Request Offering form.

Next steps

Use groups, queues, and lists in Service Manager.