Creating a service request definition in BMC Service Request Management

This topic describes the steps to create a service request definition (SRD) in BMC Service Request Management application. A service offering is represented by a service request definition. An SRD is related typically to actions that create entries in the incident, change or work order management applications in BMC Remedy ITSM. This topic describes how to create an SRD for the Unlock Account use case as an example. You can use the same procedure for adding use cases that match your requirement. 

To enable the use of the Service Desk Automation run book for fulfillment of a service request, you must create the following components contained in the SRD:

• • Before you begin
  • Step 1: Creating an Application Object Template
  • Step 2: Creating a Process Definition Template
  • Step 3: Creating a Service Request Definition
  • Step 4: Verifying the service request definition
  • Where to go from here

Before you begin

Before you start creating the service request definition, ensure that the application templates are created in BMC Remedy ITSM. If you use the generic application templates available in BMC Remedy ITSM, which are installed when you install the BMC Service Desk Automation run book, the operational categories are set to be used by the run book.

For information about creating application template, see Creating templates in BMC Remedy ITSM documentation.

Step 1: Creating an Application Object Template

To create an SRD, you must create an Application Object Template (AOT) and then a Process Definition Template (PDT). The AOT is based on an application template, which pre-populates fields in the fulfillment record when a request is created. By default, application templates for change, incident, and work order are installed in your BMC Remedy ITSM environment when you install the BMC Service Desk Automation run book by using the BAO content installer. You can use the default templates or create application templates that match your requirement. For information about creating application template, see Creating templates in BMC Remedy ITSM documentation.

You can associate application target data with an AOT, and then map that target data to variables defined in the PDT. Doing so allows you to pass data from a service request to the fulfillment application.

To create an AOT

1. Log on to the BMC Remedy ITSM system with administrative privileges.
2. From the IT Home page, click Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. 
3. Click the Custom Configuration tab.
4. From the Application Settings list, choose Service Request Management > Application Configuration > Define Application Object Template, and click Open.

5. On the Application Object Template dialog box, enter the details as described in the following table.

   Field	Value
   Company	Specify the company connected with this AOT.
   Type	Specify the type of AOT.  Specify TEMPLATE — AOT uses an application template with pre-defined values.  You can include target data. You cannot use this option when you select the Global company.
   Name	Specify a descriptive name of the AOT. Enter AO SDA:AOT:Unlock Account. You can provide any name for the template, however using the AO SDA prefix can be a good practice to identify templates later.
   Summary	Enter a descriptive summary of the AOT.  Enter AO SDA:AOT:Unlock Account.
   App Registry Name	Enter BMC Remedy Incident Management

    The following figure shows the AOT settings for the Unlock Account use case. 
    

6. On the Template Name field, click Select to select the BMC Atrium Orchestrator application template available in the system.
   From the list of unregistered templates, select AO SDA:Unlock Account Incident Template.
   

   Note

   For the Unlock Account use case example, you can select an incident application template. However, you can select any application templates available for BAO while creating an AOT. For example, if you want to create a change record with an associated task for the service request, you can select the AO SDA:Generic Change Template with Task.

7. On the Application Object Template dialog box, click Add Target Data.

8. From the Available Target Data table, add the target data fields to the AOT.
   These fields will be made available in the PDT later. 
   The following figure shows the selected target data for the AOT for the unlock account use case. 
   
   

   You can only select the target data required for your service request however, BMC recommends that you select all the targets so that you can always modify the SRD easily later.

9. Click Close and save the AOT.

For more information about creating AOTs, see Creating application templates and application object templates in BMC Service Request Management documentation.

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Step 2: Creating a Process Definition Template

A process definition template (PDT) is an intermediate object that defines a fulfillment process by relating Application Object Templates (AOTs) to a Service Request Definition (SRD). Use the Process View of the Service Catalog Manager Console to create and manage PDTs. For the BMC Service Desk Automation run book, you would create a standard PDT. 

To create a Process Definition Template

1. From the IT Home Page, go to Service Request Management > Service Catalog Manager Console.
2. From the Company list, select the company for which you are creating a PDT. 
   For example, Calbro Services. 
3. Click Console Focus in the left navigation pane, and click Process.
4. Click Create.
5. From the Company list, select the company name.
   For example, Calbro Services. 
6. From the Request Type list, select Standard. 
7. In the Name field, enter the name for the PDT.
   For example, PDT:AO:SDA:Unlock Account.
8. From the Palette, drag the AOT icon to the canvas area.
   The following figure shows the canvas to define the AOT.
    
9. Click AOT in the canvas.
10. In the Define Properties panel, use the Name list to map the PDT to the AOT that is created in the earlier section. 
    For example, AOT:Unlock Account. The following figure shows the AOT selected for the Unlock Account use case. 
    
11. Click Apply.
    After you apply the AOT to the PDT, all target data which is defined in the AOT appears in the PDT.  
12. To define a variable for the PDT, click the Define Variables panel.

13. In the Define Variables area, enter the names, description, and the default value of the variable.
    For example, for the First Name target from the AOT, you can add the name as firstName.

    Important

    Do not use any space or special characters to define the name of the variables. BMC recommends that you define all the variables from the AOT in the PDT by defining the name, description, and the default value of the variables. If you require any of the variables in future, it is easier to add a new question in the SRD than map a variable in the PDT again.

    The following figure shows the variables defined for the PDT.
    

14. From the Type list, select Process Input type.
    You must select Process Input to map the variable to a question when creating an SRD.
15. Click Add.
16. After defining all the variables, click the Map Data panel to map all the variables.  
17. From the Input list, select a variable. 
18. From the Output list, select a variable to map it with the input.  
19. Click Save.

For more information about creating PDTs, see Creating process definition templates in BMC Service Request Management documentation. 

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Step 3: Creating a Service Request Definition

Service request definitions are created by the Service Catalog Manager for the service catalog and made available to users through the Request Entry console. An SRD provides the characteristics required to facilitate the selection and execution of delivery for the service offering, including attributes such as categorization, effective start and end dates, pricing information, approval and service level management criteria, as well as the definition of application objects that will support the delivery of a service. 

You create a Service Request Definition after you created the AOT, PDT, and mapped all variables in the PDT. Before creating an SRD, you might also want to consider the Guidelines for designing services in BMC Service Request Management documentation.

To create an SRD

1. Open the IT Home Page, and select Service Request Management > Service Catalog Manager Console.
2. Click Console Focus in the left navigation pane, and click Request Definition.

3. Click Create in the Request Definition View in the Service Catalog Manager Console.

   Note

   Some of the fields in the Service Request Definition form are prefilled — for example, the Status is set to Draft. The Service Request Definition ID is generated automatically when the SRD is saved.

4. On the Service Request Definition panel, complete the following required fields. 

   Fields	Description
   Company	Select the company name for which you are creating the SRD. For example, Calbro Services.
   Title	Enter the title for the SRD. For example, Unlock Account.
   Description	Enter a description for the service.
   Status	By default, the status is Draft.
   Category1	Select the navigational category created for the service. For example, for the Unlock Account use case, select Identity Access And Password Management.
   Category 2	Select the service created under the navigational category.  For example, for the Unlock Account use case, select Unlock Account.

5. In the Definition tab, add information in the following required fields.

   Field	Description
   Request Type	Select the SRD type as Standard.
   Process Template	Click Select to select the PDT to be associated with this SRD.  From the list of Available Processes, select the PDT to be associated with this SRD. For example, select AO:SDA:PDT:Unlock Account. After you select the template, you can now add questions and mappings to the SRD. You can create questions for users to answer when submitting service requests. A user's answers to these questions enable the business service manager and task implementers to get more information about the service request. To add questions and mappings, see To add questions and mappings to the SRD.
   Reopen Request	Select Reopen Fulfillment Process.
   System Request	Select Yes. When you select Yes, this SRD is shown as a Popular Service on the Request Entry Console.
   Company	Select the catalog manager's company. This field is used to set approvals for the SRD.
   Name	Select the catalog manager's full name. For example, Allen Allbrook. If you configure approvals, the catalog manager can approve the SRD.
   Start Date	Select the Start Date for the SRD.
   End Date	Select the End Date for the SRD.
   Service	Select the service. For example, Unlock Account.
   Service Offering	Select the service offering. For example, Unlock Account.

    The following figure shows the SRD details for the Unlock Account use case. 
    

6. Click Save.
   The SRD is created in Draft status. You cannot move the SRD to a different state (for example, Pending or Deployed) until you define a start date and the SRD is approved.
7. After you save the SRD, search for the SRD again and change the Status to Request For Approval. 
   If you have configured approvals for the SRD, it goes thru the approval process. If no approvals are configured, the status of the SRD changes to Deployed and the SRD is in the Online state.  

To add questions and mappings to the SRD

To add questions and mappings to the SRD, perform the following steps. For more information, see Adding questions to the SRD in BMC Service Request Management documentation. 

1. On the Definition tab of the SRD, click Questions & Mappings.

2. On the Question Management form, use the following table to add questions for the SRD. 

   Field	Description
   Add Question	Click Add Question to add a new question for the SRD. These questions become a part of the service request, which the user provides answers to. You can either select a standard question from the library or create your own. You can create as many questions as required for your use case. For the Unlock Account use case, you can create the questions.
   Question Text	Enter the question text that will be visible to the user. For example, Enter First Name:.
   Question Format	Select Text. You can choose the format based on your requirements. The format determines the type of the question.
   Category	Select the category that you want to apply to the question. For example, Incident/Change.
   Required	Select Required to make it a required field for the user. To create your question, click Apply.

    The following figure shows the Question Management form.

   

3. Use Step 1 to add all questions that you want to be answered by the user. 
   You can also add a few hidden questions to auto-generate data in the request based on the data provided by the user. For example, for the Unlock Account use case you can use the following questions.
   1. Enter First Name
   2. Enter Last Name
   3. Enter User ID
   4. Set User ID (Hidden; using the Action tab, you can create an action for auto-generating the user ID after the user provides answers to the First Name and Last Name fields).

   5. Set Service (Hidden; using the Action tab, you can create an action for auto-generating the name of the service). 

      Note

      While creating a service request definition, you can add time and financial variables to collect business metrics for the time and money saved each time you run the service request. For more information about collecting business metrics, see Collecting-business-metrics-for-BMC-Service-Desk-Automation-run-book. 

4. Click the Actions tab.
   Use the following table to configure actions to auto-fill data in the service request based on user's answers.   

   Field	Description
   Title	Enter the question for which you want to auto-fill the answer. For example, enter Set User ID.
   Trigger	Select Answer Question. This action is triggered when the question specified in the Qualification field is answered.
   Qualification	Create a query that defines the condition or conditions to trigger the action. For example, for the Set User ID question, create the following query: <Enter First Name: > !=$\Null$ AND <Enter Last Name: > !=$\Null$
   Type	The Type field is a display-only field that shows Autofill as the Action type.
   Form Name	Specify the form from which the data will be retrieved. For example, for the Set User ID question, select the CTM:People form.
   Form Qualification	Create a query that selects the form record to use for the mapping for. For example, for the Set User ID question, create the following query: "First Name" = <Enter First Name: > AND "Last Name" = <Enter Last Name: >
   Mappings	From the Field list, select the field from the form. For example, for the Set User ID question, select Remedy Login ID. From the Response list, select the response for the question. For example, select Set User ID:.

   The following figure shows the action created for the Set User ID question. 
   
   For more information about creating actions, see Configuring actions to auto-fill responses in a service request in the BMC Service Request Management documentation. 

5. Click Apply to create an action.
6. Use step 4 to add an action for the Set Service question with the following details.
   1. Enter the title as Set Service.
   2. Select the trigger as Answer Question.

   3. Add the following qualification:

      <Set User ID: > != $\NULL$ 
   4. Select the AST: BusinessService form.
   5. From the Field list, select Name, and then select the response as Set Service:.
7. Click Apply to create the action.

8. Click the Variable Mapping tab.
   Use the following table to map variables.

   Field	Description
   Variables	Contains all variables mapped in the PDT. If you have marked any variables as Required in the PDT, those variables appear as required here. You can map only those variables that you feel are required for your use case. You can map the variables to a Question, Text, or an SR field. For the Unlock Account use case, you map the variables to the questions. For example, for the Unlock Account use case, the minimum set of variables to be mapped to the questions are: Description, DetailedDescription, FirstName, LastName and ServiceCI.
   Question	Select the question to be mapped to the variable selected from the Variables table by using the Questions list.

    

9. Click Apply to add the mapping for the variable.

10. Continue mapping all required variables by using step 5 and step 6.
    For more information about mapping variables, see Mapping variables to questions in the BMC Service Request Management documentation.

    For Unlock Account use case, perform the following mapping actions:

    Description -  Set the value of service CI.

    First Name - Set the value of the first name from the answer to the question "Enter First Name:"

    Last Name - Set the value of the last name from the answer to the question "Enter Last Name:"

    Service CI - Set the value of the service CI from the answer to the question "Service:"

    Detailed Description - This requires multiple input fields to be mapped. To concatenate multiple inputs, select a variable and click Advanced Mappings.

    You select this option if you want to map multiple questions to the same variable. For example, for the Unlock Account use case, you need to provide information in a format that BAO receives via a notification. You must map the DetailedDescription variable to the comma-separated key=value pairs.  

1. To add multiple inputs for the DetailedDescription variable, on the Advanced Mapping dialog box, perform the following steps.
   1. Click Text and enter BMC Service Desk Automation: ServiceType=. 
   2. Click Add to Mapping.
      The text variable is added to the Mapping table. 
   3. Click Question and select Set Service.

   4. Click Add to Mapping.
      The Set Service response is mapped to the BMC Service Desk Automation: ServiceType= variable. 
      Use this process to add comma-separated key=value pairs for First Name, Last Name, and User ID variables. The following figure shows the advanced mapping for the Unlock Account use case.  

      The following table shows the variables mapped to the responses of the questions.

      Question	Type	Mapping to the variable response
      <Set Service>	Text	BMC Service Desk Automation: ServiceType
      <Enter First name>	Text	FirstName
      <Enter Last Name>	Text	LastName
      <Set User ID>	Text	UserID

       

2. Click Save.
3. Follow Step 9 to map all variables required for the use case to the responses. 
   For more information about using advanced mapping, see Concatenating multiple inputs in BMC Service Request Management documentation. 

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Step 4: Verifying the service request definition

After you create the SRD and it's online, you can go to the BMC Service Request Management console to verify whether the request is created with the options that you specified.

To view the new service, perform the following steps:

1. Open the IT Home Page, and select Service Request Management > Request Entry.
2. On the BMC Service Request Management console, you can see the service request that you created.
   The following figure shows the Unlock Account service request.
   
3. Click Unlock Account.
   The following figure shows the Unlock Account request as made available for end users. You can see the mandatory fields as configured in the SRD.
   

Where to go from here

After you create the SRD, you must configure the BMC Atrium Orchestrator environment. For more information, see Configuring-BMC-Atrium-Orchestrator-for-the-BMC-Service-Desk-Automation-run-book. 

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