Adding a use case to BMC Service Desk Automation run book

This section describes the end-to-end process for automating a service request by using the BMC Service Desk Automation run book.

The BMC Service Desk Automation runbook has been designed in a way that you can add multiple use cases, with almost minimal configurations and no workflow changes to the core run book module.

The run book completely takes care of managing the entire lifecycle of the ticket, like performing the validations/updates and so on. After the run book receives a request in the form of a BMC Remedy alert, the run book updates the ticket, collects the required fulfillment data to process the use case, and invokes the use case asynchronously by using remedy or JMS alerts.

This asynchronous mechanism decouples the use case implementation from the run book.

Before you begin

Before you start automating use cases by using the BMC Service Desk Automation run book, ensure that the following conditions are met:

Install the required products and ensure that they are up and running.
Create an Orchestration user in BMC Remedy ITSM.
Create a business service for your use case.
Create a navigational category for the use case.
Create the service request definition for the use case in BMC Service Request Management by using the generic templates available in the run book. The SRDs can be used for BMC MyIT as well.
Ensure that the SRD is online.
Configure and activate the BMC Atrium Orchestrator adapters and BMC SA Service Desk Automation module required for the run book.

Adding a new use case to BMC Service Desk Automation run book

This topic describes the high-level activities for adding a new use case that you want to automate.

Step 1: Create a new module for your use case

When you create a workflow, you are creating a module and then a process within that module. All the other activities for the workflow are created and configured within the process. To package the processes with their related schedules, configurations, and rules, use the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio Designer to create modules.

To create a module:

Go to Start menu and click Programs > BMC Software > BMC Atrium Orchestrator > Development Studio to open the Development Studio.
On the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio Launch Pad, click Designer.
In the Project Navigator tree, right-click the name of the grid and select Create New Module.
In the New Module dialog box, select Projects from the Module Type list.
In the Name field, type the module name; then click OK.
The product creates a new module and lists it under the grid in the Project Navigator.
For example, the Unlock Account process resides inside the Account Management > Unlock Account module.
The following figure shows the Unlock Account module and process.

Step 2: Create a process in the module

To create a process in the module:

Right-click the new module that you just created and select New Process.
In the Create New Process dialog box, in the Process Name field, type the name for a process that matches your use case.
(Optional) If you want to collect business metrics for your workflow processes, set the Record Metrics flag to true.
Click OK.
On the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio canvas, create the workflow that matches your requirement.
The following figure shows the process workflow for the Unlock Account use case.
You can create a similar workflow that matches your requirement specific to the use case that you want to automate.
(Optional) If you want to collect business metrics such as the time and money saved by running this workflow, go to BMC-SA-Service_Desk_Automation module > Utilities and drag and drop the Save Metrics Data process to add it to the workflow.
For more information, see Collecting business metrics for BMC Service Desk Automation run book.
From the BMC-SA-Service_Desk_Automation module, drag and drop the Complete Ticket process to your new workflow.
The Complete Ticket process is required to complete the ticket in the service desk application. You must use the workflow available in the BMC-SA-Service_Desk_Automation module.
Save the workflow.

For more information about creating modules and workflows, see Developing workflows using BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio in BMC Atrium Orchestrator platform documentation.

Step 3: Create a new rule to trigger the use case workflow

Rules evaluate incoming events generated by monitor adapters and trigger processes according to the results. Every rule on a grid evaluates all XML input from the events from the monitor adapters on the grid. Each rule can trigger only one process, but a single event might cause multiple rules to evaluate to true, causing multiple processes to run.

To create a rule for the workflow:

In the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio Project Navigator, expand the module that will use the rule.
Double-click rules.
In the Rules Designer tab, click Add in the toolbar.
In the empty rule, enter the name for the rule in the Rule field.
Click Search and browse to select the process that you want to run if the rule evaluates to true.
A process is listed in the process browser only if the Expose Process in Rules property was selected for that process in the Process Properties dialog box or in the New Process dialog box.
In the Match selection list, choose how you want the rule to be applied using one of the following options:
The source for the condition comparison is the adapter event generated by the monitor adapter. The adapter event is an XML document that you can transform to extract a portion from for comparison.
- All indicates that if every condition evaluates to true, the process is executed.
- Any indicates that if any condition evaluates to true, the process is executed.
Click Transform to use the Transform Editor to create the XPath expression to extract the content that you want to use for the rule condition.
Click Save and Exit to save the expression and return to the rules designer.
Select the comparator that you want to use from the drop-down menu.
The comparator is a relational operator that compares the value derived from the Source field to the contents of the Value field and evaluates the expression to true or false.
In the Value field, enter the value that you want to compare to the source value.
(optional) Click the Add button to add additional conditions.
Click Apply to save the rule; click OK to clear the confirmation message.
The new rule is displayed in the Rules List.

For example, for the Unlock Account use case, the following rules are created.

Step 4: Test the workflow processes

When you use the Test Process function in the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio application, you can test a process before or after exporting it to the grid or recording metrics.

To test a process, you must be logged into (authenticated on) the grid and must have a role of designer or administrator on that grid. A process test will time out after 180 seconds if it is not able to initiate the test within that time period. If one or more input parameters have been defined for the process, the input parameters window is displayed. Required parameters are indicated with a red check mark.

To test the workflow process:

With a process displayed on the BMC Atrium Orchestrator Development Studio process canvas, click the Test Workflow button in the main toolbar.
On the Execution Mode dialog box, select Test as if triggered by a rule, schedule, or SOAP option and click OK.
On the Job Input Parameters dialog box, select the value type from the Type menu, and then double-click the cell in the Value column that corresponds with the parameter.
Enter the value; then click OK.
The process commences and the process Log tab displays the information to write to the processes.log file on the executing peer.
If the process being tested has output parameters defined, they will be shown on the Context Values tab with their values at the end of process execution.
For more information about testing the workflow processes, see Testing and debugging processes in BMC Atrium Orchestrator platform documentation.