Product categorization

CIs in BMC Helix CMDB require valid product categorization. When a CI is discovered, it must include valid product categorization.

• By default, BMC Discovery applies recommended categorization values to all CIs that are discovered. 

• BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB uses an XML file to apply categorization values to all CIs that are discovered. Based on the product categorization option that is selected during installation of the product, BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB applies the appropriate categorization values to the CIs.

  Best practice
  We recommend that you not change the categorization in the data providers. Instead, change the categorization through the Product Catalog only.

• For information about the default categorization values, see Default categorization.

For example, you might use Tier 1 to divide CIs into hardware and software groups. Within the hardware group, you might define Tier 2 groups for disk device, peripheral, processing unit, and virtual systems. Within processing unit, you might define Tier 3 groups for desktop, laptop, mainframe, personal digital assistant, and server. 

Product categorization is leveraged by multiple BMC applications. By understanding the product-specific use of categorization, you can determine the impact when setting up product categorization or when making additions and changes to the product category structure.

The associated Product Name and Manufacturer fields provide an even more fine-grained grouping of CIs. Version can be specified on CIs but is not part of the Product Catalog. 

Product categorization is defined in the Product Catalog. CIs stored in BMC Helix CMDB include this categorization in equivalent fields defined at the BMC_BaseElement Common Data Model (CDM) class level, as show in the following table.

Product categorization fields on the CI and in the Product Catalog 

Benefits of product categorization

A well-thought-out product categorization structure helps you to more efficiently perform the following capabilities:

• Reporting
• Searching
• Workflow

Leveraging product categorization

Even though the product categorization is focused on the categorization of CIs, the BMC Helix ITSM (BMC Helix ITSM) and other BMC products use product categorization. The following section describes the ways in which the product categorization can be leveraged.

Default categorization in BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB

When BMC BladeLogic Client Automation discovers a CI, it tries to find a match in the BMC Product Catalog. If it finds a match, it applies the Product Catalog values of the Model, ManufacturerName, Model, Category, and Item attributes. If it does not find a match in the Product Catalog, it tries to find a match in the XML file selected at installation, and applies those categorization values to the CI.

Even when you use the recommended categorization, BMC BladeLogic Client Automation Configuration Discovery Integration for CMDB uses additional categorization for CIs that it cannot otherwise classify. The following table provides these categorizations.

Product categorization and normalization of discovered CIs

The Normalization Engine makes sure that only CIs with valid categorization are reconciled with the production dataset. 

In a typical CMDB deployment, all new CIs or CI updates are first added to import datasets, which are then normalized and reconciled with the production dataset. You can set up a normalization job so that, whenever a CI is submitted to be created or updated, the CI's attributes are normalized with the values defined in the Product Catalog. 

The Normalization Engine checks against the Product Catalog, which stores the definition of categorization data, and either validates or rejects the CI. For more information about the normalization process, see Normalization steps and the Product Catalog.

Examples of product categorization and normalization of discovered CIs

This section illustrates how the categorizations for discovered CIs are normalized. The following table shows examples of submitted CIs and the result of their validation against the following entry in the Product Catalog:

• CI Class: BMC_ComputerSystem
• Tier1: Hardware
• Tier2: Processing Unit
• Tier3: Server
• Manufacturer Name: Hewlett-Packard
• Product Name: Proliant DL380 G4

The following table presents scenarios of what can happen to the third CI in the previous table--when the discovered ManufacturerName does not match an entry in the Product Catalog. The first column indicates the Discovery product categorization on the PCT:ProductCatalogAliasMappingForm form. The Product Catalog target values are set to the values indicated in the following table.

Running the discovery process in the preproduction environment

If you allow the Normalization Engine to create Product Catalog entries, you must run your discovery process. Make sure that you get representative data from the providers. Ideally, you are categorizing a comprehensive list of entities. The more comprehensive the list, the easier you can define the right categorization for those CIs, and the easier you can manage the content of the Product Catalog.

The number of CIs is not important; the discovery should include as many distinct types of CIs that are representative of your environment. For example, discovering 10 HP Proliant computers and inserting the CIs is no more helpful than discovering one. However, if you have two different models of a computer in your environment, you want to discover both models.

When this step is complete, the Product Catalog is populated with entries created by all the data providers.

For instructions for running the discovery process, see the BMC Discovery documentation.