Configuring generic catalog information

The generic catalog lets you create category type selections for fields in Remedy ITSM applications, which vary based on the selection of either product or operational categorization. For example, you can create a list item called Hardware Failure for the Cause field on the Incident form, and make it available for selection only if the first tier of the product categorization is Hardware.

Several predefined category types are provided with BMC Helix ITSM . For example, Reason category type is used in the list selections for the Cause field on the Incident form in BMC Service Desk: Incident Management and the Root Cause field on the Problem Investigations and Known Error forms in BMC Service Desk: Problem Management.

To create generic catalog information, you need to have Config Categorization Admin or Config Categorization User permission. Generic catalog information must be related to a company to be available on Remedy ITSM forms.

To create a generic category

1. Log in to  Mid Tier .
2. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
3. From the Application Settings list, select Foundation > Products/Operational Catalogs > Generic Catalog Structures, and then click Open. .
4. On the Generic Catalog Setup form, in the Generic/Product/Operational Relationship Category area, click Create. The Generic Catalog Update form appears.

5. Select the Category Type. The default category types available are listed in the following table:

   Selection	Meaning
   Reason	Stores reason categories. The categories that you set up are used as data on other BMC Helix ITSM forms. For example, Reason is used in the list selections for the Cause field on the Incident form (used in the Incident Management feature of BMC Service Desk) and the Root Cause field.
   Wallet	Used to store credit card information. The categories set up are then used as data on other BMC Helix ITSM forms. For example, on People records you can use the Attributes tab to add information for the Wallet Attribute Type.
   Resolution Category	Used to categorize different types of resolutions. The categories set up are then used as data on other BMC Helix ITSM forms. For example, resolution category information is used in incidents.
   User Access ID	Stores user access catalog information. The categories set up are then used as data on other BMC Helix ITSM forms. For example, your site can have different types of user IDs for different purposes or systems. This category can be used to group them.
   SLA Breach	Categorizes reasons for breaches of a Service Level Agreement (SLA). The categories set up are then used as data on other BMC Helix ITSM forms. For example, SLA breach category information is used in incidents.

6. In the tier fields in the Generic area, enter categorization values. For example, in the Generic Categorization Tier 1 field for the Reason category type, select a value such as Hardware Failure.

   The product and operational categorization values must exist in the product and operational catalogs. Also, you can create a generic category definition multiple times in the generic catalog if you need to relate it to various companies or Product Categorizations.

   The Cause field is a single-tiered value. Therefore, when creating data for this category type, you need to provide only the first tier in the generic category definition. You can enter None for the tier 2 and tier 3 information or leave these fields blank.
   The product and operational categorization values must exist in the product and operational catalogs. Also, you can create a generic category definition multiple times in the generic catalog if you need to relate it to various companies or Product Categorizations.

7. (Optional) Relate the Generic Category definition to operational and product categorizations. Select the Operational and Product tiers. 
   For example, when working with Resolution Category as the category type, you can select the Generic Categorization Tier 1, Generic Categorization Tier 2, and Generic Categorization Tier 3 values, which will show on the Resolution Categorization tab for an incident. The Operational Categorization must match the Operational Categorization on the incident form. 
   Optionally, you can also include a Product Categorization as part of the Resolution Product Categorization for an incident. This Product Categorization must already exist in the Product Catalog. For a more detailed example, see Creating a resolution categorization from the Generic Catalog Update form.
   You can create a generic category definition multiple times in the generic catalog if you need to relate it to various companies or Product Categorizations.
8. Select a status.

9. Click Save.
   After you create generic category definitions, you can search for them to view in the Generic/Product/Operational Relationship Category table as shown in the following figure.
   
   

   Tip

   To modify a generic category, select it, and then click View. You can change the status on the Generic Catalog Update dialog box. No other generic categorization information can be changed. To delete a generic category, select it, and then click Delete.

10. Click Close.
    You must relate a category to a company before the category is available on other forms.

Creating a resolution categorization from the Generic Catalog Update form

The information displayed in the Resolution Categorization tab for an incident is driven by the information created in the Generic Catalog Update form. In the Generic Catalog Update form, you can create a resolution categorization and tie it to existing operational categorization and product categorization data.

In this example, the resolution categorization is as follows:

• Tier 1 = User Error
• Tier 2 = Connectivity exists

This resolution categorization will only be accessible when:

• Operation Categorization Tier 1 = Request
  The values for Tier 2 and Tier 3 are left blank to represent that these resolution categorization values should be accessible regardless of any selections being made in these fields.

• Product Categorization Tier 1 = Network

• Product Categorization Tier 2 = Connectivity
  The values of Tier 3 , Product Name, M/V and Manufacturer are left blank to represent that these resolution categorization values should be accessible regardless of any selections being made in these fields.

Resulting resolution categorization in the Incident form

From the Incident form, resolution categorization is determined by the information entered in the Operational Categorization and Resolution Product Categorization fields. Resolution Product Categorization is the product categorization of the causal CI (which is the CI that caused the incident).

For example:

1. After creating the resolution categorization in the Generic Catalog Update form, and as described in the previous example, open the Incident form.
2. From the Incident form, enter Request in the Operational Categorization section.
3. Enter Network in the Resolution Product Categorization Tier 1 field.
4. Enter Connectivity in the Resolution Product Categorization Tier 2 field.
   The resulting Resolution Categorization drop-down lists contain the following options for selection:
   • Tier 1 = User Error
   • Tier 2 = Connectivity exists

To set a generic category to offline

1. Select the generic category definition in the Generic Catalog Setup form, and then click Set Offline. This makes it unavailable in selection lists.
2. To enable an offline category, select it, and then click Set Enabled. When a generic category is enabled, the status turns green; when it is disabled, the status turns red.

Relating companies and modules to a generic category

Relationships between companies and applications or modules determine which companies and Remedy ITSM applications and modules can accept generic categorization information. A generic category can be associated with one or more companies.

To make the generic category accessible to all companies, select Global for the company.

To relate a company and application or module to a generic category

1. From the Application Administration Console, click the Custom Configuration tab.
2. From the Application Settings list, select Foundation > Products/Operational Catalogs > Generic Catalog Structures, and then click Open. 
3. On Generic Catalog Setup form, enter search criteria in the fields on the Generic Categorization Search Criteria area of the form, and then click Search.
4. From the results list, select a category. The relationships that appear in the Company and Module Relationships table are directly related to the category selected in the generic category table.

5. In the Company and Module Relationships area, click Create. The Generic Catalog Setup form appears.

   If you already have a relationship with a -Global- company, you cannot add more relationships. To specify relationships with specific companies, you must first delete the -Global- entry.

6. In the Company field, select the company name to relate to the generic category.

7. Select Yes for each service management application and module that you want to enable for the generic category.

   To select all applications and modules, click the check mark to the right of the Service Support Modules header.

8. Select the Status.
   A generic category status must be set to Enabled for the category to appear in lists for generic category fields.

9. Click Save.