Importing service catalog items

Services imported through connectors

Not every service connector contains items that can be imported. The following BMC Digital Workplace Catalog connectors provide the capability to import items as services in the service catalog:

For a catalog administrator to import items as services through a BMC Integration Service custom connector, a developer must include that capability in the connector. For more information, see Integrating-BMC-Digital-Workplace-Catalog-with-BMC-Integration-Service.

Before you begin

Create and configure a connection for the connector, as described in Configuring-service-connectors.

To prepare services for import

BMC Digital Workplace Catalog imports service details that are needed to complete the catalog profile. The service connector provides the data interfaces to fulfill service requests through the external system.

1. Create a service type template with the required mapped fields. 
   For details about templates, see Adding-service-templates.
2. (Optional) Create a fulfillment workflow to attach to the item during import. 
   For more details about workflows, see Workflows-for-service-fulfillment.

To import services from external systems

The Catalog Queue lists the service connectors that contain items that you can import into the service catalog:

When you import services from external systems through a service connector, you might be prompted to provide additional information, or to perform additional steps, depending on the capabilities supplied through the integrating connector.

1. Go to Import (Catalog Queue).
2. Select a connector with a catalog of importable items, and then click Catalog Import Options.
3. Select the item or items to import, and then click Configure.
4. Select a template, and then click Profile Details.
5. Map the connector information fields to the template fields.
6. (Optional)  To test the appearance of the imported service, click Preview item.
7. Click Save.

8. If the Workflow configuration option appears below Profile Details, you can choose or create a workflow and question set that will be used to fulfill requests for this service.

   You can also attach a workflow (see Designing-a-simple-workflow) and a question set (see Creating-service-questionnaires) after you import the service.

9. Click Queue for Import.
10. Click Import Item to complete the import.
    The selected services are successfully imported. You can access these services by selecting Services > Services. 

After you  import a service from Remedy Service Request Management, you can perform one of the following actions:

• Retain the generated workflow
• Attach a new workflow
• Attach an existing workflow that runs the generated workflow by using the Call Activity element
• View and edit the service questionnaire

Factors to consider when reimporting  services from Remedy Service Request Management 

If you reimport a previously imported service request definition (SRD), all services that use the workflow and questionnaire that were generated from the imported SRD, are updated with the updated workflow and questionnaire. Upon reimport of an SRD that has previously been imported, you must consider the following factors:

• Scope of reimport
• Data to reimport
• Revisions used

Scope of reimport

Upon reimport of an SRD, not only this SRD is updated, but also all services that use a workflow and questionnaire generated from the reimported SRD. All reimported services get a new Pending revision.

Data to reimport

If you are about to reimport a previously imported service, you can define what data you would like to reimport to update the imported service:

• To update only workflows and questions, click Do not overwrite. Select this option if you do not want to import service profile changes.
• To update the whole service, select Overwrite. Select this option if you want to import all service metadata. 

The following illustration shows the Overwrite existing service profiles? window.

All services that use a workflow and questionnaire generated from the reimported SRD are updated. They get a new Pending revision with the updated workflow and questionnaire.

Revisions used

Reimported services might have multiple revisions. The following revisions are used to determine which metadata to import:

• If a service has more than one revision, the metadata from the Published revision is imported.
• If a service has no published revision, the metadata from the most recently modified revision is imported.

To configure imported services

When you have imported the required services, you might need to configure them for usage by end users in BMC Digital Workplace. 

The configuration process includes the following stages:

Perform the following tasks to configure an imported service:

To import categories from external systems

You can import one or more categories from an external system. When you import categories and their subcategories, BMC Digital Workplace Catalog shall retain the category and subcategory structure. You could also choose to import a single subcategory as a main level category. For information about this process, see Adding-and-updating-service-categories.

To import services exported from another BMC Digital Workplace Catalog system

You might need to copy services from one BMC Digital Workplace Catalog system into another. For information on this process, see Copying-services-from-another-system.

Where to go from here

To make a service available as part of a service bundle, see Adding-and-updating-bundles.

To add a service to a section of the catalog, see Setting-up-sections-in-the-Catalog.