18.08.00 enhancements

This section contains information about enhancements in version 18.08.00 of   BMC Digital Workplace .  

Alternate approvers

Starting with  BMC Digital Workplace  18.08, end users can assign their business requests to alternate approvers by creating the delegation rules. This feature helps end users to decrease the number of unresolved requests if they cannot process them on time.

BMC supports the synchronization between BMC Digital Workplace  and Remedy ITSM applications. End users who have active delegation rules in Remedy ITSM, can view and modify these rules in their  BMC Digital Workplace . For more information about the delegation feature, see Delegating business requests to alternate approvers.

Multi-user requests

In previous versions of BMC Digital Workplace , an end user could request a service for a single user. Starting with 18.08.00 version, end users can request a service for multiple users at a time. For more information about this feature, see Requesting services on behalf of other users.

End users can request services for multiple users if a service is built up on a multi-user request questionnaire. For information about how multi-instance questionnaire is built, see Creating multiuser request questionnaires. End users request services for multiple users by editing the Request for field and adding users for whom the end user is entitled to request service:

Catalog administrators can set up a default limitation for multi-instance requests, so that internal service suppliers and internal service supplier administrators do not need to manually select this value in the Questionnaire Designer for each service they are creating. For information about how catalog administrators can set a default value, see Setting the default limit for OBO users in a multiuser request questionnaire.

Quick requests

BMC Digital Workplace Catalog  users create quick request services and bundles, so that end users can spend less time on submitting requests in  BMC Digital Workplace . Quick request services and bundles can be especially useful for users who submit the same service requests from time to time. 

Catalog administrators can enable the quick request view for services and bundles for the entire catalog, or they can enable quick request view for specific services. For more details about this enhancement, see Enabling quick request view for enhanced services and bundles.

Save for later on individual requests

In the previous version of BMC Digital Workplace , end users could add services from the enhanced catalog to saved carts to save them for later. With  BMC Digital Workplace  18.08, end users can also save their Request Now items for later by moving them to the saved cart. For more information about the Request Now option, see Requesting multiple enhanced catalog items with a cart.

String manipulation in the Workflow designer

You can now manipulate string input values using JavaScript-like functions in the process designer.

18.08 provides a set of methods that can convert string input as required. The following methods are provided in the new String Utils section:

• Index Of—returns the first index within a search string in a specified text.
• Last Index Of —returns the last index within a search string in a specified text.
• Insert—inserts a string in specified text.
• Json Parser —retrieves a string from a specified Json.
• Length — сounts character length of a specified text.
• Matches —сounts how many times a string appears in a specified text.
• Replace —replaces all occurrences of a string within another string.
• Replace All —replaces every substring of a text string that matches the given regular expression with the given replacement.
• Substring —retrieves a substring from a specified text. 
• To Upper Case —converts a string to upper case.
• To Lower Case —converts a string to lower case .

For more details about these methods, see String manipulation methods reference.

Object data type added to local variables in the Workflow designer

Starting from BMC Digital Workplace Catalog 18.08, the Object data type has been added, to support generation of custom output from local process variables. For more details about this variable type, see Adding local variables to a workflow.

Get entries by query using the Remedy connector

In addition to existing Get Entry and Get Entry By Query activities, the Remedy connector provides a new Get Entries By Query. This activity returns multiple entries as opposed to the Get Entry By Query . For more details about this action, see Remedy connector.

The Get Entries By Query activity can pass multiple entries to another activity configured as a multi-instance loop, which can process these entries in parallel and sequentially. For information about this system option, see Processing data sequentially and in parallel.

Search in BMC Digital Workplace

Search in BMC Digital Workplace include the following enhancements:

Innovation Suite views in  BMC Digital Workplace

Stating with  BMC Digital Workplace  18.08, administrators can enable the Innovation Suite Application feature in BMC Digital Workplace to configure and add custom pages from Innovation Suite to  BMC Digital Workplace . This feature lets end users view the required Innovation Suite pages inside their  BMC Digital Workplace  application. This feature is not applicable to Apple iOS and Google Android clients . For more information, see Embedding custom pages from Innovation Suite application.

Remedy ITSM and Smart IT broadcasts in BMC Digital Workplace and user profile synchronization

Starting with  BMC Digital Workplace 18.08, the broadcasts created in Remedy ITSM and Smart IT are automatically transferred to  BMC Digital Workplace . This feature helps  BMC Digital Workplace  administrators spend less effort on creating and maintaining the broadcasts. End users receive corresponding notifications about new Remedy ITSM and Smart IT broadcasts in their BMC Digital Workplace  mobile clients and Universal client. For more information about the Remedy ITSM and Smart IT broadcasts in the BMC Digital Workplace  application, see Creating broadcasts.

Additionally, the  BMC Digital Workplace  administrator can set up the synchronization between Remedy ITSM and  BMC Digital Workplace  end users' profiles. As the result, end users can view and edit their job titles in both applications, and keep their data up to date. For more information about this feature, see Setting up end users' job titles synchronization.

Sub-catalogs for business units

Starting with 18.08.00 version, catalog administrators restrict data access for other BMC Digital Workplace Catalog users by adding them to sub-catalogs.

Catalog administrator creates sub-catalogs, and assigns internal service suppliers and internal service supplier administrators to sub-catalogs. Sub-catalogs define data permissions for services, bundles, banners, service actions, and virtual marketplaces. For information about sub-catalogs, see Subcatalogs.

Sub-catalogs are added from the Sub-Catalog page available in the BMC Digital Workplace Catalog . For information about how to create sub-catalogs, see Granting access to subcatalogs in BMC Digital Workplace Catalog.

Internal service supplier role expansion

Starting with 18.08.00 version, BMC Digital Workplace Catalog Internal Service Supplier role has been enhanced with administrative permissions. BMC Digital Workplace Catalog has got two separate roles after upgrade to 18.08.00 version:

• Internal Service Supplier Administrator
• Internal Service Supplier

Internal service suppliers have the same permissions in the system as internal service supplier administrators with the only difference that internal service suppliers cannot publish services, and can only send them for approval, while internal service supplier administrators can approve and publish services or reject them. For more details about these roles, see Quick start for internal supplier administrators, and Quick start for internal suppliers.

All new users who have been assigned an Internal Service Supplier role or and Internal Service Supplier Administrator role, have access only to those services, bundles, and banners which belong to a sub-catalog to which they are assigned. For more details about sub-catalogs, see Sub-catalogs in BMC Digital Workplace Catalog.

All existing users who have had a role of Internal Service Supplier, are automatically promoted to Internal Service Supplier Administrator role after upgrade. These users have access to all services, bundles, and banners, service actions, and virtual marketplaces which have been created before the upgrade, as all of these items belong to a default sub-catalog after upgrade.

Import and export of service files across versions

Starting with version 18.08.00, catalog administrators can import service actions using a compressed file that was exported from 18.05.00. For more information, see Importing service catalog items.

Branding enhancements

Starting with 18.08 version,  BMC Digital Workplace  administrators can brand the catalog and superbox search filters in the branding settings of the  BMC Digital Workplace  admin console. After the branding is applied, end users can see the renamed tabs in their search results. For more information about the branding of search filters, see Customizing the terminology used in BMC Digital Workplace.

Rebranding the Google Android client

Starting with  BMC Digital Workplace  18.08, you receive the Android Rebranding tool as a part of your installation package. As the  BMC Digital Workplace  administrator, you can use the Android Rebranding tool to rebrand and deploy the customized application to end users who use Google Android devices. For more information about the rebranding options, see Rebranding the Google Android client.

By using the Android Rebranding tool, you can also change the mobile application package parameters. As the result, you can publish the rebranded  BMC Digital Workplace  application to Google Play Store as your company's own application. For more information, see Preparing the rebranded Google Android application for distribution.

Deprecated features

The Support tab (available only if you enabled it before upgrading to MyIT 3.3.00) was deprecated in version 3.2. This tab will be removed when you upgrade to the next version of BMC Digital Workplace , and you will no longer be able to use it.