FAQs

Here are some answers to the most frequently asked questions about the BMC Digital Workplace product.

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Frequently asked questions about BMC Digital Workplace

What is BMC Digital Workplace all about?

BMC Digital Workplace is a set of applications that enable employees to interact with their IT and HR departments efficiently and "in the moment." You can find details about BMC Digital Workplace capabilities in Use cases.BMC Digital Workplace Catalog provides web-based administration of the next-generation service catalog. BMC Digital Workplace Catalog aggregates service catalogs from different sources and orchestrates fulfillment of service requests. For more information, see Creating and managing the service catalog.

How does BMC Digital Workplace work with other BMC mobility options?

BMC Digital Workplace is aimed at consumers of IT or other services, while BMC Remedy IT Service Management (ITSM) is aimed at staff members delivering or supporting IT or other services. Both BMC Digital Workplace and BMC Remedy ITSM offer mobility UI options. For BMC Remedy ITSM, mobility was, in the past, delivered via BMC Mobility products, but it is now delivered via BMC Remedy with Smart IT.

What’s the difference between Smart IT and BMC Digital Workplace?

BMC Digital Workplace is aimed at consumers of IT or other services. Remedy with Smart IT is the new user experience for BMC Remedy ITSM, which is aimed at staff members delivering or supporting IT or other services. Both these solutions must be enabled and used independently. For best results in service management, the use of both components is recommended. BMC Digital Workplace has specific user licenses, whereas Smart IT is licensed via standard BMC Remedy ITSM user licenses.

Can I customize BMC Digital Workplace?

You have several options to change the terminology, rebrand BMC Digital Workplace, and icons. For details, see:

I know you can set up pins on maps to signify assets such as printers. Is there a way to visually show on the same map that a specific printer is down?

As an administrator, you can manually update the status of any asset. "Down" printers are shown as red icons, for example, instead of green. Future releases will automatically update status icons of assets on maps.

BMC Digital Workplace sounds useful for many problems, but what if my problem is that I'm locked out of my own network? How will BMC Digital Workplace help me then?

If you are locked out and cannot access the features of the app, BMC Digital Workplace provides a convenient link to enable you to call your IT department on the spot. See the Example: Locked-out user account in the requesting services and apps use case.

When I load my Request Timeline, I only see open requests. All of my other requests with status of cancelled or closed are not displayed.

This is by design. Only requests with Open status are displayed on the Request Timeline. If a request has been set to cancel or closed, they are removed from the Requests view. To view additional requests, click the filter icon and select additional status values.

Are email conversations between support staff and the end user supposed to be displayed in BMC Digital Workplace > My Activity > Requests history?

The email conversation between support staff and an end user is not stored in the BMC Digital Workplace activity feed history. These conversations are stored only in fulfillment records such as incidents and work orders.

If you turn off location service on a mobile device, does it affect the functionality of anything else?

Turning off location service affects the positioning on any of the relevant screens (your locations, nearest locations, and their distance).

What languages does BMC Digital Workplace support?

For information about which consoles are localized, see Supported languages and locales. For more information about localizing content in BMC Digital Workplace, see the Localizing titles and messages.

Does BMC Digital Workplace replace BMC Service Request Management?

No, BMC Digital Workplace does not replace BMC Service Request Management. Instead, it adds value to the solution. BMC Service Request Management comprises a service catalog to publish services, a workflow engine to process requests, and a self-service portal to request services. BMC Digital Workplace replaces the current self-service portal, which customers can still access if they choose to.If you use BMC Digital Workplace Catalog, instead of fulfilling service requests directly through BMC Service Request Management, you can fulfill service requests through BMC Digital Workplace Catalog workflow. This workflow calls BMC Service Request Management activities.

If an asset is created in BMC Digital Workplace on a device, is it pushed to BMC CMDB?

No, it is not. As explained in Managing assets on floor maps, BMC Digital Workplace is not integrated to update BMC CMDB.

Can we run BMC Digital Workplace and BMC Service Request Management simultaneously? All of our users need access to the same base SRDs, but I want one group of users to use BMC SRM while the other group uses BMC Digital Workplace. Is this okay?

One set of users can use BMC Digital Workplace, and another set can use BMC Service Request Management, which is comprised of a service catalog to publish services, a workflow engine to process requests, and a self-service portal to request services. You can configure BMC Digital Workplace to use the same service request definitions (SRDs).

As of today, your users can use the BMC Service Request Management self-service portal and BMC Digital Workplace. However, you can replace the self-service portal with BMC Digital Workplace.

For a person to have access to BMC Digital Workplace, do they need only a valid People record with a Read license?

Yes, they need only a People entry with a Read license.

If a support staff member is logged onto BMC Remedy Incident Management with a floating license and also logged onto BMC Digital Workplace to submit a request on behalf of a customer, is the staff member using one or two floating licenses?

One. Only BMC Remedy Incident Management uses the floating license. BMC Digital Workplace does not have floating licenses.

Does BMC Digital Workplace support Lotus Notes?

No, BMC Digital Workplace supports Microsoft Exchange only.

Does BMC Digital Workplace check for licenses?

No, BMC Digital Workplace does not check for licenses. However, you can run a report to review usage, as described in Reviewing active users.

Are integrations retained during an upgrade?

Yes.

What file extensions can I use for attachment questions in BMC Digital Workplace?

The list of supported file extensions is set in the BMC Digital Workplace Admin console, as described in Updating the attachment settings for service requests.

Is BMC Digital Workplace multitenant capable?

BMC Digital Workplace is multitenant capable. The application code and the data that powers the application are shared between tenant instances. However, all customer data is stored separately for each tenant.

Frequently asked questions about using BMC Digital Workplace on mobile devices in version 19.02.00 and later

What features are available on iOS and Android mobile devices?

The native mobile clients have been deprecated in 19.02 release, and replaced with new mobile client user interface. All the features are available across supported desktop and mobile devices.

Do I need to use MDM for distributing the iOS app to my users?

No. You can use the BMC Digital Workplace app available from the App Store.

Will the BMC Digital Workplace app for iOS devices work with subsequent versions of BMC Digital Workplace?

Yes. The BMC Digital Workplace app will work with BMC Digital Workplace 19.02 and later.

Do I need to periodically renew my iOS App distribution certificate?

That depends on whether you use the BMC Digital Workplace app available from the App Store or use MDM to sign and distribute the App.

BMC will renew the certificate if you download the BMC Digital Workplace app from the App Store.

What are the advantages for using the BMC Digital Workplace app from the App store?

If you download and use the BMC Digital Workplace app from the App Store, you will not need to download, resign, or manage certificates for the App.

What are the steps to troubleshoot connectivity issues on my iOS mobile App?

Try using the mobile browser to access BMC Digital Workplace.

Do I have to submit my mobile device log for troubleshooting?

If you are using an Android mobile device, you can access BMC Digital Workplace seamlessly using your mobile browser. If you are using the App on an iOS device, you must send the crash report to BMC Support.

If the App crashes on my iOS device, how do I share the crash report with BMC?

From the popup displayed when an exception is encountered on the BMC Digital Workplace App, select the option to send the crash report to BMC. You must also record the region and time of the crash, and send it to BMC Support. If you are using a crash reporting tool for troubleshooting, you can also send the crash report recorded using that tool to BMC Support.

Tip

For additional troubleshooting information, see Troubleshooting iOS App resigning issues Open link .

Frequently asked questions about BMC Digital Workplace and BMC Helix Remedy

This section provides answers to frequently asked questions (FAQs) about BMC Digital Workplace used in BMC Helix Remedy environments.

Will BMC Digital Workplace run on BMC Helix Remedy servers or on different servers?

BMC Digital Workplace will run on servers different from your BMC Helix Remedy servers.

If the servers are different, will BMC Digital Workplace run in the same data centers as our current BMC Helix Remedy environments?

Yes.

If the servers are different, is data exchange between BMC Digital Workplace and BMC Helix Remedy encrypted?

Yes. The BMC Remedy AR System API is always automatically encrypted.

Our users access BMC Helix Remedy through onbmc.com. Will BMC Digital Workplace be accessed through the same URL, or do they need to use a new URL?

You will use a different URL.

For Support Staff people submitting requests through BMC Digital Workplace, can they be logged on to BMC Digital Workplace and BMC Helix Remedy simultaneously?

Yes, users can be logged on to both at the same time.

Our BMC Helix Remedy authentication uses SAML and Active Directory Federated Services (AD FS). Our domain-authenticated users never need to supply a password to log on. Can we provision BMC Digital Workplace in the same way?

If it works using BMC Remedy Single Sign-On with BMC Remedy Mid Tier, it will also work with BMC Digital Workplace. BMC does not do anything special beyond how it works with BMC Remedy Mid Tier.

How is our BMC Digital Workplace environment sized to ensure sufficient capacity?

It is a shared cluster sized for many customers. No specific provisioning of resources is required per customer. The environment is monitored and sized for growth.