21.02 enhancements

Progressive Web App screens for six more ticket types

To offer a customizable dynamic modern UX that exactly fits your needs, the support for Progressive Web App (PWA) screens has been extended to the following ticket types in Smart IT:

• People profiles
• Asset Management
• Problem Investigations
• Known Errors
• Broadcasts
• Tasks

PWA screens are already available for Incidents and Work Orders. See Enabling the Progressive Web Application screens.

To learn how you can customize these screens in Developer Studio, see AR System 21.02 enhancements.

BMC Helix ITSM extends Russian language support and adds Polish language support

BMC Helix ITSM solution now supports Russian and Polish localization as a part of the standard SaaS setup. Learn more about Supported languages and locales.

Product name changes in Remedy platform and Remedy ITSM applications

Consult the following tables for changes to the product and component names starting with version 21.02. While the product names have changed in 21.02, some instances in the product documentation still refer to the previous product name.

For information on product name changes in BMC Helix Platform and applications, see BMC Helix Innovation Studio enhancements .

Identify problems proactively by leveraging machine learning

Leverage the power of machine learning to detect high-value clusters of recurring incidents and initiate the otherwise expensive and cumbersome process of problem investigation.

BMC Helix ITSM Insights enables problem coordinators to:

• Automate the identification of recurring incidents by applying Natural Language Processing (NLP) and AI clustering to open text fields
• Analyze incident data to identify the most valuable incident clusters for root cause analysis and incident reduction
• Transition to formal Problem Management seamlessly, thus reducing the effort for incident analysis and problem creation

For more information, see Determining areas for problem investigation.

Identify and track multiple incidents for the same issue

Identifying incidents that reflect the same acute issue is difficult for Service Desk managers and agents as manual reviews are needed and there is no easy way to see the trending issues.

With the Real-time incident correlation workspace in BMC Helix ITSM Insights, Service Desk managers can

• View the trending issues or hot spots in real time
• Identify and track incidents related to same issue with the help of an improved AI-based algorithm
  
• Relate incidents as duplicates to streamline incident management and reduce duplicate work
• Identify the probable cause and restore the service quickly

For additional information, see Identifying and correlating incidents that refer to the same issue.

Launch Probable Cause Analysis from incidents

Launch the Probable Cause Analysis (PCA) functionality in BMC Helix Service Monitoring (Powered by AIOps)directly from the PWA (Progressive Web Application) incident screen to determine the most likely causes of the incidents that you are working on.

Incident Management users (with entitlement to use BMC Helix Service Monitoring (Powered by AIOps)) can use Probable Cause Analysis to:

• Analyze operations and service management data including events, changes and incidents

• Restore the service faster by reducing the time to identify cause of incidents

For additional information, see:

• Explore probable causes for an incidents (Smart IT documentation)
• Probable cause analysis (PCA) (BMC Helix Service Monitoring (Powered by AIOps) documentation)

Enhanced documentation

We have completely restructured and edited the BMC Helix ITSM documentation spaces to help you find the required content with fewer clicks. Here is what we have done to improve your experience with BMC documentation.

• Merged many smaller topics into parent topics to reduce the total number of topics by 60%. The useful content is no longer too deep in the navigation hierarchy.

• Redesigned the Home pages and landing pages.  

• Changed the topic names based on the use case and added better cross-references.

• Added many new and updated graphics and videos.

• Added the processes and best practice recommendations from the Service Management Process Model (SMPM).  

For the links to some of the old popular pages, see FAQ.

BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting on BMC Helix Innovation Suite

BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting is now available on BMC Helix Innovation Suite. BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting serves as a single reporting application for both, Service Management and BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications. In addition to Service Management applications, an administrator can perform the following actions in BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting forBMC Helix Innovation Studio applications such as BMC Helix Virtual Agent and BMC Helix Business Workflows:

• Onboard users and import content.

• Perform reverse cross-launch to BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications. For more information, see Configuring settings to cross-launch reports.

• Access reporting content for BMC Helix Innovation Studio from  BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting  Admin Console.

For more information on the convergence of the platform, see  AR System enhancements  in the Action Request System documentation.

CMDB Explorer optimizations

CMDB Portal provides the following enhancements for better view and management of CIs from CMDB Explorer:

• Locate CIs - Search for a CI by entering the CI name in the Locate CIs field in the CMDB Explorer.
• Remove CIs - Use Select Mode to select a CI and remove it from the Explorer view.

• Layout - Use the Layout toggle key to switch between Linear view and Curve view of the relationships between CIs in CMDB Explorer.

For more information about simplifying the CMDB Explorer view, see Searching and viewing CIs and relationships in CMDB Explorer.

Edit standard identification and merge rules

CMDB Portal offers the ability to edit the standard rules for identification and merge activities that are available by default. It is easier to manage the standard reconciliation jobs that have Identify and Merge activities by changing the standard rules instead of creating custom rules and custom reconciliation jobs.

For more information about editing the standard rules, see:

• Configuring reconciliation identification rules
• Creating precedence sets and associations for reconciliation merge activities

View and cancel queued jobs in reconciliation

From BMC Helix CMDB 21.02, the jobs that are stuck in queue are displayed on the reconciliation page in the Queued tab. You no longer need to access the queued jobs by using backend forms. You can view and cancel the jobs from the queue from the CMDB Portal. For more information about queued jobs, see Monitoring a reconciliation job.

New launch point in CMDB Portal for accessing Adobe Flash-based CMDB components

If you are using a browser that supports Adobe Flash, you can still access the Flash-based BMC Helix CMDB components from CMDB Portal. For more information about accessing the components in Flash-based UI, see Accessing components of BMC Atrium Core Console.

View audit history for related classes

After you make any changes to a CI, you can view the audit history for that class and for all the related classes. You can use the Include related records check box to view the audit history for the related records.

For more information about viewing audit history, see Viewing the history of changes to a CI.

BMC Helix Innovation Suite for Service Management applications

Starting with version 21.02, Service Management applications run on a single environment named, BMC Helix Innovation Suite . With the new BMC Helix Innovation Suite , we bring together the capabilities of Action Request System and BMC Helix Innovation Studio  .

As an Action Request System user, use the Action Request System  components and clients. Leverage Service Management applications or build a custom application by using Developer Studio .

As a BMC Helix Innovation Studio  user, use the the Service Management applications or build a custom application by using BMC Helix Innovation Studio . 

BMC Helix Innovation Suite provides:

• A single-tenant common environment for Service Management applications.

• A shared database between Action Request System  and BMC Helix Innovation Studio .
• A common Foundation data for applications that run on the BMC Helix Innovation Suite . 
• The ability to interoperate between Action Request System and BMC Helix Innovation Studio . For example, you can call a process that is defined by using BMC Helix Innovation Studio in Action Request System . The process is called by triggering a filter written in Developer Studio .

For more information, see Product overview.

Leverage common Foundation data for Service Management applications

BMC Helix Innovation Suite supports common Foundation data that can be used by Service Management applications, such as BMC Helix Business Workflows , BMC Helix Virtual Agent ,
BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management , and so on. The common Foundation data creates a single data source for the Service Management applications.

There is no need to normalize application data and to perform Foundation data sync from BMC Helix ITSM to BMC Helix Innovation Studio  applications.

For more information, see Setting up and modifying Foundation data by using Application Administration Console.

BMC Helix Innovation Suite supports following features for the common Foundation data:

• Set up your Foundation data from  Mid Tier
  Onboard Foundation data or load the data in bulk for the Service Management applications. Use the Mid Tier  to build the Foundation data in your custom applications.

To learn more about Foundation data, see Setting up and modifying Foundation data by using Application Administration Console.

• Create Operational Categorization Tier 4 
  Create and modify a Tier 4 for Operational Catalog data to allow BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications, such as BMC Helix Business Workflows , to continue by using this additional level of service category. For more information, see Configuring operational catalogs.

• Create Domain tags
  Continue to support domain tags in Foundation data to identify it with a line of business in your application; for example, BMC Helix Business Workflows . For more information, see Filtering Foundation data by domain.

• Introduce IS Personas

  Create and modify IS Personas to enable BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications, such as BMC Helix Business Workflows , to continue operating with functional roles and application-based roles. For more information, IS Persona overview.

Support for single instance of BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting

BMC Helix Innovation Suite supports single instance of BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting for both BMC Helix ITSM and BMC Helix Innovation Studio  applications. Administrators can onboard users from the Customer Onboarding UI in the BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting  Administration console for the following Service Management applications:

• BMC Helix CMDB
• BMC Helix ITSM
• BMC Service Request Management
• BMC Service Level Management
• BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT
• BMC Helix Virtual Agent
• BMC Helix Business Workflows

Advantages of using a single instance of BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting :

• Creates a single data source for all Service Management applications.
• Supports easier onboarding of users for multiple applications.
• Avoids multiple configurations to access BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting .
• Eliminates the need to add redundant infrastructure.

For more information, see  Onboarding in BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting  documentation. 

Multiple development layers to let you choose how your app works

BMC Helix Innovation Suite has two object layers, one for developing apps that are intended to be customized called the base layer and one for developing apps that can't be customized called the customization layer. Additionally the customization layer is used when customizing apps that reside in the base layer. When you customize an object, a copy of the object is created in the customization layer and then used in place of the original object that resides in the base.

The following development modes are available to select while you are developing:

• (Default) Best Practices Customization(BPC) Mode
• Base Development Mode

When developing in the Base Development Mode, objects are created in the base and can be customized. When developing in the BPC Mode, objects are created in the customization layer and can't be customized.

For more information, see Customization layer in BMC Helix Innovation Studio  documentation.

Service Management plug-in to leverage BMC Helix Dashboards for Service Management applications

The Service Management plug-in integration with BMC Helix Dashboards enables to visually represent data from BMC Helix ITSM applications and BMC Helix Innovation Studio applications.

The Service Management plug-in integration with BMC Helix Dashboards offers the following benefits:

• Provides database neutral query and functions.
  
• Enforces permission model, such as row-level security while retrieving the data.
• Retrieves data from the Vendor form.
• Retrieves data that is encrypted by the AR System server  in the database. 

To learn about leveraging BMC Helix Dashboards, see Creating interactive dashboards for your applications by using BMC Helix Dashboards.

AR System Webhooks to support additional capabilities

AR System  Webhooks are enhanced to support the following additional capabilities:

• IMS authentication
  Use this authentication type when providing notifications and callback to applications that run on BMC Helix Portal.
  
• Merge operation
  Define a webhook that triggers when you merge content of one form to another.
• Return data from all fields listed in fieldlist
  Select the Send Unchanged Fields option on the AR System Webhook Registration form to return values from all fields specified in the fieldlist. If you do not select this option, the AR System  Webhook returns data for the fields that are updated.
• Use the record_id as a unique record identifier
  AR System webhook returns record_id(Field 379) in addition to an entry_id.
• Custom JSON
  You can attach a custom JSON to send an additional response along with the regular webhook response on a call back URL.

For more information, see Adding AR System webhook to receive automatic notifications.

Sync BMC Helix ITSM users into BMC Helix Portal

You can request the BMC SaaS Operations to sync BMC Helix ITSM  users into BMC Helix Portal. Syncing the BMC Helix ITSM  users enables cross-product access and allows the users to authenticate into BMC Helix Portal with their existing credentials. BMC Helix Portal also supports cross-launch for the following products:

• BMC Helix Digital Workplace 
• BMC Digital Workplace Catalog
• BMC Helix Innovation Suite
  

Ability to load settings from a specific server

The Longest running API/SQL tab of Remedy Management Console enables you to load settings from a specific server. You can then apply the settings to the entire server group or to a specific server in the server group.

For example, consider a server group of five servers. Server 1, Server 2, Server 3, Server 4, and Server 5. You can choose to apply the settings of Server 3 to the entire server group or only to Server 5.

For more information, see Gathering statistics about the longest running API and SQL commands.

Encrypt a character field by hashing the value in the field

As an administrator or an application business analyst, configure a character field to encrypt data entered in that field. This is done by using the hashing mechanism. Hashing provides an additional level of security by ensuring that any crucial, highly confidential information is entered and stored in an encrypted format.

For more information, see Encrypting values in a character field.

Ability to send alert and email notifications to users

As an administrator, configure notifications to send alerts and email notifications to users when events occur.

For more information, see Configuring notifications for people records.

Create and update record instances with multiple security labels in a single action in BMC Helix Innovation Studio

As an administrator or an application business analyst, use just one element to add multiple security labels and add all the necessary permissions, roles, functional roles while creating or updating records. You no longer need to use multiple Set Security Label and Remove Security Label elements to add and remove multiple security labels in a process.

For more information, see Providing access to record instances by defining security labels .

Synchronize BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management articles with BMC Helix Knowledge Management

Boost your knowledge base with an extensive Article-Pack in BMC Helix Knowledge Management by ComAround that supports service desk agents and customers that use software from Microsoft, Google, Adobe, and Zoom. End users can benefit from the democratized knowledge authoring that increases knowledge quality and higher search relevancy. The enhanced cognitive and natural language processing search capabilities find the most relevant knowledge article for the end users.

As an administrator, you continue to create, edit, and update articles in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management.

For more information, see Setting up BMC Helix Knowledge Management in an application .

Additional locale support provided by real-time language translation

Use real-time translation to localize chatbot conversation in languages that are unsupported by BMC Helix Innovation Studio , but are supported by translation providers such as Google Cloud Translation Services or Microsoft Azure Translator Speech API. The image shows how how you can interact with a chatbot in Hindi, one of the unsupported languages of BMC Helix Innovation Studio , by using real-time translation.

For more information, see  Enabling real-time translation for an application .

Properties and keywords added in Developer Studio to support progressive views

Developer Studio  provides the developers with additional properties and keywords to work with progressive views. Some of the properties enable you to make the following changes:

• Change the button colors.
• Change of font size and colors of all fields.
• Apply background colors to panels, trim text fields, or button fields with change field active links.
• Add background images for panels and views.
• Add images and customize their positions to buttons.
• Add alternative text to buttons for tooltips.
• Display buttons as flat images.

For more information, see,  Field Properties, Keywords, Creating active links, and Modifying panels and panel holders.

Create an attachment pool for PWA by using a remote form

In Developer Studio , you can define a table field that allows a variable number of attachments by using a remote form in progressive views. This enhancement enables an user to upload as many attachments as per their requirement.

To support this enhancement, for the Display Type property of a Table field, a new value called Attachment is added in Developer Studio .

To learn how to define an attachment pool by using a table, see Managing attachments in Progressive Web Applications by using a remote form.

Auto-alignment of fields in progressive views

When you drag fields onto a form in a progressive view, Developer Studio  automatically aligns the fields available on the form to the left. This feature saves your time by eliminating the need to manually align the fields on the form.

For more information, see Aligning fields.

Ability to copy the current panel and all its child panels including fields in progressive views in Developer Studio

Developer Studio provides you with an option to copy the current panel and all its child panels including fields. This option is available only for a sub panel, a section panel and a fixed panel.

To learn how to copy the current panel and all its child panels, see Modifying panels and panel holders.

View the execution mode of an active link from the object list

When you enable active links for parallel execution, the Run in parallel and Don't wait for completion information is shown in the Execute On column (object list). You get to know what active links are scheduled to run in parallel from the Object List itself. You don't need to go to each active link to check if it is scheduled to run in parallel.

To learn more about active link execution options, see Creating active links.

Logging enhancements

The following usability enhancements in the log files facilitate easy debugging.:

• Active links have transaction IDs for easier traceability
• Log messages are enhanced with better font and color
• Interval-based active links have a marker ID and a filter is included to hide them from the log window
• Child active links have a reference to the main active link when active links are running in parallel

For information on active link logging, see Log information for active links.

For logging settings, see Configuring the Log Settings page by using Mid Tier Configuration Tool.

Create a faceted filter in cell-based tables and list-view tables in PWA

In your progressive web application, you can create a faceted filter in a cell-based table and a list-view table. You can create a faceted filter only for character fields with search menus. A faceted filter is useful when a user requires a simple filter for tables. The user can avoid selecting too many advanced options and can use the faceted filter with a few clicks.

To learn how to create a faceted filter, see Creating a faceted filter.