Knowledge Management user roles and permissions

BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management provides two types of user permissions:

Knowledge Management user permissions—Permissions to perform knowledge management functions by using the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management application.
KCS user permissions—Permissions introduced with Knowledge-Centered Service (KCS) in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management. The KCS framework defines user maturity roles as a Licensing Model. These user maturity roles are mapped to four permission groups in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management. With these permissions, you can assign KCS-defined license levels to knowledge users. The KCS users can perform KCS-defined functions for knowledge management by using BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting.

KCS permissions required to perform actions in Smart IT

These user permissions work in the following manner:

The KCS permissions does not change the other functionality of BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions. You can continue to perform all knowledge management functions by using the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management application.
(For version 18.05 only) Before you add the Knowledge User permission for any user, make sure that the Knowledge Management Module license for the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management application is added through the Add or Remove Licenses form in the AR System Administration Console; otherwise the following error message is displayed:
- For Fixed licenses—Unable to assign Fixed license. All Fixed license(0) for 'Knowledge Management' have been assigned.(ARERR 45041)
- For Floating licenses—Unable to assign a Floating license. There are no Floating licenses available for 'Knowledge Management'. (ARERR 45042)
KCS user permissions and BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions, except the Knowledge Config permission, are mutually exclusive. At a given time, you can assign either BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions or KCS user permissions to users. Only the Knowledge Config permission can co-exist with any KCS permissions.
When you assign KCS user permissions to users, if the selected users do not have existing BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions, KCS user permissions are directly added. However, if the users have existing BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions, and you add KCS user permissions, then the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions are automatically removed before KCS permissions are added.
Similarly, when you assign BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions, any KCS user permissions that the users already have, are automatically removed, before BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management permissions are added.
Users with BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions cannot perform KCS-defined functions through the BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT interface or view KCS reports in BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reporting. However, they can perform BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management functions by using the BMC Helix ITSM: Smart IT interface.
If you revert user permissions from KCS user permissions to BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions, users will be unable to perform any KCS functions. They can perform only BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management functions.
A user with KCS permissions accessing the BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management application functions as a guest user.

Based on the knowledge management methods you use in your organization, you can choose to give either BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management user permissions or KCS user permissions to users.

Best practice

When you assign permissions to users, add eitherBMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementuser permissions or KCS user permissions, but not both.

You can assign permissions to users by using the following methods:

One user at a time — By using the People form. See information about configuring people in the BMC Helix ITSM Suite online documentation.
Multiple users in bulk — By using the Accessing and navigating the BMC Helix ITSM application consoles . For more information, see Updating people information in the BMC Helix ITSM online documentation.

BMC Helix: Knowledge Management user permissions

The following user permissions are available in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management:

Permission	Description
Knowledge Admin	Grants full access to the application. This permission is usually assigned to the most advanced users and enables them (in addition to Knowledge User permissions) to generate reports, manage knowledge sources, and migrate data from previous installations. Users with Knowledge Admin permissions can perform the following tasks: Create new knowledge articles. Modify all of the articles that are visible to them. Change the the assignee. Change the article status. Publish and cancel articles. Best practice: Grant this permission to users who perform the role of a Knowledge Manager. Users in this role can create system news flashes and run reports.
Knowledge User	Grants write, assign, and promote access to new and existing articles without administrative tasks. This permission is usually assigned to senior members of a support group and enables users to participate in the knowledge article lifecycle. Users with the Knowledge User permission can perform the following tasks: Create and modify knowledge articles. Update all draft articles. Promote articles to any of the review statuses. Submit articles for Publish Approval and Retire Approval. Best practice: Grant this permission to advanced technical users or subject-matter experts. These users are typically involved in the content review and approval process.
Knowledge Submitter	Grants write access to new knowledge articles only. This permission is usually assigned to junior knowledge users and trainees and enables them to create and promote articles to Draft status only. Users with Knowledge Submitter permission can perform the following tasks: Create new knowledge articles and modify their own knowledge articles that have the In Progress status. Create and promote articles to In Review status only. Create new knowledge articles and modify their own knowledge articles, even in Draft status. You can enable this permission for users who require access to create Knowledge articles from incidents and other requests. For more information about enabling these permissions, see Configuring application settings. Best practice: Grant this permission to standard technical users who require access to create knowledge articles from incidents or other requests.
Knowledge Viewer	Grants view access to knowledge articles in any status without write privileges. This permission is usually assigned to support staff who only search and view articles. Users with Knowledge Viewer permission can perform the following tasks: View published knowledge articles. Review Draft and In Review articles. Best practice: Grant this permission to all users who need to view knowledge articles.
Knowledge Config	Grants access to configuration settings. This permission enables users to configure BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementsettings. Typically, an assigned user is not a member of a support group and is not intended to create, edit, or publish articles. Users with the Knowledge Config permission can configure BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementsettings Best practice: Grant this permission to users who need to configure the component functions mentioned in the list of BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementpermissions. Typically, you grant this permission to users with the role of an Application Administrator.

KCS user permissions

The KCS user maturity roles define different functions for knowledge users based on their experience level, training, competence, and so on, as defined by the KCS framework. These KCS roles are hierarchical, and users gain more authority as they advance from one level to the next. The level of KCS knowledge, application, and user performance defines the KCS role of a user.

Various performance evaluation techniques as defined by KCS, such as Article Quality Index (AQI) assessment, participation rate, and citation count provide a means of measuring user performance. A user who meets the KCS-defined performance standards advances to a higher KCS role, whereas a user who does not meet the performance standards might move down in the hierarchy.

Permission	Description
KCS Candidate	A knowledge user, primarily a support user, who creates or recognizes relevant knowledge articles and uses the articles to work with tickets. A KCS Candidate performs the following tasks: Creates new articles. Reuses existing knowledge articles to resolve tickets. A KCS Candidate user has the following permissions: Create new articles and move them to In Progress or Draft status. A KCS Contributor, a KCS Publisher, or a KCS Coach reviews or completes such articles. Edit own articles in In Progress, Draft, or In Review status. Change status of their own articles to Draft, In Review, or Publish Approval. Review and link, flag, or unflag own articles in Draft, In Review, or In Progress status. Assign own article to another KCS user or BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementuser. After the assignment changes, a KCS Candidate can no longer edit the article. A KCS Candidate cannot take ownership of articles created by other users. Best practice: Grant this permission to a knowledge user who has basic knowledge about the KCS philosophy, and uses the knowledge base to work with incidents.
KCS Contributor	A knowledge user, primarily a support user, who has a detailed understanding of the target audience, the content standard, the KCS article quality index, and KCS processes. A KCS Contributor performs the following tasks: Reviews, enhances, and completes articles created by other users to suit a wider audience. Flags articles that need improvement, and unflags articles after the improvement is complete. Creates and validates articles, without review by a KCS Coach. A KCS Contributor has the following permissions: All permissions of a KCS Candidate. Edit own articles as well as other users' articles that are unpublished or in the Published status. Change status of articles to Cancelled. Approve internal publishing of an article. A KCS Contributor can take ownership of articles created by other users, can be the article assignee, and can change the assignments. Best practice: Grant this permission to advanced knowledge users who can create, modify, or review KCS articles, and can publish the articles to a specific audience, usually the internal users.
KCS Publisher	An advanced knowledge user who demonstrates good understanding of the implications of modifying published content, defines priority information, and understands the copyright and trademark laws as defined by their organization. A KCS Publisher consistently receives a high performance evaluation score and performs the following tasks: Publishes content to an external audience, such as users of BMC Digital Workplace. Modifies published articles. A KCS Publisher has the following permissions: All permissions of a KCS Candidate and KCS Contributor. Publish KCS articles to BMC Digital Workplace. A KCS Publisher can take ownership of articles created by other users, can be the article assignee, and can change the assignments. Best practice: Grant this permission to advanced knowledge users who have the authority to publish articles to external users.
KCS Coach	An advanced knowledge user who plays a significant role in the KCS adoption process in an organization. A KCS Coach performs the following tasks: Helps individuals develop their KCS skills, and guides and influences them to adopt good knowledge management processes. Monitors and maintains the knowledge health of the organization. Helps improve the KCS maturity level of an organization. Reviews article quality and author performance by generating various reports. A KCS Coach has the following permissions: All permissions of a KCS Candidate, a KCS Contributor, and a KCS Publisher. Perform various KCS-defined functions to evaluate user performance and content health by using the KCS features in the Smart IT and BMC Helix ITSM: Smart Reportinguser interfaces. A KCS coach can take ownership of articles created by other users, can be the article assignee, and can change the assignments. Best practice: Grant this permission to an advanced knowledge user who is a KCS practice expert and can be a mentor to other KCS users for development of their KCS competencies.

BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management has the following permission groups, each each mapped to a certain role:

Role	Permission groups
BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Managementuser roles
Knowledge Manager	Knowledge Admin
Knowledge Subject Matter Expert (SME)	Knowledge User
Knowledge Application Administrator	Knowledge Config
KCS user roles supported in BMC Helix ITSM: Knowledge Management
KCS Candidate	KCS Candidate
KCS Contributor	KCS Contributor
KCS Publisher	KCS Publisher
KCS Coach	KCS Coach

Knowledge Management user roles and permissions

BMC Helix: Knowledge Management user permissions

KCS user permissions

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