Getting started with creating services

The end-to-end process for setting up the BMC Service Request Management system involves setting up a catalog of requestable service offerings from which your users can select and submit a service request. Examples of services requests include reporting issues with IT systems, requesting changes to employee data, and onboarding new employees.

When you are ready to start creating services, review the information in Guidelines for designing services. Make sure that you have completed all of the configuration steps required for the application, as described in Configuring after installation.

Analyze

Before you begin using the application, ask yourself what services users will be requesting. In BMC Service Request Management, these services are defined in service request definitions (SRDs).

You can start by listing all the user requests your company might have, and then organize the user requests into categories. For example, an IT category might include a service for setting up a new employee's computer, phone, and email. A Facilities category might include a service for moving an office or replacing a broken light bulb.

You must also analyze your processes and roles. For example, do certain kinds of requests require approvals? From whom? Are certain kinds of requests handled by a specific support group?

For more information, see What is BMC Service Request Management? .

Set up user roles and permissions

You must set up users, and assign these users to the appropriate permissions and functional roles. You can also associate them with the appropriate support groups, if necessary. BMC Service Request Management includes some predefined roles. Additionally, set up permissions for users and groups to ensure that the appropriate people have access to the forms. 

You must also set up approvers in the People form. Setting up approvers allows service request definitions (SRDs) to be approved before they are made available to users on the Request Entry console. After approvers are set up, you can also set up an approval process for service requests submitted by users.

For more information, see the following topics:

• User goals and features
• Roles and permission groups in BMC Service Request Management
• User access to application consoles and functions
• Creating individual and group approvers

Configure navigational categories

You must configure the navigation categories for the services that you want to provide. Users can browse these categories when searching for requests. The categories can also be used to route the assignment of support staff for the request.

For more information, see Configuring navigational categories.

Create building blocks for the request fulfillment process (templates and AOTs)

The building blocks of the fulfillment process are application templates and application object templates (AOTs). Application templates are also known as application fulfillment templates because you create them from the underlying applications that fulfill their tasks. For example, you can create: 

• Work order templates with the BMC Work Order Management application
• Change templates with the BMC Change Management application
• Incident templates with the BMC Incident Management application

An AOT defines a process step within a PDT. In an AOT, you can specify an application template to pre-populate fields in the fulfillment record when a request is created.

For more information, see the following topics:

• Creating application templates and application object templates 

• Creating work order templates 

• Creating templates (BMC Remedy ITSM documentation)

Define fulfillment processes (PDTs)

You define fulfillment processes by creating process definition templates (PDTs). A PDT defines one or more processes, and must contain at least one AOT. Each AOT defines a process step. 

You can consolidate multiple processes into a single SRD to facilitate fulfilling and tracking the request. For example, when you create a request for onboarding new employees, you can build processes to trigger fulfillment of services by multiple groups within your organization, such as IT, human resources, facilities, security, finance, and training. 

You can define multiple steps for a process. For example, when you create a facilities request offering for changing employee cubicles, you can define questions to gather information such as:

• Requester's name, contact information, and current location
• Location of the new cubicle
• Configuration of the new cubicle
• Required height for the desk
• Number of chairs

You then map this information to the process that creates a change management record for fulfillment. 

To fulfill the request, you can define processes for:

• Setting up and configuring the new cubicle
• Ordering the desk
• Ordering the chairs

Each process can be further broken down into smaller steps. For example, the process of ordering a new desk might involve:

• Contacting the vendor to order the desk
• Creating the purchase order

For more information, see Creating process definition templates.

Create requestable services (SRDs)

Use the Service Catalog Manager Console to define requestable services (service request definitions, or SRDs). An SRD might include questions that users must answer when they request that service. Data collected in the request can be used to help drive the fulfillment process.

For more information, see Creating service request definitions: Basic configuration.

Optional tasks

You can complete any of the following optional tasks:

What users see

Users do not see all of the back-end processes that you configured — application templates, AOTs, PDTs, and SRDs. They simply see a catalog of services that they can use to submit a service request. BMC Service Request Management makes it simple for users to request a service or report a problem. Then, all of the objects that you configured help the back-end team approve, track, and fulfill the request.