Managing service versions and revisions

BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog versions enable a service catalog administrator or internal service supplier to create a new service catalog item, based on an existing item. The new version can be modified and saved with its own revision history and details. From the revision history, you can track changes in service details over time.

Overview of versions and revisions

The BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog service publishing process refers to versions and revisions both as a means to release different versions of a service, and to maintain an audit trail to track changes to service details.

Following are examples of how you can use versions and revisions to organize your catalog:

Versions enable the same service to be set up with different configurations. You assign a name to the first version when you create a service. When other versions are required, you can copy a revision to a new version, and assign a new name. For instance, you can create a service catalog profile for a service, and then copy the service into a new version and change the service options to offer a second service with different options. For example:
- Provide unique packaging variants for different purposes.
- Account for different service levels based on contractual agreements.
- Offer adjusted pricing structures based on tiered service pricing.
- Plan for seasonal or specialty product offerings.
Revisions are created in Draft status with a time stamp when a service or bundle is changed. When you modify the service options of a revision in the Approved, Rejected, or Published status, changes are saved to a new Draft revision. Changes to revisions in the Draft or Pending status are applied to the same revision.

Important

When a service in the Approved, Rejected, or Published status is edited, the edits are saved into a new Draft revision.

To create a new service version

In BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, go to Services > Services.
Double-click a service to open the Service Options pane.
Select the appropriate revision.
Select , and select Copy to new version.
Enter any text value as the version identifier.
Click Create Version.

To edit a service version name

In BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, go to Services > Services.
Double-click a service to open the Service Options pane.
In the Version field, enter a new version name.
Click any place on the screen to save the changes.

Important

BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog enables you to add a service version name in multiple languages. For more information, see Localizing-catalog-items.

To create a new service revision

In BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, go to Services > Services.
Double-click a service to open the Service Options pane.
Select a revision that you want to copy by clicking the time stamp.

4. Select, and select Copy.

This option enables you to create and manage service revisions without creating a new service version. You can switch to a particular service revision to modify and publish it when needed.

To delete one or more revisions in draft

In BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, go to Services > Services.
Click the Revision History tab.
Select one or more revisions in the Draft status that you want to delete.
Warning
Make sure that you do not delete revisions with the Published status. If published revisions are deleted, the services are deleted from the Catalog and the end-user console.
Select Actions > Delete.
The selected revisions are removed from the catalog.

Required licensing

SaaS subscribers who use BMC Helix ITSM or BMC-Helix-Virtual-Agent-Basic-service are entitled to this feature.

Where to go from here

Approving-and-publishing-services