Displaying the priority of native Catalog service requests

As a catalog administrator, you can design a service catalog directly in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, also known as the native catalog. The system dynamically updates service request priorities. When a fulfillment system, such as BMC Helix ITSM, changes a request's priority, both BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog and Mid Tier instantly reflect this change. By enabling priority information for native service requests, end users can view the updated priority in the end-user console and catalog administrators can track priority values in the Service Request report.

With native service requests showing their priorities, end users can quickly assess and prioritize the requests for faster resolution times. Also, this feature aligns with how priorities are shown for service requests from BMC Service Request Management and, therefore, streamlines the migration from BMC Service Request Management to BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog. For more information about BMC Service Request Management, see Service-requests-from-BMC-Service-Request-Management.

Use cases for priority calculation

Native services can be fulfilled in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog or in other BMC products such as BMC Helix ITSMand BMC Helix Business Workflows. When BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog is connected to  BMC Helix ITSM or BMC Helix Business Workflows, fulfillment tickets are created in these applications after a request submission. One service request can be linked to many fulfillment tickets that can be processed by different people. For more information about fulfillment tickets, see Configuring-fulfillment-details-display-in-service-requests. 

The number of fulfillment tickets linked to a native service request affects how the priority value is calculated for the request. The following table lists all supported use cases for priority calculation and explains how to enable it. 

You can also set the request priority via BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog REST API. For more information, see To set the priority via REST API. 

Before you begin

Before enabling the Request priority:

• Make sure you have enabled the following setting in BMC Helix Innovation Studio:
  Administration > Digital Workplace Catalog > Service Request.
• Be sure to enable the Calculate service request priority from associated external activity priorities setting.

To display the Request priority field

Perform the following steps to display the Request priority field for native service requests in both the end-user console and the Service Request report: 

1. In BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, click configuration  to open the Application Settings.
2. Click the arrow > next to Request Priority.
3. To display the Request priority field for native service requests, turn on the Request priority toggle.

4. To have the request priority calculated automatically based on the priorities of the fulfillment tickets, select Use enhanced priority calculation.
   
   

   Important

   • This setting applies to calculating the priority of a service request that is linked to a single or multiple fulfillment tickets in BMC Helix ITSM or BMC Helix Business Workflows. If no fulfillment tickets are created, you must build a workflow with an input question to set a priority. For more information, see To build a workflow to set the priority value.
   • When the Use enhanced priority calculation setting is enabled, the callback mechanism automatically updates the request priority in real time when fulfillment ticket priorities change.
   • When the Use enhanced priority calculation setting is not enabled, the default request priority is No priority is not updated automatically when the priority of linked fulfillment tickets changes.
5. Click Save. 

After you enable the Request priority field, end users can view the priority of native service requests in the end-user console. Also, catalog administrators can check the priority of native service requests in the Service Request report. For more information, see Results.

To build a workflow to set the priority value

If a native service request is not linked to any fulfillment tickets, the default request priority is always Null after displaying the Request priority field is enabled. As a catalog administrator, you can allow your end users to change the default request priority by designing a workflow with an input question to set a priority.  

1. Log in to the Catalog console and add a new workflow.
2. On the Process Properties tab, in the VARIABLES section, click Add/ Remove Variables to add the following process input variables:
   1. sbContext input variable of the Service Broker Context data type.

   2. Depending on your preferred method of collecting information from users about the required request priority, add one of the following process input variables. Each variable represents a different type of question for gathering user input:

      Name	Variable Type	Data Type	Options	Default Value	Description
      Priority Name	Input	Text	NA	Enter the default priority as text. If a user doesn't enter the priority value while submitting the request, the request will be saved with this default predefined priority.	When submitting a native service request, end users are required to manually enter the priority. The valid priority values are: CRITICAL HIGH MEDIUM LOW
      Priority Ordinal	Input	Integer	NA	Enter the default priority as an integer. If a user doesn't enter the priority value while submitting the request, the request will be saved with this default predefined priority.	When submitting a native service request, end users are required to manually enter the priority value as an integer. Valid ordinal values for priority are: 1000, 2000, 3000, and 4000.
      Priority Selection	Input	Selection	Add the following selection options: Name: Critical and Integer Value: 1000 Name: High and Integer Value: 2000 Name: Medium and Integer Value: 3000 Name: Low and Integer Value: 4000	Select the default priority out of the options defined. If a user doesn't enter the priority value while submitting the request, the request will be saved with this default predefined priority.	While submitting a native service request, end users will select the required priority from the list of available options.

3. From the Palette, drag the Update Service Request element to the canvas and connect a sequence flow from Start Index to Update Service Request, and from Update Service Request to Exit.
   
   

1. Configure the Update Service Request element by taking the following steps: 
   1. On the GENERAL tab, from the Run as list, select Inherit from Process. 

   2. On the GENERAL tab, in the INPUT MAP section, click Click to build an expression to define the following process input parameters: 

      Input Map parameter	Field value
      Request ID (required)	Select Process Variables > sbContext > Service Request >  Service Request ID.
      Priority	Select the input variable that you created in Step 2b. For example, if you have created the Priority Selection input variable, select  Process Variables > Priority Selection.

2. Save your workflow and close the workflow designer.
3. Select the created workflow, and then select Actions > Manage Questions.
4. On the Questionnaire Library panel, click Actions, and select Create single-user request.
5. On the Questions tab, under the Process Questions section, drag and drop the process question that you created in Step 2b onto the canvas.

6. Configure this process question so that it appears in the questionnaire.
   The information captured by this question is passed into the workflow. Your configurations depend on which input variable you created in Step 2b.

   Process Question	Configuration
   Priority Name	Form Element Type—Select Text Field. Label—Specify the question text that you want to display to the end users. This field is populated automatically with the process question label value. Default value—If you have defined the Default Value setting in Step 2b, this toggle is turned on by default and the Default field is populated automatically. Don't change this prepopulated value. If you haven't defined this value in the workflow, turn on the Default value toggle. In the Type field, select Custom Value. In the Default field, enter the default priority as text. If a user doesn't enter the priority value while submitting the request, the request will be saved with this default predefined priority.
   Priority Ordinal	Form Element Type—Select Text Field. Label—Specify the question text that you want to display to the end users. This field is populated automatically with the process question label value. Default value—If you have defined the Default Value setting in Step 2b, this toggle is turned on by default and the Default field is populated automatically. Don't change this prepopulated value. If you haven't defined the Default Value setting in Step 2b, turn on the Default value toggle. In the Type field, select Custom Value. In the Default field, enter the default priority as an integer. If a user doesn't enter the priority value while submitting the request, the request will be saved with this default predefined priority.
   Priority Selection	Form Element Type—Select Dropdown (single select). Label—Specify the question text that you want to display to the end users. This field is populated automatically with the process question label value. Question values—The list is populated automatically with the selection options defined for the process question.

    

7. Save your questionnaire and close the questions designer.
8. In the Catalog console, attach this workflow and the associated questionnaire to a native service in the Service Options panel.
9. Publish the service and complete the service entitlement to view the service in BMC Helix Digital Workplace.

To set the priority via REST API

You can use the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog REST API to set the request priority. However, this approach is practical only when no fulfillment tickets are linked to a native service request or when the Use enhanced priority calculation setting is disabled. 

To set the request priority via the REST API, use the POST /requests method to initiate a request for a service by ID. 

Results

After you enable the Request priority field, end users can view the priority of a native service request in the end-user console. 

• The request priority value is displayed as a badge on the service request tile in the My Activity view: 
   

  Request priority badge displayed in a card view

  

  Request priority badge displayed in a list view

  

• The Request priority field is displayed in the Request Details view of a native service request. The priority value is displayed as a badge: 

  Important

  The following image shows an older design of the priority badge. Although there might be minor changes in the design, the overall functionality remains the same.

  
   

• If a service request is not linked to any fulfillment tickets, and the catalog administrator has created a workflow to manually set the request priority, end users can set the priority while submitting the request: 
   

  

  Important

  If the end user selects None from the list of priorities while submitting the request, this service request's priority will be set to No priority.

For more information, see To view the priority of native Catalog service requests.

Also, catalog administrators can check the priority of native service requests in the Service Request report.

For more information about the Service Request report, see Reports-and-analysis-of-the-enhanced-service-catalog.

The color and text style of the Request priority badges are consistent with criticality styling used across various BMC products. 

FAQ

Refer to the following questions and their responses that can help you understand how the request priority is displayed: