BMC Helix ITSM: Asset Management Architecture
The following diagram illustrates architecture:
Tier | Description |
|---|---|
Data tier | Stores definitions and data for . |
Server tier | Processes the data it receives from clients, and passes the data to the database server to be stored. |
Web tier | Serves as a repository for web applications. Displays the appropriate web page to an authorized user. |
Client tier | Enables different clients to access and interact with data. |
The following diagram shows the different modules that exist in the interface of :
Learn about the various components that interacts with:
uses data from BMC Configuration Management Database (). consists of all the datasets that interacts with.
stores information about the configuration items (CIs) in your IT environment and the relationships between them.
Data providers, such as discovery applications, import data into , where it is partitioned into separate datasets. This data is then consolidated into a production dataset that you use as the single source of reference for your IT environment. Data consumers, such as the applications, read data from the production dataset. For more information, seeBMC Helix CMDB overview.
Configuration Item
Configuration Item commonly known as CI represents any component of an infrastructure like a computer system, an application, and so on. CIs have several attributes and can be easily related to other CIs or other components of ITSM such as incidents and problems. For more information, see Asset types and sub types.
Purchase requisition
You use purchase requisition to purchase items that you need to resolve incidents, complete change requests, and so on. In , the purchasing process is initiated when the item is not available in inventory and ends when the item is received and installed. For more information, see Overview of purchase requisitions.
Contracts
You create contracts with the suppliers to acquire new CIs or relate the CIs to contracts. provides contract functionality for lease, warranty, support, maintenance, and software license management. For more information, see Managing contracts.
Software licenses
In an organization, several CIs are purchased or leased. You can relate these CIs to a software license to verify, track, or limit their usage in your organization. You can use the software license management feature in to facilitate, focus, and follow-through on compliance. In , you can configure license jobs that automatically relate the CIs with the license certificates.
The License Engine updates compliance data for the software license certificate based on the compliance detail specified for the software license certificate. Compliance can be calculated based on the software CIs connected to the software license certificate, the computer system on which the software is installed, CIs related to the computer system (such as CPUs), or any data stored in an AR System form. For more information, see Managing software licenses.
Costing and charge-backs
You use the costing and charge-back functionality to track the expenses, depreciation, and cost adjustments in your organization. You use the charge-back functionality to roll up the costs that have been incurred over a period and involved in the various cost centers in a company. For more information, see Tracking costs and charge-backs.
Configuration management
There can be multiple people in your company in various roles such as sales or software development. For each of these roles, you can create a specific configuration by using Configuration management component. For example, for a salesman, you create a configuration that consists of a laptop, monitor, and printer. For a software developer, the configuration consists of a laptop, keyboard, and printer. For more information, see Managing the configuration catalog.
Asset Management interfaces
provides a set of interfaces that other applications can use to integrate with the application. Interfaces to include interface forms and web services. You can use the API to create, modify, and delete CIs and relationships. For more information, see Getting started with Asset Management.
Use the to automate approval processes. uses the for purchase requisitions, and uses it for change requests and release requests.
When a application triggers an approval process, the uses the defined approval process to approve or reject a request. You can have multiple Approval Servers running with multiple servers on one computer. uses an ad hoc approval process. uses defined best-practice approval processes and ad hoc approval processes. For more information, seeAdding approvals to an application.