This documentation supports the 21.05 version of BMC Helix ITSM: Change Management. To view an earlier version, select the version from the product version menu.

Creating a CI



You must have Asset Admin permission to create a configuration item (CI). If you have Asset User permission and you are modifying a CI, your administrator must open the appropriate CI, and then relate your support group to the CI.

There are many different types of CIs that you can create. While the general procedure for creating each CI type is similar, only the specific fields on the CI form change depending on the CI type.

Related topic


To create a business service

Note

Steps 1 through 5 describe how to create the service CI. Steps 6 through 14 describe how to relate the service CI to a company. This is necessary to ensure that the service CI appears in the Service field menu on the Categorization tab, when relating the incident request to a company.

  1. From the Navigation pane of the Change Management console, select Functions > Manage CIs.
  2. From the CI Type list, select Logical Entity > Business Service and then click Create.
  3. On the Business System form, type the CI name and description.

    Best practice
    When creating a CI name, follow a consistent naming convention. According to the ITIL guidelines, identifiers should be short but meaningful; for example, Payroll or Network. The name can be followed by a numeric code, such as NETWORK100.

  4. Complete the optional fields that appear on the form in a way that is appropriate for the service you are creating. 

    Field name

    Description

    CI ID

    A customer-specified identifier that you can use to augment the CI Name.

    Company

    The company that owns the service.

    Impact, Urgency, and Priority

    Determines service levels when support is assigned.

    Supported

    Indicates whether the service currently is supported.

    System Role

    Describes the role the service fulfills in the organization.

    Additional Information

    Is a place to record any additional information about the service.

    Users Affected

    Is the number of users who use this service.

  5. Click Save.

    Important

    • Depending on how your application is configured, after you click Save to create a Service CI, the Service CI form might be displayed in a Modify window.
    • The People tab referred to in the following procedure does not appear on the Business Service form until you create and save the CI. The Relationships tab, Outage tab, and Impact tab also appear after you save the new CI. If the People tab does not appear after you click Save, search for and open the CI record as described in To search for CIs from the console, and then continue with step 6.
  6. Open the People tab and click Add.
  7. From the Type list select People Organization and then click OK.
  8. From the Company list in the Organization Search window, select the company to which you are relating the service and then click Search.

    Important

    If you are relating the service to the entire company, skip step 9.

  9. If you need to relate the service either to an organization within the company or to a department within the organization, select the organization and, if necessary, the department from the Organization and Department lists.
    • Organization—If you select Organization, the service is related to the specified organization within the specified company.
    • Department—If you select Department, the service is related to the specified department within the specified organization.
  10. From the Choose a Relationship Level list, select how much of the company will be related to this service. 
    For example, if you are relating the service to the entire company, select Company. If you specified department in the preceding step, select Department.
  11. Click Select.
  12. From the Role list in the Asset Person Role window, select Used By and click OK.
  13. Click OK to dismiss the confirmation note.
  14. Click Save and then click Close.


To create a computer system CI

  1. From the Navigation pane of the Change Management console, select Functions > Manage CIs.
  2. From the CI Type list of the CI Type dialog box, select System > Computer System.
  3. Click Create.
  4. In the CI Name field of the Computer System form, type a name for the CI.

    Best practice
    When creating a CI name, follow a consistent naming convention. According to the ITIL guidelines, identifiers should be short but meaningful, and for hardware they should not be based on supplier device names. For example, the name can include an indicator of the CI's function (such as Workstation or Monitor) followed by a numeric code, such as MONITOR100.

  5. In the CI ID field, type a unique alphanumeric value for the CI.
  6. Select the company to which this CI belongs.
  7. From the Primary Capability and Capability lists, select the roles this CI performs in your company's topology.
  8. Select a status from the Status list. 
    Select one of the following options:

    Status

    Description

    Ordered

    (Default value) The CI was ordered from the supplier.

    Received

    The CI was received in shipping.

    Being Assembled

    The CI is being assembled.

    Deployed

    The CI was installed.

    In Repair

    The CI is down for maintenance.

    Down

    The CI is down, but not yet in maintenance.

    End of Life

    The CI is no longer being deployed.

    Transferred

    The CI was transferred to another place.

    Delete

    The CI is marked for deletion. You must be a member of the APP-Management or APP-Administrator group to mark a CI for deletion.

    In Inventory

    The CI is in inventory but not yet deployed. When you select this status, you are prompted to select the inventory place.

    On Loan

    The CI is on loan to another location.

    Disposed

    The CI is no longer available and was disposed of.

    Reserved

    The CI was reserved and taken out of inventory.

    Return to Vendor

    The CI must be returned to the vendor as damaged or unwanted.

  9. Specify whether the CI is supported by selecting Yes or No from the Supported list.
  10. Select what impact or urgency this CI will have if it goes down.
  11. In the Users Affected field, specify the number of people who use this CI or are affected if it goes down.
  12. Complete the other fields in this area.

    Field name

    Description

    Tag Number

    The CI tag number. This number is usually placed on the product by a member of your IT department to track the CI.

    Serial Number

    The CI serial number.

    Part Number

    The CI part number.

    System Role

    The role this CI plays in your company.

    Status Reason

    The status reason of the CI.

  13. Click the General tab.
  14. Categorize your CI using the lists and fields in the Product Categorization area.
  15. Specify the place of the CI by using the lists and fields in the Location area.
  16. Enter the dates of the CI in the lifecycle area.
  17. Click the Specifications tab to add more information about the CI.
  18. Click Save.


To create a bulk inventory CI

Bulk inventory items are not tracked by a separate record for each item. Instead, bulk items are tracked by quantities of an item type. For example, cables used to connect desktop computers to the network do not require individual records but rather, one record for a bulk quantity of the specific cable type.

  1. From the Navigation pane of the Change Management console, select Functions > Manage CIs.
  2. From the CI Type list of the Manage CI Information dialog box, select Bulk Inventory > Bulk Inventory, and click Create.
  3. In the Bulk Inventory form, complete the following required fields:

    Field name

    Description

    CI Name

    Enter the name of the bulk inventory item, for example, Microsoft Windows XP.

    Tier 1, Tier 2, and Tier 3

    Categorize the item.

    Received Quantity

    Enter the number of items received.

  4. Click Save.


To create an inventory location CI

You can use inventory location CIs to indicate where the bulk inventory and other CIs are located.

  1. From the Navigation pane of the console, select Functions > Manage CIs.
  2. From the Type list of the Manage CI Information dialog box, select System > Inventory Location, and click Create.
  3. In the CI Name field of the Inventory Location form, enter the location name.
  4. Complete the optional fields.
  5. Click Save.

 

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