Creating categories

When creating tickets and resources, the service desk agent must specify categories in order to categorize tickets and resolve them. Smart IT supports four categories: Operational Category, Product Category, Resolution Category, and Resolution Product Category. The categories are created inBMC Helix ITSM. The settings specified when creating categories decide how a category can be used in Smart IT. This topic provides a quick view of creating categories and how categories impact tickets in Smart IT.

Before you begin

Before you start creating categories, you must ensure that:

You have Config Categorization Admin or Config Categorization User permissions
The company for which you want to create the category is configured
The product and manufacturer details are added to the database

Best practice
While creating categories, we recommend the following:

Until a category is completely ready, specify the category status as Proposed. Once the category is ready, you can change it to Enabled.
If a category requires only one tier to sufficiently group it, enter None for the other two tiers.

To create a product category

The product catalog categorizes different products or CIs in BMC Helix CMDB. In Smart IT, product categories are displayed in the structure Tier 1 > Tier 2 > Tier 3 > Product name > Model/Version. To create a standard category for a company, select the company name from the Configuration for Company list. You can create product category by using both Standard configuration and Custom configuration.

Standard
Custom

The product category created by using standard configuration options has basic details that are needed to create a product category.

Standard Product category	Details
How to navigate	On IT Home page, select Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. To create a standard category for a company, select the company name from the Configuration for Company list. On the Standard Configuration tab, click the Create link next to Product Category. The Product Category form is displayed.
Category details	Specify the product type, CI type, tier details, product and manufacturer name.
Company details	In the Make Category available for option, you can select one of the following options: Current company - Makes the product category accessible only to the company for which you are creating the category (company specified in the Configuration for Company list on the Application Administration Console). All companies - Makes the product category global, and is accessible to all companies. In Smart IT, when you specify Product category for any ticket type, asset, or knowledge article you will see this category irrespective of the company specified on the ticket.

Options available in Custom Configuration tab allow you to create product categories with more advance settings. For additional considerations about product category see, Configuring product catalog information.

Custom product category	Details
How to navigate	On IT Home page, select Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. Click the Custom Configuration tab. Under Application Settings, click Foundation > Products/Operational Catalogs > Product Catalog, and then click Open. The Product Catalog Setup form is displayed. The form enables you to create, modify, and delete product aliases, product model and versions, and company and application module associations.
Category details	Click the Create button on the Product Category tab. On the Product Category Update form specify product type, CI type, tier details, product and manufacturer name.
Product model and version, Patch details	Specifying the model or version of the product helps to identify the exact product that has some issue. It becomes easy for the service desk agents to select appropriate product category that has model or version specified. For example, there are several models and versions of mobiles. If the customer has reported issue with Samsung Galaxy Note 2, the agent will look for the product category that has Galaxy Note 2 specified. If model and version is not specified, it becomes difficult to identify the right product and the ticket might take longer time to resolve. You can create multiple models and versions for any product that exists in the product catalog. Specifying patch details such as build ID, date and description also help agents to map the issue with the correct product and select appropriate category.
Company and Module Relationships	Each product category must be related with company and applications or modules. This relationship determines which companies and BMC Helix ITSM applications and modules can access a product category. You can click Create to access the Product Company Relationship form. You can relate the product category with a company. A product category can be associated with one or more companies. If the company is specified as Global, then the product category is accessible to all companies. You can specify application modules that will have this product category. By default all modules are selected. For example, if you clear the check box for Problem Management and Change Management, the product category you are currently working on will not be available for problem investigation and change request tickets in Problem Management, Change Management, and Smart IT. Options under Incident Management are displayed in Incident Type list on the incident profile in Smart IT.

To create an operational category

The operational catalog consists of the operations or actions that can be taken on a CI to resolve customer issue. Typically, operations involve activities such as, install, repair, modify, update, remove, uninstall, and so on. The operational catalog can also contain items that represent symptoms of incidents or problems, such as application failure and network failure. You can create operational categories by using both Standard configuration and Custom configuration.

Standard
Custom

You can create a standard operational category with basic details.

Standard Operational category	Details
How to navigate	On IT Home page, select Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. On the Standard Configuration tab, select the company name from the Configuration for Company list. Click the Create link next to Operational Category. The Operational Catalog form is displayed.
Category details	Specify the tier 1, 2, and 3, and status of the category.
Company details	In the Make Category available for option, you can select one of the following options: Current company - to make the Operational category accessible only to the company for which you are creating the category (specified in the Application Administration Console in Configuration for Company list. All companies - to make the Operational category accessible to all companies. The Operational category is available globally. In Smart IT when you specify Operational category for any ticket type, asset, or knowledge article you will see this category.

You can create operational categories with more advance settings.

Custom Operational category	Details
How to navigate	On IT Home page, select Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. Click the Custom Configuration tab. Under Application Settings, click Foundation > Products/Operational Catalogs > Operational Catalog, and then click Open The Operational Catalog Setup form appears.
Category details	Click the Create button on the Operational Category tab. On the Operational Catalog Update form, specify the tier 1, 2, and 3, and status of the category.
Company and Module Relationships	Each Operational category must be related with company and applications or modules. This relationship determines which companies, BMC Helix ITSM applications, and modules can access operational category. You can click Create to access the Operational Catalog Relationship form. You must relate the operational category with a company. Operational category can be associated with one or more companies. If the company is specified as Global, then the category is accessible to all companies. You can specify application modules that will have this operational category. By default, all modules are selected. For example, if you clear the check box for Problem Management and Change Management, the operational category you are currently working on will not be available for problem investigation and change request tickets in Problem Management, Change Management, and Smart IT. Options under Incident Management are displayed in Incident Type list on the incident profile in Smart IT.

To create a resolution category and resolution product category

The resolution and resolution product categories are configured in the Generic Catalog Update form. In Smart IT, only incident tickets support these two categories.

Custom Resolution category	Details
How to navigate	On the IT Home page, select Applications > Administrator Console > Application Administration Console. Click the Custom Configuration tab. Under Application Settings, click Foundation > Products/Operational Catalogs > Generic Catalog Structures, and then click Open. The Generic Catalog Setup form appears.
Category details	Click the Create button on the Generic/Product/Operational Relationship Category tab. On the Generic Catalog Update form, select Resolution Category in the Category Type list. On this form, you can create a resolution category and associate it to existing operational category and product category. That means, when you select the specified product and operational category, the resolution category becomes available for selection.
Company and Module Relationships	Each Resolution category must be related with company and applications or modules. This relationship determines which companies, BMC Helix ITSM applications, and modules can access Resolution category. You can click Create to access the Generic Catalog Setup form. You can relate the Resolution category with a company. A Resolution category can be associated with one or more companies. If the company is specified as Global, then the Resolution category is accessible to all companies. You can specify application modules that will have this Resolution category. By default all modules are selected. Because the Resolution and Resolution product category is supported only on incident profile, except Incident Management clear check boxes of all other application modules. Options under Incident Management are displayed in Incident Type list on the incident profile in Smart IT.

To make a category unavailable in selection lists

You can set custom product or operational categories offline, so that those categories are unavailable in selection lists. To make the category unavailable, on the Product category or Operational category table, and on the Company and Module relationship table, click Set Offline.

Troubleshooting issues with making categories available to companies

If a category is already available to the -Global- company, you cannot make the category available to specific companies. To make the category available to specific companies, you must first delete the -Global- entry.