Integrating BMC Helix ITSM with BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog service request

As a BMC Helix ITSM administrator, you can enable BMC Helix Digital Workplace request integration so that the users can search and view BMC Helix Digital Workplace service requests, add activity notes, view questions and answers, fulfillment records, and approver banner. You can also share, refresh, and print BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests in BMC Helix ITSM. 

This integration can only be done with BMC Helix Digital Workplace version 18.05 or later.

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Related topics

Creating and managing the service catalog

Connecting your catalog to external systems

Catalog roles and permissions

Assigning catalog roles to user accounts

Enabling-and-analyzing-logs

Submitting service requests for customers

General-troubleshooting

Before you begin

When the integration with BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog is enabled, an end user has permission to search for service requests. When the integration is not enabled, an end user does not have any permission, and the following message is displayed:

You are not authorized. Please login as a different user.

After the integration is enabled, to view the service requests created by other users, in BMC Helix Digital Workplace, enable the Agent user role, with Service agent permission level and sbe-agents permission group. 

Important

The on-behalf-of definition rules must be set in the Service Request Management, when a logged in user creates a service request for another user and mentions a different user as contact in Smart Recorder. The user should have the agent or admin permission in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog to do this in BMC Helix ITSM. For more information about the on-behalf-of definition rules creation, see Creating on behalf of definition rules. 


To integrate BMC Helix ITSM with BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog

  1. As an administrator, in BMC Helix ITSM, open the Centralized configuration.
  2. From the Component Name menu, select com.bmc.itsm.sbe.
  3. Select  *.
    The * is marked for the configuration parameters that are available in the global settings in the CCS.
    SBE_CCS_Component.png

  4. Enter the required details:
    SBE_Five_Options.png

    The following table provides the descriptions of the available options:

    Option

    Description

    sbeDomain

    BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog domain name. From version 21.02, the domain name is not required. We recommend leaving this field blank.

    sbeTenantAdminPassword

    BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog server password. This password becomes encrypted after applying it.

    sbeTenantAdminUser

    Administrator's user ID of the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog server. Do not mention the domain name.

    sbeUrl

    Add the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog server URL (http or https).

    Do not include ending slash (/). For https, the default Port is 443.

  5. Click Apply.
  6. From BMC Helix ITSM, open the SBE:ConnectionConfig form to test the connection.
    sbe-domain-screenshot.png

  7. Click Test Connection. 
    The Result field displays the test connection status. If the connection fails, the Result Code field displays the failure reason. 

    Note

    If an error message is displayed, you can check the arjavaplugin.log file, which is the standard AR java plug-in log. Otherwise, you can also generate a log file to check the details. For more information, see Enabling-and-analyzing-logs.

  8. In Centralized configuration, select com.bmc.arsys.smartit > *.
    The following table provides the descriptions of the available options:

    Parameter

    Description

    enableSbeIntegration

    Set this parameter to true to enable the integration of BMC Helix ITSM with BMC Digital Workplace Catalog.

    enableDWPWidgetIntegration

    Set this parameter to true, to create a BMC Digital Workplace Catalog service request from Smart Recorder.

    smartit.url

    BMC Helix ITSM load balancer URL.

    dwp.base.url

    BMC Digital Workplace load balancer server URL.

    dwpCatalogChunkSize

    Based on this parameter value, the Digital Workplace Catalog templates are shown in Smart Recorder.

    The default value for this parameter is 20.

    restrictDWPCTicketsForNoOfDays

    Use this parameter to display the number of days for which the DWP catalog service requests appear in the BMC Helix ITSM global search results.

    The default value of this parameter is 90 days.

  9. Click Apply.

For more information, see Submitting service requests for customers.


Available features after integration

This integration enables BMC Helix ITSM agents to use the following capabilities:

Features

Descriptions

Search, view, and submit a service request

An BMC Helix ITSM agent can search and view BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests in BMC Helix ITSM from the following features:

  • Global Search: You can see BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog service requests in a separate panel under the Tickets & Knowledge, Tickets, and ALL sections. You can also select the Digital Workplace Request option from the Filter to display BMC Helix Digital Workplace service requests. Currently, the Create Date and the Company options are not supported as search parameters and only the Last Modified Date is supported for this selection. 
    Filter.png
  • Smart Recorder: Once the Customer is selected, the Open and Resolved BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests that were submitted for that customer are displayed. 
    SmartRecorder_1.png
  • Submit a service request: Agents can submit a service request in BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog through Smart Recorder.
  • My Profile: From the logged in user's profile, you can see the open BMC Helix Digital Workplace service requests in a separate section.
    CustomerProfile1.png
    Note: The BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests do not appear in BMC Helix ITSM Ticket Console.

Add activity notes

This integration enables BMC Helix ITSM agents to open a BMC Helix Digital Workplace request and add public and private activity notes, add up to three attachments, and mark affected customer, services, and assets by using the @ symbol. You can also search the activity notes by using a simple text search. The public activity notes that you add in BMC Helix ITSM are also displayed in BMC Helix Digital Workplace in the same BMC Helix Digital Workplace request.

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View questions and answers

As a BMC Helix ITSM agent, you can view questions and answers if they are mapped with the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog. You can also download attachments from the questions and answers.

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View fulfillment records

Single and multiple fulfillment records are displayed under the Fulfillment section in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog. For more information, see Workflows for service fulfillment.

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Note: The BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests related to fulfillment records do not appear on the Relationship tab.

View approver banner

The Approver banner is displayed in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog, if the approval workflow is added in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog. For more information, see Workflow to request approval.

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Share, refresh, and print BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests in BMC Helix ITSM

As a BMC Helix ITSM agent, you can share the BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests through email with the internal support group members and chat by using the Share icon of the BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests. You can also print and refresh the BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests by using the relevant icons in the View full request mode.

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Limitations
  • The social feeds on the dashboard and the user profile are not displayed for the BMC Helix Digital Workplace request. However, this information is available on the user's timeline.
  • The status change updates for fulfillment take time to appear in BMC Helix ITSM.
  • Currently, the Follow/Unfollow, Request again, Cancel, and Service Level Agreements (SLAs) features are not supported.
  • Agents cannot search BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests in BMC Helix ITSM for IDs ranging from 1 to 99 as the Universal Client limits global search with less than 3 characters. 
  • On the Activity tab of the ticket view, filter by the activity type is not available for the BMC Helix Digital Workplace requests.
  • In BMC Helix ITSM, when you add an attachment with work information to a BMC Helix Digital Workplace Catalog service request, and the file type of that attachment is blacklisted in the BMC Helix Digital Workplace attachment rules, a validation error message related to the attachment type is not displayed. 


To embed the BMC Digital Workplace questionnaire in BMC Helix ITSM

  1. In the BMC Digital Workplace Admin console, select Configuration > Embed Digital Workplace.
  2. In the Host domains field, enter the host domain of the BMC Helix ITSM server in the following format:
    SmartIThostname:port
    If you have more than one domain, separate them with commas.
  3. Click Save.

 

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