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Managing Service Actions

A Service Action is a specific service offering provided as part of a service.

Users can order Service Actions directly from the Self Service Portal if they are subscribers of that Service Action, stakeholders, or the Action is available to all Users. You must link a Service Action to a Service to make use of it. Then you can use them to define which Services Users can request through the Service Request Catalog on the Self Service Portal. They can also be added to Service Bundles.

For the Email service, for example, you can have various Service Actions, such as “Creation of new email account”, “Password reset” and “Close email account”. A Service Action is therefore always linked to a Service.

Best Practice

  • Consider carefully what service Actions you want to expose and the level of complexity. Too many choices will potentially confuse the users or cause them to select the wrong service action.

  • It is often beneficial to look at your top ten reports for service requests (grouped by Service) and build only those service actions to start. You are then able to add more service actions as the quarterly or annual top ten reports reveal what users really need.

  • Where it is sensible, combine 1 or more tasks into one screen set or service action. .

  • Where approvals authorities are individuals and the individual that needs the approval is dependent on what has been ordered, consider assigning these approval authorities as the user of the service action. You can then assign the approval in the Workflow Template to the Ordered Service Action>User.

Example #1: The Enterprise Application Services may only need 1 service action for the portal; Software Request. User will simply select the software from a pick list on the screen. In this case, it is not necessary to build a separate service action and/or screen for each brand or release of the software you deliver.

Example #2: In the Email Service you may only need 2 Service Actions. The first would function much like the Enterprise Applications Software Request as above for selecting and ordering email applications. The second could link to an incident response template and allow users to report issues with their email service. By using a template you can automatically route and assign the incident to the correct team, email the user and perform a host of other automated actions including suggesting help and resolutions automatically right on the self service portal.

Service Action Management

You must have CMDB Item New selected in the CMDB tab of your Configuration Management security role.

The service to which the service action relates must have been added to the CMDB.

Display New Item in Wrapper must be selected in the CMDB Item Type Details window for the Service Action CMDB Type. If you are creating a sub-type, and this option has been selected in its CMDB Item Type Details, you may see this in your submenu also.

Create a New Action

  1. Create a new CMDB item. Menu>New>Service Action

  2. Complete the details. Most of the fields are common to the other CMDB Item Details windows, except the Service Action Details window has an additional Service Details section because a Service Action is always linked to a service.

Complete the Service Details

Use this section to select the service to which the service action relates.

When you display the Service Action Details window from the New menu or the CMDB Item Search window, the Service Details section is blank. When you display it from a service, the Service Details section is populated with the details of the linked service (these details are read-only).

Complete the Service Action Details

Title - Enter a user friendly title for your service action. Keep in mind some users may be viewing the catalog from mobile browsers and that the availabel real estate for the screen contents is much smaller. Keep your titles short and easy to understand. A good rule of thumb is no more than 64 characters.

Ref - The REF is auto populated and you may leave it as it as-is. However you may also overtype it and make a more user-friendly ref to use in building reports and filters instead. For example, instead of the default SA0000636 assigned by the system, you might want to make it SW_ORDER (per our example above).

Version - The version number defaults to 1.0.0. If you are not using versioning you may leave this at the default.

Type - The Type will default to Service Action, as that is what you are creating. It is not advisable or necessary to change the value.

Class - The class further groups the service actions and aids in reporting. Select the correct class for this service action. These are configured by your organization. Some examples are: Procurement, Business Services, IT Services, HR, or Facilities.

Self Service Portal Display Category - The Self Service Portal Display Category is what determines where in the portal this item will appear. For example, if this service action is for ordering software, we might put it in a SSP Display Category of Software Catalog, or Browse Software. The SSP Display Categories are defined by your organization.

Baseline - Select to flag this CMDB item as a baseline CMDB item. Baselines refer to a given configuration of software and/or hardware that is used as a default state, for example as the initial setup for a new PC in your organization.

Template - Select to define the item as a template. A template item is similar to a workflow template, in that it is a generic base from which multiple copies or instances can be made.

Asset Catalog - This only appears for Service, Service Action or Service Bundle Details.

As well as categorizing the type as an asset, you can specify whether it should be included in the Asset Catalog accessible from the Self Service Portal. Users will be able to use the advanced search options on the Self Service Portal to view CMDB items published in this catalog.

User and Organization Details

Most Service Actions will not have a user assigned. However, there are cases where you might.

For example, an organization has an extensive software and hardware catalog. Many of these items only need the user's manager to approve, if any approval is needed at all. But some items with either a high cost associated or some licensing involved have a higher level approval required than simply the user's manager.

Problem: How can we identify this "Approval Authority" without a very complicated workflow?

Answer: Send the approval task to the User assigned to the Ordered Service Action.

How it works - in practice: Whether it is a software request or a request for an expensive laptop bundle, what we can do with this now is assign the approval in the workflow process to the Ordered Service Action's assigned User. Maintenance becomes easy because you only need to update the user on the Service Action (or Bundle) and the workflow will always route correctly. This is important, because you can use a Manage CMDB task in your offboarding/onboarding workflows to update the assigned user on these CI dynamically ensuring approvals always go where they need to go.

In this case we also modified the screen in Screen Designer and relabeled User to Approval Authority because it simply looked better. We were also able to then link the "Approval Authority" right onto the Request Review screen so the user could see who it is.

Criticality and Status Details

Criticality - The values in this list are defined by your organization. Here you will define, according to your organizations parameters, what the level of criticality is for this Service Action. For example, some Organizations will use this to indicate Capital Expenditure Items, Project Items, or Critical Infrastructure. Some define criticality as Approvals Required and No Approvals Required and still other simply use Critical and Non-Critical. Your organization should be able to provide information on what these values should be for the Service Actions they have asked you to configure.

To Configure Criticality Statuses, go to System Administration>CMDB>CMDB Item Criticality

Status - This describes the Physical Status of the Service Action. Standard values are : In Production, Retired, Available, etc. This list is configured by each organization in System Administration>CMDB>CMDB Item Physical Statuses. Most Service Actions will have a physical status of either Available or Retired.

Portfolio Status - The Portfolio Status controls visibility on the Self Service Portal. Only Portfolio statuses configured for the portal are visible on the portal.

No matter what other settings you enable, if the Portfolio status is not a status available to the Portal, the service Action will not show on the Portal.

To Configure Portfolio Statuses or to see what values will appear on the portal, go to System Administration>CMDB>Service Portfolio Statuses and look for the Self Service Portal checkbox.

Service Level - Service Level is connected to your Service Level Agreements. If you are using service level in this way, the service level defined on the Service Action can trigger the appropriate SLA.

Time Zone - Select the default timeZone for this Service Action. This will inform any SLA's you may be using with the Service Action.

Financial and Vendor Information

The Financial and Vendor Information section outlines all of the Acquisition and cost information related to this service action. While much of this is more relvant to Assets as CI, a Service Action is also a CI and so will inherit these fields. Below is a list of the fields you must absolutely populate and fields you can choose to hide on your Service Action Screen:

Here you will enter the details for:

External Supplier - If the fulfillment of the item requested is via an external supplier, such as might be the case for a SaaS offering, en=ter the supplier here.

Financial Status - The values in this list are configured according to what the organization needs. The parameters for the service action given to you should include what these values should be, if there are any. Else, you can leave the default selected, Unspecified. To configure Financial Status, go to System Administration>CMDB>Financial Status

Financial Category - The values in this list are configured according to what the organization needs. The parameters for the service action given to you should include what these values should be, if there are any. Else, you can leave the default selected, Unspecified. To configure Financial Categories, go to System Administration>CMDB>Financial Category

Acquisition Method - The values in this list are configured according to what the organization needs. The parameters for the service action given to you should include what these values should be, if there are any. Else, you can leave the default selected, Unspecified. To configure Acquisition Methods, go to System Administration>CMDB>Purchase Method

Price - Enter the cost for this item. This price will be displayed on the Self Service Portal.

Associated Costs - enter related costs such as surcharges, taxes or consultancy fees.

Shipping and Handling - Enter the cost for shipping

Rebate - Enter a rebate amount, if any

Disposal Method - The values in this list are configured according to what the organization needs. The parameters for the service action given to you should include what these values should be, if there are any. Else, you can leave the default selected, Unspecified. To configure Disposal Methods, go to System Administration>CMDB>Disposal Method

Disposal Price - Enter the cost of disposal, if any

Disposal Date - For a Service Action, unlike an asset, Disposal date is largely irrelevant. However, if you are tracking a date of obsolescence for your service actions, using disposal dates will make including these actions on such reports easy to gather.

Maintenance Annual Rate - If there is an annual cost to the user for having the requested item, include the value.

Leasing Annual Rate - If there is an annual cost to the user for having the requested item, include the value.

Image and Description

The Image and Description are what will be displayed on the Self Service Portal for the user when browsing the Service Catalog. For example:

Description - Enter a short description about this service action that will be useful for the customer placing an order for it.

Upload Image - The upload Image button allows you to assign an image to the Service Action. If you do not select an image, the default image is used which looks like a notepad

  • Ideal Image Size: 1:1 Aspect Ratio and a minimum of 100px by 100px

  • Once you upload an image, you can only replace it. You cannot delete an existing image and revert back to the system default.

Portal Submit Button - By default, the service action button says Order. If you would like it to say something else, such as Submit, you can specify the text here.

Catalog Information

The catalog information section lists all the relevant details about your service catalog item for the users. Only those items with text are visible in the SSP.

For example, if on the Visio Request Service Action we only populate Target Audience, Charging, and Training, this is all that will appear on the Service Action Summary Display in the portal:

Here you can specify relevant details about:

  • Turnaround time

  • Charging arrangements

  • Availability

  • Target Audience

  • Support Arrangement

  • Training

  • Performance and Security

  • Terms and Conditions

  • Service Hours

  • Access

  • Backup and Recovery Arrangements

  • Service Targets

Templates and Actions

For more detailed information, please see the next page "Defining the Outcome of Selecting a Service Action".

  1. In this section, you can:

  • Launch a URL - Define a URL to launch in the user's browser

  • Download an Object - Identify an object to download from attachments you have added to the service action

  • Create a Call - Present a call/ticket submission form for the user to submit a call. This is appropriate for straightforward Service Actions, such as Reset Password, that can be completed through a call

  • Create a Request - Present a request submission form, for the user to submit a request. This is appropriate for a more complex order, that requires a linked Workflow Template to log a request with various tasks and approvals to process the order.

  1. When you defined the outcome you wish you will be prompted to specify the target URL, file or template to fulfill the action.

  2. When Creating Calls and Requests, you have the option to:

    • Order Multiple Quantities - If you want to enable the quantity field, For example if you want to create a service action for Keyboards and you want users to be able to order in bulk, you can enable the quantities.

    • Create Multiple Calls/Requests - When you have multiple quantities enabled, you can specify if a separate call or request should be created for each item ordered or if one request that reflects the total quantity should be created instead.

    For example, if we enable quantity ordering for laptops and do not select Create Multiple Calls/Requests, then a user can submit an order for 10 keyboards and a single request will be created to order 10 keyboards. On the other hand, if we do select Create multiple calls/requests, that same order for 10 keyboards will create 10 separate requests.

  3. Do Not Copy Data Between forms - Select to stop data being passed through from one submission form to the next when ordering multiple quantities. This is useful if, as in the example above, a quantity order for hardware is for a specific group of users.

For example, lets assume the 10 keyboards being ordered are for new staff and are part of a service bundle. If you are tracking the assets given to individuals, you might want 10 separate requests so that you can track what keyboard has been purchased, received, and then assigned to each person. In this case, we would not want to copy user information from one form to the next.

Linking Service Actions to other CMDB Items and Finishing up

  1. Link the service action to other CMDB items, such as a service bundle if it will be part of a bundle. For more information on bundles, see Service Bundles.

    • When linking service actions to service bundles, you can select Service Bundle to Service Action (Optional) to give Users the option of ordering this linked service action, or Service Bundle to Service Action to make it mandatory for Users to order this linked service action.

  2. If you link a service action to a service through the Linked Items tab, this is a standard link.

  3. To link a service action as a core component of a service, use the Service Actions tab.

  4. Allocate Subscribers to the Service Action.

  5. Carry out further tasks on the Service Actions Explorer pane.

  6. Select Ok to save the changes and close the window, or Save New to save and close the window and open a new details window.

  7. Complete the Change Reason details, if prompted to do so.

Allocating Subscribers to a Service Action

Subscribers are people (typically Users) or organizations who are granted permission to request a particular Service Action (or Bundle) from the Self Service Portal. When creating Service Actions, you can link them to specific Subscriber Groups. Users and organizations are only able to access, and perform actions on, those service entities to which they are subscribed unless it is made available to all Users.

You cannot link a service action to a subscriber group if it is available to all Users, that is, if the Available to all Users checkbox is selected when allocating subscribers to the Service Action or to the Service Bundle. If you try to do this, a warning message will appear. You can filter visibility in the Self Service Portal by stakeholder role instead. Whether visibility is determined by stakeholder or subscriber group is determined in the CMDB tab of the Self Service portal role.

Making a Service Action available to all Subscriber Groups

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select the Subscribers tab.

  2. Select Available to all Users, which appears just above the Subscriber Group table.

Linking a Subscriber Group

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select the Subscribers tab.

  2. Select Add.

  3. Search for the Subscriber Group. From the search results, select the Subscriber Group you wish to link.

  4. You can also add a new Subscriber Group by selecting Add New on the Subscriber Group Search. This opens a new Subscriber Group Details window. When you save the Subscriber Group, it is linked to the selected service action.

  5. Select the Action icon or double-click on the group you want to add to see it appear in the table of subscriber groups in the Service Action Details window.

Unlinking a Subscriber Group

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select the Subscribers tab.

  2. Select the Subscriber Group in the browse table.

  3. Select Remove.

Viewing the details of a linked Subscriber Group

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select Subscribers tab.

  2. Select the Subscriber Group in the browse table.

  3. Select Open.

Linking Stakeholders to Service Actions

You can limit the visibility of a service action in the Self Service Portal to specific stakeholder roles. Only those stakeholders will then have access to the Service Action, unless it is made available to all stakeholders.

You can filter visibility in the Self Service Portal by subscriber group instead. Whether visibility is determined by stakeholder or subscriber group is determined in the CMDB tab of the Self Service portal role.

Making a Service Action available to all Stakeholders

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select the Stakeholders tab.

  2. Select Available to all Users, which appears just above the Stakeholders table.

Linking a Stakeholder

  1. Scroll down to the Linking Panel at the bottom of the window, and select the Stakeholders tab.

  2. Choose the type of stakeholder that you want to add from the drop down list.

  3. Select Add.

  4. The appropriate search window appears. Search for and select the stakeholder(s) you want to add to the service action.

  5. When you return to the Service Action Details window, a pop up window appears, prompting you to select a stakeholder role. Select one from the drop down list.

  6. The stakeholder details appear in the Stakeholders table. You can change the role from here if necessary. You can also add more stakeholders, remove stakeholders, view the details, and email all or selected stakeholders.

  7. Select Ok to save the changes and close the window, or Save New to save and close the window and open a new details window. Complete the Change Reason details, if prompted to do so.

Service Action Explorer Options

The following options are available from the explorer pane on the Service Action Details window.

  1. Catalog Action - Select to display the service action as a config item action. This will display all items of that CMDB Item Type in the Catalog Portal. You will need to specify the config item type in the list.

  2. Keywords - For faster searching, you can enter keywords that a user might use when looking for this service action

  3. Clone - copy a service action in order to create a new one

  4. Object - attach objects or files from Windows applications to the service action

  5. Version History - view the history of the service action, including relevant changes to each version of the service action

  6. Depreciation - view the depreciation information for the service action

  7. Linking - display a graphical view of the other CMDB items which are linked to the service action

  8. Call Search - to display the Call Search window, where you can view all open calls logged against the service action

  9. Request Search - to display the Request Search window, where you can view all open requests logged against the service action

  10. External Resources - view external resources such as directory server users linked to the service action

  11. Discrepancy Reports - display outstanding CMDB Resource Reports (reports to be reviewed) linked to the entity

Troubleshooting Service Actions

Minimum Fields Required for Service Actions to Function Correctly

  1. Service/Service Details

  2. Service Action Details

    • Title

    • Ref

    • Type = Service Action (Do not change)

    • Self Service Portal Display Category

    • Baseline, Template, Asset Catalog Checkboxes. You can hide all but Template. Do not hide Template but only check it if the Service Action will serve as a template that you will use for cloning purposes to make additional Service Actions.

  3. User and Organization - You need not populate this, but do not hide or remove from your screens

  4. Criticality and Status Section

    • Criticality - do not hide but can be left as the default

    • Status - do not hide but can be left as the default

    • Portfolio Status - Must be populated with a portfolio status available to the Self Service Portal

    • Service Level - do not hide but can be left as the default

    • Time Zone - do not hide but can be left as the default

  5. Templates and Actions

    • Select the Action for this Service Action

    • Select the Template, URL or File to download

    • Do not hide any other field in this section, but you may leave them blank

  6. Subscriber or Stakeholders - You must specify what users will be able to access this Service Action

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