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Services

Register services as service offerings that you can provide to the consumers in the Service portfolio and publish them in the Service catalog.

A service offering can be based on one or more products.

There are several types of service offerings:

  • Goods that are transferred to the consumer. The goods are transferred directly from the provider to the consumer and the consumer is responsible for further use of the received goods.
  • Access to resources provided to the consumer on certain terms. The provider keeps ownership of the resources that are available to the consumer during the period of time defined in the agreement.
  • Service action performed by the provider to satisfy the needs of the consumer (for instance, technical support). The action is performed under the agreement with the consumer.

Multiple service offerings can be created based on the same product to meet the demands of different consumer groups.

The service relationship between the service provider and the consumer is established when the consumer chooses a service offering from the Service catalog.

To define service relationship between the service provider and the consumer, you need to add an agreement to the service. The agreement defines the service consumer (user, customer, sponsor); optionally you can add a related contract.

The diagram below illustrates the process of providing services:

tip

Role required: service_catalog_manager.

Create a new service​

To create service offerings and define them with descriptions, SLAs, and other service specifications stored in the Knowledge Base, follow the steps below:

  1. Navigate to Service Portfolio → Service Pipeline or CMDB → Services.
  2. Click New and fill in the fields.
  3. Click Save or Save and exit to apply the changes.

Service form fields​

FieldMandatoryDescription
NumberYThis field is populated automatically and has the SRVXXXXXXX format.
NameYSpecify a name for the service.
Service typeY

Specify the type of the service. Available options:

  • Business – this service is provided on a business level.
  • Operational – one of the service provider company's departments delivers this service.
  • From external supplier – this service is provided by a third party.
  • Request – this is a sub-service within a business service in accordance with the specific typical request.
Offering typeN

Specify the type of service offering provided within the service range. Available options:

  • Goods – the offering consists of supplying a specific instance of product to the consumer who is responsible for further use of the received instance.
  • Access to resources – the offering consists of providing access to the resources and products for a time period and on terms defined by the agreement. The provider keeps ownership of the resources and products.
  • Service actions – the offering consists of performing a service action, specific act of work aimed at satisfying the needs of the consumer.
Request modelY/NSpecify a request model related to the service. The field is available if Request is selected in the Service type field.
Request model.CategoryY/NThe field displays the catalog category that contains the Request model. The field is available if Request is selected in the Service type field.
Request model.Category.CatalogY/NThe field displays the catalog name that contains the model request category. The field is available if Request is selected in the Service type field.
Main serviceNSpecify the main service. A main service is the highest item in the service hierarchy.
External service specificationY/NSpecify the service-related articles of the External object category described in the Knowledge Base. You can specify articles related to the current service and the service specified as the Main service.

This field is mandatory for an article to enter the Active state. In this case, you must specify at least two published articles:

  • one of the SLA type,
  • one of the Service description type.

These specifications will be available on the portal page when registering a request related to this service.

When deleting an article record from this field, the Service field on the article form is also cleared.

When an article's state is changed to any state other than Published, its record is removed from this field.

Internal service specificationY/NDefine articles of the Internal object category. You can specify articles related to the current service and the service specified as the Main service.

This field is mandatory for an article to enter the Active state. In this case, you must specify at least one published article of the Internal object category.

When deleting an article record from this field, the Service field on the article form is also cleared.

When an article's state is changed to any state other than Published, its record is removed from this field.

StateY

The field displays the state of the service. Available options:

  • New – the service has just been created. When a service has just been created, the New state is assigned to it automatically.
  • Active – the service is available to users and can be found in the Service Catalog. To make the service Active, you must specify at least two published articles (one service description and one SLA specification) in the External service specification field and one published article in the Internal service specification field. To change these requirements, configure the related business rule for the Service (sys_cmdb_ci_service) table.
  • Inactive – the service is not available and is stored in the Service Pipeline.
Service providerY/NSpecify a provider listed in the Service Provider (service_provider) table. You can select only an active record.

The field is optional in the Inactive state.

Service ownerYSpecify the person responsible for the service. You can select only among users who work in the organization specified in the Service provider field.
Business criticalityY

Specify the service cruciality to the business. Available options:

  • High – has a significant impact on the business.
  • Normal – has a minor impact on the business.
Operational stateY

Specify the availability level of the service. Available options:

  • Available – a proper level of service delivery is provided.
  • Degraded – the quality of service delivery does not correspond to the specified requirements.
  • Unavailable – the service is entirely unavailable.
  • Maintenance – the service is not available due to maintenance activities.
DescriptionNAdd a description for the service.

The following related lists are located on the form:

  • Agreements – the list of agreements associated with the service. The list is available if the Service type is one of: Business, Operational, or From external supplier.
  • Internal Service Specification – the list of articles with the Internal object category related to this service.
  • External Service Specification – the list of articles with the External object category related to this service.
  • Products – the list of products to which the service is related. The products can be related only to the Business services. You can connect a product to a service with an M2M table. The list is available if the Service Type is one of: Business, Operational, or From external supplier.
  • Product Modules – the list of product modules to which the service is related. The product modules can be related only to the Business services. You can connect a product module to a service with an M2M table.
  • Incoming CMDB Relationship – the list of CI relationships in which the current service is the Recipient CI. The list is available if the Service Type is one of: Business, Operational, or From external supplier.
  • Outgoing CMDB Relationship – the list of CI relationships in which the current service is the Source CI. The list is available if the Service Type is one of: Business, Operational, or From external supplier.

Activate an existing service​

To make an existing service visible to end-users, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Service Portfolio → Service Pipeline.
  2. Open the required service record.
  3. In the State field, select Active.
  4. Specify a service description and an SLA content item class in the Service specification field if they have not been specified yet.
  5. Click Save.

The service is now available in the Service Portfolio → Service Catalog menu.

Deactivate an existing service​

To make your service invisible to end-users, follow these steps:

  1. Navigate to Service Portfolio → Service Catalog.
  2. Open the required service record.
  3. In the State field, select Inactive.
  4. Click Save.

The service is now inactive and cannot be seen by end-users. It is available in the Service Portfolio → Service Pipeline menu.

note

To view the list of all the services, go to CMDB → Services.