The Service Catalog is a fully configurable means of presenting the services, apps, and information available to the business, in a highly graphical manner. All types of categories can be mixed and matched to present a richer offering to employees with diverse needs, ranging across the organization.
An App Store allows a library of image-rich available applications to be offered so that business users can make their own sourcing decisions. This allows IT to retain control without limiting decision-making abilities of the business users. Configurable filters can be defined to enable easier discovery and delivery can be determined by individual apps, whether immediately downloadable or requested for subsequent delivery through a range of integration options.
A panel allows real-time HTML content from an external source to be presented. This might be the logged-on user’s open tickets, division reports, or even a news feed. It is also possible to present clickable buttons within the panel that could automatically create a context-appropriate request, e.g., add extra memory to a specific VM, from a list of available VMs.
A service category can be configured with HTML-embedded images and links to aid navigation and service discovery. Categories can contain any number of sub-categories or Services and access restrictions can be applied to any category or Service within the catalog to ensure that users only see what is relevant to them.
The Service Catalog administration pages allow WYSIWYG (‘what you see is what you get’) editing of the hierarchy and allows moving/copying of category nodes as well as the linkage of services and items.
Designing the Service Catalog begins by deciding what options are being offered to end-users and how this can be achieved, e.g., which services should be available to users and how should they be grouped; what information should be included to enable the end-user to make an informed choice; where can this information be sourced and how can it be kept up to date; is the service requestable or is it merely conveying information; if requestable, is it driven by one or more products (i.e., a bundle), is it sourced from an app store or is it just a business form; is the information hosted externally; how should the data be presented and are high-quality images available to create an attractive and enticing offering, to a similar standard that end users are familiar with socially.
Once a clearer picture emerges, the creation of the Service Catalog can start, with the primary principle always in mind that end-users should be able to locate any available offering easily and intuitively. The ‘carousel’ and ‘service menu’ are two display options that may be utilized particularly where large catalogs are in use..
A Notice is a news-ticker style item which displays at the top of the home page and allows important or relevant information to be presented to the end-user. Notice types, of Alert or Information, can be customized via the Admin > Settings > Theme page. Clicking on a notice allows a rich text display of additional detail or linking out to an external site.
This article covers the following topics:
- Designing the Service Catalog
- Creating a Service Catalog
- Creating an App Store
- Creating a Panel Category
- Creating a Service Category
- Notice
- Service Catalog overview
- Theming Guide
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