By Nancy Nafziger
What is service catalog item and how is it fulfilled? For me, there are four basic components included in the delivery of a service catalog item:
1) Service Catalog Item—name or description of a service.
2) User Portal—a self-service portal that provides a list of services that an organization provides to its employees or customers.
3) Workflow—is a delivery plan defining how the request of a service catalog item is fulfilled.
4) Integration—how the service catalog integrates with enterprise applications.
The following article is a must-read, it provides a simple example describing how the basic components, service catalog item, user portal, workflow, and integration all snap together via a configuration process to fulfill a service request. The article details how a task tree and Handlers can be used to map out and accommodate tasks like an approval process or integration with enterprise applications in HR, Procurement or IT. Data within these applications can be used to move the service item through to completion for actions such as ordering a laptop and phone, an it provisioning network or application access, and registering new assets in IT.
Anatomy of a Service Catalog Item, by Brett Norgaard
When presented with a rather simple-looking service item in a service catalog, what is really behind it? An appropriate analogy may be that of a duck moving swiftly along in a pond barely disturbing the surface, yet underneath the water, the webbed feet are churning away. The same combination of simplicity and strength is required of today’s service catalog items. The demands of self-service, interactivity, integration, ease of use and moving service catalogs beyond IT make it essential to know the make-up of a successful service item.
Cassy Lueneburg