A Proactive, One-Stop Shop

LANDesk® Service Catalogue offers employees and customers a one-stop shop to make their own requests for software, hardware and services. Accessible from within the LANDesk® Self Service website, the catalogue provides an attractive, online "shop window" that lets users browse a graphical, hierarchical list of all the live IT services they are allowed to request. At the same time, LANDesk Service Catalogue allows IT to publish, distribute and manage approved services to end users more effectively.

Users can search for and select services easily, by navigating a catalogue tree or using keyword search and filter facilities to view detailed service information, much like browsing an Internet retail site. However, a significant feature is that users can only view the services that their job function or role allows them to see. Displaying only those services available to specific users helps avoid frustration from users while reducing the time spent by the service desk in rejecting unauthorized service requests.

Administrators can create multiple entitlement-based catalogue views so that different areas of the business have views of the catalogue according to what they are entitled to see. Finally, if services are not currently live, e.g., they are in the planning stage or are being retired, end users aren't able to view them.

Once a request is fulfilled, it stays live, with a status of "subscribed." This is ideal, for example, should the service desk need to communicate with a group of users regarding a change in service. The status will remain as "subscribed" for a user until the service is withdrawn, enabling the service desk to deliver specific communications or RSS feeds to each service user group as required.

Corporate App Store

Designed to work as a corporate app store, LANDesk Service Catalogue is more than just an attractive front end from which customers request services. Instead, it incorporates the complete request fulfillment process inherent in LANDesk^® Service Desk. The service desk delivers service request options, subscription, service removal and delivery managed by a fulfillment process. This ensures that IT policy and process are still met while providing individuals a user-friendly experience commonly found in consumer app stores.

The "round trip" fulfillment of requests can be initiated from the service catalogue thanks to the tight integration between the LANDesk Service Desk suite, desktop systems and automation solutions such as LANDesk^® Management Suite and the LANDesk management automation platform. This integration enables the automatic deployment of requested software and services to end users with notification of completion back to LANDesk Service Desk, mirroring the "request-receive" app store style behavior that consumers of IT have become accustomed to.

View Detailed Service Information

Similar to a consumer app store, the service catalogue presents a graphical list of services containing an image of each service, its title and description, plus any other data that IT wishes to publicize. Users can scroll through the list, or use a catalogue tree to narrow down the list, or simply enter keywords in a search field.

In addition, depending on how much information IT wants to show, users can view more detailed information about the service, including cost or response-level details, such as how long it would typically take to receive the service. A published service can also consist of several services bundled together, and users can see the detail of what they would receive. For example, a request for a new laptop could also include all the application software, etc., relevant to that job role.

When users locate the service they require, they click on "Request Service" to launch a service request, which then pre-fills a request form with the relevant data, e.g., who wants it and what it is they want, plus any other template-based data. This speeds request logging while reducing the risk of input errors.

Shopping cart

From here a requester is given a selection of choices to "Add to Cart," "Add to Cart and Checkout" or "Cancel" the request. The requestor has the flexibility to modify their cart before committing to checkout or starting again. Once the requester selects "Checkout," the relevant request fulfillment process for that service is followed, ensuring a controlled and streamlined process. What's more, the requester is not left in the dark while the request is being fulfilled. The requester can monitor and continue to affect the progress of requests from their LANDesk Self Service interface, including cancelling the service if needed.

The additional bundles concept within LANDesk Service Catalogue also allows a complete set of separate fulfillment request processes to be joined together and presented as one services bundle—allowing an end user to select "all of the services needed" for one role or job function in a single request step.

End User Requests and Requests for Others

In addition to end users making their own requests through the service catalogue, it is also possible for managers to make requests on behalf of their staff. For example, if the manager of a marketing team wants team members to use a specific content authoring package, he or she can request this package for each of them.

On the flip side, analysts at the service desk who still need to log requests on behalf of users also benefit from the service catalogue functionality. The list of available services is filtered as though the end user is making the request. The authorization steps built into the LANDesk out-of-the-box processes will still ensure that appropriate checks are applied to all requests, whoever requests them.

Track and Control

LANDesk Service Catalogue also contributes to the consistent maintenance of your configuration management database (CMDB), supporting an accurate picture of your CIs. When a request is completed, the corresponding configuration data stored in the CMDB is updated to reflect changes incurred. For example, if a request for a new laptop with all the appropriate software to support a marketing employee is made and fulfilled, the CMDB would be updated to reflect this change, linking the user to the laptop.

Access a Powerful Publishing Mechanism

LANDesk Service Catalogue end users only see the tip of the catalogue iceberg. Behind the scenes, a powerful yet easy-to-use publishing mechanism helps service desk administrators ensure that the catalogue list contains only those items to which each user is entitled. Services can be published to groups, roles or "everyone". Moreover, the list has built-in intelligence to exclude services a user already has—unless it's a service that can be requested many times, such as network directory access. Thus, the list of services shown in the catalogue varies depending on who views it and what they have access to, ensuring that IT receives only valid requests, saving time and money.

Benefits

• Provide users an attractive, familiar one-stop shop from within LANDesk Self Service for making service requests
• Reduce service desk costs by encouraging self service usage and providing standard service offerings
• Improve efficiency by providing consistent, process-driven service requests and fulfillment
• Service desk staff only receive valid requests for entitled services, reducing time declining unauthorized requests
• Monitor usage volume per service to enhance informed planning of future needs
• Provide a proactive shop window for your IT department, improving IT's image and promoting IT's value within the organization

Overview of Features

Design Features

• Design, configure and maintain your service catalogue via the service catalogue component in LANDesk Service Desk
• Define both technical and business services
• Define single or bundled services
• Define and provision services accordingly by checking or clicking boxes on and off—e.g., if a license check box is clicked and the request includes software that is license dependent, the next step in the process would be to obtain management authorization
• Define what processes your different service requests use as a part of the service definition
• Publish your service catalogue to the self-service website
• Publish only those items users are entitled to
• Central publishing mechanism determines who can have what
• Items that users already have are excluded automatically from their view (unless the item can be requested multiple times)
• Design your service catalogue Web interface using LANDesk Self Service
• Use request management processes in LANDesk Service Desk to keep your service request data separate from incident, problem, change and other management data
• Configured to follow ITIL best practice
• Powered by comprehensive, prebuilt, configurable request fulfillment processes

End User Features

• Graphical presentation of catalogue in familiar intuitive format
• Browse the service catalogue hierarchy or use search and filter facilities to find a service
• View detailed service information from the catalogue
• Submitting requests; in addition, managers can request for staff and analysts can request on behalf of anyone
• The submission process follows the same rules of what users can have, with the option to override