7.3

If the request results in an item being provisioned, it is added to Connie's list of items on the Items tab.
Here she can view the item details or perform additional actions on her items. In the virtual machine
example, she might be able to power on or power off the machine, connect to it through Remote Desktop,
reconfigure it to add more resources, or dispose of it when she no longer needs it. The actions she can
perform are based on entitlements and can also be made subject to approval based on flexible approval
policies.
Creating and Publishing Catalog Items
Catalog administrators and tenant administrators can define new catalog items and publish them to the
service catalog. Tenant administrators and business group managers can entitle the new item to
consumers.
Typically, a catalog item provides a complete specification of the resource to be provisioned and the
process to initiate when the item is requested. It also defines the options that are available to a requester
of the item, such as virtual machine configuration or lease duration, or any additional information that the
requester is prompted to provide when submitting the request.
For example, Sean has privileges to create and publish blueprints, including software components and
XaaS. After the blueprint is published, Sean, or a catalog administrator or a tenant administrator
responsible for managing the catalog, can then configure the catalog item, including specifying an icon
and adding the item to a service.
To make the catalog item available to users, a tenant administrator or business group manager must
entitle the item to the users and groups who should have access to it in the service catalog.
Services for the Service Catalog
Services are used to organize catalog items into related offerings to make it easier for service catalog
users to browse for the catalog items they need.
For example, catalog offerings can be organized into Infrastructure Services, Application Services, and
Desktop Services.
A tenant administrator or catalog administrator can specify information about the service such as the
service hours, support team, and change window. Although the catalog does not enforce service-level
agreements on services, this information is available to business users browsing the service catalog.
Catalog Items
Users can browse the service catalog for catalog items that they are entitled to request.
Some catalog items result in an item being provisioned that the user can manage through its life cycle.
For example, an application developer can request storage as a service, then later add capacity, request
backups, and restore previous backups.
Foundations and Concepts
VMware, Inc. 29