6.2

Service Catalog 3
The service catalog provides a common interface for consumers of IT services to use to request and
manage the services and resources they need.
This chapter includes the following topics:
n
Requesting and Managing Items in the Catalog
n
Creating and Publishing Catalog Items
n
Service Categories
n
Catalog Items
n
Actions
n
Entitlements
Requesting and Managing Items in the Catalog
The catalog provides a self-service portal for requesting services and also enables business users to
manage their own provisioned resources.
The following example is of a typical life cycle.
Connie, the consumer of IT services, logs in to the vRealize Automation console. On the Catalog tab, she
browses for the service offerings she needs to do her job. The items that are available in the catalog are
grouped into service categories, which helps her find what she is looking for. After Connie selects a
catalog item, she can view its details to confirm that it is what she wants before submitting a request.
When Connie requests a catalog item, a form appears where she can provide information such as the
reason for her request, and any parameters for the request. For example, if she is requesting a virtual
machine, she might be able to specify the number of CPUs or amount of storage on the machine. If
Connie is not ready to submit her request, she can save it and return to it at a later time.
After Connie submits her request, it might be subject to approval. Connie can look on the Requests tab
to track the progress of her request, including whether it is pending approval, in progress, or completed.
VMware, Inc.
21