Service Catalog - Business Rules  

The helpdesk can also define business rules exclusively for Service Requests as well. Just like business rules of Incident Requests, these rules enable them to organize the incoming requests (via web form and e-mail) and perform actions such as delivering them to groups, assigning status and other request parameters. These business rules can be applied to a request: when it is created and/or edited or deleted permanently. They can also choose to notify a select group of technicians through mail/sms whenever a particular business rule is executed by configuring the Notifications section of business rules for Service Requests as per their requirements.

To access Business Rules configuration page for Service Requests, go to Admin  > Service Catalog > Service Catalog - Business Rules

Business Rules are categorized and executed in rule groups. With rule groups, you can configure to apply/restrict selected rules on an incoming request. For example, consider two rule groups A and B, where A contains rules based on priority and B contains rules based on level. For an incoming request, you can choose to apply the first two rules configured in group A and then skip to apply rules from group B.

To create a new group,

1. Click Rule Group.

2. Provide a Name and Description for the group.

3. Click Add. The group will be added to the list.

To create a new Business Rule,

1. Hover over the required group and click Add Rule.

2. Fill out the displayed form using the following pointers:

• Rule Name: Provide a name for the rule.

• Description: Describe the rule or add relevant notes.

• Execute on actions: Choose whether the rule should be executed when the request is Created and/or Edited, or Deleted Permanently. Choosing deleted permanently with abort option retains the request in trash when deleted.

• Execute during: using this option, you can choose to execute the rule only within or other than operational hours. The default choice is Any Time.

• Cascade Execution: Use this option to modify the order of the next applied business rule. You can choose to skip all remaining rules in the current group or even across all groups.

• Criteria: Choose the criteria for requests using the drop-down lists. You can configure up to 50 criteria in AND/OR combinations for a business rule.

• You can also configure multiple sub-criteria for a given criteria. The sub-criteria will be further checked for an incoming request after the criteria is verified.

• You can set criteria based on answers configured for resource questions in service templates.

• For fields such as Requester, Technician, Groups etc., you can configure criteria for dynamic input using placeholders such as $All my groups, $Logged in user, etc.

• For fields such as Status, Created by, Department, etc., you can configure criteria based on the corresponding sub-fields by clicking > beside them.

• Execute Rule when the criteria is met: This option is available only if you have chosen to apply the rule when a request is edited. Choose whether the rule must be applied only for the first time or every time the criteria is met.

• Actions: Choose whether to execute actions or abort process for incoming requests.

• If you choose to Abort process execution, provide the reason for the negation. You can use this option in combination with cascade execution to restrict business rule execution on specific requests.

• If you choose to Execute custom actions, configure the actions to perform when a request satisfies the specified criteria. You can choose to update request fields, execute custom scripts, or custom functions. You can choose to override request values with Business Rule values using the toggle button available under each action.

3. Click Save.

Updating Request Fields Using Business Rules

To update a field using a business rule,

1. In the business rule form, click Select Custom Action.

2. Choose Field Update from the drop-down.

3. In the displayed combo box, select the column and the corresponding value to update. You can use placeholders to update user-related fields with the logged-in user.

4. Proceed with the configuration. You can add up to 2 different field update actions to a business rule.

List View

From the business rules list view page, you can manage rule groups and business rules with various actions as listed below:

• View Rules in a Rule Group: To view the business rules configured within a group, click  beside the required group.

• Enable/Disable Rule: You can enable/disable a business rule from the list view using the toggle button beside the required rule.

• Organize Groups: Configure the order in which the rule groups should be executed on incoming requests. Click Organize in the list view and rearrange the rule groups from the displayed pop-up using a simple drag-and-drop method.

• Organize Business Rules: You can also modify the order in which business rules should be executed within a rule group. Hover over the required rule group and click Organize to do the action.

• Cascade Execution: You can modify the option configured for cascade execution of a business rule from the list view. To do this, click the cascade execution drop-down beside the rule and choose the required option.

• Edit Group: To edit a rule group, click  beside the required group name. Modify the details and click Update.

• Edit Business Rule: To edit a business rule, expand the rule group and click  beside the required rule. Modify the details and click Update.

• Delete Group: To delete an existing rule group, select the required groups by enabling the corresponding checkboxes and click  . A confirmation message pops up. Click Proceed to complete the action.
  Note: Deleting a rule group will also delete all rules configured in the group.

• Delete Business Rule: To delete a business rule, select the required rule by enabling the corresponding checkbox and click . A confirmation message pops up. Click Proceed to complete the action.

• Move Rules Across Groups: You can move rules from a group to a different group. To do this, select the required business rules by enabling the corresponding checkbox. From the displayed options, click Move to Group and select the required group to complete the action.

Bulk Actions

In the business rules list view page, you can perform the following actions in bulk from the list view:

• Disable Business Rule

• Enable Business Rule

• Execute next rule

• Skip remaining rules in this group

• Skip remaining rules across all groups

To perform the above listed operations, select the required business rules in the list view. From the displayed options, click Actions and choose the required operation.