Self-service provisioning and management allows users to view and manage cloud resources, including the ability to request new VMs and instances or request changes to existing services. Using the web-based Service Portal, virtual infrastructure administrators can provide users with an information-rich view of their assets without allowing access to the underlying cloud infrastructure. Commander also provides powerful workflow capabilities to allow you to set resource limits and configurations for the services users request.
In Commander, you can set up a process to help you manage service requests received from Service Portal users (as well as from Commander users). You can create and use a service request form by itself or add workflows to create a complete service request process from the initial user request through to deployment and final release of the service to the user.
If you're setting up workflow processes, we recommend that you carry out the tasks in the following order. You can access all of these tasks can be accessed from Configuration > Self-Service.
- Placement — Ensure that service requests are deployed to the best destination by customizing the global placement strategy and configuring placement attributes. See Configure a Global Placement Strategy and Configure Placement Attributes
- Catalog — Make services available for a Service Portal user to request. Add services that users can request
- Forms — Customize the default Service Request form to help Service Portal users request services. Also for specific services, create new forms that are only available to designated organizations and groups. See Create New Service Requests.
- Approval — Set up an approval workflow for approving new service requests or change requests. See Create Approval Workflows for Service Requests and Create Approval Workflows for Change Requests.
- Change Requests — Create custom change requests that Commander and Service Portal users may select when they want to request changes to services.
- Provisioning — Create a custom naming convention for deployed services. Configure automated deployment for approved requests.
- Completion — Set up a completion workflow for new service requests or change requests.
- Notification — Set up email notification to automatically send an email when a user submits a service request.
Reports
You can use the following reports to monitor and evaluate service requests:
