A collection of discrete catalog items is what makes an overall catalog. A Record producer provides a non-ITIL user the ability to create incidents, changes, and everything other than a request from a custom front end you deliver. A catalog item is used to create requests and take advantage of their unique workflows. A Service Catalog offers three types of catalog items:
Content items – catalog items which provide information (instead of services or goods)
Order guides – used to group several catalog items in one request
Record producers – providing alternative ways of adding information via the service catalog
Record Producer
When an end-user wants the ability to create task-based records from the service catalog, you can allow him or her a type of catalog item called a Record Producer. To provide a better end-user experience, you should use record producers instead of the regular task-based form for creating records. The feel and look of a record producer are quite similar to those of a catalog item, but the users don’t have to request task records. You can create a record producer for database views and tables that are in the same scope as the record producer, as well as for tables that allow creating access from applications in other scopes.
Developers can:
· Create a record producer directly from a table record
· Use variables to collect data required for record producer fields
· Enter data for all records that were created by a record producer and redirect end-users to a specific page after the record producer is submitted
Catalog Items
A catalog item can be a service or a good. It is something that can be ordered by itself, but if it only makes sense as a part of something, then it is a part of an item. For example, a new executive desk or a Dell server is a catalog item. You can use a catalog item to publish a service to your end-users. To determine the approval and fulfillment processes for catalog items, you should add images, a service description, and a workflow. To gather or present information to the users, you can use the variables. Add Catalog Client Scripts and Catalog UI Policies to control the item’s behavior according to the user input.
Catalog items and record producers are similar because they both use variables. However, a record producer doesn’t use a request to produce an incident or change, but a script or template. A service catalog would use an execution plan or workflow to produce a request with associated Catalog Tasks and Requested Items (RITM).
A catalog item should ideally be used when you want to generate a request, complete with workflow, tasks, approvals, and so on. As for a record producer, it should be used when you want to gather information using variables (a form) but create another type of record (change, incident, enhancement, etc.) as a result.
A catalog item vs. a record producer item will appear almost the same for your end-users. Whether you are going to go for record producer or catalog item will depend on your decision regarding how you would like to handle them once they are submitted.For more information and help with Service Catalog, feel free to call us or ask a question on Twitter.