When information flows between VSM and another system, like Service Now, there is often a requirement to pass specific information that assists in linking customers or equipment. 

A typical example might be identifying servers with a certain Service Level Agreement (SLA), and ensuring that any alarms raised within VSM, which impact those servers, pass that SLA

information through (to third party systems) for additional processing.

Overview

It is possible to associate VSM objects, such as equipment, locations, or customers with a tag.

A tag comprises:

• Top-level Tag Category
  • Key
    • Additionally, each key may have a descriptive value associated with it.

Example 1, a Service Level Agreement tag might look like this:

Users could then configure their workflows so that for every VSM Alarm, the equipment or location details associated with that alarm are checked against the SLA Tag category.

Based on the key the alarm is then actioned accordingly.

Example 2, a Business Partner creates a tag to identify versions of ACMs across their entire Customer base:

Users could then go through the entire ACM equipment list for all customers and assign them a version. Then, from the tag management page, they could query all ACMs on Version 8.  

Users could then also set up a workflow which passes through the tag details in the alarm object, allowing a third-party integration tool, such as Service Now, to take a specific action, based on the ACM version.

Configuration and Management

For Business Partners, tags are accessed via the top menu under Service Desk> Manage All Tags - Preview.

At a Customer level, view and configure tags via Service Desk> Manage Tags

Managing Tags

To delete a Tag Category and all keys, right-click and select Delete Category.

To create a new tag, click the 'Add Tag' button.

To edit Tag Category name or add/edit/ delete a key, right-click on a tag category then click 'Edit' or 'Delete Category'.

To edit a Tag Category, right-click and select Edit.

Add a Tag

Give your Tag Category a name and add a minimum of 1 key. (Your Tag Category name must be unique.)

1. To add a key click '+'.
2. Values and Associations are optional.
3. To add additional Keys, enter a new Key name and click '+'. Note that the Keys name must be unique.

Click the 'Save' button to save your Tag Category.

Edit a Tag

Use the icons to the right of the keys to edit (pencil) or delete (trash can) an existing key, 

Tag Privacy 

Tags made by upstream entities are private to entities downstream, whilst all tags made by downstream entities are visible to all upstream entities.

Tag Inheritance

Tags can be inherited, that is:

• If 'all' for a location is selected, all equipment beneath that location will be automatically associated with that tag, including any subsequent new equipment added.     
• If all locations under a customer are selected, any new locations added in future will automatically be associated with that tag, and any equipment beneath it.   

For example:

Customer 2  has a Silver SLA requiring an 8 hour response time on all equipment except for their Test Lab, which is configured under a location called Test Lab. 

Business partners should create the tag as follows.

In this example,

• For customer 1, all their locations, and equipment are associated with the Service Level Agreement Tag Key, "Silver".
• For customer 2, ONLY the equipment under 'Location 2 - Production' are associated with the Service Level Agreement Key, "Silver".
• Customer 3 is not associated with the Service Level Agreement Key, "Silver".

The Tag is automatically set to private and will be visible to Business Partner entities, but invisible to Customer entities.

The "Gold" key is associated with a different customer, whilst the "Unsupported", and "Bronze" keys have not been associated with any objects (customers, locations, or equipment) yet.

Tags are integrated throughout VSM, for example via Service Desk> Equipment Location> Manage Equipment Page, or via the Table view of the Landing Page (see image below).

Overriding and adding tags at the equipment level

It is possible to configure tags at the equipment level.  This is useful when:

• Adding or editing equipment, without needing to navigate from the Manage Equipment to the Tag Management page.
• Overriding default inherited tags - where a tag has been configured to be applied to all objects, under a customer, or location - any new tags will automatically be associated with that tag.
  • However, this can be overridden on the equipment level by un-associating the tag. (by clicking on the un-link icon)

External Integration via Workflows

Tags for any object can flow through workflows to be consumed by an external third party.  

There are two workflow Activities:

• Get Tags
• Get Tag Details