Tips and thought for creating categories for an ITSM Service Desk

1. Randy Terry
SR IT Manager Project Manager
PMP ITIL Certified

2. Whatisthisabout?
Category Schemas make up the foundation of Service
Desk software. Those that are created correctly can
greatly enable an IT team’s support efforts. Created
poorly will lead to abandonment of the service desk and
upset customers.
The author came upon this subject matter several years
ago. At that time there was no guide, no sample lists,
very little sound advice, and an abundance of useless
information.
Following is his top items to consider when creating your
Category Schema. It’s not meant to be a full guide.

3. Somereasonswhyitisimportant?
Root foundation that service desk is built on
KPI’s arise from them
Enables the ability to determine trends
Provides top time commitments
Provides top services
What should be addressed
What should be automated
Determines routing to resolver group

4. Not enough detail and thought ->
ROI loss
Disgruntled IT staff Users
Not used
Too much detail levels ->
Disliked
Time intensive for service desk, levels 1-3
Not used

5. Correctamountofdetail, thought, andlevels ->
Stream lines or automates intake
Efficient handling of intake, work, and closing
Meaningful KPI’s, Dashboards, and reports
Happy IT staff and users
Sorry there is No one Schema for all
Industries
Company Size
User needs

6. Operational Incidents
Operational Service Requests
Resolutions
Product

7. Throw a wide net of inclusion
Engage all of IT areas or SD departments
Use spreadsheet to create and manage later
Define and discuss incidents vs service requests
Understand how categories are used in your service
desk system
How many categories
How many levels offered
Refrain from using MISC or OTHER categories!!
Think of Common terms, accurate entry, report
abilities when creating.

8. Answers the ? “What will you repair, add, replace,
remove, modify”. Nouns
Typically has 3 Tier levels, Product Name,
Manufacture
Detailed - List them all! - CMDB
Tier 1: Root Level General
Tier 2: Usually Unit
Tier 3: Usually component
Product Name: Actual product name
Manufacture: Manufacture name

9. Tier 1 Ex: Hardware, Software, Service
Tier 2 Ex: Usually Unit
Tier 3 Ex: Usually component
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Vers Product Name Manuf Na
Hardware Handheld 5S iPhone ATT Apple
Hardware Laptop Computer Latitude E6400 Dell
Hardware Printer Laserjet 8000 HP
Hardware Server Server ProLiant BL460c G1 HP
Service ATT Circuit T1
Software PC/Client Productivity 8 Acrobat Adobe
Software Web Application Sharepoint 2003 Microsoft

10. Determine tracking of Incidents and Service
Requests in system.
Incident only
What broke is translated to what is needed
Broken blue screen is Repair Computer
Typically 3 Tier levels allowed, may not use all
Strategy over detail
Do not use Tier 3 for Product category

11. Tier 1: Verb->Repair, Reset, Lost, Train-Inform
Tier 2: Noun->Simplest unit
Tier 3: Use sparingly
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3 Notes
Repair Hardware
Repair Software
Reset Password
Train/Inform A/V Meeting Assistance How to provided
Train/Inform Referral Facilities Facilities Issue
Lost/Stolen Hardware

12. Determine tracking of Incidents and Service
Requests in system.
If SR only – otherwise combine
User requires Add, Move, or Change
Typically 3 Tier levels allowed, may not use all
Strategy over detail
Does not include Product category

13. Tier 1: Verb->Add, Move, ChangeModify
Tier 2: Noun->Simplest unit
Tier 3: Use sparingly
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Add Access Rights
Add Hardware
Add Printer Ink
Add Software
Modify Account
Modify Software
Move Hardware
Restore Email

14. Captures what actually was done
Aligned with Incident and SR categories
Required Repair, Add, Move, or Change
Typically 3 Tier levels allowed, may not use all
Strategy over detail
Does not include Product category

15. Tier 1: Verb->Repair, Add, Move, Change
Modify
Tier 2: Noun->Simplest unit
Tier 3: Use sparingly
Tier 1 Tier 2 Tier 3
Add Projector Bulb
Add Software
Add Storage/Capacity
Modify Account
Remove Malware/Virus/Spyware
Remove Software
Repair Hardware
Repair Software
Reset Password
Restart Hardware
Restore Connectivity
Train/Inform Referral Human Resources

16. Train IT
Create quick guides
Require minimum selections to be made
Lock down categories change access
Prepare to add and remove quickly in beginning
ITSM language is for IT NOT for Customers

17. About the Author
Randy Terry has been in IT for 17 years and an IT
Manager Project Manager for over 7 years.
He has empowered and improved many IT
departments by providing thoughtful leadership
and change while implementing great ITSM
solutions.
His Education includes a BA in Information Systems,
PMP and ITIL certifications
Randy can be reached on
https://www.linkedin.com/in/randyterry