System Center Service Manager

System Center Service Manager information(blog) overview

(December 2011 updated)

System Center Service Manager 2010 is released some time and there is already a lot of information available on blog sites. The main source for creating this list is the Service Manager Product Group blog site. Other blog sites like the one from Anders Bengtsson (MVP), Patrik Sundqvist, Marcel Zehner and our own Belgian SCSM User Group Blog provide additional information about Service Manager.

With this blog I want to bring this information all together and provide a categorized overview of the System Center Service Manager 2010 information that is published.

Another blog is started that is gathering the blog information for the System Center Service Manager 2012 version, you can find this blog here.

This list becomes large…full with nice solutions!

Service Manager general information

• Announcing- System Center Service Manager (SCSM) 2010 Unleashed Book To Be Published 
• How Do I Get Started With System Center Service Manager?
• System Center Service Manager Overview Interview/Demo
• Where’s the Docs-
• New System Center Service Manager Webcasts
• Service Manager 2010 Ramp Up Materials Now Publicly Available
• Service Manager 2010 Hosted Test Drive/Hands On Labs Now Available on TechNet!
• System-center-service-manager-demos
• Service Manager Shapes - Visio Templates
• IT GRC Process Management Pack and Compliance Management Series for Microsoft System Center Service Manager 
• Service Manager 2010 Authoring Tool RTM + Cumulative Update 2 (KB2193861) Released! 
• Automating IT- SCSM, SCCM, SCOM, SCVMM, Opalis – Better Together
• How Microsoft Does Service Manager – MPSD 
• Opalis SCSM Integration Pack Activities 
• Best Practices- SCCM Configuration Pack for SCSM 
• Coming Soon- System Center Service Manager Resource Kit 
• Intel Driver Update Now Available to Fix Service Manager WPF Issue 
• System Center Service Manager Cumulative Updates overview (CU3 released) 
• Service Manager Architecture Diagram 
• New System Center Service Manager Forums on TechNet
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Management Pack for Service Manager now RTM! 
  • Simplifying and Automating IT Governance, Risk and Compliance
• Why Won’t My MP Import- The Case of the Required Property Without a Default Value
• Service Manager Roadmap Update – What’s Coming- 
• Microsoft IT Showcase Whitepaper- How MPSD Deployed Service Manager 
• System Center Service Manager 2010 SP1 Product Documentation 
• System Center Service Manager 2010 SP1 Available for Download Now!
• Just Released- Exchange Connector and Send Email Solution (Update on “Resource Kit”)
• Model Visio Diagram Released! Job Aids Package Update (Update on “Resource Kit”)
• Downloads Page Now Live on TechNet (Final Update on “Resource Kit”)
• Cumulative Update 1 for System Center Service Manager SP1 Released! 
• Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC) Management Pack SP1 is RTM!
• Service Manager on New TechNet Gallery (Beta) 
• New Community Opalis Integration Pack for Service Manager 
• Service Manager 2010 SP1 Now Supports Windows Server 2008 R2/Windows 7 SP1 and SQL Server 2008 SP2
• New Community Opalis Integration Pack for SCSM 
• SCSM Opalis Integration Pack 2.0 Now Released
• SCSM 2010 SP1 Cumulative Update 2 (CU2) Now Available! 
• TechEd US 2011 Content Online Now–Catalog of Session PPTs and Recordings
• Service Manager 2012 CTP1 delivered to TAP customers & Partners
• The System Center Blog Aggregator app is now available on Android
• Now available- A hotfix for Cumulative Update 1 for System Center Service Manager 2010 SP1- May 
• New IT Governance and Compliance Solution Accelerator – Now in Beta Release!
• A hotfix is now available to let you add or remove rights for an operation in profiles to accommodate custom types that were added to the System Center Service Manager 2010 environment
• New Hotfix- Hotfix package 2561430 is available for System Center Service Manager 2010 Service Pack 1
• Hotfix- The System Center Service Manager 2010 Active Directory Connector does not synchronize new updates after switching domain controller
• New Hotfix- Hotfix package 2561430 is available for System Center Service Manager 2010 SP1 (New)
• List of Build Numbers for System Center Service Manager (New)
• System Center Service Manager 2010 Cumulative Update 3 Now Available! (New)
• Linux Computer Form MP Released (New)
• Management Pack Schema Version 1.1 XSD Released (New)

FAQ

• Does Service Manager Support Multitenancy/Managed Service Providers?
• Managing-virtualization-with-system-center-service-manager
• Frequently Asked Questions: SCSM 2010 International
• FAQ- Why Don’t Work Item IDs Increment Uniformly-
• FAQ- Why Can’t I Add Some Columns That I Want to Views- 

Video

• Demo Video- How to Extend the Data Model in SCSM Using the Authoring Tool
• Creating Custom Configuration Item Classes Using the Service Manager Authoring Tool
• Demo Video- Adding a ‘Customer’ Property to the Incident Class and Form
• Creating an AD “Connector” to Update AD when the Service Manager CMDB is Updated Using PowerShell
• System Center Service Manager – A Deep Dive on How to Automate ITIL or MOF
• Extending Service Management Solutions with Microsoft System Center
• Using the Keyboard to Quickly Fill Out Forms in System Center Service Manager
• Automating IT with System Center– Is Your Career Heading Toward “Blue Collar IT” or “White Collar IT" (New)
• SCSM Deep Dive Summit (New)

Service Manager ITIL/MOF

• Incident Management – High Level Overview
• Mapping-itil-mof-change-management-process-to-the-features-of-the-systems-center-service-manager
• MOF Change Management process to the features of the System Center Service Manager Part 2
• MOF Change Management process to the features of the System Center Service Manager Part 3
• Mapping-itil-mof-change-management-process-to-the-features-of-the-system-center-service-manager-part-4
• MOF Change Management processes to the features of System Center Service Manager Part 5
• Service Mapping 
• What is a SCSM Service Map? 

Installation of Service Manager

• Setup command line trick
• How to Look Up the Management Group Name
• Installing Service Manager part I (Beta)
• New version! Management Pack Compare Utility
• Service Manager management servers in NLB
• Enable SSL on IIS 7.0 - 7.5 with a domain certificate instead of the standard self signed certificate
• System Center Data Access Service Start Up Failure Due to SQL Configuration Change (New)

Configuration of Service Manager

SCSM Mgmt console configuration

• Brief overview of the Service Manager Console
• Custom console tasks- Part 1
• System Center Service Manager - Tracking additional Incident information and displaying it on a customized Incident Form
• Creating Workspaces (aka “wunderbars”) in System Center Service Manager
• Showing-web-based-content-in-a-custom-view
• Automatically Sending Notifications to Reviewers
• Create a view of all Activities that are a part of a Change Request and see the Change Request in the view columns.
• Office Communicator Integration – The Hidden Feature
• Hidden-feature-export-data-to-excel-from-a-view
• Create View for Incidents that have not been modified in last 7 days
• E-mail-user-from-service-manager-console
• Service Manager role based security scoping
• Hiding the Incident Extensions Tab
• Showing the Correct Display Name for Related Objects in View Columns 
• All Work Items Assigned to Me View
• FAQ: How Can I Enable Non-Admins to Create/Edit/Delete Announcements? 
• FAQ- Why is My Custom Incident View So Slow- 
• Solution- Improperly configured views in the Service Manager 2010 console generate the error "An error occurred while loading the items"
• Tasks - Part 3- Command Line Console Tasks
• Hiding Console Tasks (New)

Service Manager configuration & automation

• Adding a Custom Property to a Form – Support Group Property for Problem Form Example
• SCOM Service Manager Management Pack 
• Best Practices: Service Manager 2010 Management Pack for Operations Manager 2007 R2
• Creating Queues and Groups Using Type Projections
• How to Identify that a Change Requests was Created in the Self Service Portal
• Routing Incidents Submitted by Email
• Sending Notifications to Users in Different Languages
• enable-full-text-search-for-non-english-knowledge-article.aspx
• Search Multiple Knowledge Bases at Once with Knowledge Search Providers
• Localizing-forms-service-request-example
• Importing Knowledge into Service Manager 2010
• Create-list-items-in-bulk-using-enumcreator-xlsx
• Action-log-history-and-auditing-in-service-manager
• Target knowledge to a group of users
• Target IT Announcement to a group of users in Service Manager
• Getting a List of Connected Users
• Inserting links to Review/Manual Activities in notifications.
• Understanding Lists/EnumerationValues: CI Status Example
• Requesting Input from User About an Incident
• Using localized resources from Service Manager in custom applications
• Who is using the computer-
• Create incidents based on a CSV file
• Configure SCSM email incident support
• Update incidents by e-mail in Service Manager 2010
• Notifying the Affected User When the Analyst Has Updated the Action Log 
• Top Secret Trick- Easily Viewing Configuration Items and Other Work Items Related to a User 
• FAQ- What Happens When Two People Edit the Same Object at the Same Time- 
• Automatically Notifying Groups of Users 
• Using And/Or Criteria in Workflow and Notification Subscriptions 
• Incident Escalation Workflows Using Opalis 
• Setting Time Zone and Locale for Users in Bulk 
• Using Opalis to Upload and Attach Files and Knowledge Articles 
• Send e-mail to affected user 
• Handling Standard Changes in Service Manager 
• Testing Outbound Email Notifications Using Telnet 
• Manually Creating Service Connection Points (SCP) for SCSM
• Figuring out Management Pack Dependencies 
• Custom Icons for Views and Folders 
• How to Notify the Assigned to User when an Incident is Updated via the Exchange Connector 
• Indicating VIPs Through Form Customization 
• Dynamic web farm with Opalis, VMM, OPSMGR and SCSM 
• Identify problems with Opalis and Service Manager 
• Generate SCSM Incident with Opalis 
• Generate demo e-mails with Opalis 
• Color Coded Views 
• Adding a custom image to a folder or view in Service Manager 2010 
• What Happens to a User in the CMDB When it is Deleted in Active Directory (AD)-
• Cancelling Pending Activities When a Change Request Fails 
• Save time for servicedesk with Opalis 
• Copy Templates in Service Manager 
• Autoincrement Property IDs 
• CSV-Import of Objects using Type Projections 
• Get the SMTP Address of a User CI 
• Using the Exchange Connector and the default Incident-by-Mail function together
• Auto-Assign unassigned Incidents by using the SCSM Extensions V2.0 OIP

SCSM & PowerShell information

• Creating PowerShell Cmdlets for Service Manager – Announcements and Remove-SCSM ManagementPack Examples
• SCSM PowerShell Cmdlets v0.1
• Service Manager ‘SMLets’ CodePlex Project Expanded
• SMLets Beta 2 Released 
• New SCSM CodePlex Project- SCSM Façade
• Properly Querying SCSM Using SMLets Get-SCSMObject cmdlet
• Updating a Change Request when Activities are Updated Using PowerShell in a Workflow
• SMLets Beta 3 Released!
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #1 – Using Get-SCSMObject, Get-SCSMClass to Dump Data from SCSM 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #2–Using Get-SCSMEnumeration, Get-SCSMRelationshipObject, Get-SCSMRelat 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #3–Using Set-SCSMObject to Bulk Update Properties on Objects
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #4–Using New-SCSMObject to Create Objects
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #5–Getting the GUID ID of an Object 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #6–Getting the Owner of a Service 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #7–Deleting Any Object in the UI 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #8–Getting the GUID of an Enumeration 
• Removing Management Packs with Powershell 
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #9–Deleting Objects (New)
• Using SMLets Beta 3 Post #10–Getting a User’s Manager and a Manager’s Reports (New)
• User Roles PowerShell Report Using SMLets (New)

Connectors:

• Importing data into SCSM (part 1) – the SCSM AD & SCCM connectors
• Importing data into SCSM (part2) - the SCSM OpsMgr Alert connector
• Importing data into SCSM (part3) - the SCSM OpsMgr CI connector
• Importing data into SCSM (part4) – The manual & CSV import CI creation
• AD Connector - cross-forest tricks
• Managing-the-allowed-list-for-the-operations-manager-ci-connector-with-powershell
• Troubleshooting-tips-for-your-scsm-scom-alert-connector.aspx
• FAQ- How Do I Delete a SCSM Connector in SCOM-
• Importing Users via CSV and Setting Email Address, Locale, and Time Zone Information
• SCSM CSV connector
• How to Write a Custom Connector- CSV Connector Example
• Creating an AD Connector using PowerShell and CSV Import
• Active Directory connector behavior
• Service Manager Connectors - What information comes from where-
• CSV Import of Objects 
• Importing Computers via CSV for SCSM 
• Tricky Way to Handle Review Activity Approvals with the Exchange Connector 
• Health State Changes in SCOM (New)
• Deleting an Orphaned Exchange Connector (New)

Data Warehouse and Reporting

• Publishing and Subscribing to Service Manager Reports
• How to create a custom report and display it in the console
• A Deep Dive on Creating Outriggers and Dimensions in the Data Warehouse
• A Deep Dive on Creating Relationship Facts in the Data Warehouse
• Reporting in System Center Service Manager 2010 (part 1)
• Troubleshooting the Service Manager Data Warehouse
• More Aggressively Grooming the JobStatus and WindowsWorkflowTaskJobStatus Tables
• Reporting- Count of Incidents by Classification Query and How to Get Enumeration Display Strings 
• Create a report model with localized outriggers (aka “Lists”) 
• Service Manager Data Warehouse schema now available
• How long does the Service Manager Data Warehouse retain historical data- (New)
• TIP - “SQL Server 2008 SP1 was not found during installation of SCSM 2010 Data Warehouse Management server (New)

Self-Service Portal, dashboards & SharePoint info

• How Do I Use a Top Level Domain Name Longer Than 3 Characters in the Email Address for Portal Settings?
• Announcing Service Manager 2010 Dashboards!
• Adding drill through functionality to the Service Manager Dashboards 
• Deploying the Service Manager Self-Service Portal web parts with SharePoint Services 3.0
• Change Calendar. Publishing Work Item to … Part 1. SharePoint Calendar
• Creating a Dashboard with the Report Viewer Control and a Custom Overview View Type
• Displaying Service Manager Reports in SharePoint
• Service Manager Self-Service Portal Error: Server Error in ‘/’ Application
• Service Manager Portal Source Code Released! 
• Top Secret Trick–Installing the Portal on an Upgraded SP1 Management Server
• FAQ- Why is the self-service portal so slow 
• Customizing the self service portal source code example 1 displaying the local time on the portal instead of UTC GMT
• Customizing the Self-Service Portal Source Code Example #2–Hiding the Urgency Drop Down
• Portal Source Code with Multi-Language Support Now Released!

Extending Service Manager

Information:

• What Kinds of Skills Do I Need to Customize/Extend Service Manager?
• Understanding the Computer Model in Service Manager
• Overview of Relationship Types in the System Center Platform
• Overview of the Forms Infrastructure and the Generic Form
• Service Manager 2010 SDK Documentation Released!
• Programmatically Working with Enumerations
• Modeling in System Center Service Manager
• Manipulating Extended Class Properties using the SDK
• Extending and Customizing Service Manager- End-to-end Scenario Demo
• Why Won’t My MP Import- The Case of the Required Property Without a Default Value
• Class Property Data Types Explained In Detail
• SCSM Authoring Tool – Standalone Install
• Relations between Objects 
• Arabic Language Self-Service Portal Now Available from Partner expit (New)

System Center Service Manager platform:

• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 1- Introduction
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 2- The Model-Based Database
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 2- The Model-Based Database- Try It!
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 3- The Data Access Service
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 4- The System Center Management Service
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 4- The Management Service – Try It!
• The System Center Platform in Service Manager Part 5- The Management Configuration Service

Hands-on:

• Grid view configuration and what it means
• Tasks – Part 1- Tasks Overview
• Tasks Part 2 – Custom Console Tasks for Create, Edit, Delete 
• Debugging-custom-forms-console-task-handlers-and-workflows
• Service Manager Database Tour & Useful Queries
• Sealing Management Packs
• Hacking Management Pack XML Like a Pro
• Demo- Extending Service Manager to Automate IT Processes
• Localizing Management Pack Content
• Targeting-workflows-in-service-manager
• Getting-started-with-type-projections
• Getting and Working With Type Projections – Basic & More with Type Projections
• Using the SDK to Create and Edit Objects and Relationships Using Type Projections
• Type projections, views and unsealed MP's
• Customizing Forms – Part 1 – Adding a New User Picker Control to the Incident Form 
• Customizing Forms – Part 2 – Adding the Affected User Picker to the Change Request Form 
• Make Service Manager Customer-aware 
• Make Service Manager Customer-aware – Part 2
• Mobile Devices and SIM Cards 
• Auto-Close resolved Incidents 
• Adding a custom field to Incident Forms 
• Automated Change Requests using Microsoft Opalis 
• Creating Classes 
• Color Coded Views 
• Extending Incident properties and forms
• How to Enter the GUID of an Object in a Notification Email 
• Using if - else Activity in the Authoring Tool 

Solutions:

• Password Reset Solution via a Console Task
• Handle VIP Users in Service Manager
• Update incidents by e-mail in Service Manager 2010
• Incident SLA Management in Service Manager
• How to update views to change the criteria from “Assigned to me” to “Assigned to me or a group that I belong to”
• Querying For Objects Using Object Criteria – Object Query Criteria Tool Example
• Custom-notification-workflow-on-activity-assignment-or-reassignment.aspx
• Creating Views That Use Related Property Criteria (Type Projections) - Software Views Example
• Creating-custom-forms-for-service-manager-using-custom-controls-service-request-example
• Creating Browser Interfaces to Service Manager using the SDK
• Creating-a-custom-administration-setting
• Custom notification workflow on incident assignment or re-assignment
• Implementing-sample-helpdesk-scenario-in-incident-management-1
• Implementing Sample Helpdesk Scenario in Incident Management – 2
• Workflow/Notification Subscription NotEqual Criteria Across Pre/Post Condition
• Using ObjectQueryOptions – Configuring Object retrieval from the CMDB 
• Managing Incident Resolution SLAs in Service Manager 
• Importing Computers via CSV 
• SCSM: Automate Status update in Incident Management 
• Auto Close Incidents 
• Reset Password with Service Manager 
• Merge two incidents 
• Notification on all unassigned incidents 
• Quick Calls in Service Manager 2010 
• Add history tab to your custom forms 
• How to create a new CI class and a new form 
• Re-using Related Items and History controls in Custom forms 
• Importing Software Related to Computers via CSV 
• How to Set the Title Bar of a Form Window Using XAML 
• Breaking All the Rules- Reactivating Closed Incidents 
• Breaking All the Rules Part 2- Forcing a Change Request Status from Closed to Completed
• How to Automate VM Provisioning in 20 Minutes using Service Manager and Opalis 
• Creating (or Editing) an Object From a Template Programmatically 
• Using ObjectQueryOptions – Configuring Object Retrieval from the CMDB, Part II 
• Service Manager and Opalis 6.3
• Affected User SMTP Address 
• Asset Management - Service Manager Management Pack
• How to backup Service Manager 2010 UnSealed Management Packs
• Sending Notifications When a Reviewer Votes on a Review Activity 
• Importing Management Packs Programmatically (and How to Connect to a Management Server in an Untrusted domain) 
• Form Validation in Custom Forms 
• Enable users to take action from email using web pages Web Services 
• How to Get the Display Name of an Enumeration Value Programmatically 
• Deploying servers and software with Opalis, Service Manager and Virtual Machine 
• Breaking All the Rules Part 2- Forcing a Change Request Status from Closed to Completed 
• How to Create Custom Workflows For Different Types of Change Requests From Portal 
• Getting Management Pack Elements using the SDK
• How to Get a List of Services Using the SDK
• Accessing Object History Programmatically Using the SDK (New)
• How to Bulk Update Objects Programmatically Using the SDK (New)
• New Version of Incident SLA Management CodePlex Solution Available 
• Copy an Incident (New CodePlex Project- SCSMCopyObject)
• Disabling Workflows with Overrides (New)
• New Change Request Type Projections Management Pack (New)
• Having More Fun with Type Projections Using ObjectProjectionCritera (New)
• Creating a View That Shows Users Which Are Primary Users of Computers Which Have a Certain Software Installed (New)
• How do I retain the formatting of the description field in a notification template- (New)
• Related Incident and Problem closure workflow Activities (New)
• Displaying “one-to-many” data in a Service Manager view (New)
• Incident Quick Templates (New) 

SCSM partner solutions

• Intel vPro Management Pack for Service Manager Now Available!
• Provance IT Asset Lifecycle Process Management Pack is Now RTM!
• Savision Live Maps Integration With Service Manager
• Service manager @ MMS 2010 - Service Manager Partner Solutions
• Provance Version 1.1 Now Available – New Features! 
• Dundas Dashboards for Service Manager
• New Service Manager Partner Solution from Cased Dimensions–Service Level Agreement Management 
• Seven Winds Call Script Manager Solution Released! 
• Authoring Workflows with PowerWF for Service Manager 
• Partner Demo- Lieberman Software –Enterprise Random Password Management Integration with SCSM 
• Partner Demo- Lieberman Software –Enterprise Random Password Management Integration with SCSM 
• Partner Demo- Cased Dimensions Service Level Management 
• Provance Data Management Pack Released!
• New SCSM Solutions from Partner- Link Development–Arabic Portal, Blackberry Connector, What’s Up 
• Derdack Releases Windows Phone 7 Extension to Enterprise Alert for SCSM (New)
• New SCSM–Microsoft Project Connector Released by Partner Expit (New)
• GridPro WebFront Released! (New)

I will try to update this list on a monthly basis. If you have blog sites that should be included in this list, don’t hesitate to comment this on this blog.

Hope this helps a bit in discovering/searching for Service Manager information.

Have fun,

Kurt Van Hoecke