In this tutorial, we will discuss the ITIL Request Fulfillment Process. This process is also widely known as ITIL Request Management Process. In this chapter, you will learn what is a Service Request in ITIL? What is Request Management? and the Definition, Objective, Scope, Activities, and sub-process of Request Fulfillment - ITIL V3 Process.
Request Fulfillment is one of the main processes under the Service Operation module of ITIL Framework.
The ITIL Request Fulfillment process is responsible for managing the lifecycle of all service requests received from the users. This process is also responsible for fulfilling various types of requests raised to the service desk and to fulfill exactly what is being requested.
Sometimes, this process is also termed as the ITIL Request Management process.
Though the management of service requests is defined separately in ITIL, some organizations don’t deploy separate request fulfillment team. They usually handle service requests alongside their incident management processes.
Before going deep into the ITIL Request Fulfillment Process, let us first understand some important concept about ITIL Service Request.
According to ITIL v3, a service request (or request for service) is “a request from a user for information, advice, a standard change, or access to a service”.
So as per the definition, the service request describes many different types of demands that are raised by the users. Typically the majority of those requests contains small standard changes that are of low-risk, frequently performed, and requires less approval & low cost etc.
Some examples of Service Request (ITIL V3) are - request to change passwords, request to install software on a particular workstation, request to shift workstation to another desk or maybe just a request for information.
The Primary objective of ITIL Request Fulfillment Process is to fulfill Service Requests raised from Users for taking various supportive services, which in most cases are minor (standard) changes.
Some other objectives of the Request Management process are as follows:
The types of offered services and received service requests differ significantly from company to company.
Unlike incidents, which are unplanned, service requests can be planned for. That means the process of handling each type of service request can be broken down into a set of well-defined activities and can be documented as a process flow, which is then stored in the Service Knowledge Management System (SKMS).
This documented process of Request Management is also called Request Models. Although each company handles requests differently, when defining Request Models an organization should consider following points:
The process of request management begins with a service request raised by a user through any of the service request channels (Like self-care portal, phone, email etc).
Once a service request is raised and registered, it may be automatically approved or alternately routed for approval depending on the nature of the request. Because some services require additional management approval or financial approval, or even approval from a compliance perspective (Like Change work desk location of a workstation would require approval from the department head).
In such cases where approvals are required, the request model should include all appropriate approval steps, along with plans for how the request will be processed once approved and declined.
After a requested service is approved, or when no approval is required, the request must be assigned to the appropriate individual or team for review and fulfillment.
The below diagram illustrates the ITIL Request Fulfillment Lifecycle activities and flow between them: