For IT teams
Approvals
Requests that wait for sign-off before work starts.
Some service requests must be approved before the IT team works on them. This page explains which requests need approval, who decides, and what happens after the decision.
Requests that need approval
Approval only applies to service requests submitted through a catalog item that has an Approval flow. In the portal, that item's page says This request requires approval (2 steps) before it's processed., with the number of steps for that item.
- Item without approval steps: the request goes straight to Fulfilling.
- Item with approval steps: the request stays in Needs approval until every step is approved or one of them is rejected.
- Incidents, and requests created with New ticket in the queue, do not use an approval flow.
The approval flow is copied into the request when it is submitted. Changing the flow on the catalog item only applies to new requests.
Steps and approvers
Admins build the flow in Service catalog. A flow holds up to 10 steps that run in order. Each step has a name, a list of approvers, and one of these policies:
| Policy | The step is done when |
|---|---|
| One approval is enough | One approver approves. |
| All approvers must approve | Every approver on that step has approved. |
Under both policies, a single rejection from any approver rejects the step right away.
Only the active step can be decided. Later steps read Waiting its turn and only appear in their approvers' lists after the previous step is approved.
Deciding on a request
- In the portal, open the Approvals menu.
- The Awaiting decision tab lists the requests waiting on your decision. Each row shows the ticket number, the item name, when it was requested, the subject, the requester, and the step, for example Step 1/2 — Manager approval.
- Click Decide. The Decision window shows the item, the requester, the step and its policy, and the Request details the requester filled in.
- Choose Approve the request or Reject the request.
- Fill in the Reason. A reason is required to reject and optional to approve. In both cases the reason is visible to the requester.
- Click Approve or Reject.
The Decided by me tab records your decisions and when you made them. If the list is long, click Load more at the bottom.
If another approver already completed that step, or the request has been cancelled, you get a message and the list reloads.
If the tenant uses an email channel, the approvers of the active step receive an Approval request email. The decision is still made on the Approvals page, not by replying to the email.
After the decision
| Outcome | What happens |
|---|---|
| Step approved, more steps remain | The next step becomes active and appears in its approvers' lists. |
| Last step approved | The request moves to Fulfilling and is ready for the fulfillment team. |
| Step rejected | The request moves to Rejected, the later steps become Cancelled, and the request's SLA stops. |
Every decision is recorded in the ticket timeline, which the requester can see, and in the audit log. If the request has an SLA, that SLA runs from the moment the request is submitted, including while it waits for approval. If the tenant uses an email channel, the requester can receive an Approval outcome email.
From the agent's side
On the request detail, the Approval card shows every step, its policy, and each approver's decision with their reason. Approvers who have not decided yet are marked — has not decided yet.
While a step is still waiting, agents cannot move the request to Fulfilling or Rejected; the only status button is Cancel. Cancelling the request also cancels every step still waiting. The requester can cancel their own request from the portal with Cancel request while it is still waiting for approval. See also Working a ticket.