Access Request using Catalog Builder and Employee Center

[Ronald Martin1]

Hello, 

We are now using the Employee Center for our IT Portal and we are about to deploy Catalog Builder to ease the development of new items. 

In the past, I use to try to reduce the number of similar items.  For example, I would try to create a single Application Access request where I would have a variable listing the applications available.  I would then request the proper Approval based on a CI attribute call Approval Request group.  And this single request would be put in the catalog category called Access Request or something like that.

Now, with the implementation of the Employee Center, the concept of topics and the Multi-steps flow available and used by Catalog Builder I am challenging this approach.

I am now considering creating a Catalog Builder template for Access Requests where each Application owner could create its own access request catalog item in which he would select the proper approval group and configure one or multiple fulfillment tasks as required.  This way, if a use needs access to application XYZ, he can easily find the catalog item in the Employee Center.

As a next step, we may want to automate the fulfillment task for some of the application access request.  That would be on a case by case depending on the selected application (and based on a possible integration).  How would you do that?  A flow triggered by the creation of the specific fulfilment sctask created for this application access request?

[Mark Manders]

Of course it depends on the number of applications you offer, but having one item where I can select multiple applications to request access to, would be way more preferable to me, as end user, than having to look each one up.
You will also need to be maintaining all of those catalog items (and yes, it's up to the owners, but every admin can tell you where that is going to end). 
And for the automation part: the flow is the way to go, but make sure to only trigger the access creation after the approval, not on creation of the request.