Service Catalog: IT Services For Everyone
In this article, we’ll show you how different stakeholders interact with the Service Catalog in Alloy Navigator: employees, IT staff, and managers.
The Service Catalog in Alloy Navigator adapts to your role, just like a camera that changes lenses. End users get a wide-angle view of available services to fit the needs of different teams. Technicians see a detailed close-up, focusing on the specifics needed to complete their tasks. For managers, it provides a bird’s-eye view, capturing the big picture to track progress and ensure everything runs efficiently.
Let’s explore how it works through a few real-life use case scenarios.
What is a service catalog?
Hi! We’re Alloy Software, the team behind Alloy Navigator, an all-in-one IT service and asset management solution. An important part of the platform we offer to our clients is the service catalog.
A service catalog is a centralized, structured listing of services offered by an IT department or other business units, typically accessible through a self-service portal.
Related: What is a service catalog?
What is a self-service portal?
Here’s what a service catalog might look like. You surely have dealt with a service catalog in the past, without knowing this user portal is actually called service catalog 😊
A service catalog includes details on available services, instructions for requesting them, and information necessary for fulfillment, often integrated with automation tools to enhance efficiency and user experience. By standardizing and streamlining service delivery, the catalog helps improve transparency, request turnaround time, and overall organizational productivity.
In this article, we’ll break down how Alloy’s service catalog performs in real life, and what it looks like for different stakeholders.
Service catalog scenario 1: Onboarding a new hire
Stakeholders:
- Fernando, an HR professional
- Maxwell, a technician
- Jeff, the IT manager
Part 1: Fernando, an HR professional, needs to onboard a new employee. Using the Service Catalog, he quickly creates an “Employee Hire” request with just a few clicks.
The predefined workflow takes over, automatically generating work orders for the relevant teams:
- the IT team to set up a laptop and create login credentials,
- the Facilities team to prepare a workspace,
- and the Training team to schedule initial training sessions.
The work orders which represent the subtasks needed to fulfill the service request are all visible in the main service request record.
How does our service catalog work? Check out the video explainer:
Part 2: Maxwell, a technician, receives a work order for setting up a laptop and creating login credentials for the new employee. Maxwell configures the laptop, sets up the required accounts, and then updates the task status in Alloy Navigator marking it as done. Once his part is complete, he passes the request to the next team.
Part 3: With all tasks fulfilled, Fernando receives a notification. Pleased with the smooth process, he rates the service highly and quickly returns to his work without any interruptions.
Part 4: Meanwhile, Jeff, the IT manager, reviews the team’s performance on the dashboard. He sees all tasks completed on time and positive feedback from Fernando. Satisfied with his team’s efficiency, Jeff knows they’re maintaining a high standard of service.
Scenario 2: Software request for an employee
Stakeholders:
- Danielle, a specialist from Finances
- Alyssa, the Finance team lead
- Maxwell, the technician
Part 1: Danielle, a specialist from Finances, logs into the Service Catalog and sees a set of services. The services a team member sees are tailored to their role, so what Danielle sees is different from what our HR manager Fernando sees.
Danielle wants to request financial software for her teammate Derek. She selects “Software Request,” fills out a simple form, and submits it. The system automatically sends her request for approval.
Part 2: Alyssa, Finances team lead and Danielle’s manager, approves the request. It’s sent to the IT team to handle.
Part 3: Maxwell picks up the task, reviews the details, installs the software, and marks the request as completed.
Part 4: Danielle gets a notification letting her know her request has been taken care of. Happy with how smoothly everything went, she leaves positive feedback and gets back to work.
Part 5: When Jeff, the IT manager, opens the IT dashboard, he notices the quick turnaround and positive feedback from Danielle, and feels reassured that the team is consistently meeting service expectations.
The result
Navigator’s Service Catalog makes things easy for everyone. Fernando and Danielle have a formalized way of outsourcing jobs to IT to better manage their tasks.
Technicians like Maxwell get clear instructions and tools to handle tasks smoothly.
Managers like Jeff can keep an eye on what the team is doing and how it is performing, making sure things run well.
With its user-friendly interface and role-specific features, the Alloy Navigator Catalog truly simplifies IT service management for all.
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