ITSM workflows play a major role in structuring and automating Service Management. Organizations looking to improve efficiency and accuracy are turning to automation to minimize repetitive work. According to the Service Desk Institute, employees in organizations using automation believe they can handle 30% more work due to these efficiency gains.
Automating ITSM workflows helps IT teams reduce errors, standardize processes, and improve response times.
This article covers key workflows that benefit from automation, how to implement them, and best practices to optimize performance.
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ITSM workflows explained: Why they matter
ITSM workflows define how tasks move through structured processes, assigning responsibilities and tracking progress. They standardize Service Management, reducing inconsistencies and improving accountability.
Without automation, IT teams spend a lot of time manually approving requests, tracking asset assignments, and managing service changes. Automated workflows handle these processes efficiently, freeing IT staff to focus on more complex tasks.
Recommended reading
Workflow Automation Guide: Definition, Benefits, And Software
7 examples of Service Management workflows
Automating ITSM workflows allows teams to manage common IT requests efficiently. The following examples highlight processes that benefit from automation, how they work, and why they are valuable.
1. Employee onboarding and offboarding
Employee transitions require a coordinated effort across multiple departments. The employee onboarding workflow orchestrates everything from system access to equipment provisioning. Starting with HR's initial trigger, it can coordinate:
- Account creations
- Equipment setup
- Access permissions
- Training schedules
The flow is reversed for offboarding employees, ensuring all access is revoked and assets are recovered systematically. This structured handoff between departments prevents delays and security gaps while providing a consistent experience.
Free resources
Download the employee onboarding workflow template
2. Training Request
Employees requesting training sessions need approvals and scheduling. A workflow manages how employees request and receive professional development opportunities.
The process ensures proper evaluation and resource allocation and can be used in many cases: technical certifications, skill development, or compliance training.
The training request workflow can move through:
- Employee submits request with course details, costs, and business justification
- Management reviews it
- Budget verification and financial approval
- Training coordination and scheduling
- Completion tracking and documentation
Free resources
Download the training request workflow template
3. Change Request
Change request workflows ensure modifications to systems or processes are evaluated and implemented safely. This structured approach prevents uncontrolled changes that could disrupt services or create security risks.
The workflow typically includes:
- The requester submits change details and business justification
- Technical assessment of impact and requirements
- Stakeholder review and approval
- Implementation planning and scheduling
Free resources
Download the change request workflow template
4. Release Management
Software releases require careful coordination across development, testing, and operations teams.
The Release Management workflow typically moves through:
- Development completion and initial testing
- Quality assurance review
- Stakeholder validation
- Deployment planning and scheduling
- Implementation and verification
Teams need to maintain quality standards while keeping releases moving forward. That's why a workflow is a great way to manage the progression through test environments while coordinating stakeholder approvals and scheduling.
Free resources
Download the Release Management workflow template
5. Asset loans
Equipment loans need tracking to maintain availability and accountability. The asset loan workflow manages requests, approvals, and returns while tracking asset status and location.
It can include:
- Request submission with the business need
- Availability check and approval
- Asset assignment and documentation
- Usage tracking and deadline monitoring
This workflow coordinates between requesters, approvers, and IT teams. It can also keep an audit trail of the custody chain for compliance purposes.
Free resources
Download the asset loan workflow template
6. Software requests
Managing software licenses requires approvals and compliance checks. With a workflow, you can manage the distribution of software licenses and applications while maintaining security and compliance requirements.
Some of the steps for a software request workflow are:
- The user submits a request
- License availability verification
- Management and security approval
- Installation scheduling / User provisioning for SaaS
- Deployment and confirmation
Free resources
Download the software request workflow template
7. Documentation workflows
Documentation workflows ensure organizational knowledge remains accurate, accessible, and valuable. The process can begin either when a user identifies a gap requiring new documentation or when existing content needs updating due to changes or periodic reviews.
From there, it can follow the next steps:
- Expert assignment and content development
- Content review
- Feedback loops if the article needs changes
- Approval and publication
Free resources
Download two Knowledge Management workflow templates
How to implement ITSM workflows
Let's look at how to build a really solid ITSM workflow through the following eight steps.
- Make sure that the process you’re designing the workflow for is well documented and up to date and that you understand all the steps and transfer points. It sounds simple, we know, but if there’s confusion around the end-to-end process, it’s much easier to fix it when you’re at the planning stage instead of trying to fix it retrospectively once you’ve committed it to your ITSM tool.
- Define your dependencies. Document your workflow to ensure that all the appropriate resources and capabilities are captured so that it works effectively and correctly.
- Define your start, end, and transfer points. Which activities or tasks will initiate your workflow? How will you know when the right outcome has been reached? How will your workflow manage handoffs to other process flows?
- Map out all tasks and put them in order. Before you go anywhere near your ITSM tool, map out your workflow step-by-step to ensure it consists of a logical series of structured activities. We've already reviewed some example tasks. Identify the order in which your steps need to be carried out. Does everything need to be done in sequence, or can some tasks be done at the same time?
- Identify task roles and owners. Some steps will be automated, but some will need human intervention. For example, escalating an incident after a complaint from the business or seeking a change exception during a freeze period.
- Review and test the new workflow. Have you captured all the trigger points? Does everyone understand their role and the activities they’re expected to carry out? Are the right outcomes being accomplished?
- Review the new workflow again regularly. Work with the process owner. Schedule reviews so you can adapt to changes in business needs and respond to any feedback or identified improvements.
ITSM software
4.5
Gartner
ITSM workflows: Best practices
- Don't overcomplicate your workflow. Keep your process as simple and straightforward as possible. Think of it this way, if you’re tying yourself up in knots simply trying to put your workflow steps together, how are support teams and end users going to get on with it in real life?
- Keep your touch points clear, well-labeled, and easy to understand to avoid any potential for confusion.
- Use consistent language and naming conventions. Apply terms that are already familiar to your team. This helps everyone understand the process clearly and avoid confusion. Also, make sure the workflow’s name simply illustrates what it does.
- Maintain flexibility to adjust workflows as business needs evolve. You need to enable your team to make changes without breaking the workflow. This links to our next point:
- Document things as you go. We’ve all heard horror stories of where a workflow has been designed in a specific way that’s difficult to use, but things moved on, and it’s now impossible to fix. Document so everyone understands why it’s been done the way it has been done and can modify it.
- Focus on visibility. Use dashboards and reporting tools to monitor workflow performance. Ensure that people can see the flow. Ask for feedback often and ensure that you have plenty of test runs so you can ensure that it’s fit for purpose.
Conclusion
Automating ITSM workflows with the right software reduces repetitive tasks, minimizes errors, and keeps service delivery consistent. Instead of relying on manual processes that slow things down, IT teams can use automation to standardize operations, track progress, and ensure nothing gets overlooked.
An ITSM platform makes this easier by providing the tools to design, monitor, and refine workflows as business needs evolve.
InvGate Service Management’s no-code workflow builder allows you to create and customize workflows without technical complexity. Anyone can tailor processes to fit your organization’s requirements! Want to see how it works? Sign up for a 30-day free trial.
