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Request fulfilment is the process than manages service requests through their lifecycle, from the initial raising of the request through to its closure. Request fulfilment was added as a new process to ITIL V3 with the aim to have a dedicated process dealing with service requests. Prior to that, the incident management process managed requests as well as incidents.

This was motivated by a clear distinction in ITIL V3 between incidents (service interruptions) and service requests (standard requests from users, e.g. password resets). Request fulfilment has been completely revised. Request fulfilment consists of five sub-processes, with each providing a detailed description of the related activities and decision points. Request fulfilment has interfaces with incident management, for requests which are subsequently diagnosed as incidents, and with service transition for when fulfilling the request requires the involvement of change management.

ITIL request fulfilment refers to a service request model, which defines specific agreed steps that will be followed for a service request of a particular type or category. ITIL also has the concept of service request status information. This is a message containing the present status of a service request which can be provided the user who made the request. Status information is typically provided to users by the request fulfilment process at various points during the lifecycle of a service request.

What are the objectives of the ITIL request fulfilment process?

The primary objective of ITIL request fulfilment is to fulfil service requests made by users. In many cases, the service requests are standard changes, such as requests to change a password, or requests for information. Put simply, request fulfilment is all about providing users with access to the services that IT makes available to them. Related objectives for the request fulfilment process include:

• To help users understand what services are available to them, how they can request them, and how long it should take for them to be fulfilled

• To create a usable process for processing and fulfilling service requests

• To manage the delivery of the requested services in the time stated

• To keep users informed of the status of their request

• To process requests for general information, comments, and complaints

What are the activities in request fulfilment?

The activities in request fulfilment are executed in sequence:

• The first activity is when a user places a service request. Users can use various methods to place a service request including phone, email, social media tools, and through self-service using request fulfilment software. The information is recorded in a service request record.  

• Once a request has been made, it may need to be approved before it can be actioned at 1st level or routed to 2nd level for fulfilment. Some types of services require management, financial, security or compliance approval before the request can be fulfilled. The request model will define all appropriate approval steps, including how to manage declined requests.

• Once a request has been approved it can be assigned to the appropriate individual or request fulfilment group for review and then fulfilment. Simple requests are often fulfilled directly by 1st level support. Requests that require the purchase of third-party products or provision of services by a 2nd level may be routed onto suppliers or to internal resources for fulfilment.

• At each stage of the request fulfilment process, the user should be kept informed of the status of their service request using service request status information. 

• A request should be closed once it has been fulfilled and the requestor has confirmed that they are satisfied with the fulfilment, or if the request was declined.

• Management reporting should be performed on the requests so that any necessary improvements to the request fulfilment process can be identified and actioned.