---
title: "IT Service Catalog and Self-Service Portal"
canonical: https://harmony.io/platform/ai-service-desk-agent/service-catalog
---

# IT Service Catalog and Self-Service Portal

A service catalog employees use from Slack, Microsoft Teams or a branded portal: they describe what they need, and the right form fills itself in and runs.

## An IT service catalog employees don't have to browse

Employees ask for what they need in Slack, Microsoft Teams or the self-service portal. Harmony matches the catalog item, fills in what it already knows and runs the approval and fulfilment.

## What is an IT service catalog?

An IT service catalog is the list of things employees can request from IT and other teams, such as new hardware, application access, a parking permit or a travel approval, each with the form, approvals and fulfilment behind it. The traditional catalog is a portal of categories and forms, and most employees would rather send a Slack message than look for the right one.

In Harmony, every catalog form runs as an agent. It collects the same fields, then opens the right ticket or runs the right workflow, whether the employee starts in Slack, Microsoft Teams or the portal. The agent matches the request to the item and pre-fills fields from employee and device data, so the employee answers only what Harmony can't already know.

Admins build forms from text, dates, times, dropdowns, checkboxes and attachments, with rules to show, hide or require fields, and fields the desk fills in later. Items can be restricted to the people allowed to request them, and each item shows its monthly usage and resolution rate. Harmony Insights suggests new catalog items from requests that keep coming up.

## A catalog that works from a sentence

- **Request in plain language:** Employees describe what they need in Slack, Microsoft Teams or the portal, and the agent finds the matching item.
- **Pre-filled forms:** Fields filled from the employee's profile and devices, so they answer only what Harmony doesn't know.
- **Dynamic forms:** Text, dates, times, dropdowns, checkboxes and attachments, with rules to show, hide or require fields.
- **Approvals built in:** Require all approvers, any one, or escalate, before fulfilment starts.
- **Fulfilment on submit:** A catalog request opens a ticket on the right desk or triggers the workflow that completes it.
- **Restricted items:** Limit an item to the people who may request it.
- **Usage and resolution rate:** Monthly usage per item, so you see what employees ask for and what resolves on its own.
- **Branded portal:** Your colors, background, bot name and avatar, with AI chat, tickets, approvals, applications and announcements in one place.
- **Suggested items:** Harmony Insights recommends new catalog items from resolved conversations.

## How the service catalog works

**Trigger:** An employee needs something: a new laptop, access to an app, a parking permit.

1. **Ask** - The employee asks in Slack, Microsoft Teams or the portal, or picks from the common requests.

2. **Match and pre-fill** - The agent matches the catalog item and fills in what it already knows about the employee and their devices.

3. **Approve** - The item's approval chain runs, and approvers act where they work.

4. **Fulfil** - A workflow or agent completes the request, or a ticket opens on the right desk with everything filled in.

**Outcome:** Requests that start as a sentence and finish without a search through categories.

## Kith moved hundreds of catalog items off a portal

Kith's Freshservice catalog listed hundreds of items, from Tableau and Dropbox licenses to alarm codes and access cards, and almost none of them were automated. Harmony migrated every catalog item Kith wanted to keep. When Kith wanted Apple hardware to be requestable only by certain departments, the rule went into the catalog item, and the agent told other requesters the item was not available to them.

> We have 20 stores all around the world and a very small IT team that takes care of them. With Harmony the ROI is obvious: autonomous resolution of tickets, especially when it comes to onboarding and offboarding, is exactly what a retail operation like ours needs.
>
> - Adi Shniderman, Head of IT, Kith

## Catalog requests agents fulfil end to end

- [Application Access Request](https://harmony.io/agents/application-access-request)

- [Manual Ticket Approval](https://harmony.io/agents/manual-ticket-approval)

- [Asset Purchase Agent](https://harmony.io/agents/employee-asset-purchase)

- [Time-Off Request](https://harmony.io/agents/pto-request)

- [Temporary Admin Access](https://harmony.io/agents/temporary-admin-access)

- [Knowledge Article Recommendation](https://harmony.io/agents/knowledge-article-recommendation)

## One catalog, wherever employees ask

- **Where employees ask: **[Slack](https://harmony.io/integrations/slack), [Microsoft Teams](https://harmony.io/integrations/microsoft-teams)
- **Service desks: **[Freshservice](https://harmony.io/integrations/freshservice), [ServiceNow](https://harmony.io/integrations/servicenow), [Jira Service Management](https://harmony.io/integrations/jira-service-management)

## FAQ

### What is an IT service catalog?

The list of services employees can request from IT and other teams, such as hardware, application access or approvals, each with its own form, approvals and fulfilment.

### Can employees use the catalog from Slack or Microsoft Teams?

Yes. Employees describe what they need in Slack or Teams, the agent matches the catalog item, pre-fills what it knows and asks only for the rest.

### What is in the self-service portal?

AI chat, the applications marketplace, the employee's tickets and approvals, their applications and announcements, branded with your colors, background, bot name and avatar.

### Can catalog items be restricted?

Yes. An item can be limited to the people allowed to request it, and the agent tells anyone else it is not available to them.

### How are catalog forms built?

From text, text area, date and time pickers, dropdowns, checkboxes and attachments, with rules to show, hide or require fields and fields filled by the desk. Harmony can draft an item's description for you.

### Can we bring our existing catalog?

Yes. Kith's catalog moved from Freshservice with every item it wanted to keep. Talk to us about your current catalog and the forms behind it.