Submitting Requests & Tracking Them

What is the Service Catalog?

The Service Catalog is a menu of pre-defined requests that IT and other internal teams have set up for you. Instead of writing an email or DM that someone has to triage, you pick the right item from the menu, fill out the structured form, and your request is automatically routed to the right team with all the details they need.

Each catalog item knows:

• What information needs to be gathered (and what's optional vs. required)
• Who fulfills it (the right team picks it up automatically)
• How long it typically takes (you'll see an ETA before you submit)
• Whether it needs management approval (some do, some don't)

Finding the Service Catalog

You can reach the catalog three ways:

1. Direct link: open https://ops.tatersecurity.com in your browser and sign in with your work account.
2. From the TATER home page: sign in at app.tatersecurity.com, then click the app-switcher (4-app grid icon in the top-right corner) and choose TATER Ops.
3. Self-service portal (no login required): if your organization has shared a public intake link with you, you can submit requests without signing in. Ask your IT team or check your onboarding docs for the URL.

Once you're in TATER Ops, look for Service Catalog in the left sidebar.

Browsing the catalog

The Service Catalog page shows all available request types grouped by category — typically Hardware, Software & Applications, Access & Permissions, User Lifecycle, and IT Support. (Your organization may have customized these or added their own.)

For each item you'll see:

What those badges mean:

• Priority — how urgent the fulfilling team treats this. Critical > High > Medium > Low.
• Owner — the team that fulfills your request. (Not who you tell — the system routes it automatically.)
• ETA — typical time from submission to completion. Use this to set expectations.
• ⚠ Requires approval — your manager (or a designated approver) needs to OK the request before fulfillment starts. You don't have to chase the approval — the system notifies the approver automatically.
• 🔥 N requests — how many people have submitted this item recently. Popular items surface to the top so you can find them fast.

Picking the right item

If you're not sure which item to pick, here are the rules of thumb:

Filling out the form

Once you click into a catalog item you'll see its full form. Every field has a label and most have a short hint explaining what to put. Some quick rules:

• Fields marked with a red asterisk (*) are required. You won't be able to submit without filling them in.
• Be specific in justification fields. The fulfilling team can act faster when they understand why you need something, not just what.
• If a date is asked for, use realistic dates. "Needed by tomorrow" for a laptop request will get bounced; "Needed by 2026-06-15 for new hire start" is actionable.
• For dropdown fields, only the listed options are accepted. If your need doesn't fit, pick the closest option and explain in the justification field.
• For user-pickers (target user, manager email, etc.): type the email address exactly as it appears in your org directory — usually firstname.lastname@yourcompany.com.

A worked example: requesting a new laptop

That request gets routed to IT Procurement, goes through manager approval (because it's tagged requires approval), then becomes a task with all the context the procurement team needs. They don't have to email you back asking for the asset tag or your shipping address — it's already there.

Submitting the request

When you click Submit, three things happen, all within a second or two:

1. The form values are validated. If anything required is missing or doesn't match (e.g. you typed something that's not a valid email), you'll see the error inline and the submit will be blocked. Fix the field and click submit again.
2. A Task is created in TATER Ops with a unique ID (task-2026...-abcd1234) and all your form values attached as a structured description.
3. You see a confirmation screen with the task ID, a link to view your request, and a summary of what happens next (who's reviewing it, expected timeline, whether it's pending approval).

You'll also get a confirmation email if your org has email notifications enabled. Save the task ID — you'll need it if you want to ask about status later.

After you submit: how to track your request

Every catalog submission becomes a Task in TATER Ops. You can see all of yours in two places:

My Tasks page

In TATER Ops, click My Tasks in the sidebar (or open the My TATER personal dashboard for a unified view across all four TATER apps — my.tatersecurity.com). You'll see:

• Open — your requests that are still being worked on
• In Progress — actively being fulfilled (someone is doing the work right now)
• Pending Approval — waiting on your manager or another approver before fulfillment can start
• Pending Customer — the fulfilling team is asking you for more information; you need to respond before they can continue
• Resolved — completed (with a note explaining what was done)
• Closed — fully closed out (resolved + you confirmed it worked, or X days have passed without you reopening it)

Click any task to see its full detail page.

Reading the task detail page

On the detail page you'll see:

• Title + description — what you submitted, with your form answers laid out clearly
• Status pill — current state (Open / In Progress / Pending Approval / etc)
• Assignee — the specific person currently working on your request (not just the team)
• Comments thread — every back-and-forth between you, the assignee, and anyone else involved. Most communication happens here, not over email.
• Activity log — system-generated breadcrumbs (who picked it up, when status changed, what fields got updated)
• Related items — if your request spawns child tasks or links to other items (a change request, a control review, a configuration document), those are listed here

If your request needs approval

Catalog items marked ⚠ Requires approval won't be worked on until the designated approver (usually your manager) approves it. Here's what happens:

1. You submit. Status goes to Pending Approval.
2. Your approver gets an email + an item in their own My Tasks queue.
3. They click in, review your justification, and either Approve (status → In Progress, fulfillment team gets notified) or Reject (status → Closed, with their reason in the comments).
4. You get an email either way and a notification in TATER.

If your request is sitting in Pending Approval longer than expected, don't open a duplicate. Instead: add a comment on the task pinging your approver, or talk to them directly. The system isn't lost — it's waiting on a human decision.

Adding comments + responding to questions

The fulfilling team will often ask you for more info, post status updates, or let you know when something is ready. Always reply in the task comments rather than email — it keeps the full history in one place.

• Click into your task.
• Scroll to the Comments section.
• Type your message and click Post. Comments support basic Markdown (bold, lists, links).
• You can @mention someone (e.g. @john.doe) to notify them — they'll get an email and a notification.
• You can attach files if relevant (screenshots, signed forms, vendor quotes).

Asking for higher priority

If your request becomes more urgent than when you submitted it (e.g. a customer demo got moved up), add a comment explaining the new urgency. Don't change the priority field yourself — the fulfilling team will assess and re-prioritize. The comment-with-context approach gets faster results than just bumping the priority dropdown.

Canceling a request you no longer need

If you no longer need what you asked for:

1. Open the task.
2. Add a comment explaining why you're canceling.
3. Click Cancel Request (visible if the task isn't already Resolved/Closed).

The task goes to Cancelled status, the fulfilling team is notified, and any in-flight work (like a laptop order) gets stopped where possible.

When your request is resolved

When the fulfilling team marks your task Resolved, you'll get an email with:

• A summary of what was done
• Any next steps you need to take (e.g. "Your laptop is at the front desk. Please pick it up and follow the new-device setup guide attached.")
• A button to Confirm Resolution (closes the task) or Re-open (sends it back to the team if the fix didn't actually work)

If you confirm resolution and the issue comes back later, don't reopen the old task — submit a new one and reference the old task ID in your description. This keeps history clean.

If you ignore the resolution email, the task auto-closes after 7 days (configurable per org). Re-opening after auto-close is supported — open the task and click Re-open.

Rating the resolution

If your org has feedback enabled, you'll be asked to rate the resolution (👍 / 👎 with an optional comment). This feeds into team performance dashboards and helps surface issues with specific request types or fulfillment teams. Honest feedback is more useful than polite feedback.

If you're caught up in a major incident

Sometimes things break in ways that affect lots of people — an outage, a security incident, a vendor problem. When that happens, the security or IT team may declare a Major Incident. You might be subscribed to status updates if you're an affected user.

If you receive a 🚨 MAJOR INCIDENT DECLARED email:

• Read it. It tells you what's broken, who's working on it, and how to reach the response team (usually a bridge link).
• Don't open a duplicate ticket for the same issue. Your problem is already known and being worked on.
• If you have specific business impact (a deadline that will be missed, a customer who will be affected) reply to the email or add a comment to the major incident task. The incident commander wants to know.
• You'll get status updates as the situation evolves. Each one will have the same subject prefix and link to the same incident.
• Watch for the green ✅ MAJOR INCIDENT RESOLVED email. That's your signal it's safe to continue normal work.

After resolution, a Post-Incident Review (PIR) task is automatically created and assigned to the incident commander. If you have feedback about how the incident was handled or what could be prevented, send it to the incident commander — your input will be considered as part of the PIR.

Self-service portal (no login)

If your org has enabled the public intake portal, you can submit requests without signing into TATER. This is useful for:

• Contractors and external partners who don't have TATER accounts
• Submitting from a personal device when you can't log in
• Reporting an issue from outside your normal work environment

The portal URL is provided by your IT team and looks like https://ops.tatersecurity.com/request.html?token=…. The token controls which org your request goes to. Submissions from the portal still become tasks in TATER Ops just like authenticated submissions, but:

• You won't be able to track them after submission (no login = no My Tasks view)
• You'll get confirmation + status updates via the email address you provide on the form
• Replies to the confirmation email go directly to the assignee

Asking your AI assistant for help

If your org has connected Microsoft 365 Copilot, Claude, or another MCP-enabled AI to TATER, your AI assistant can help you with the catalog directly. Try asking things like:

• "What request type should I use to get Salesforce access?"
• "Submit a software install request for me — I need Slack on my work laptop."
• "What's the status of the new laptop request I submitted last week?"
• "My MFA isn't working — start a request to reset it."

The AI knows your role + active organization and uses the same form schemas to fill in fields it knows from context (your email, your existing tasks). It will ASK you for required fields it doesn't already know, then submit on your behalf. Every action the AI takes is tagged via: copilot or via: claude in the activity log so you can always see what happened.

Frequently asked questions

Why is my request stuck on "Pending Approval"?

Because your approver hasn't approved it yet. Open the task → check who the approver is → ask them directly. The system doesn't auto-approve.

I can't find the right catalog item for what I need.

Try the search bar at the top of the catalog. If nothing matches, use the generic "Submit a Request" item (if your org has one) and describe what you need in the description field. Or ask in your team's IT support channel — they might add a new catalog item for it if it's a common ask.

My request was rejected. Now what?

Read the rejection comment — it should explain why. Common reasons: missing business justification, request outside what your role is authorized to receive, alternative solution available. You can submit a new request addressing the rejection reason, or escalate by talking to the rejecter directly.

I got an email saying my task is Resolved but it's not actually fixed.

Click Re-open in the email or on the task page. Add a comment explaining what's still broken. The task goes back to the original assignee with your context.

Can I edit my submission after I send it?

You can't edit the original form values (they're snapshotted at submission time for audit purposes), but you can add comments at any time with corrections or additional context. The assignee will read the comments before acting.

How do I know who's actually working on my request?

Open the task and look at the Assignee field. If it shows a team name (like "IT Procurement") rather than an individual, the team has it in their queue but no one has picked it up yet. As soon as someone starts work, the assignee changes to their name.

Can I submit a request for someone else?

Yes. Most catalog items have a "target user" field — fill in the user the request is FOR (e.g. for onboarding, the new hire's name + email). The task is owned by you (the submitter) but the work is done on behalf of the target user. The target user is also notified via email.

I don't want to bother the IT team for small things. Is there a way to self-fix?

Check the TATERpedia knowledge base first — your org may have published step-by-step guides for common issues (printer setup, VPN troubleshooting, etc). If a guide doesn't exist for what you need, submit a request as normal AND optionally ask in the task comments whether a knowledge article could be added so the next person doesn't have to ask.

My request became part of a "change request" or "release". What does that mean?

If your request requires changing a shared system (like upgrading an app for everyone, not just for you), it may be bundled into a formal Change Request that goes through the Change Advisory Board (CAB) for approval. You'll see this as a link on your task. Don't worry about the CAB process itself — that's IT's responsibility. Your request will be fulfilled as part of the change rollout, and you'll be notified when it's done.

Related guides

• My TATER personal dashboard — your unified view across all four apps; the recommended daily landing page after sign-in
• TATER Ops overview — the bigger picture of how Ops works
• Public intake portal — for IT admins setting up the self-service portal
• Service Catalog administration — for admins managing catalog items + categories
• Major Incident response — for IT/security teams running incidents
• Comments, mentions, and notifications — how the activity feed works across TATER