Workflow Template
Software Access Request Workflow
Employees request access to applications by specifying the user, application, access level, business justification, and whether privileged access is needed. The request goes through manager approval, then system owner approval, with an additional security review for privileged access requests. On full approval, access is provisioned, verified, and the user is notified. If rejected at any stage, the request is returned to the requester with the reason.
Someone joins a new project and needs access to a system by tomorrow, but the request gets buried in someone's inbox and nobody's sure who approved what. This workflow handles the whole journey automatically: capturing the request details, routing it through manager and system owner approval, adding a security review for anything privileged, then provisioning and verifying access before notifying the user. Your team gets a clear audit trail and nobody has to remember who's waiting on who.
Business Outcomes
- Cut access request turnaround time from days to hours
- Eliminate lost or forgotten approval requests
- Automatic escalation to security review for privileged access only
- Full audit trail of who approved what and when
- Fewer provisioning errors thanks to built-in verification step
Workflow Steps
Steps
- 1Create Access Request Recordcreate record
Registers the submitted access request as a record.
- 2Set Status to Submittedupdate record
Marks the request as submitted and awaiting manager approval.
- 3Manager Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
The requester's manager reviews and approves or rejects the access request.
- 4Route on Manager Approval Outcome
Routes the workflow based on the manager's decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Manager Approvedapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to RejectedDefault→End - 5Set Status to Manager Approvedupdate record
Updates status after manager approval, prior to system owner review.
- 6System Owner Approvalrequest approvalrequires approval
The system owner reviews and approves or rejects the access request.
- 7Route on System Owner Approval Outcome
Routes the workflow based on the system owner's decision, and checks if privileged access requires a security review.
approval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to Rejectedprivileged_access: "Yes"→Set Status to Pending Security ReviewDefault→Set Status to System Owner Approved - 8Set Status to Pending Security Reviewupdate record
Updates status after system owner approval for privileged access requests, prior to security review.
- 9Set Status to System Owner Approvedupdate record
Updates status after system owner approval for non-privileged access requests.
- 10Security Reviewrequest approvalrequires approval
Security team reviews the privileged access request and approves or rejects it.
- 11Route on Security Review Outcome
Routes the workflow based on the security team's decision.
approval_status: "approved"→Set Status to Security Approvedapproval_status: "rejected"→Set Status to RejectedDefault→End - 12Set Status to Security Approvedupdate record
Updates status after security review approval, prior to provisioning.
- 13Provision Accesscreate task
IT provisions the requested application access for the user.
- 14Set Status to Provisionedupdate record
Marks the request as provisioned, pending verification.
- 15Verify Accesscreate task
IT verifies that access was correctly provisioned and works as expected.
- 16Route on Verification Result
Routes based on whether access was successfully verified.
verification_result: "Verified"→Set Status to Completedverification_result: "Issue Found"→Restart ProvisioningDefault→End - 17Restart Provisioningrestart from step
An issue was found during verification; restart provisioning to correct it.
- 18Set Status to Completedupdate record
Marks the request as fully completed after successful verification.
- 19Notify User of Access Grantedsend email
Emails the requester to confirm access has been provisioned and verified.
- 20Set Status to Rejectedupdate record
Marks the request as rejected.
- 21Notify User of Rejectionsend email
Emails the requester that the request was rejected, including the reason.
Fields
- Requester Name*
- Requester Email*
- Application*
- Access Level*
- Business Justification*
- Privileged Access Needed?*
- +3 more fields
Forms
Software Access Request Form
6 fields
Data Views
All Access Requests
access_request_ref, requester_name, application_name, access_level +2 more
Dashboard Widgets
Recommended integrations
Setup the following integrations to extend workflow capability.
Send email in the workflow
AWS SES
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FAQs
Do I need any technical skills to set this workflow up?
No. The template is ready to use as-is, so you just publish it and it's live. If you want to tweak approval steps or notification wording, you can do that directly in assess.one's editor without any code.
Can my team customise the approval stages?
Yes, you can add, remove, or reorder approval steps, change who's assigned to each stage, and adjust the conditions that trigger the security review. This is all done inside assess.one's workflow builder, so changes take effect immediately.
Is this suitable for companies without a dedicated security team?
Absolutely. If privileged access requests are rare or you don't have a formal security function, you can reassign that review step to IT, a compliance lead, or skip it entirely for standard access requests. The workflow's routing logic is flexible enough to match whatever approval structure you actually have.
Who needs access to the workflow itself?
Typically requesters, their managers, system owners, and whoever handles provisioning and security review. Each person only sees the steps relevant to their role, so managers aren't cluttered with provisioning tasks and IT isn't chasing approval decisions.
What happens if a manager or system owner rejects the request?
The request is automatically routed back to the original requester along with the reason for rejection, so there's no ambiguity about what needs to change. They can then resubmit with updated justification rather than starting from scratch.
How does the workflow decide if a request needs security review?
The requester flags whether privileged access is needed when they submit the request. If it's marked as privileged, the workflow automatically routes it to security review after system owner approval, no manual triage needed.
What if access verification fails after provisioning?
The workflow has a built-in check: if verification fails, it automatically restarts the provisioning step rather than marking the request complete. This catches provisioning errors before the user finds out the hard way.
How long does implementation actually take?
Publishing the template takes minutes, and your team can start submitting real access requests right away. There's no lengthy setup project or waiting period, you're live the same day you decide to use it.
Can we track requests for compliance or audit purposes?
Yes, every status change, approval decision, and rejection reason is recorded as the request moves through the workflow. This gives you a clear, timestamped history for audits or internal reviews without any extra manual logging.
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