RITMs

RITMs, short for Requested Items, are records used in IT service management platforms, notably ServiceNow, to represent a single catalog item that is part of a broader service request. An RITM tracks the fulfillment of an individual item requested from the service catalog.

Creation and structure: When a user submits a catalog request that contains one or more items, a parent request record is created and one RITM is generated for each catalog item in the request. Each RITM is linked to the parent request and may carry its own approval requirements, depending on the configuration. An RITM can also house or reference fulfillment tasks and provisioning activities needed to deliver the item.

Workflow and fulfillment: RITMs drive item-level fulfillment. They can have associated approvals, and they typically spawn tasks (such as provisioning, testing, or delivery steps) that are assigned to agents or automated systems. The RITM provides a centralized point to monitor the progress of fulfillment for that specific item.

Lifecycle and states: The lifecycle of an RITM generally progresses through states such as Requested, Approved, Fulfilled, and Closed, with possible variants like Cancelled or Pending depending on configuration. The exact state names and transitions can vary by implementation but serve to indicate progress toward delivery.

Fields and reporting: Common fields include the item description, quantity, price, requester, requested_for, state, and references to the parent sc_request. RITMs enable item-level reporting, SLA tracking, and analytics while allowing a single request to contain multiple independently tracked items.

Relation to other records: RITMs are distinct from the parent Request (which aggregates multiple RITMs) and from the fulfillment tasks themselves. Together they provide granular visibility into the end-to-end catalog fulfillment process.