Your Strata support portal

1. Open strata.cms-group.net in your web browser.
2. Click Sign in with Microsoft.
3. Choose your work Microsoft account. If you're already signed in to Outlook or Teams, you may go straight in.

Nothing happens when you click? Your browser may have blocked the pop-up. Click Sign in in this window underneath the button instead.

You start on Tickets. Above your ticket list it shows what needs you today: tickets and requests waiting for your answer, the starters, leavers and access changes you've asked for, and your recent tickets. The two buttons at the top right let you Report an incident or Log a ticket straight away.

The menu has these sections:

Tickets

Your starting point: anything that needs you, then the things you've reported and where they've got to.

Raise a request

Starters, leavers, app access, email and shared inboxes.

Approvals

Only shown if you approve requests for your company.

On a phone? The menu runs along the top of the screen. Swipe it sideways to see every section.

Pick what you need

1. Click Raise a request in the menu.
2. Click Someone is starting. You can also type what you need in the search box, for example "new starter", "signature" or "VPN".

About them

1. Enter their first name, last name and first day.
2. If someone with that name already exists, the portal tells you. Carry on if it's a different person; they'll get a different email address.
3. Click Next. Not ready? Click Save for later and come back to it.

Their job

1. Choose where they'll work and their job. Picking a job fills in the usual apps, groups and equipment for that role. You can change anything.
2. Check the job title. It appears in their email signature and the staff directory.
3. Start typing their manager's name and pick them from the list.

Check and send

1. Read the summary. It says when they start, who their manager is, and who will be asked to approve it.
2. Click Send request.

What happens next. You'll see a confirmation and the request appears under Your requests. If your company needs an approval, the approver is asked first. Once it's approved, CMS sets up the account and the login details come to you, ready for their first day.

1. On Raise a request, click Someone is leaving.
2. Start typing their name and pick them from the list.
3. Check their site. We fill it in where we can, and it decides who approves the request.
4. Enter their last working day. The green box confirms exactly when their account closes: 23:59 on that day.
5. Tell us what to do with their email, files and equipment, then check and send.

1. On Raise a request, click Access to an app.
2. Pick the person.
3. Tick every app they need. Each app says whether CMS sets it up, or whether we pass it on to the app's owner.
4. Say what they need to be able to do, then check and send.

Everything you've asked for is listed under Your requests, newest first, at the bottom of Raise a request. Each one shows its status:

Awaiting approval

Waiting for someone at your company to approve it. You can still withdraw it.

In progress

Approved and being worked on.

Blocked

We need an answer from you. See the next section.

Actioned

Done.

Rejected

The approver said no. Open it to see their note.

Tidy list. Tick Hide completed to see only the requests that are still open.

See progress and talk to us

1. Click Track on a request.
2. The steps on the left show where it's got to: Sent, Approved, Being set up, Done.
3. Underneath is the conversation with the CMS team, oldest first.
4. To add something, type in the reply box and click Send reply. Replying to our email does the same thing.

Sometimes we need one more detail before we can carry on, such as which person is the new starter's line manager. The request shows as Blocked, and a card opens inside it. Nothing has been set up yet; it carries on as soon as you answer.

1. Open Your requests and find the request marked Blocked.
2. Pick the right option, or type your answer in the box.
3. Click Send answer. You can also reply to our email instead. Either works.

What's happening

1. Open Tickets and click Log a ticket at the top right.
2. Choose the type: Something's not working, I need something or I have a question.
3. Write a short summary. The portal may suggest a guide that fixes it straight away. If not, click None of these, keep logging my ticket.
4. Pick a Category, then a Sub-category, then the Issue that fits best. Or search all categories, for example "printer".
5. Tell us more: what you were doing, what happened, and any error message.

Who, where and how bad

1. Choose the site, and who's affected: Just me, A colleague or A whole site.
2. Raising it for someone else? Put their work email under Raising on behalf of someone? Leave it blank if it's for you.
3. Set the Impact and Urgency. Together they set the ticket's priority. If you're not sure, leave both blank and the service desk will set it.
4. Add a screenshot if you have one, then send.

1. Open Tickets. Use the filter next to the search bar (All open, Awaiting me, On hold, In quarantine, Closed or All), or search.
2. Click a ticket. The bar at the top shows where it's got to: Logged, In progress, Resolved.
3. Below are the ticket's details and everything that's been said.
4. To add information, type in the reply box and click Send reply. If it's fixed, click Mark resolved.

From the email

1. You get an email when a request needs you.
2. Click the link. The page shows who it's for, the site and the stage.
3. Click Approve or Reject. Nothing is set up until every approval is in.

In the portal

1. Open Approvals to see everything waiting for you.
2. Add a note if you like, then click Approve or Reject.

"Not actionable"? Some requests need more than one approval. This label means someone else has to approve it first.

1. Click Raise a request and scroll down to Your team. Everyone at your company is listed by site.
2. Starting and leaving soon shows people from your requests. Click Track it to see where each one has got to.
3. On a person, click Change to change their role, They're leaving to book a leaver, or Copy their access for a new starter.

1. Click Risk in the menu. It lists the accounts at your company that need attention: disabled accounts, people without multi-factor sign-in (MFA, worse for admins) and accounts nobody has signed in to for a while.
2. Click a tile at the top to show only that kind of risk. Click it again to see them all.
3. Click a person's name or Details. A panel opens showing the risk, how serious it is (Critical or Warning), its impact and likelihood with the reasons, and what we recommend you do.
4. Click Log a ticket about this risk. The ticket form opens already filled in: the summary, the risk's details, the recommended action and a link back to the risk. Check it, change anything you like, then send it.

Tip: a disabled account is logged as something that's not working; everything else as a request. You can change the type before you send.

The Approvers for your company card on Tickets shows who approves what, in three groups:

Starters, leavers & access

Who approves new starters, leavers and access changes.

Other requests

Who approves everything else that needs an approval.

Changes

Who approves planned changes to your IT.

1. Each person is listed once, with their job title, email address and the sites they cover. If they're in more than one group, an Also… label shows the others.
2. Long groups are shortened. Click Show all to see everyone, and Show fewer to shorten the list again.
3. If an approver is away, their note is shown next to their name.
4. If a kind of request has no approver, the card warns you. Tell us who it should be and we'll add them.