Here are all the practice tests available on this site:

• Practice Test 1
• Practice Test 2
• Practice Test 3
• Practice Test 4
• Practice Test 5

Enjoy and good luck!

If you have any questions or find inaccuracies in this practice test, please feel free to contact me at  http://www.servicenowelite.com/contact

I decided to get back into consulting. I joined Virteva as Director of Professional Services as of June 2016. Very exciting to join this great company!

Contact us for any assistance with your ServiceNow implementation.

Virteva is a ServiceNow partner that provides the full suite of ServiceNow platform services. This includes packaged deployments, integration, development, end user training, and ongoing management.

Create an monthly incident for reoccurring maintenance tasks on your ServiceNow instance. This helps keep your ServiceNow instance in good condition and prevent data issues. 

Template

Adjust this template depending on your ServiceNow instance setup:

Name: ServiceNow Monthly Maintenance
Table: Incident
Global: true
Short Description: ServiceNow Monthly Data Maintenance
Template:
Short Description is Monthly Data Review
Additional comments is 

Follow maintenance steps detailed in this KB article:

https://instance.service-now.com/kb_view.do?sys_kb_id=3d00d438db402200ef9dda11cf96195f

Scheduled Entity Generation

Name: ServiceNow Monthly Data Maintenance
Run Monthly 
Day 1
Time Hours 00 00 00
Generate This: ServiceNow Monthly Data Maintenance

Knowledge Base Article

Adjust this KB article depending on your company needs.  Some of these issues may be resolved by scripting, others require manual review.

User Account Review

1. Review Local User Accounts

Verify local accounts are correct and in good standing.

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=sourceISEMPTY%5Eactive%3Dtrue

2. Open Tasks with Assigned to Deactivated

Reassign tasks where assigned to is deactivated.

https://instance.service-now.com/task_list.do?sysparm_query=assigned_to.active%3Dfalse%5Eactive%3Dtrue

3. Approval on Closed Tasks

Delete approvals as necessary.

https://instance.service-now.com/sysapproval_approver_list.do?sysparm_query=sysapproval.active%3Dfalse%5Estate%3Drequested

4. Approver is deactivated

Reassign approval or reject as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/sysapproval_approver_list.do?sysparm_query=approver.active%3Dfalse%5Estate%3Drequested

5. Caller is deactivated

Close incident as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/incident_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Ecaller_id.active%3Dfalse

6. Requested Items for deactivated users

Withdraw items as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/sc_req_item_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Eu_requested_for.active%3Dfalse

7. Group Manager No longer Active

Set to active user

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_group_list.do?sysparm_query=manager.active%3Dfalse%5Eactive%3Dtrue

8. Users without email addresses

Update email address as needed

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Eemail%3DNULL

8. Users without user id

Update user id as needed

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Euser_nameISEMPTY

Licensing and Access Review

1.Review User License Utilization

Review Licenses compared to your license agreement

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Esys_idINjavascript%3AgetRoledUsers()

2. Review Admin Access

Restrict admin access as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Eroles%3Dadmin&sysparm_first_row=1&sysparm_view=

3. Tasks Created in Development Instances

Verify users are not accidentally using the wrong instance.

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_user_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5Elast_login_timeONLast%20month%40javascript:gs.beginningOfLastMonth()%40javascript:gs.endOfLastMonth()

4. Check Default Update Set for admin usage

Verify admins are using update sets.

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_update_set_list.do?sysparm_query=nameLIKEDefault

Open Task Review

1. Review Old Approvals

Reject old approvals as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/sysapproval_approver_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_created_on%3Cjavascript%3Ags.monthsAgoStart(3)%5Estate%3Drequested

2. Requested Items not closed correctly

Check if Requested items are being closed correctly via workflow.

https://instance.service-now.com/sc_req_item_list.do?sysparm_query=active%3Dtrue%5EstageLIKECancelled

4. KBs without Tree View

Knowledge v3 articles with Tree view

https://instance.service-now.com/kb_knowledge_list.do?sysparm_query=kb_category%3DNULL

5. Check expired KB articles

Adjust Valid to date on articles as needed.

https://instance.service-now.com/kb_knowledge_list.do?sysparm_query=valid_to%3Cjavascript%3Ags.daysAgoStart(0)

6. Check Warning Log

https://instance.service-now.com/syslog_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_created_onONToday%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoStart(0)%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoEnd(0)%5Elevel%3D1

7. Check Error Log

There should be a low number of errors in the error log.

https://instance.service-now.com/syslog_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_created_onONToday%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoStart(0)%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoEnd(0)%5Elevel%3D2

8. Check Requests with all closed Requested Items

See Script

9. Check Feedback

Update KB Articles as result of feedback.Make sure feedback is noticed by relevant groups.

https://instance.service-now.com/kb_feedback_list.do

10. Tasks with inactive assignment groups

Adjust tasks with active groups

https://instance.service-now.com/task_list.do?sysparm_query=assignment_group.active%3Dfalse%5Eactive%3Dtrue

Data Import Review

1. Review Data Imports working correctly

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_import_set_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_created_onONToday%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoStart(0)%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoEnd(0)

2. Check Email Log

https://instance.service-now.com/sys_email_list.do?sysparm_query=sys_created_onONToday%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoStart(0)%40javascript%3Ags.daysAgoEnd(0)

2. Check Mid Servers and verify operational

https://instance.service-now.com/ecc_agent_list.do

Security restricted: Calling gs.sql is not allowed

GlideSystem SQL was discontinued in ServiceNow Geneva.  Learn why this functionality was permanently removed.

BEGINNER FRIENDLY?

gs.sql was a method in ServiceNow to run SQL queries without using standard Glide Record functionality.  If you were familar with SQL, you could use gs.sql.  Many of us who switched to ServiceNow knew SQL beforehand.  So one of the first things we attempting doing was trying to write gs.sql queries.  

Not only were we novices at ServiceNow, but also we used one of the most "dangerous" techniques in ServiceNow.  Although warned it was not supported and was "dangerous", you would occasionally see developers throwing out a gs.sql query here and there.  

Danger Zone

When used to truncate a table, gs.sql orphans records and causes data corruption. That is the main reason it was dangerous. The other "dangerous" thing is that it holds you back from learning Glide Record queries, which is a must learn.  It is the most popular code in ServiceNow, might as well learn how to use them.

Personally didn't use gs.sql, but was interested when I first learned about it.  However after hearing it wasn't supported, I just never got into using it in my code.

FOR HISTORY

Even though gs.sql is no longer used, here is my original post about gs.sql from February 2014:

Before I tell you about the ServiceNow GlideSystem SQL function, here are some guidelines for usage:

1. Test GlideSystem SQL in a sandbox environment first
2. Do not use GlideSystem SQL to replace standard GlideRecord queries
3. Use only for troubleshooting.  Don't be tempted to use it in your code.

With all that being said, sql can be very useful in ServiceNow.  With this GlideSystem function, you can run sql statements right within ServiceNow.  If your ServiceNow system is running on a mySQL database, you can just browse mySQL documentation and build your own sql statements.

How to get to Background Scripts

1. Login as an admin with the security_admin role
2. Elevate your privilege to security_admin
3. Go to System Definition > Scripts - Background
4. Run your GlideSystem sql statements

Example GlideSystem sql statements

1. Find a table row count of all the tables in your ServiceNow system

gs.sql("SELECT TABLE_NAME, TABLE_ROWS FROM INFORMATION_SCHEMA.TABLES WHERE TABLE_TYPE=\"BASE TABLE\" ORDER BY TABLE_ROWS DESC");

2. Find a table row count from the incident table

gs.sql("select count(*) from incident");

3. Describe the task table

gs.sql("DESCRIBE task");

4. Join the task and incident tables for viewing

gs.sql("select * from incident a, task b where a.sys_id=b.sys_id");

5. Find information about a specific incident.

gs.sql("select * from incident a, task b where a.sys_id=b.sys_id AND number=\"INC0000061\"");

6. Types of CIs

gs.sql('SELECT sys_class_name AS \"CI Class\",count(*) AS \"Total\" FROM cmdb_ci GROUP BY sys_class_name ORDER BY total DESC');

7. Types of Tasks

gs.sql('SELECT sys_class_name AS \"Task Type\",count(*) AS \"Total\" FROM task GROUP BY sys_class_name ORDER BY total DESC');

8. Logged in Users

gs.sql('SELECT * from v_user_session');

9. Find Duplicate Serial Numbers

gs.sql('SELECT serial_number from cmdb_ci where serial_number IS NOT NULL GROUP BY serial_number HAVING COUNT(*) > 1');

10. Find Users with the same email address

gs.sql('SELECT user_name, email from sys_user where email IS NOT NULL GROUP BY email HAVING COUNT(*) > 1');

You may also notice there are some security restrictions on certain sql statements. However many sql statements are possible. I use this mostly for troubleshooting, but I am sure there are other creative uses as well.  

Have fun!

Mike

Learn in detail how business rules work and what they mean to ServiceNow development.

Event Driven

Business rules are one of the fundamental ways in ServiceNow to run a script to insert, update, or delete records. They are kind of one of the ServiceNow building blocks, how ServiceNow works.  They were around before Workflow and Script Includes and still very important today.

Business rules run when a ServiceNow form is displayed, or when the update, save, or delete buttons are clicked.  They are "event-driven".  When they do execute, Business Rules can set field values, add a message, or run a script.

From the ServiceNow Wiki on Business Rules:

A business rule is a server-side script that runs when a record is displayed, inserted, updated, or deleted, or when a table is queried. Use business rules to accomplish tasks like automatically changing values in form fields when certain conditions are met, or to create events for email notifications and script actions.

Even though there are now other scripting methods besides using Business rules, there are likely 1500+ business rules existing in your ServiceNow instance. 

Why use Business Rules?

Business rules are fast.  They are server-side and run much faster than other types of scripting in ServiceNow.

Here is an old article, while still relevant, that discusses the difference between client and server side programming: Client and Server side Programming

It is my advice to use Business Rules and Workflow as much as possible.  Avoid using client scripts, except for Catalog Client Scripts (which are unavoidable).  This is due to performance reasons and browser issues that client scripts can introduce.

Business Rules are now even creatively use the scratchpad object to blur the line between server and client programming: Scripting with Display Business Rules.

Advantages of Business Rules

• Performance.  When running code on the server, it often has a faster load time and processing time than a client script
• Not affected by type of browser
• Can perform complex database lookups
• Can dot-walk many levels, however three levels is often a recommend maximum

Disadvantages of Business Rules

• Not as interactive as client scripts, needs an event like save, delete, or display to run

How Business Rules work

The ServiceNow wiki includes a Business Rules Best Practices article that is worth checking out.  I'll try to expand upon that article with a couple of my thoughts.

Caller Close Business Rule

When Field

The when field on a business rule is very important.  Most business rules run "before", which means before save. However, occasionally you will use an "after" business rule to update a related table, which is purely for performance reasons.  

Using display business rules is more popular now due to the new trick, Scripting with Display Business Rules.  To be honest, I very rarely I use async rules.

Say when

• display - Use to provide client scripts access to server-side objects. For more information, see Scripting with Display Business Rules.
• before - Use to update information on the current object. For example, a business rule containing current.state=3; would set the State field on the current record to the state with a Value of 3.
• after - Use to update information on related objects that need to be displayed immediately, such as GlideRecord queries.
• async - Use to update information on related objects that do not need to be displayed immediately, such as calculating metrics and SLAs.

Advanced

You don't have to use scripting in Business Rules anymore.  You can just use Filter Conditions, Role Conditions, and Actions to accomplish what you need instead.

I am from a older time when that functionality was not included in business rules.  To get to the "old way" or "advanced",  click that Advanced checkbox.  When you click Advanced, you get the advanced tab and can begin scripting.

Caller Close "Advanced" tab

Condition

The condition field indicates when the business rule should run.  ServiceNow evaluates the condition separately from the script.  So if you use a limiting condition, you can improve performance by not having the script section run.

It is easier to debug business rules when you can see which one meet a particular condition and which do not.

Scripts and Scripting

For scripts, I thought I would include some important concepts:

#1 Prevent Recursive Business Rules

Avoid using current.update() in a business rule script. The update() method triggers business rules to run on the same table for insert and update operations, leading to a business rule calling itself over and over.

Business Rules run before, after, and display of a record.  When you use current.update() in a business rule, that will cause a "double update" of a record or worse.  

Here are some examples of the chaos this can cause:

• before Business rule and current.update():  Business rule runs, current.update() saves the record, remaining business rules run and record will saved again
• after Business rule and current.update():  Record saves.  after Business rule runs, current.update() saves the record again
• async Business rule and current.update():  Record saves.  async Business rule runs later on, current.update() saves the record again
• display Business rule and current.update(): display Business rule runs every time the form is displayed and the form attempts to save due to current.update().  User might not have filled out the form all the way and it is an annoying experience to the user.

Don't use current.update() in a business rule!  There are certain situations when it is ok, but very rarely.  Same goes with using g_form.save() in a client script. 

#2 Enclose Code in Functions

You should always enclose your scripts in a function. When code is not enclosed in a function, variables and other objects are available to all other server-side scripts. This availability can lead to unexpected consequences that are difficult to troubleshoot.

ServiceNow now includes IFFE scripts when you start writing your business rule, so this is taken care for you now.

#3 Use Small and Specific Business Rules

By using small and specific business rules, they are easier to debug and maintain than a large and complex business rule.

It is tempting to make big business rule, but that will often hinder performance or make it difficult to evaluate.

#4 Learn Glide Record Queries

The most common scripting technique in ServiceNow is GlideRecord queries.  Learn how to use them.  Here are some examples to get you started: Five Different GlideRecord Queries

Are you storing information about your servers, laptops, and network equipment on spreadsheets or in a paper box?  Maybe you already have an CMDB, but it has a lot of issues and no one trusts it.

How do you even begin to get to an "enterprise-class" CMDB?  One that is powerful enough to manage the needs of your company and demands of users. This article will show you how and demonstrate some ideas make your journey a little bit easier.

What is Configuration Management (CMDB)?

From Wikipedia:

A configuration management database (CMDB) is a repository that acts as a data warehouse for information technology (IT) organizations. Its contents are intended to hold a collection of IT assets that are commonly referred to as configuration items (CI), as well as descriptive relationships between such assets.

Configuration Items can be Servers, Laptops, Databases, Network equipment, Printers, Application, Website, etc.  I usually think of a CMDB as the components that make up the company's network.  However that isn't exactly true, it is a collection of IT assets.  It can be a building, cloud resource, mobile phone, and even people sometimes.  It depends on your company and what assets are important for you to capture.

Building the CMDB

Deciding Configuration Item Types

ServiceNow includes over 215 Configuration Item Types in the base system.  These types are Servers, Laptops, Databases, Network equipment, Printers, Application, Website, etc. 

Should you capture information for all these types?  No.

Why is the answer no?  

• Building overly large CMDB will make searches slow and maintenance unwieldy.
• Some of the CMDB information you may just not be important at the time
• You may not want to maintain certain CMDB information

Before you build your CMDB, plan out what data is important and capture that well. Capturing everything isn't necessarily wrong, but it usually introduces more issues than it helps.

CMDB Data Import and Discovery

There are various ways to import/create/populate the data in the CMDB.  The worst ways to do this are importing spreadsheets and manual input.  Using these methods usually mean your data will be out-of-date before you are done entering it.

I suggest getting CMDB data from a Discovery application such as ServiceNow Discovery, SCCM, Altiris, HP uCMDB, BMC Atrium etc.  These applications scan the network and update CMDB information automatically insuring data is correct.  

Which Discovery application to chose?  Read this article: ServiceNow Discovery vs Integration with other Discovery Applications

If possible, use Discovery before importing your old data into a new ServiceNow system.  Your old data is likely out of date, use the new information if you can.

Also consider using Service Mapping for additional ServiceNow discovery and mapping to Business Services.

Using the CMDB

Asset Management

One of the confusing parts of ServiceNow is why there is a CMDB and Asset Management.  The reason why can be summed up in this statement:

Asset management and configuration management (CMDB) are related, but have different goals. Asset management focuses on the financial tracking of company property. Configuration management focuses on building and maintaining elements that create an available network of services.

Once you have that CMDB framework, use Asset Management to make it even more valuable.  Put a cost to Configuration Items, make sure servers and laptops are deployed and retained properly.  

Build the CMDB using discovery, but pay with it using Asset Management.  Something like that.  

Service Catalog and Request Management

You can use the Service Catalog to have items for Server Builds, Server Decoms, and Server Updates.  By using the workflow that Request Management offers, you can insure certain data (that isn't discovered) is updated in ServiceNow and servers are correctly managed. 

Change Management

Change Management helps organizations understand and work to minimize risks of changes to the IT environment. By having a robust CMDB, you can detect collisions and notify users of impending changes to company infrastructure.  

Change Management is one of the most important applications in ServiceNow.  Without it a company infrastructure changes are timebombs. It is not a question that a costly outage will occur, the question is when. Mitigate that risk by using Change Management. Change Management requires a CMDB to be truly effective.

Monitoring

Using a monitoring application, you can auto-create incidents against CIs in ServiceNow when an event occurs. There are many different monitoring applications you can use with ServiceNow.   ServiceNow has Event Management, and you can use that or hook others up to ServiceNow with a plugin, Webservices, email, or other. Event Monitoring requires a CMDB for best usage.

Incident and Problem Management

Of course using CMDB data in Incident and Problem management is great.  You can track an issue straight to the CI that caused it and find solutions.  You can run reports to track CIs with the most issues or important CIs.  You can run Incident and Problem without an CMDB, but the effectiveness is greatly diminished.

CMDB Maintenance

Running a CMDB unchecked is not a good idea.  Especially if you have ServiceNow Discovery or various data import sources, you should run reports to determine if the CMDB is accurate.

I suggest setting periodic meetings to check CMDB data for accuracy and eliminate duplicates.  One idea is to generate a monthly incident to make sure maintenance is completed.

Here is an article about how to build duplicate record reports: Duplicate Record Scripts

Here are some examples of other reports you can build (Some are included in the base system)

• Blank IP
• CIs Not Discovered
• Duplicate CI by IP Address
• Duplicate CI by Serial Number
• Not Classified
• Not Responding
• Connection Errors

Good CMDBs are unnoticed

If you think you will get a parade based on your efforts with the CMDB, you are mistaken. People typically only notice issues with a CMDB, but never realize how well constructed it might be. A good CMDB is transparent to the user and they take it for granted. 

If you are receiving no complaints about your CMDB, this means you did a great job.  :)

Mike

People often ask me what it is like to be a consultant compared to being an employee at a company.  What is the difference between the two careers?  That can vary drastically depending on the consulting company you work for.  However there are certain differences that you may want to consider when selecting your career.

Cost Center or Profit Center?

This is the biggest difference in my opinion.  Someone said this to me once, and it really hit home about the difference between consultant/employee.  I never really thought about it that way before.

• Cost Center.  When you are an employee, especially a ServiceNow developer, you are a cost center at the company.  You may help them conduct business, but what you are doing costs the company money.  
• Profit Center. When you are a consultant at a consulting company, a billable consultant, you bring in the company money.  

Notice how I highlighted billable consultant above?  Sure you as an employee you are kind of burden, a cost center. However as a consultant that is not billable...that can be a worse experience.  Even if it is not your fault, maybe due to sales or market conditions.

• Employee. Be cheap or useful.
• Consultant. Stay billable and you are great!

Advantage: Either. Both have advantages and disadvantages.  

Overhead Costs

• Employee: Every dollar saved lowers the cost of your department. This means as few wasted efforts as possible and maximization of employee throughput.   
• Consultant:  Billable hours are most important, so any time not billing is a negative in many cases.  Some exceptions exist, when you are helping make new sales, building infrastructure to handle sales, or training new consultants for more projects.

Advantage: Consultant.  When you are thought of as important to bring in profit, I believe you are treated better....as long as you stay billable!

WORK LOAD

• Employee: The more projects completed, means a better end-of-year report, and better reviews.
• Consultant: Billable hours are most important, so any time not billing is a negative in many cases.  Some exceptions exist, when you are helping make new sales, building infrastructure to handle sales, or training new consultants for more projects.

Advantage: Employee.  You cost money and also you require software that costs money.  Software isn't free so sometimes software purchases are restricted.  Your workload is limited to the software you support.

As a consultant you have the pressure to be as billable all the time.  Sure there are projects that have a deadline, but that pales in comparison to an active consulting workload.  Consultants are often tied to fixed bid contracts that really pressure you to finish projects on time.

Training

• Employee: Training is a great way to boost the skills of an existing employee without looking for new resource. 
• Consultant: Training takes time away from billable work. Unless you are at a conference making sales as well!

Advantage: Employee.  Often employees are given more opportunities for training than a consultant.

Benefits

• Employee: Benefits depend on the company.  
• Consultant: Benefits depend on the company.  However if you are 1099 consultant, you are on your own for benefits.

Advantage: Employee.  Most often employees have better benefits, because the they work for larger companies. They can have corporate cell phone plans, better 401K match, and better health plans.

Travel

• Employee: Travel depends on the company and role.
• Consultant: Travel depends on the company.  Larger consulting companies often have a significant amount of travel.

Advantage: Employee.  I often hear about employees that never travel.  Consulting companies are notorious for "road warriors".  However that is changing somewhat due to cloud computing.  Some people like travel however, so in that case, being a consultant might be for you.

Some additional advice.  If you are a consultant, limit your drinking when on the road.  It is easy to often have a drink at the bar with clients.  However you are alone a lot, maybe lonely, and bored away from home.  I have seen many consultants become alcoholics due to this lifestyle.  I am no angel, but I do limit my drinking while traveling as a consultant.  At least I have learned to do that from experience. :)

Company Friendships

• Employee: Depends on the size of the company and company culture.
• Consultant: You meet an incredible amount of people.

Advantage: Consultant. Although you can have longer friendships at a company, as a consultant you meet so many people.  You are going to make a friend or two just out of sheer numbers.

Personal Relationships

• Employee: You are at home every night.  If you can handle work/life balance at your company.
• Consultant: This depends on the amount of travel and being away from home.  Although you can make friends in different cities.

Advantage: Employee, although travelling has advantages for some.

Challenges

• Employee: You sometimes will be challenged to do things not in your skillset
• Consultant: You will be forced to do technical tasks you never thought possible

Advantage: Consultant. Want to wake up everyday with a mountain to climb?  Others might disagree with me on that one!

Recognition

• Employee: Sometimes your boss will recognize your importance.  
• Consultant: Billable hours and client reviews.  Clients will often take credit for your work.

Advantage: Consultant.  Billable hours are a great indicator of performance.  Just be aware that clients will often take credit for your work.  As a consultant, I have not been invited to project end celebrations, even though I built the program. I have seen companies present my work at conferences and said "they built it.".  Just take that as a compliment. :)

Vacation

Neither want you to take a vacation.

Advantage: Employee.  As a consultant, you often are working for multiple clients at once.  So you have to tell 4 or 5 bosses you have a vacation ahead.

Commission OR BONUS

• Employee: Sometimes your boss will recognize your importance.  
• Consultant: Utilization.  Individual or team based.  

Advantage: Consultant

What to choose?

As you can tell, both careers have advantages/disadvantages.  It depends a lot on the company you work for, how you are treated and a lot of other factors.  

Just do what makes you happy.

In your ServiceNow implementation, how do you know you are making the right decisions?

Here are some tips to avoid some design and programming mistakes you can make with ServiceNow. Make your ServiceNow instance great and really build ServiceNow excellence at your company.

FOCUS ON EASE OF USE

Obviously this is a joke in the image to the right. There are a lot more to Google and Apple programs than just a couple buttons. Unfortunately there is still some truth to this joke, ITSM programs can get complex.

Just because you can build it, doesn't mean you should.

ServiceNow is a powerful product.  You can design whatever you want.  However often you don't always need so many fields and such complex workflow. 

Design something too complex and your users will mutiny against you.  They will turn back to trusty old email and excel spreadsheets, and won't use ServiceNow at all.  Your investment will be waste of time, energy, and money.

A user interface is like a joke.  If you have to explain it, it's not that good.

It isn't easy to do that, to keep people's expectations in check, still be liked, and build a product that people enjoy using.  However it is worth the effort.

Sometimes we lose track that real people need to use these applications.  It is part of their daily lives and your design does make a tremendous difference.

Aesthetics are important

In my travels, have seen some real ugly forms and some exceptionally awful CMS sites.  There is a certain element of style that goes along with with designing ServiceNow. 

Tip: When you are designing a form, try to break it up with sections and logically group items together for ease-of-use.

Eye Pain: Ne Theme

When building a CMS/Service Portal site, use a site that recommends complementary colors.  There are popular trends for colors that people will like as it reminds them of other apps/home decor they like.  For example, when you look at the Helsinki Themes I made recently, I stuck to the color wheel for most of them, with the exception of maybe the Hulk or Ne theme.  The Ne Theme makes my eyes hurt.

ServiceNow's switch to use AngularJS and Bootstrap is a great step to keeping ServiceNow look and work great.  They are really on the right track in terms of great UI.  It is up to you to keep things looking nice.

Define STAKEHOLDERS

Setting Key Stakeholders

If you ever held a workshop with 20 active participants, you may realize quickly that is a mistake.  You will get more input than you likely can handle in a group that size. It is a lot easier to limit the participants to smaller groups such as 5 - 10, so that you don't frustrate the participants and also get more focused responses.

We give advice by the bucket, but take it by the grain.
- William Alger

This is difficult at times, as you want to maximize company buy-in and accept ServiceNow at the end of the project.  However by not limiting the number of stakeholders, you are delaying finalizing requirements and sometimes even delay the implementation cut-over date.

Ownership

Not only do you want to determine stakeholders for ServiceNow implementation.  Also find owners for ServiceNow applications, configuration items, groups, etc.  This will help keep items up-to-date, and set voices for enhancements in future.

don't Try to rebuild the past

Often we see people trying to recreate their old application in ServiceNow.  Everything from "Remedy ServiceNow", "HP ServiceNow", and "Salesforce ServiceNow" are attempted.  People are used to that old application and it is easier for them just to make the new application a little more like home.

Those who fail to learn from history are doomed to repeat it
-George Santayana

As I get older, I understand.  You grow personally attached to something you worked on for a long time. It is very tempting to recreate that familiar application in ServiceNow. 

However the "rebuild" is nearly always a mistake.  Here are some common mistakes by people that have trouble letting go:

• Mistake #1: Everything on the form.  In old applications, the AJAX popups on fields didn't exist.  So you would put all the caller fields on the form.  You don't need to do that in new modern systems though, they show you a normalized popup show you the data just fine.  
• Mistake #2: Everything on one table. Another example is dot-walking/drilldown.  In old applications, you could not dot-walk and you need to put all the fields on a main table (denormalize).  You needed that data in reports, and that was the only way to build the report.  However you can drilldown in the new systems and that isn't needed anymore
• Mistake #3: Crazy Workflow.  People hated the old program and it was difficult to understand.  It was designed for people who long left the company.  Why rebuild that?!
• Mistake #4: Complicated Emails.  In old systems, you couldn't click in an email to view the record as they didn't allow html links.  Also you didn't have self service.  So we put a lot of stuff in the emails.  With the new generations, they want short emails.  Sending them "a book" via email is not what they really want.
• Mistake #5: Customized to the Max. ServiceNow does allow you to customize it and it is encouraged. However there are areas of ServiceNow you should fear to tread, like ServiceNow-created UI Macros, UI Scripts, and Script Includes.  By modifying that core functionality, you may cause issues with upgrades.  It isn't a huge deal, but it should be noted.  Also why modify it so much?  Is that truly needed?

Check this article: Resistance to Change

always ATTEMPT TO automate

Recently ServiceNow commissioned Lawless Research to design and conduct a study about the state of work in companies with 500 or more employees.   Their findings help confirm what we already knew, working via email processes is difficult and costly. See Productivity Drain report.

There are many different ways people can automate tasks and speed delivery in ServiceNow.  Use them and you will save time and more important get more out of your ServiceNow System.

Workflow

ServiceNow didn't always have workflow in the earlier versions.  It was "state-driven" and used Business Rules to automate certain tasks. 

Workflow can allow more visibility into the current process, it is easier to explain, and faster to modify than standard Business Rules. Also you can use workflow to generate approvals, events, and other tasks.

There are still areas of ServiceNow that don't use Workflow, however it is easy to add it. 

Notifications

Email notifications in ServiceNow fire automatically when certain conditions are set.  Often in older applications this was a manual process.

Trying to get people that are involved in Customer Service to use an automatic email process sometimes it a big change for them. It is worth it however just due to the sheer amount of time saved by automatic notifications.

Task Routing

Another way to boost efficiency to use Assignment Rules to automatically assign incidents, changes, problems, etc. You can also use Business Services to route tasks. Nearly every customer uses this along with inbound email actions to automatically route their incidents to the appropriate group.

Orchestration

Orchestration is one of the most popular new tools this year in ServiceNow.  Here is the pitch for orchestration:

It’s hard to drive value across the business when your time is spent putting out fires and completing manual, error ‑ prone tasks. As much as you want to automate tasks and processes, dealing with disparate tools and lack of coordination between teams will only slow you down.

Orchestration lets you increase agility by automating IT and business processes for operations management. You can reduce tasks with Password Reset and Client Software Distribution, and improve end‑user productivity by giving users the ability to access services directly. Codeless automation and activity packs also automate and accelerate processes for employee onboarding, managed file transfer, configuration automation, and remediation.

People love orchestration, as it takes the manual, error-prone tasks out of the system.

Discovery

ServiceNow Discovery application finds computers and other devices connected to an enterprise's network.

Compared to manual imports or other integrations, ServiceNow Discovery is a great way to keep your CMDB up-to-date.

ESTABLISH A LONG TERM VISION

Many customers I talk to are often interested in best practices and finding a playbook. "Best practices" are just opinions and observations. Playbooks are just a way to plan out your implementation

Although I think no playbook truly captures all situations and company needs, the concept and idea behind planning your ServiceNow implementation is very valuable.

I do know it is often tempting to just turn the system on and start using it now.  I mean you are already paying for licenses on day 1.  However with a little bit of planning and using long-term vision, you can get a greater value for your investment.

Some examples of long term vision:

Determine Ownership

Who owns Incident Management?  What CIs are owned by which person to keep up to date?  It is important to determine ownership so that the system continues to have valid data and works well.

Build a Maintenance Plan

I wrote an article recently, ServiceNow Monthly Maintenance.  A good idea is to expand upon this article to build your own company maintenance plan for you instance of ServiceNow.

Learn Update Sets

Teach yourself how to use update sets right away.  Don't wait until after your implementation date to start using them.  Without update sets, you might be inclined to write code directly in production.  This is a really bad idea for lots of reasons.  Especially if you are not exactly "servicenow elite" initially and may make a few mistakes.

Roadmap Forecasting

Really difficult to release all the ServiceNow applications at once at your company.  Build a roadmap and stagger your releases, set expectations, and plan out your future.

Read the instruction manual

I do recommend reading the ServiceNow Wiki, ServiceNow Share, Release Notes, (and this website!) before you start building a new customization.  That customization might already exist.  ServiceNow has been around for a long time now, and there are no original ideas anymore. :)

Mike

ServiceNow has incorporated IIFE scripts into their latest releases.  What is an IIFE script and what does it mean to you? 

IIFE stands for Immediately-invoked function expression. IIFE is just an anonymous function (no name attached to it) that is wrapped inside of a set of parentheses and called (invoked) immediately.  

From the ServiceNow wiki on this topic:

An immediately invoked function expression is both declared and invoked within the same script field. Whenever you write a script that only needs to run in a single context, such as a transform map script, use this type of function. For functions that must run in multiple contexts, consider reusable functions instead.

What does this mean and how do these scripts help? By enclosing a script in an immediately invoked function expression you can:

• Ensure the script does not impact other areas of the product, such as by overwriting global variables.
• Pass useful variables or objects as parameters.
• Identify function names in stack traces.
• liminate having to make separate function calls.

Before IIFE Scripts, we used to add functions ourselves, but now ServiceNow adds the IIFE script automatically to get you started. Along with the new "real-time" syntax checker, scripting is easier than ever!

Examples

IIFE Format

(function functionName(parameter) {
//The script you want to run
})('value'); //Note the parenthesis indicating this function should run.

IIFE Script with inner functions

(function functionName(parameter) {
function helperFunction(parameter){
//return some value
}
var value = helperFunction(parameter); //Valid function call.
//perform any other script actions
})('value');
var value2 = helperFunction(parameter); //Invalid. This function is not accessible from outside the self-executing function.

Business Rule

(function executeRule(current, previous /*null when async*/) {

// Add your code here

})(current, previous);

Transform Script

(function runTransformScript(source, map, log, target /*undefined onStart*/ ) {

// Add your code here

})(source, map, log, target);

Basic IIFE

(function() {
// Add your code here
})();

I'll have to make the effort to learn the new GRC (Governance, Risk, and Compliance).  The new version replaces the legacy GRC application and has an improved interface and new features.

From the wiki on ServiceNow GRC:

Legacy functionality (com.snc.governance) has been deprecated.

I was pretty good at the older versions...but you always to need evolve when in technology!

What is an update set?

An update set is a group of customizations that can be moved from one instance to another. 

Update sets are one of the most important development tools that ServiceNow has ever released.  I have used other development platforms without this feature, and it was a real nightmare at times. Update sets were one of the key reasons I decided to switch to ServiceNow.

I have never written about update sets before, as they are often self explanatory. However after years of using update sets, I have learned  a variety of details that can help.

Prerequisite Reading

The ServiceNow wiki has a number of great articles on Update sets.  Update sets an important part of the platform, and ServiceNow has made an significant effort in terms of documenting their use.

• System Update Sets
• Update Set Best Practices

I am going to attempt to add upon these articles and add a new perspective to update set usage.

What is an Update Set?

From the ServiceNow Wiki

An update set is a group of customizations that can be moved from one instance to another. This feature allows administrators to group a series of changes into a named set and then move them as a unit to other instances. Update sets allow customizations to be developed in a development instance, moved to a test instance, and then applied to a production instance.

In short, update sets "record" your development efforts in ServiceNow so that you can move them from Development to Production.

Why use Update Sets?

Why use update sets?  Can I just repeat my efforts I did in development in Production?

Yes, you can.  However the sys_id, the unique identifier that marks every ServiceNow record would be different.  This can cause issues in certain scripting and configuration situations.

Also it starts to be a game of telephone.  You may think you created that customization exactly the same as in development, but may have missed a few steps in Production. You tested your customizations in development and they worked.  Now in production they work differently. Trying to diagnose what is different can be pain-staking. If you would have used update sets to begin with, this issue would not have occurred.

Can I just export the customization to xml and move it up instead?  Why should I use update sets if I can just do that instead?

Yes, you can do that. However again, you will have to remember all the changes you made to the system. This isn't easily sustainable when you are making a large number of customizations.

Can I just use update sets when I need them? I can test code in development in the Default update set right?

No. Treat the development environment with the intention that all code will be going to Production. Do any special tests in a sandbox or personal developer instance.  You may make an update in development without intending that to go to production, but another developer come along and update that.  Boom, that update is going to production!

You should always be in an update set while in a development instance.

Scoped applications

Before we really even get started with this "super guide", I want to mention I will not be talking about scoped applications much.

I personally think you should make a scoped application only if you are intending on selling it later. Using scoped applications adds another layer of complexity to update sets.  If you are just doing development for your company, you don't need to use scoped applications.

ServiceNow might have some other reasons why scoped applications are valuable.  However in my opinion, I have not seen the value for day-to-day development, it is only valuable for selling an application. Seeing how I give some of my work away for free on site or build applications for clients, I don't use scoped applications much.

What is tracked?

Update sets "record" your development efforts in ServiceNow.  However they don't record everything.

When do update sets track your customization?

• Where the table has an update_synch dictionary attribute.
• Where there is a special handler to track changes to multiple tables.
• Where the administrator has not specifically excluded a field from updates.

In short, often your code is captured in an update set, but data is not.

Why isn't just everything captured?  If you create an incident in development for testing, you would not want that incident moved up to production right?  See what I mean?

You can use the Add to Update Set button to move untracked customizations to your update set.  However you will find that doesn't work that well for larger amounts of data.  Export and import to production for large amounts of data.

More about the update_synch Attribute

It might be tempting to add the update_synch attribute to other tables.  Don't do it, it will cause issues later on.  Just use the system as it was intended for update sets.

Homepages and Content Pages

Homepages, content pages, and Performance Analytics dashboards are not added to update sets by default. You must manually add pages to the current update set by unloading them. See:

• Adding Homepages to Update Sets
• Adding Content Pages to Update Sets
• Adding Performance Analytics Dashboards to Update Sets

Default Update Set

The Default update set contains all the updates that are not in an named update set.

Try to keep the default update set as small as possible.

Sometimes on initial ServiceNow implementations, update sets are not used, and the default update set contains the updates.  This is ok, but after the initial implementation, I think update sets should be used.

Basic Process

Here is the basic process for getting update sets from Development to Production.  I will describe in more detail as well in the sections below.

Development Instance

1. Create an update set on the development instance.
2. Make customizations and changes on the development instance.
3. Mark the update set as Complete.

Test Instance

1. Log in to the test instance and retrieve the completed update set from the development instance.
2. Commit the update set on the test instance, and test customizations thoroughly.
3. If the update set has problems in the test instance, repeat the steps with development instance with another update set.

Production Instance

1. Log in to the production instance and retrieve the completed update set from the development instance. If the update set required a fix, retrieve both update sets.
2. Commit the update set on production. If the update set required a fix, commit both update sets in the order they were made.

Creating an Update Set

Update Set Example

Creation Standards

When you name an update set, don't call it "Mike's code" or similar.  Later on when you have hundreds or even thousands of update sets that might be different to find.

Name Field

I suggest using this name format, initials-application-date-short description.  For update sets where multiple people are using the same update set, use the company instead of your initials in the update set name.

If your update set is part of a series, put a number at the end of the update set name, like mlk-inc-implementation-1 and mlk-inc-implementation-2.  That way you know what load order to do the update sets in production.

Description Field

Use the description field to describe what the update set contains.  That helps you further down the road.  If the update set is the result of a story, demand, incident, problem, etc, put that in the description!

If there are any manual steps such as activating a plugin, loading data, etc, put them in the description as well.

How to create an update set

This wiki article shows you how to create an update set.  

Using Update Sets

Select Update Set

This wiki shows you how to select an update set.

Merge Update Sets

Don't merge update sets very often.  It can result in issues, and I don't really trust it myself.

There are situations when it may be necessary. Like when you are previewing an update set commit and it says, "record not found, but exists in another uncommitted update set" or something to that effect. However use that feature sparingly.

Deleting an update set entry

Accidentally modify some base system code and you don't want it in your update set? You can remove the update set entry and it will not affect upgrades then.

Just go into the update set and select the line you want to delete.  Go to the List Options at the bottom of the list and click delete.

You will receive this prompt.

Delete prompt on an update set

This prompt is very important. Be careful to only delete what you meant to delete.  

Wrong Update Set

Say you are using multiple update sets and forget to change your update set.  Your code is in the wrong update set!

This Update Set Copy/Move UI Action allows you copy/move update set entries easily.  You can also manually move each entry, but this is a nice feature to use.

Moving an Update Set to Destination Instance

1. Mark to Complete

Ready to move your update set from Development to Test or Production?

Only mark an update set as Complete only when it is ready to migrate. Once an update set is complete, do not change it back to In progress. This can cause issues in the retrieval process.  If you need to adjust an existing Completed update set, make a new update set. Don’t reopen update sets.  Very important!

This is how to Mark the update set as complete.

2. Retrieve Update Sets

You pull update sets from development using update source.  This wiki article describes Transferring an update set.

I suggest only pulling update sets from the development instance.  Don't pull update sets from dev, test, qa, as that results in duplicate retrieved update sets.

Also try to keep the uncommitted retrieved update sets to a low number.  That helps keep your pipeline of update sets manageable.

3. Preview Update Set

Once all your update sets are retrieved, you can begin previewing them to find potential problems.

This wiki article, Resolving Preview Problems, shows some ways to resolve issues if found.

You can choose one of the following options to resolve an issue: 

• Accept remote update: commit the remote update set without fixing the problem.
• Skip remote update: skip the update when you commit the update set.

In general I would say I "Skip" preview problems for the most part.  I do "Accept" preview problems if the error is something is missing.

Preview problems do happen and it is often not your fault. Don't panic if you see preview problems.  

4. Commit Update Set

After all your preview is completed, you can click commit to commit the update set.

5. Backout update sets

Don't backout update sets. If you had an issue with your update set, create a new update set and fix it. Backing out an update set can result in confusing issues.

This wiki article shows how to backout update sets.  Still don't do it.

Same goes with deleting update sets.  Don't do it.

Backups and Exports from SN Share

Reasons to backup your update sets

1. Working with multiple other developers? 
2. Are you a consultant and work in customer instances?  
3. Cloning over development?
4. Don't trust yourself completely?

If the answer is yes to any of these situations...better be backing up your update sets!  Here are how to backup your update sets.

• Export to XML

If you want to load an update set from SN Share or your update set.

• Loading an XML Update Set

Post your question or feedback

Did I miss something in this article or have a question? Post your comment below!

What is ServiceNow Express?

If you have never have heard of ServiceNow Express before, it is a simpler version of ServiceNow. What does ServiceNow Express contain?  From the ServiceNow Express website:

With Express, IT teams have a powerful new IT automation solution that provides these key functions:

• Incident, problem and change automation to speed the assignment and resolution of tickets, fix recurring issues and help IT teams stop managing services with email.
• Asset tracking to replace spreadsheets with a single system of record to see what assets the IT team manages, where assets reside, how they are performing and what issues are tagged to them.
• Visual Task Boards to give IT managers a unique and easy way to assign the team work through a drag‑and‑drop interface, including changing assignee, adding tasks, resetting priorities and collaborating with the team.
• One‑click reporting on any metric to track performance and demonstrate the value of IT to business leaders.

It is marketed to small businesses and companies with more restricted budgets.  Compared to the full ServiceNow Enterprise platform, it can cost much less. On the ServiceNow website (August 2016)

Express is available today in the U.S. and Canada. Pricing starts at $50 per user per month with a minimum one‑year contract.

Full ServiceNow Enterprise implementation licensing typically costs much more.  Not to mention, there are often implementation services and administration costs for a ServiceNow Enterprise implementation as well.

If you are a small company (less than 1,000 employees), limited budget, and want to use the ServiceNow Platform, Express might be just what you are looking for.

Differences between ServiceNow Express and ServiceNow Enterprise

In order to produce a lower-cost option, ServiceNow Express has some customization limitations:

• No Scripting. No scripting of any kind. You need to use expressions instead or the functionality is not available.
• Limited Customation. No UI macros, UI actions, data policies, client scripts, ACLs, or scheduled jobs
• No Graphical Workflow.  Use Execution Plans instead.  This may change in the next version of ServiceNow, ServiceNow Istanbul
• No Development Instances.  You "code" directly in Production.  No update sets, as you are coding directly in production anyway.
• No Branding. No customer logos, CMS, or service portal.
• No Plugins. You only get the apps that are shown.  Nothing additional. Applications like Orchestration, Discovery, and Service Mapping are not available.
• No Field Level Encryption. That isn't used that much anyway.
• No LDAP Authentication. No SSO either except for Okta.
• Limited API Access.  Access to REST/SOAP integration limited to basic integrations on the ServiceNow side.

That all being said, ServiceNow Express still has the nice ServiceNow platform functionality. You just have to get used to using it "as-is" as much as possible.

Upgrade from Express to Enterprise

The other good news is that if you ever decided to upgrade to Enterprise, the upgrade process to Enterprise is as "easy as a switch".  Write up a new agreement with ServiceNow, and ServiceNow flips you to Enterprise.

So in effect, ServiceNow Express gives you a starting point for getting on the ServiceNow Platform.

Of course any custom features in Enterprise that are not in Express, you would need to add those as needed.  Like if you always wanted some custom client script in Express, you would have the opportunity to create it in Enterprise.

Here is more information about the upgrade to enterprise: Express Conversion to ServiceNow Enterprise

Virteva

Want to "Say YES to ServiceNow", but not sure if ServiceNow Express is right for you?

Contact Virteva, the company I work for. We provide consulting services such as:

• Rapid Deployment Packages.  Express and Enterprise rapid deployment packages to get you up and running in a short period with zero deployment risk
• ManagedNow. 24x7 ServiceNow administration and support
• Now to Next.  ServiceNow custom development
• Service Desk. 24x7x365 state-of-the-art Service Desk and Endpoint Management services using a shared ServiceNow domain-separated instance. Virteva uses ServiceNow domain separation to enforce absolute data isolation between the various customers using the instance.

View the online set of design standards for all ServiceNow products.

• ServiceNow Design System

It is interesting to browse the details and see all the work that goes into the design of the ServiceNow platform. 

Everything looks simple from a distance!

Learn why ServiceNow is so popular and is changing the way people work.

Try ServiceNow right now via the ServiceNow DemoNow site.

• Experience the features and applications
• Explore the flexibility of the underlying platform
• Learn how to use intuitive applications for managing services

ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) is a relatively new application from ServiceNow.  It was released on May 18, 2016, and is already gaining market share from its competitors.

The ServiceNow Customer Service Management application enables you to provide service and support for your external customers.

SERVICE MANAGEMENT

ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) is part of the ServiceNow "Service Management" suite of applications.

• IT Service Management
• HR Service Management
• Field Service Management
• Facilities Service Management
• Legal Service Management
• Finance Service Management
• Marketing Service Management
• Security Operations
• Customer Service Management

Read the complete promotional materials about ServiceNow Customer Management here:

• Customer Service Management

Why change?

Coming from an ITSM background, I didn't immediately understand the significance of this. Big deal, it is just a new application right? However after doing a few implementations of CSM, I now realize the benefits.

If your company already has a Customer Relationship Management application like Salesforce Service Cloud or similar, why rock the boat and go to ServiceNow instead?

1. One Platform

By using ServiceNow CSM, you will be connected to all other ServiceNow applications without integrations.  You will be on one platform with those benefits.

• Combined platform for Customer Service, IT, and other departments
• Shared Knowledge Base
• One Employee Service Portal
• One Customer Service Portal
• Only Javascript to support

2. Innovation

ServiceNow is hungry in this space and is taking dramatic steps to build a market-leading CRM application.

With the power of the ServiceNow Platform (and development funds) they are really improving and building this application.

I have experience with the first version of ServiceNow CSM and the latest version of CSM. ServiceNow has listened to our suggestions for improvements and made them.  Everything I have asked for was added to the latest version! They want to sell this and their efforts show.

Other CRM applications have not changed in years. Their product development ended as they had the functionality built and are not focused on innovation. 

3. Functionality Overlap

If you continue to use an existing CRM application, you will build similar functionality at times as in ServiceNow. Same integrations, SLAs, fields, notifications, etc. Systems have different architecture, and have to design and maintain functionality in two systems.

Why build the same thing twice?

4. User Overlap and Licensing Costs

As CRM and ServiceNow Incident Management often overlap, you will be paying for user licenses in both systems. Users will sometimes have to swivel chair between systems. Users of course hate that.

5. User Confusion

If you use an existing CRM application, that often has a portal.  You just spent time/money to build the ServiceNow Service Portal as well. If you have any Customers in ServiceNow, it gets confusing for customers.  

What site do they use to submit their issue?

Then the confusion between which system to use at times.  Different email address for inbound email, outbound communications from two different systems to a customer.

6. Cost Savings

This all depends on your licensing agreement, but often ServiceNow can be cheaper.

 I did mention the cost savings from eliminating licenses on your old system.  However on some licensing agreements, ServiceNow is the cheaper system.

7. Tenancy

You may know about the multi-tenant vs. multi-instance debate. What you may not know is that is a major part of the power of ServiceNow. Use a multi-tenant application with its limitations, and you'll understand that the tenancy of a platform does matter...a lot.

8. POWER OF THE PLATFORM

One of the great competitors to ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) is ServiceNow Incident Management. These ServiceNow applications are so popular that they compete with themselves!

Yes, ServiceNow CSM and ServiceNow Incident Management are similar, but are different all the same. They have different functionality, different process, and do things in their own way.

Although they are different, they both can use the same functionality that other ServiceNow applications have. Knowledge Management, Asset Management, Configuration Management, etc. That is the power of the platform.

FEATURES

1. New Application

When installed, CSM will be a new application in your system, with new functionality.

2. Case Management

In CSM, a case may be open for a long time.  Customers may ask for many items, but they don't always receive it.  

For example, a customer requests that a field be the color purple on an application.  Some of the other customers may want that, but others want it to stay the same.  Just because one customer wants it, doesn't mean the other customers agree.  So often the case stays open until agreement, or until is verified that they will always disagree.

The ITIL incident management process ensures that normal service operation is restored as quickly as possible and the business impact is minimized.  Incidents don't stay open long periods of time, at least they try not to do that.

That separation between Incident Management and CSM also allows CSM specific features and doesn't impede on Incident Management processes.

Cases have Customer-Specific Data

• Accounts - Account information about customers and partners. Each account contains details such as contacts, Locations, casts, assets, contracts, entitlements, releated accounts, relationships, and team members 
• Contacts - Contacts are the people tied to the accounts
• Entitlements - An entitlement is kind of like an SLA.  It indicates the type of service the customer paid for and is tied to the contract.
• Service Contracts - the contract the customer has for service.
• Install Base - All the products the customer has installed

3. Customer-focused Portal

Customer Service application also includes its own portal.  In the portal, users can manage user accounts, assets, and cases, which is different than the standard service portal.

4. Special Handling NOTES

Use the Special Handling Notes application to create notes that bring important information about individual records to the user's attention.

Great idea to really catch attention for visibility.

5. TargETED COMMUNICATIONS

The Targeted Communications application provides the ability to create and send communications with optional email notification to internal and external customers.

This didn't exist in earlier versions of CSM, and it something users from other CRM applications have been looking for.  

6. MATCHING RULES

Create powerful matching rules with scripting to assign agent resources.  This can be based on case attributes and details in the case to execute the routing.

7. Knowledge Product Entitlements

The Knowledge Product Entitlements application enables administrators to designate the knowledge bases and knowledge articles that customers can view from the customer portal.

This a product-based way to show KB articles, much more powerful than standard user criteria on KB articles. It is something that CRM users expect in a CRM application.

8. CTI Softphone

Use a CTI soft phone to take and receive calls without leaving the Customer Service app.

9. Connect Support

Chat with customers and create cases directly from a chat.

10. Performance Analytics 

Special PA Dashboards and indicators for Customer Service.  Use the Context Sensitive Analytics for Customer Service to open context sensitive Performance Analytics dashboards in customer service forms based on UI actions.

MORE INFORMATION

Here is an additional video on Customer Service Management

Also read more about CSM on the Customer Service Management wiki

Facilities Service Management is a single platform to manage the operations of facilities and help employees find assistance quickly.  

Benefits

• meet sustainability goals and plan for business continuity
• manage work load with process, increasing operational efficiency and staff productivity
• improve communications with employees, partners, and vendors
• address cost control and utilization projections
• report on facilities services by tracking and reporting on KPIs
• lower expenses by implementing automated and streamlined processes

PART OF SERVICE MANAGEMENT

ServiceNow Facilities Service Management is part of the ServiceNow "Service Management" suite of applications.

Some of the products in this suite have similar functionality.  If you are an expert at Facilities Service Management, you can usually learn the other similar apps very easily.  They all use configuration pages, state flows, and can incorporate service catalog items.  

Here are the applications in service management with similar underlying design:

• Field Service Management
• Facilities Service Management
• Legal Service Management
• Marketing Service Management
• Finance Service Management

Features

ServiceNow Facilities Management has different features available depending on activated plugins:

Facilities Catalog

The facilities catalog is a collection of 34 different catalog items in six different categories you can add to your existing service catalog or self service site.  This a great way to get started building your own configured catalog.

Deliver an online, self‑service facilities portal that provides 24x7 access to facilities information and services, minimizes dependence on institutional knowledge, and decreases the number of redundant or repetitive requests

Facilities Catalog

Interactive Facilities Maps

There are two versions of interactive facility maps available:

1. Facilities Workbench. This the newer version of interactive facilities maps.  The Facilities Workbench requires Buildings and Floors to be in GeoJSON format. GeoJSON is the format required by ServiceNow to import the files.

GeoJSON Map files. The floor plan visualization feature uses files in the GeoJSON-format, an open standard for representing geographical features. Due to the complexity of each file, work with Micello, Inc. or some other vendor to create the floor plan for your organization.

2. Floor Plan Viewer. The floor plan viewer uses image files for floor plans.  You use room markers and request indicators.  Although it doesn't require GeoJSON files, it is not as visually appealing.

Both versions allow you plot out spaces and assets within a floor and create requests directly from the floor.  

Leverage floor plan visualizations to help employees easily see if an issue is already reported or request a service simply by clicking on a map

Interactive facilities maps can be really impressive with many floors, complex buildings, and when it is fully built out. In cases of using it for malls, stadiums, and land management, it is just amazing.

Facilities Workbench

Floor Plan Viewer

Read more about Interactive Facility Maps

Facilities Management

After a facilities request is submitted via the Facilities Catalog or Interactive Facility Map, the Facilities Management application in ServiceNow is used to fulfill those requests.

Facilities Management uses state flows and workflow to automate the delivery process.  This speeds service fulfillment, creates repeatable processes, and ensures the correct agent is assigned to complete the request.

The Facilities Service Management process (from the ServiceNow wiki)

Facilities Management Configuration Page

1. A ServiceNow administrator activates and configures the Facilities Service Management application according to the needs and requirements for your organization.
2. A facilities administrator creates the campus and configures the spaces and assets contained within.
3. Users submit facilities requests.
4. Facilities staff qualify facilities requests. Which is the process of checking that the information in the request is complete, so facilities tasks can be assigned.
5. Administrators organize requests into tasks and dispatch those tasks.
6. Facilities staff members perform the tasks necessary to fulfill the request.
7. The assigned facilities staff members close their tasks, allowing the request to be closed.

Facilities Management also now has built‑in support for iOS and Android smartphones and tablets.

Facilities Request List

Facilities Task Visual Task Board

Facilities Move Management

Facilities Move Management is an application in ServiceNow used for single user or enterprise moves.  

• Employees can request single user moves via the Service Catalog. 
• Members of the facilities staff can use the enterprise move tool to plan and execute large move scenarios

Facilities Move Request

Facilities Move Task

Read more about Facilities Move Management

Space Management

Space Management is part of the Facilities Management application.  Often it is used with Interactive Facility Maps to plan and optimize space utilization.

Spaces are defined at all levels with the same unit measure, providing metrics that are readily available for analysis. These metrics include occupancy percentage, total space available, and so on. 

How Space Management is used with Interactive Facility Maps

1. Campus, buildings, floor plans loaded into ServiceNow
2. Spaces created. Area, square footage, and maximum occupancy set
3. Users associated to Space

This allows you to control the cost of occupancy by providing insight to space needs and reduces the cost of employee movement.

Read more about Space Management

Reporting

Evaluate facilities resource utilization and the volume and types of service requests with easily customized reports and dashboards

ServiceNow includes 3 dashboards and 17 reports to get you started.

Facilities Overview Dashboard

Facilities Reports

More Information

Here is an additional video on Facilities Service Management

Marketing Service Management helps groups manage work requests.  Areas in your organization that benefit from Marketing Service Management:

• Campaign Management
• Corporate Communications
• Creative Services
• Event Management
• Go To Market Readiness
• Market Intelligence
• Website Publishing

Benefits

• provide visibility into work requests through dashboards
• manage work load with process, inproving resource utilization and performance
• save time by automating work assignments instead of manually assigning staff responsbilities
• improve communications with employees, partners, and vendors
• address cost control and utilization projections
• report on marketing services by tracking and reporting on KPIs
• lower expenses by implementing automated and streamlined processes

Part of Service Management

ServiceNow Marketing Service Management is part of the ServiceNow "Service Management" suite of applications.

Some of the products in this suite have similar functionality.  If you are an expert at Marketing Service Management, you can usually learn the other similar apps very easily.  They all use configuration pages, state flows, and can incorporate service catalog items.  

Here are the applications in service management with similar underlying design:

• Field Service Management
• Facilities Service Management
• Legal Service Management
• Marketing Service Management
• Finance Service Management

FEATURES

ServiceNow Marketing Service Management has different features available depending on activated plugins:

Marketing Catalog

The marketing catalog is a collection of 37 different catalog items in 8 different categories you can add to your existing service catalog or self service site.  This a great way to get started building your own configured catalog.

Deliver an online, self‑service marketing portal that provides 24x7 access to marketing information and services, minimizes dependence on institutional knowledge, and decreases the number of redundant or repetitive requests

Marketing Service Catalog

Marketing Application

After a marketing request is submitted via the Marketing Catalog, the Marketing application in ServiceNow is used to fulfill those requests.

Marketing Service Management uses state flows and workflow to automate the delivery process.  This speeds service fulfillment, creates repeatable processes, and ensures the correct agent is assigned to complete the request.

The Marketing Service Management process (from the ServiceNow wiki)

1. Users submit marketing requests through the service catalog.
2. Based on settings in the Marketing Service Management Configuration, the request transitions through states based on actions performed through the request.
3. When the request has been fulfilled by the marketing team, the request is closed.

Marketing Configuration Page

Marketing Request List

Marketing Visual Task Board

Reporting

Evaluate marketing resource utilization and the volume and types of service requests with easily customized reports and dashboards

ServiceNow includes 1 dashboard and 5 reports to get you started.  Dashboards and reports are easily created in ServiceNow to further tailor your marketing efforts.

MORE INFORMATION

Here is an additional video on Service Management