ServiceNow is soon releasing a new version of ServiceNow, codename Istanbul. More amazing work by ServiceNow once again!
This article showcases just some of the new features to be excited about in this new release.
Authentication
LDAP One Time Password
If the LDAP server is down, users who are trying to log in can receive a one-time password to access the instance. This is controlled by the glide.ldap.onetime.password.enabled property, which is enabled by default.
Application Edit Icon
The biggest improvement since allowing the Update Set Picker to be back in the header post Eureka.
The Application edit button was removed in Geneva, likely due to a conflict with Angular.
Good news everyone, the Application Edit button is back!
This allows you to edit application and module menus in the Left Navigation bar, by a simple click of a button. No more going to Application Menus, finding your app and editing.
And they all rejoiced!
Edit Module Button
Automated Test Framework
Automated Test Framework is a new application in the Istanbul release.
With the Automated Test Framework, you create and run automated tests on your ServiceNow instance. When you upgrade or modify an instance, run these tests to confirm that the instance still works as designed.
You can create simple tests that mimic user actions with no scripting. Examples of test steps that do not require scripting include the following:
- Open a form
- Set field values
- Validate field values and attributes (such as read-only)
- Submit the form
With the server-side scripting test, you can perform more complex operations. Examples include the following:
- Perform unit tests using javascript, including tests using the Jasmine test framework.
- Test business rules, script includes, and other ServiceNow scripts.
- Create tests that operate on data that you define.
ATF: Adding a Test Step
ATF: Running Test
ATF: Client Test Runner
Application Portfolio Management
ServiceNow Application Portfolio Management is a new application in the Istanbul release.
Application Portfolio Management provides key capabilities to build an application inventory to understand how many applications are in your business organization and develop an application rationalization roadmap aligned to the enterprise goals. It helps you to get a better insight into applications by using real-time data from the platform through reports and dashboards. These capabilities help you make better business judgments.
APM Guided Setup
APM: Portal
APM: Application Roadmap
APM: Category Analysis
Assessments and Surveys
Survey widget
A survey can be taken from Service Portal.
Support for new question types
Emojis, multiple selection, and ranking question types are supported for surveys.
Survey Designer
Survey
Assessment
Benchmarks
Compare your ServiceNow instance to companies comparable to your own. See how you compare to other companies around the word.
These benchmarks will be available on HI. I think this will be very interesting to many customers. You can opt-out if you don't want to participate as well.
Benchmark Charts
CHANGE MANAGEMENT
CAB Workbench
The CAB workbench enables a CAB manager to schedule, plan, and manage CAB meetings.
- Create CAB definition: The CAB manager can define a CAB based on which CAB meetings and their agendas are created.
- Set CAB meeting schedule: The CAB manager can specify the schedule that the CAB meetings must follow. For example, every Tuesday at 10 am.
- Create series of CAB meetings: The CAB manager can specify the time-period and frequency in which a series of CAB meetings are created.
- Set CAB meeting agenda: The CAB manager can define filter conditions that determine which change requests are automatically associated to a CAB meeting occurrence.
- Specify discussion time for each agenda item: The CAB manager can specify the discussion time that must be allotted to each change request.
- Set CAB meeting board: The CAB manager can select the members of the CAB board.
- Set CAB meeting delegates: The CAB manager can select delegates who can assume the role of CAB manager during the CAB meeting.
- Notify CAB attendees: The host of the CAB meeting can notify CAB attendees in advance of their change request being discussed.
- Create individual CAB meetings: The CAB manager can create individual CAB meetings outside of a CAB definition. These individual meetings can either exist on their own or can be tied to a CAB definition.
- Ensure change requests are CAB approved: Normal and emergency change requests can now be marked for CAB approval via the CAB required check box on the Change Request form.
- Set CAB meeting delegate: Change requesters can now specify a delegate to attend the CAB meeting on their behalf via the CAB delegate field on the Change Request form.
- View CAB calendar: The change manager and change requester can view the CAB calendar and drill down into the specifics of CAB meetings.
- Approve or reject change requests: CAB managers can approve or reject change requests during the CAB meeting, which are then processed through the appropriate workflow.
- Record and view CAB meeting notes: The CAB manager can record meeting notes, which can be viewed later by CAB members and change requesters.
CAB Workbench: Meeting not started yet
CAB Workbench: Meeting in Progress
DASHBOARDS AND HOMEPAGES
Share Dashboards with anyone
Provide dashboards to any user in the ServiceNow platform and allow users with a role to share dashboards
END OF HOMEPAGES
Homepages are going away at some point. The dropzone based pages will be replaced with responsive canvas. Responsive canvas is what you see in Performance analytics and other places.
Istanbul introduces the next iteration of the dropzone-free drag and drop responsive canvas.
Details on Responsive Canvas:
- Eventually (maybe in Jakarta), homepages will be converted and removed.
- Automatic upgrade from homepages
- Visible to the customer
- Not customizable by the customer
- Doesn't not require Performance Analytics
- Not available in Express yet
Configuration Management
CMDB Query BUILDER
The CMDB Query Builder allows you to easily build complex infrastructure and service queries that span multiple CMDB classes, and that involve many CIs that are connected by different relationships.
The CMDB Query Builder provides a canvas into which you drag the CI classes and other artifacts that you want to include in a query. Then you add relationships, AND/OR operators between the CI classes, and define the relationship properties to query for. You can use saved queries to populate a CMDB group with CIs, and then use scriptable APIs to retrieve the CI list and apply actions collectively to all the CIs in the group.
CMDB Query Builder
Customer Service Management
Portals
Customer Service Management for business-to-consumer companies
Extends support for business-to-consumer companies, including the core CSM capabilities. Adds case management for consumers and consumer products, a web-based service portal, performance and scalability improvements for high transaction volumes, and contextual knowledge search.
Support business-to-consumer companies with a web-based portal that provides consumer self-registration, product registration, knowledge search, and case creation.
Customer Service Portal
Consumer Service Portal
Assignment Workbench
The assignment workbench enables customer service managers to assign tasks to agents efficiently and intelligently. The workbench uses configurable criteria, such as skills and availability, to evaluate the agents in a selected group and provide an overall ranking. Managers can view these results and click one button to assign a task.
Case Assignment Workbench
Email Layouts Unsubscribe
Administrators can use email layouts to:
- Ensure all email notifications have a consistent layout such as always displaying a header, body, and footer.
- Display static content on all email notifications such as a company logo or a background.
- Declare inline styles available for use in the message body of an email template such as setting a text font, size, and color.
- Provide users with links to common response actions such as unsubscribe from a notification or manage notification preferences.
Email Layouts
Example Email Unsubscribe Link
EXPRESS
EXPRESS NON-PRODUCTION INSTANCES
Customers can now purchase a non-production Express instance through their account representative. After purchase, a non-production instance would be allocated.
Cloning details:
- New plugin (com.glide.express.ha) activated on prod and non-prod to allow cloning data to non-prod
- Cannot select tables to exclude on clone
- Cannot elect to preserve data on target.
- Cannot modify cleanup scripts.
- Email is disabled on non-production instance
- Scheduled jobs are cleared on non-production instance
- Will not clone large tables such as audit, attachments, and logs
EXPRESS CERTIFIED INTEGRATIONS
You can now build integrations in Enterprise and port them over for usage in Express via the ServiceNow store.
HR Service Management
For the ServiceNow Human Resources Service Management (HRSM) application, the Human Resources Scoped App: Core plugin is available for new instances starting with the Istanbul release.
HRSM now has four plugins
- Human Resources Scoped App: Core
- Human Resources Scoped App: Security
- Human Resources Scoped App: Service Portal
- Human Resources Scoped App: Workday Integration
ITSM Guided Setup
ITSM guided setup provides a sequence of tasks that help you configure IT Service Management (ITSM) applications on your ServiceNow instance.
You are guided through completing configuration activities that are organized in categories for common platform settings and ITSM applications.
Istanbul improves the Guided Setup process and adds a few new features:
- Accept Best Practices - When available, this new option lets you accept the default configurations for an entire category or individual task, and mark the items as complete with a single click.
- Assign - You can now assign tasks to other administrators. You can choose to assign all tasks in a category to a single admin or assign individual ones to different admins. When a task is assigned, the admin receives an email if their user record contains an email address.
- Add note - You can now record comments regarding a task's configuration process for historical purposes.
ITSM Guided Setup
ITOM Guided Setup
A guided setup was added for the Mid Server and Discovery as well.
Related List Query Conditions
Related list conditions allow you to include a relationship with another table in a list filter. Related list conditions are supported only in List v3. You can optionally include conditions on the related table.
Related List Query Conditions
Service Portal
Variable Width
You can configure default widths for variables. When you use a variable, you can override the default width of the variable by selecting a new width size from the list of options.
Shopping Cart
The shopping cart is now available in the Service Portal.
Shopping Cart
Wishlist
You can save partially configured catalog items to your wish list. You can review your wish list later to complete the ordering process.
Wishlist in the Header
Upgrade to Multiple Service Catalogs
TIME CARDS
Time sheets were added in Istanbul finally.
A time sheet groups all time cards for a user for the given week
Time cards in a time sheet can be added in the following ways:
- Manually by users by creating time cards for their assignments.
- By copying from previous week time sheets.
- By auto generate action that finds all active project task assignments for the user and generates time cards for them.
- By scheduling a recurring job that finds all active project task assignments for the user and generates time cards for them.
Time card approval
- Time card approvers can approve all the time cards in a timesheet submitted by a user by approving the time sheet.
- Time cards are also grouped by project. Project managers can approve time cards related to their projects alone.
HOW TO Upgrade?
Read the Istanbul Release Notes and Upgrade Instructions