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Dec 03, 2024, 19 min read

Modernized Work Experience

Everything in ServiceNow is a record in a table. Service provides Application Platform as a Service (aPaas).
Some of the ways to interact with the platform:

  1. Workspace
  2. List
  3. Form
  4. Dashboard
  5. Knowledge Base
  6. Service Catalog

User Access and Personas

Persona Types:

  1. Administrator
  2. Specialized Administrator
  3. Process User
  4. Approver
  5. Requester (ESS)

User: Represented by a record on the User[sys_user] table. A user is an individual that has been granted access to your ServiceNow instance.
Add new user by navigating to:

All > User Administration > Users > New
All > System Security > User and Groups > Users > New

Group: Represented by a record on the Group[sys_user_group] table. A group is a set of users who share a common purpose.
Add new user by navigating to:

All > User Administration > Groups > New
All > System Security > User and Groups > Groups > New

Role: A role is used to define access to the application, module, and/or Access Control Lists(ACL). A user can have more than one role. A role can be assigned to a group or a single user. Role defines your capabilities in the application.

Impersonation: As a System Administrator, you need to impersonate other users for testing purposes. Using the admin or impersonator role you can impersonate other user. Even when you impersonate other users you don’t have access to their security features unless you have access to those roles.
Impersonations are logged in the System Log. The sys_property glide.sys.log_impersonation needs to be added and set to true in order to see impersonation events in the System Log.
In the HR Application you must hav3e the sn_hr_core.admin role and the impersonator role to impersonate and view HR data

Explore Modernized Work Experience

Different type of fields:

  1. Mandatory
  2. String field
  3. Choice List
  4. Reference Fields

Explore the Power of ServiceNow Platform

Baseline Implementation

Baseline Implementation: It’s a set of installed applications on a ServiceNow instance, before any configuration or customization has bee done.
Instance: Copy of ServiceNow environment specific to a customer.

Configuration and Customization

Configuration: Mostly done without code.
Customization: When a customer requires additional functionality that does not exist in the platform, and they want to add features.

If you are making changes to an instance, these changes must be packaged to be move into the production environments. Update sets allow you to do this.

Applications and Plugins

Applications: Available through ServiceNow store, developed by ServiceNow partners or ServiceNow. Usually shipped in a custom application scope.
Plugins: They provide additional optional functionality within a ServiceNow instance. Exclusively developed by ServiceNow, can either be in a custom application scope or in Global.

All > System Applications > All Available Applications > All [v_plugin.list]
All > System. Definiton > Plugins

Company

All > System Properties > My Company
All > User Administration > Companies
[sys_properties.list]
All > System Properties > System

glide.ui.polaris.experience set to true to enable Next Experience Unified Navigation on the platform.

Configure Applications for Business

Classic Environment Lists and Filters

List Records and Fields: A list display a set of records from a table. Each row represents one record, each column represents one field. The intersection of each row and column is the data value.
List Views: Views provide specific fields or columns to support different work activities. Views enable users to quickly display the same list or form in multiple ways.
Context Menus: There are different levels of control

  1. List Control Menu
  2. Column Options Menu
  3. List Fields Context Menu

List Collector: Use this to add, remove or reorder fields. Available items that are green and followed by a plus sign represent related tables. To access the fields on related tables, use dot-walking.
List Filters: A filter is a set of conditions applied to a table list to isolate a subset of the data. Components of filter condition:

  1. Field
  2. Operator
  3. Value

List Editor: It allows a field value to be edited in a list without opening the record. You can change multiple rows at once. Some fields may not be edited due to security reasons.
Quick Edit: These are used to edit records. Right click a field and select the appropriate function:

  1. Assign to me
  2. Approve
  3. Reject
  4. Assign tag

Configure List Layout: Configure List Layout to show or hide fields from a view and change the list column order. Users with admin or personalize_list role can change the list layout for all users

Configure > List Layout

List Personalization: You can personalize a list for just yourself using the gear icon. It does not affect the platform default. Personalization should be used for temporary situations. Global changes will not be reflected in a personalized list.
Dot-Walking: It gathers information from a series of tables through reference fields.
Create new application and module:

All > System Definition > Application Menus
All > System Definition > Modules

Form Configuration

Form configuration involves changing the form layout and the related list layout. System Admins can configure forms using:

  1. Form Design
  2. Form Layout

The system Dictionary contains the definition for every field from all tables in the ServiceNow instance.

All > System Definition > Dictionary

To create new tables

All > System Definitions > Tables
All > System Definitions > Tables & Columns

Classic Form Overview

Form contains Sections, UI Actions, Formatter, Related Lists.
Sections: They organize fields into logical groups in a form.
Formatter: Used to display information that is not a field on a form.
UI Actions: these include the buttons, links and context menu items on forms and lists.
Related lists: Shows records in tables that have a relationship to the current record.
Field Types:

  1. References
  2. String
  3. Date / Time
  4. Choice
  5. True / False

Personalize Form: Same has List personalization. In sys_properties.list in the glide.ui.personalize_form.role you need to have your role to personalize a form.
Templates:They allow form fields to be populated automatically. It should be restricted to selected groups as it can be used to bypass process, like mandatory fields, UI policies, etc.
Advanced Configuration: Choice and reference fields can be dependent on other fields and restrict the values shown in them.

Manage Data

Table Administration

Table is a collection of records in a database. Records are identified by a 32-character, globally unique ID, called a sys_id. Record numbers are auto incremented but you can change the number format per table.

All > System Definition > Number Maintenance
All > System Definition > Tables
All > System Definition > Tables & Columns\

Field Attributes: Has 3 key attributes:

  1. Field Label
  2. Field Name
  3. Field Data

Reference Fields: A reference field can refer only to records from one other table. To add a field that can refer to records on any table, use Document Id element type.
Schema Map: It provides a graphical representation of other tables related to a specific table. Go to a table record, from related links select schema map.

Table Relationships

  1. One to Many
    1. Reference Fields
    2. Glide List: Allows to reference more than one record from a table
    3. Document ID
  2. Many to Many
  3. Database Views: A database view defines table joins for reporting purposes. System Definition > Database Views
  4. Extensions: The extended table includes unique fields plus all of the fields and their properties from the parent table. NOT all tables are extensible.

Base Table and Core Table

Base Table: A table which doesn’t extend any table is called base table. (Eg: Task)
Core Table: A table which comes with ServiceNow. (Eg: Task, Incident, User)
Parent Table: A table which has children tables. (Eg: Task)
Child Table: A table which has extended from another table. (Eg: Incident)
Custom Table: Tables created by developers or admins. (Eg: Incident)

Application / Access Control

User Permissions Summary

  1. User Authentication/Login: Users, Group, and Roles.
  2. Application and Modules Access: Controlled by roles configured at the application and module level
  3. Database Access: Access to tables and their records and fields are controlled via globally defined system properties.

Three security modules

All > System Properties > Security
All > System Security > Access Control (ACL)
All > System Security > High Security Settings

Elevated Role: The base system admin can elevate to a privileged role to access features of high security settings.

Access Control List (ACL)

Access Control: Its a security rule defined to restrict the permissions of a user from viewing and interacting with data. It is executed when attempting to access any ServiceNow table and may be set at the row-level and/or column-level.
ACL: It contains an instance’s Access Control rules. Only users with security_admin can change and maintain ACLs.

System Created Access Controls: To view access controls associated with a table: <table-name>.CONFIG.
When a custom table is created, the system creates four access control rules by default (CRUD) and also a user role.

Access Control Definition: Each rule has 3 things:

  1. Operation: CRUD
  2. Object: The thing being secured (table and fields)
  3. Permissions: Roles, Conditional Expressions, Scripts.

Import Data

Import Set: It’s a tool used to import data from various data sources, and map that data into ServiceNow tables. Import sets store data in import set tables. Any user with admin or import_admin role can manage all aspects of import sets.

All > System Import Sets > Load Data

Transform Maps: It’s a set of field maps that determine the relationships between fields in an import set and fields in an existing ServiceNow table. It provides a guide for moving data from Import Set (staging) tables to ‘Target’ tables. Filed mapping provides direct field-to-field data moves.

All > System Import Sets > Create Transform Map

  1. Automatic Mapping Utility
  2. Mapping assist Utility

Coalesce Field: Coalescing a field(or multiple fields) means the field will be used as a unique key during imports. If a match if found in the existing table it updates the record, else it creates a new one.

  1. Single-field coalesce
  2. Multiple-field coalesce
  3. Conditional coalesce

CMDB

CMDB (Configuration Management Database): Its a series of tables and fields that contain all of the Configuration Items (CIs) controlled by your company, as well as their attributes and relationships.
Configuration Item: This can be tangible or intangible devices or applications in the CDB such as firewalls, computers, email and services.

Key tables [cmdb], [cmdb_ci] and [cmdeb_rel_ci]

CMDB WorkSpace: Its a central place for working with the CMDB. use it to search and explore, examine the health and recent activity, and access various dashboards.

All > CMDB WorkSpace > CMDB Workspace

Dependency View: Provides an interactive graphical interface to visualize relationships b/w configuration items.

CI Class Manager: Use it as a central location to explore the CMDB class hierarchy, CI table definitions, and class CIs.

CSDM: (Common Service Data Model) It’s a framework for CMDB. A standard and shared set of service-related definitions across ServiceNow products and platform that will enable and support true service level reporting.

Discovery and Service Mapping

Configure Self Service

Knowledge Management

Baseline Service Self-Service options:

  1. Employee Center (/esc)
  2. Service Portal (/sp)
  3. Knowledge Portal (/kb)
  4. CAB Workbench (/cab)
  5. Instance Security Center (/isc)

Knowledge Management: It allows users to create, categorize, review, approve, and browse important information in a centralized location that is shared by the entire organization. Administrators and those with the knowledge_admin role can manage multiple knowledge bases.

All > Self-Service > Knowledge

Knowledge Base Architecture: Articles are organized by knowledge base and category. An article can only be associated with one knowledge base. A single knowledge base then contains categories.

All > Knowledge > Administration > Guided Setup

User Criteria: Used to determine which sets of users can read or contribute knowledge within that knowledge base. If a knowledge base has no user criteria selected, articles within that knowledge base are available to all users. to control access to logged in users only, admins should leverage the glide.knowman.block_access_with_no_user_criteria property.
Criteria:

  1. canRead
  2. cantRead
  3. canContribute
  4. cantContribute

WorkFlows: The publishing and retirement processes for a knowledge article are controlled by workflows defined for the knowledge base that the article belong to. You can create your own ones.
Workflows available in ServiceNow:

  1. Knowledge - Approval Publish
  2. Knowledge - Approval Retire
  3. Knowledge - Instant Publish
  4. Knowledge - Instant Publish
  5. Knowledge - Publish Knowledge
  6. Knowledge - Retire Knowledge

Import a Word Document: You can upload more than one document at a time. When uploading multiple documents, one article is created for each uploaded item.

All > Knowledge > Articles > Import Articles

Service Catalog

Service Catalog: It’s a robust ordering system for services and products offered by various departments for users. There are categories, they group service catalog items. Users with admin and catalog_admin role can manage multiple service catalogs.

All > Service Catalog > Catalog Definitions > Maintain Items

Request Management: Once the order has been placed the request needs to be traced and fulfilled. For each catalog item, workflows facilitate the approval process as well as the fulfillment tasks.

Major Components:

  1. Items: Building blocks of service catalog.
  2. Record Producers: An interface used as an alternative to lists and forms.
  3. Variables: Questions that define item options.
  4. Variable Sets: Multiple Variables.
  5. Flows: it’s used to drive complex fulfillment processes.

Variables: Service catalog variables are global by default and provide options to tailor a catalog item to the customer’s needs. they help define the structure of a catalog item.
Types:

  1. Multiple Choice
  2. Select Box
  3. Single Line Text
  4. Reference
  5. Check Box

Order Guides: It assists user in ordering a complete set of needed items and to help users see item relationships. It provides the ability to order multiple, related items as one request.

Service Catalog Item Request Output: A request is created for every service catalog item ordered.

  1. Request[sc_request] (#REQ): Think of this record as the shopping cart. It can contain one or many items.
  2. Requested Item[sc_req_item] (#RITM): They manage the delivery of each individual item in the request.
  3. Catalog Task[sc_task] (#SCTASK): These are the assigned tasks needed to complete the delivery of each requested item.

You can view your request from All > Self-Service > My Requests

User Criteria: Defines conditions that are evaluated against users to determine which users can access service catalog items. We can apply this to individual item or entire category.

Catalog Builder: Create or edit a catalog item or record producer using a visual and guided experience along with specified restrictions.

Flow Designer

Flow Designer: It’s a non-technical interface for building and enabling process automation capabilities, known as flows. The following roles might be required to work with the flow designer in one capacity or another flow_designer, flow_operator and action_designer.

All > Process Automation > Flow Designer

Components:

  1. Triggers: They instantiate the flow and can be record-based, date-based or application-based.
  2. Condition: Statements that determine when or how an action runs. For example, run an action only if a field is over a certain value.
  3. Actions: These are operations executed by the system, such as looking up a record, updating a field value. Some ServiceNow core actions are:
    1. Ask for Approval
    2. Create Record
    3. Delete Record
    4. Look Up Record
    5. Wait for Condition In addition to these core actions, new application specific core actions can be created by activating the associated spoke.
  4. Data: This section of the flow designer contains data pills taht can be used in subsequent actions. Data Pill Picker

Integration Hub: It offers several pre-built sets of integration actions to interact with common third-party applications. These sets of integration actions are referred to as spokes.

Process Automation Designer (PAD): We can automate existing ServiceNow platform capabilities. It’s based on the technology of flow designer and can be used to create flows, actions, and manage flow executions.

Virtual Agent: It’s a conversational platform that helps users obtain information, make decisions, and perform common work tasks within a messaging interface. This includes information stored in knowledge base, service catalog, and more! Through live agent support, users have the option to switch to a human agent for assistance at any time.

Enable Productivity

Reporting

Reports: They are prepared on an ad-hoc basis, show results by allowing users to view and analyze ServiceNow data. Run predefined reports or create new custom reports with the report designer. Reports can be visually respresented in many ways, including bar charts, pie charts, dials, lists, pivot tables, donuts and more. They can abe run manually or scheduled to be run automatically.

All > Reports > View / Run All > Reports > Getting Started

Visibility Controls:

  1. My reports
  2. Group
  3. Global
  4. All

Report Designer: Using this, anyone can easily create reports by following guided flows to configure, preview, edit, and share reports.

  1. Data
  2. Type
  3. Configure
  4. Style

System tables are by default restricted from reporting module.

Report Distribution:

  1. Share: me, everyone, group
  2. Schedule: scheduled email
  3. Add to Dashboard
  4. Export to PDF
  5. Publish: URL

Tags: It provides an easy way to categorize, flag, and locate records. Use the Viewable by field to control how it is shared. To use the everyone option under viewable by, a user must have the admin or tags_admin role.

Performance Analytics(PA): When you report a table information about the current state of platform data display. Performance Analytics provides information about performance iteratively, over time.

Dashboards: They enable you to display multiple performance analytics, reports, and other widgets on a single screen. Use dashboards to create a story with data that can be shared.

All > Self-Service > Dashboard All > System Properties > Dashboard Properties

Notifications

A notification is a a tool for alerting users when events that concern them have occurred through the following methods:

  1. Email
  2. SMS
  3. Meeting Invitation

All > System Notification > Email > Notifications
To view: All > System Mailboxes > Outbound > Outbox

Creating Notification:

  1. When to Send
  2. Who will Receive
  3. What it will Contain

Consider limiting the recipient list of any notification to 1000 users. By default, if a notification has more than 100 intended recipients, the system creates multiple notification messages with up to 100 recipients each. if you want to change the recipient limit, set the system property glide.email.smtp.max_recipients.

Layouts: They are created to specify the HTML content you want to appear in the body of one or more email templates.

All > System Policy > Email > Layouts

Templates:

All > System Notifications > Email > Templates

Additional Configuration

Predictive Intelligence: It uses machine learning algorithms to set field values during record creation. Users with admin and ml_admin role will be able to initiate the setup of Predictive Intelligence.
Sidebar: Using it, agents can have real-time collaboration with others based around a workspace task-based or interaction-based record.

Package Enhancements for Testing

UI Polices and Business Rules

Scripting: It’s is the customization of an instance. ServiceNow uses javascript both on the server and on the client.

  1. UI Policy
  2. Data Policy: Enforce mandatory fields
  3. UI Action
  4. Business Rule: Ex: Trigger notification
  5. Client Script: Ex: Show pop-up msg

UI Policy: It’s a rule that is applied to a form to dynamically change information or the form itself. UI Policies execute on the client side. Use them to set fields on form to:

  • Mandatory or Optional
  • Hidden or Visible
  • Read-only or Editable

To apply UI Policy to all vies, set the Global setting to true

UI Policy Action: Once a UI Policy is save, UI Policy Actions determine what happens on the form.

UI Policies are not about security, they are about managing the user experience and data integrity.

Data Policy: Data Policies are similar to UI policies, but II Policies only apply to data entered on a form through standard browser. Data Policies are applied to all data entered into the platform: form (UI), Import Sets, or Web services. A Data Policy is a rule that enforces data consistency by setting fields as mandatory and/or read-only. A Data Policy executes on the server side but can also run as a UI policy on the client side.

UI Action: They add buttons, links, and context menu items on forms and lists, making the UI more interactive, customizable, and specific to user activities. They can be server or client side.

  • Form buttons
  • Form context menu items
  • Form links
  • List buttons
  • List context menu items

All > System Properties > UI Properties

Client Script: They make ‘real-time’ changes to the appearance fo the user interface, especially forms.

  • onCellEdit()
  • onChange()
  • onLoad()
  • onSubmit()

Business Rule: It’s configured to run when a record is displayed, inserted, updated, deleted, or when a table is queried. It can be set to run before or after a database action has occurred. The When setting determines when the business rule executes and has the following choices:

  • Before: Before record saved
  • After: After record saved
  • Async: client and server work independently.
  • Display: before the record is displayed.

The primary objective of display Business Rules is to use a shared scratchpad object, g_scratchpad, which is also sent to the client as part of the form.

Migration and Integration

Application Scopes: It protects applications by identifying and restricting access to available artifacts and data. By default, the application can access and change its own tables and business logic but not other applications unless the receiving application allows access. The global scope is special application scope that identifies applications developed prior to application scoping or applications intended to accessible to all other global applications.

Update Sets[sys_update_xml]: They are a group of configuration changes that can be moved from one instance to another. It’s an XML file it contains:

  • A set of record details that uniquely identify the update set.
  • A list of configuration changes.
  • A state that determines whether another instance can retrieve and apply configuration changes.

All > System Update Sets > Local Update Sets

Applying an Update Set

You can import an update set from XML file and commit it. The general process of retrieving an update set includes:

  1. Retrieve
  2. Preview
  3. Commit

All > System Update Sets > Retrieved Update Sets

Retrieval from a Remote Instance: You can use update sets from remote machines.

All > System Update Sets > Update Sources

Additional Administrator Resources

Perform Basic Monitoring and Upgrade Functions:

  • Performance Dashboard
  • Instance Scan
  • HealthScan
  • Release Notes
  • Upgrade Center

Performance Dashboard: Instance performance

System Diagnostics Stats Tools: To aid in performance evaluation, Stats tools records statistics for system activities that affect performance such as the execution of queries, scripts and transactions.

All > System Diagnostics > Stats

stats.do

Automated Test Framework: To create and run automated tests on your ServiceNow instance.

App Engine Studio (AES): Using this you can leverage development tools an dbuild apps quickly using templates for pre-build solutions.

Delegated Developers: These are non-administrator users and groups which are assigned one or more permission to develop applications.

If you find any mistakes or want to add any more information to this blog, submit a pull request at CSA.md