SERVICENOW: WORKING WITH CHANGE RECORDS

This document provides IS users with instructions for working with Change Records (CRs). You can use a CR to
directly submit a change request, bypassing the Request for Change (RFC) process. You may also be involved in
submitting CRs to process RFCs for which your team is identified as the assigned group.
• This procedure should only be used to add, modify, or remove a supported service or modify an
application or hardware.
• To request information, advice, or access to a service (such as a new SFA or equipment), use the New Call
option from the ServiceNow menu, and select a Call Type of “Request.”

1 GETTING STARTED
1.1 ServiceNow Support
For additional resources, search the ServiceNow Knowledgebase at http://www.partners.org/servicenow or
contact the IS Service Desk.
1.2 Accessing ServiceNow
ServiceNow is available on and off the Partners network.
From a Partners Workstation Online
1. Go to Partners Applications. 1. Go to https://www.partners.org/servicenow.
2. Select ServiceNow. 2. Log in with your Partners user name and password.

2 KEY TERMS
Term Definition
RFC Request for Change. Used either by business users or IS when requestor does not have
all the required information to submit a Change Record (CR).
Change Calculated by ServiceNow based on the Change Subtype for your CR compared to the
Type lead-time calculated for your request. (Lead-time is calculated by comparing the date
and time when you click the Submit button to the Start date/time you specify for the
CR.) Options are:
• Normal – To introduce a new service or to improve or retire service.
• Expedited – To resolve degradation of a service. Other changes categorized as
Expedited due to improper lead-time are perceived as lacking proper planning.
• Emergency – To resolve a service interruption (such as an Incident).
• Pre-Approved – Assigned based on your selection of the associated check box.
Change Categorization of the change based on its impact or potential impact. Options are:
Subtype • Major - Enterprise-wide or multiple site impact or potential impact
• Significant - Site-specific or multiple-department impact or potential impact
• Minor - Single department impact or potential impact

The relationship between the Change Type and Subtype field in ServiceNow is defined
according to the following table. You can ensure that your CR is treated by ServiceNow
as a Normal change by allowing the proper amount of lead time between when you click
to submit your CR and the Start date/time that you specify.

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Change Type is... when Change Subtype ...and Lead Time (System calculated based on difference
is... between submit time and Start date/time) is...

Normal Major Greater than or equal to 30 days.

Significant Greater than or equal to 7 days.

Minor Greater than or equal to 2 days.

Expedited Major Less than 30 days but greater than 30 minutes.

Significant Less than 7 days but greater than 30 minutes.

Minor Less than 2 days but greater than 30 minutes.

Emergency Major/Significant/Minor 30 minutes or less (or in the past).

3 WORKING WITH CHANGE RECORDS

3.1 Submit a Change Record – Create Option
1. On the left navigation bar, click Change, and then click Create Change
Record.
2. Complete all fields, as appropriate. See the list of Field Descriptions in
paragraph 3.8.
Tip! You can copy/paste from an existing document into any field.
3. Click Submit. ServiceNow display the CHG number assigned to your request.

3.2 Submit a Change Record – When Identified as Assigned Group

An email notification is sent to your group if a business user or other IS user has
identified your group as the Assigned Group for a Request for Change (RFC). If
approved, information from the RFC is transferred to a CR and your group is
responsible for the submittal and subsequent processing of that change.
1. To access CRs that have been assigned to your group, click Change and then
click My Open Changes. (You can also access these CRs by searching for the
CHG number in the search field in the upper right corner.)
2. Complete all fields, as appropriate. Many fields include values transferred
from the initial RFC, but can be updated. See the list of Field Descriptions in
paragraph 3.8.
3. Click Submit.
3.3 Post-Implementation Review
For changes with a subtype of Major or Significant and all Emergency changes: 3
days after the End date/time, the system sends an email notification requesting
completion of the PIR (Post Implementation Review) tab. If not completed
within 5 days, the system automatically closes the request, noting the missing
PIR information.

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3.4 Updating Change Records
1. To access the change record (CR) you wish to update, click Change and then click My Open Changes.
(You can also access these CRs by searching for the CHG number in the search field in the upper right
corner.)
2. Update all fields, as appropriate. See the list of Field Descriptions in paragraph 3.8.
Tip! You can copy/paste from an existing document into any field.
3. Click Update. The system sends an email notification message to all users associated with this CR.

3.5 Adding Change Tasks

1. To access the change record (CR) you wish to update, click Change and then click My Open Changes.
(You can also access these CRs by searching for the CHG number in the search field in the upper right
corner.)
2. Click Create Change task. The system sends an email notification message to all users associated with
this CR.
3. Update all fields, as appropriate. See the list of Field Descriptions in paragraph 3.9.
Tip! You can copy/paste from an existing document into any field.
4. Click Update. The system sends an email notification message to all users associated with this task.

3.6 Canceling Change Records

1. To access the change record (CR) you wish to update, click Change and then click My Open Changes.
(You can also access these CRs by searching for the CHG number in the search field in the upper right
corner.)
2. Click Cancel Change. The system sends an email notification message to all users associated with this
CR.

3.7 Closing Change Records

Change records are automatically closed by ServiceNow based on the specified End Date.

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3.8 Change Record Field Descriptions
Field Description
Number Unique number assigned by the system.
State System-assigned, based on where the change record is in its lifecycle.
Requested by Person requesting the change. Defaults to your name.
Change type Assigned by the system as Normal, Emergency, or Expedited. Calculated
by Start date/time and Change subtype.
Change sub-type Subtype of the change, based on its impact or potential impact. Specify
Minor, Significant, or Major.
Related to an incident?* Displays only for Major changes and only once you enter the Start and
End date/time fields. Indicates whether or not this change is related to
an incident.
Related incident* Displays only when Related to an incident? field is set to “Yes.” Indicates
the incident related to this Major change.
Start date/time* Date and time change starts.
End date/time* Date and time change ends. If the change extends beyond 24 hours, you
must create change tasks to document the work performed (see
paragraph 3.5).
Service outage* Indicates whether or not this change will result in a service outage. If
Yes, you must indicate the start and end dates and times. Also, if the
sub-type is Minor, service outages are only allowed if your change is
occurring within a maintenance schedule.
End user impact* The impact or potential impact of any downtime related to this change.
End user impact reason * Displays only if Service outage is “Yes” and End user impact is “No.” You
must indicate why the outage has no impact (for example, “Off hours –
site is closed”).
Environment* The environment where the change is being implemented.
Configuration item* Main or parent configuration item to which change is being applied. This
field is not required if the Environment field is set to “Non-Technical.”
Request item If applicable, enter the RITM associated with this change. This is
automatically filled from the IS Provisioning Request form.
Assignment group The group to be assigned to make this change.
Assigned to The person in the assignment group who this change will be assigned, if
known.
Pre-approved change Indicates whether or not this request is for a pre-approved change.
Defaults to No. Change to Yes to base your change request on a pre-
approved change template. (If so, system displays a field labeled “Pre-
approved change template” to select that template.)
Require manager approval Whether approval by your manager is required. Leave checked if your
manager has approval access in ServiceNow.
Approver Defaults to your manager.
Watch list Indicate whether or not you want to follow the status of this request,
and receive all associated notifications. If so, click the “Add me” option.
Site(s) impacted Site or sites potentially impacted by this change. If this field is supposed to
be Enterprise, select “PHS | Partners Healthcare, Inc.” here.

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SERVICENOW: SUBMITTING CHANGE RECORDS

3.8 Change Record Field Descriptions (cont)
Field Description
Change Description* Description of the change.
Justification for change* Business reason for this change.
Justification for timing* Explain why the application, system, or service owner has chosen this
window to implement this change.
Test plan* Detailed steps to test the change. Use the drop-down list to select one
of the following options:
• Attached Document
• Link to procedure (SOP)
• Use free text field
Tested the plan* Indicates whether or not the test plan has been validated. You may also
be prompted to enter this field if you make updates to older CRs.
Test plan text* Displayed only if “Use free text field” is selected at the Test plan field.
Implementation plan* Detailed steps to implement the change. Use the drop-down list to
select one of the following options:
• Attached Document
• Link to procedure (SOP)
• Use free text field
Implementation plan text* Displayed only if “Use free text field” is selected at the Implementation
plan field.
Backout plan* Detailed steps to back out the change if it is unsuccessful. Use the drop-
down list to select one of the following options:
• Attached Document
• Link to procedure (SOP)
• Use free text field
Backout plan text* Displayed only if “Use free text field” is selected at the Backout plan
field.
Email to customer Additional notes that you wish to include. Notes entered here are
(Customer visible) included in email notifications for this change request.
Work notes A log of updates for this change.
*Indicates required field

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3.9 Change Task Field Descriptions
Field Description
Number Unique number assigned by the system.
State Indicates where the change task is in its lifecycle. Initially defaults to
Open, but can be reset. Values include:
• Open
• Closed Complete
• Cancelled
• Closed Incomplete
• Passed Unit Testing in Dev
• Passed UAT in QA
• Passed Unit Testing in QA
• Awaiting Move to QA
• Awaiting Move to Production
• Failed Testing in Production
Configuration item* Main or parent configuration item to which change is being applied. This
field is not required if the Environment field is set to “Non-Technical.”
Priority* Initially defaults to 4 (Low), but can be reset. Values include:
• 1 - Critical
• 2 - High
• 3 - Moderate
• 4 - Low
Change request The parent change record for this task. Assigned by the system.
Start date/time* Date and time change task starts.
End date/time* Date and time change task ends.
Assignment group* The group to be assigned to make this change.
Short description* Indicate what is to be done.
Description* The original description from the change record. Assigned by the
system.
Work notes A log of updates for this change.
Work notes list Indicate whether or not you want to follow the status of this task, and
receive all associated notifications. If so, click the “Add me” option.
*Indicates required field

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