Servicenow Notes

By- Ayush Jadon

10/10/2024
Table of Contents
What's this course about?...............................................................................................................................................3
What is ServiceNow?...................................................................................................................................................3
Why is ServiceNow useful?..........................................................................................................................................3
What will you do as an administrator?........................................................................................................................3
Simple Summary:........................................................................................................................................................3
User Access and Personas Lesson....................................................................................................................................4
Users:.......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Groups......................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Roles:........................................................................................................................................................................... 4
Personas (Conceptual Idea):........................................................................................................................................4
Summary of Personas:.............................................................................................................................................4
Roles and Their Assignment in ServiceNow.................................................................................................................4
Impersonation (Testing User Access)...........................................................................................................................5
Simple Summary.........................................................................................................................................................5
Exploring the Modernized Work Experience in ServiceNow (CSA)..................................................................................5
Key Points to Understand............................................................................................................................................5
Different User Interfaces and Experiences..................................................................................................................5
Working with Incidents................................................................................................................................................6
Different Ways to Access the Same Information.........................................................................................................6
Impersonation (Testing Other Users’ Views)...............................................................................................................6
Lab Exercises............................................................................................................................................................... 6
Simple Summary.........................................................................................................................................................6
Power of ServiceNow......................................................................................................................................................7
What is an "Instance"?................................................................................................................................................7
Baseline Implementation............................................................................................................................................7
Configuration vs. Customization..................................................................................................................................7
Applications and Plugins..............................................................................................................................................7
Application Scope........................................................................................................................................................7
Simple summary:.........................................................................................................................................................8
Configure Applications for Business................................................................................................................................8
Lists and Records.........................................................................................................................................................8
Configuring Lists..........................................................................................................................................................8
Context Menus (Right-Click Menus)............................................................................................................................8
Filters (Search Within a List)........................................................................................................................................9
Personalizing Lists........................................................................................................................................................9
Dot-Walking.................................................................................................................................................................9
Application Menus and Modules.................................................................................................................................9
Workspaces vs. Classic View........................................................................................................................................9
Summary:.................................................................................................................................................................... 9
What's this course about?
This ServiceNow Administration Fundamentals course teaches you how to manage the ServiceNow platform as an
administrator. Think of an administrator like the person who sets up and controls how ServiceNow works for a
company. If you’re aiming to get certified as a Certified System Administrator (CSA), this is the right course for you.
But if you’ve never used ServiceNow at all, there’s a simpler, beginner course called "Welcome to ServiceNow" that
you should check out first.

What is ServiceNow?
Imagine ServiceNow as a giant, super-organized online office. In this office:

 Everything is stored as records in tables. These tables hold all the data your company uses to run its
business.

 These tables are part of different applications (or "apps") that help employees do their jobs.

Example:

Think of Google Sheets. Just like a sheet has rows and columns for data, ServiceNow has tables with rows (records)
and columns (data fields). For example, a table in ServiceNow could store information about all the computers in the
company, and each row is a record of one computer with details like its brand, model, and purchase date.

Why is ServiceNow useful?

ServiceNow helps companies automate tasks and organize their work so they can save time and reduce mistakes.

Example:

Let’s say your computer breaks, and you need a new one. In ServiceNow, you could go to the Service Catalog (like an
online store), request a new laptop, and the platform will automatically:

1. Notify the IT team that you need a new laptop.

2. Track how long it takes for them to deliver it.

3. Keep a record of the whole process, so you know what’s happening.

What will you do as an administrator?

As a ServiceNow administrator, you’ll be the person setting up all these tables, forms, lists, and workflows. You’ll
also decide who has access to what, how data is displayed, and make sure everything works smoothly.

Example:

Imagine you're working for a company that uses ServiceNow, and the HR department wants to track job applications.
You can:

1. Create a table to store all the details of each applicant (name, resume, interview date, etc.).

2. Set up forms so HR staff can enter this data easily.

3. Build workflows that automatically send emails to applicants when they’re approved for an interview.

Simple Summary:
 ServiceNow is like a giant, cloud-based workspace where all company data and tasks are organized.

 Everything in ServiceNow is stored in tables (like a spreadsheet), and you interact with these through lists,
forms, dashboards, and KB, workspace and service catalog.

 As a ServiceNow administrator, you'll manage and set up all this data so employees can do their jobs
efficiently.
User Access and Personas Lesson
Users:
 Who are they?
Users are people (or systems) who log into ServiceNow to perform various tasks. Each user has specific
permissions based on their roles.

 Example:
John from IT logs in to resolve issues. He is a user in ServiceNow. Also, automated systems (like software
programs) that access ServiceNow data are considered users too.

Groups:
 What are they?
Groups are collections of users who perform similar tasks. Groups help manage roles more easily by assigning
specific permissions (roles) to everyone in the group.

 Example:
The IT Support group includes all IT staff. Anyone in this group can manage support tickets.

Roles:
 What are they?
Roles define what a user can do in ServiceNow. They are like keys that unlock access to certain features or
areas of the system.

 Example:

o The "Admin" role gives John full access to everything, including system settings.

o The "Requester" role lets Sarah submit requests for help (like reporting a broken laptop) but not
change system settings.

Personas (Conceptual Idea):

 What is a Persona?
A persona describes what kind of responsibilities a user has on the platform (e.g., Admin, IT Support, Regular
User). It helps us understand what different types of users need to do on ServiceNow.

Summary of Personas:
1. System Administrator: Full access to the platform, manages users, groups, and system configurations.

2. Delegated Admin: Manages specific parts of the system (e.g., HR, IT).

3. Fulfiller/Process User: Handles tasks like resolving tickets or responding to service requests.

4. Requester/End User: Regular users who submit service requests or check information but don’t manage
tasks.

5. Approver: Can approve or reject requests but doesn't perform other tasks.

*Both Requester and Approver does not have roles within the platform, they are kind of self-service users.
Approver can also perform the requester functions.

Roles and Their Assignment in ServiceNow

1. Direct Role Assignment: You can assign roles directly to individual users, but it’s more efficient to assign them to
groups. Users inherit roles from their group memberships.

 Example:
The HR Group might have the "HR Admin" role, which allows members to manage employee data. When
Alice joins the HR group, she automatically gets this role.
2. Role Inheritance:
Roles can be part of a hierarchy. A "parent" role can inherit permissions from "child" roles. This helps manage
access in a more sophisticated way.

 Example:
A "Catalog Admin" can do everything that a "Catalog Manager" and a "User Criteria Admin" can do because
the admin role is the parent of those roles.

Impersonation (Testing User Access)

What is impersonation?
Impersonation allows administrators to "pretend" to be another user and see what that user can access in the
system. This helps test if permissions are set up correctly.

 Example:
John (the admin) impersonates Sarah to check if Sarah can only submit requests and doesn’t have access to
admin functions. This makes sure that users see only what they should.

Simple Summary
 Users: People or systems that log into ServiceNow.

 Groups: Collections of users who share similar responsibilities.

 Roles: Permissions that define what users can do in the platform.

 Personas (Concept): Different types of users based on their tasks or responsibilities.

Exploring the Modernized Work Experience in ServiceNow (CSA)

In this section of your ServiceNow CSA (Certified System Administrator) training, you're introduced to how different
people use the platform depending on their role or what they need to do. These covers navigating the system,
handling tasks like creating incidents, and understanding how ServiceNow is set up for various users.

Key Points to Understand

ServiceNow as a Platform:

o What is ServiceNow? It's a tool that companies use to manage different services, like IT support, HR, and
legal requests. It centralizes data, making it a single system of record—meaning all information is stored
in one place and shared across different parts of the platform.

o It allows companies to automate and streamline their work processes using AI, machine learning, and
even options to build custom apps without coding.

Different User Interfaces and Experiences

In ServiceNow, different users (personas) have different interfaces to work with the platform. Let’s break this down:

1. Employee Center Portal:

o Who uses this? Regular employees (end users) who need help from HR, IT, legal, etc.

o Example: Sarah from HR needs a laptop repaired. She would submit a request through the Employee
Center Portal.

2. Service Operations Workspace:

o Who uses this? Agents or support staff (also called process users) who handle requests or incidents.

o Example: John from IT Support would use the Service Operations Workspace to see and resolve
Sarah’s request for a laptop repair.
Working with Incidents
An incident in ServiceNow is basically a record of something that went wrong, like a broken laptop or software issue.
Here's how different users would interact with incidents:

1. Creating an Incident:

o As an admin, you might need to create an incident on behalf of a user.

o Example: Let’s say Abel is an employee who calls IT because his laptop is not working. You, the
admin, would create an incident in the system for Abel. This allows IT support to track and fix the
problem.

2. Handling the Incident:

o Once the incident is created, it gets assigned to a support group (e.g., the Hardware team for a
broken laptop).

o A process user (like someone from IT support) can find incidents assigned to their group in the My
Groups Work section of the platform.

Different Ways to Access the Same Information

ServiceNow offers multiple ways to access the same information. For example, if you want to create a new incident,
you can do it from different parts of the platform, depending on your role.

 Admins have access to everything. They can see all the options under the "All" menu.

 Process users (support agents) can access incidents through specialized tools like the Service Operations
Workspace or through the "Incidents" section.

Impersonation (Testing Other Users’ Views)

To understand how the system works for different users, admins can "impersonate" them. This means you can
pretend to be a different user and see what they see.

 Example: As an admin, you can impersonate Beth, an IT support agent, and see what her workspace looks
like. This is a great way to ensure that everything is set up correctly for the users.

Lab Exercises
In the labs, you’ll be doing tasks from different personas:

1. Submitting an Incident:

o You’ll act as someone who receives an incident and needs to create it on behalf of a caller (like Abel
calling IT about his laptop).

2. Using a Workspace:

o You’ll act as a process user (like Beth) and handle incidents using the Service Operations Workspace.

3. Exploring the Employee Center:

o You’ll explore the Employee Center as a self-service user who submits requests.

Simple Summary
The big takeaway here is that ServiceNow provides different user experiences depending on what people need to
do:

 End users (like employees) use portals like the Employee Center to submit requests.

 Process users (like support agents) use workspaces to handle those requests more efficiently.

 Admins can see and manage everything, ensuring the system works smoothly for everyone.
So, depending on whether you're managing requests, solving problems, or submitting incidents, ServiceNow tailors
the experience to meet those specific needs.

Keep practicing through the labs to get comfortable with each of these roles!4

Power of ServiceNow
What is an "Instance"?
An instance is like a version of ServiceNow that a company uses. Each company can have multiple instances for
different purposes, such as:

 Development instance: Used for testing new features and changes.

 Production instance: The live version that everyone in the company uses.

 Test Instance: Instance for testing.

Imagine you have three computers at home. One is for work (production), another is for trying new things
(development), and the last one is for backup (test). Each computer is still part of your home, but you use them
differently. That’s like the different instances in ServiceNow.

Baseline Implementation
When you first get a ServiceNow instance, it comes with a baseline setup. This is like the "factory settings" of your
phone—it works fine, but you might want to change things later to fit your needs. A baseline implementation means
you haven’t made any big customizations yet.

For example, when you first set up ServiceNow, it comes with basic forms for reporting incidents. You can change
these forms later, but the baseline is the starting point.

Configuration vs. Customization

 Configuration: Making small, easy changes that don’t affect the platform’s core functions. For example,
changing the colors or adding a logo to match your company branding.

 Customization: Adding new features or changing how the system works. This might include building new
applications or adding fields to forms.

Example:

 Configuration: Adding your company’s logo to the login screen.

 Customization: Creating a new form that allows employees to request vacation days with custom fields (like
date range, reason for the request, etc.).

Applications and Plugins

 Applications: These are like pre-built tools or features that you can install in your instance. You can get them
from the ServiceNow Partners or from ServiceNow itself. Think of them as apps you install on your phone.

 Plugins: These are extra features built by ServiceNow itself. They extend what the platform can do, such as
translating the interface into another language.

Example:

 An application might help manage a company's customer complaints.

 A plugin might allow ServiceNow to work in French by adding translation tools.

Application Scope
Every application you install or build in ServiceNow is kept separate in its own scope. This is like putting different files
into different folders so that they don’t get mixed up. Scopes ensure that one application doesn’t accidentally break
another one.
Example in Real Life:

Imagine you’re an IT administrator at a company:

 A user reports an incident (like their email isn’t working).

 You log into ServiceNow, go to the Incidents module, and open a new ticket.

 The user is automatically notified that their request is being worked on.

 The IT team works on the incident, assigns it to the right technician, and resolves it.

 The platform tracks everything so that no issue is lost.

The CSA (Certified System Administrator) is responsible for keeping the system running smoothly, setting up things
like roles, permissions, and making sure it fits the company’s needs by configuring and customizing the platform
when necessary.

Simple summary:
 ServiceNow helps companies organize tasks, requests, and processes.

 Instances are different environments (like development or production) of ServiceNow.

 Configuration is about changing things like colors and logos, while customization means adding new
features.

 Applications and Plugins extend what ServiceNow can do, and each new feature lives in its own scope.

Configure Applications for Business

The ServiceNow Certified System Administrator (CSA) course teaches you how to use and manage ServiceNow. Let
me explain the main points from the lesson in simple terms with examples:

Lists and Records

 Lists are like spreadsheets where each row represents a record (an entry), and each column represents a
field (specific data like a name or status).

o Example: Think of a list of customer support tickets. Each row is a ticket, and the columns might be
"Ticket Number," "Status," "Assigned To," etc.

Configuring Lists
 Lists can be customized so that you see only the columns you need. You can create different versions (called
views) of a list for different purposes.

o Example: Customer service agents might want to see different columns (like ticket priority) than
managers (who might care about resolution times). You can set up different views for each group.

Context Menus (Right-Click Menus)

 Lists in ServiceNow have different menus based on where you right-click:

o List-Level: Apply actions to the entire list (e.g., refresh the list, group records by a certain field).

o Column-Level: Sort or filter the records based on a specific column.

o Cell-Level: Perform actions related to a specific piece of data (e.g., filter all records that match a
value).

o Example: If you right-click on the "Status" column, you can filter the list to only show tickets that are
"Open" or "Closed."
Filters (Search Within a List)
 You can filter the list to show only certain records based on criteria (e.g., tickets created in the last month,
tickets with high priority).

o Example: You create a filter that only shows tickets assigned to a specific team member and have a
priority of "Critical."

Personalizing Lists
 Users can personalize lists by adding or removing columns to suit their needs. However, this is only for them
and won’t change the default view for others.

o Example: You decide to hide the "Created Date" column because it’s not relevant to you, but other
users will still see it in their view.

Dot-Walking
 Dot-walking allows you to access related data from another table (database of records). If a record links to
another record (like how an incident links to a user), you can pull information from that related record.

o Example: If a ticket is assigned to "John," you can use dot-walking to display John’s department or
manager on the list.

Application Menus and Modules

 Application Menus are like folders that group different tasks or features together.

o Example: In the "Incident" application menu, you might have modules like "Create New Incident,"
"View All Incidents," and "Reports."

 Modules are the specific tasks you can do within the application menu, like viewing a list of records or
submitting a new form.

Workspaces vs. Classic View

 Workspaces are designed to make it easier for agents to work on tasks, with more drag-and-drop options
and a cleaner layout.

o Example: In a workspace, an agent can easily drag columns around to reorder them or filter tickets
quickly, making it simpler to handle a large workload.

Summary:
ServiceNow allows you to configure and organize how you see data (through lists, views, filters, and personalizations)
and helps different teams use the platform efficiently. You can also set up menus and modules to make the platform
easier to navigate and work through tasks. The workspace view is meant to streamline workflows for agents, while
the classic view provides broader, customizable options for various tasks.

This is an introduction to some basics, but there's more to learn, such as handling forms and advanced
configurations, as you'll explore in the course!