ServiceNow CSA: Platform Administration, Workflows, and ITSM Configuration

ServiceNow is a cloud-native platform delivered as SaaS — customers access their instance via a subdomain (company.service-now.com). Each customer has their own instance with isolated data — not a multi-tenant shared database. Instance types: Production (live environment), Sub-Production (development and UAT), and Clone (periodic clone of production to sub-production for testing realistic data). The platform is built on tables (similar to database tables), forms (UI to create/view/edit individual records), lists (tabular view of multiple records), and the application navigator (left sidebar for all modules). All data in ServiceNow is stored in tables — even the table definitions, user roles, and UI components are stored as records in platform tables. The Glide Platform provides the low-code/no-code development environment: Form Layout Editor, UI Builder, Flow Designer, and Catalog Builder. Business Rules, Client Scripts, Script Includes, and Scheduled Jobs provide server-side and client-side scripting using JavaScript.

ServiceNow's ITSM modules map directly to ITIL practices. Incident Management: track and resolve unplanned interruptions — mandatory fields (Category, Subcategory, Priority = Impact x Urgency, Assignment Group, State). SLA timers start on incident creation and stop on resolution — breach notifications alert the team before SLAs expire. Problem Management: investigations into root cause — Problem Record linked to related Incidents, Root Cause Analysis tab, Known Error board. Change Management: planned changes with approval workflows — change types configured in the tool (Normal requires CAB approval, Standard is pre-approved, Emergency has expedited approval). Change Advisory Board (CAB) Workbench: CAB members review and vote on normal change requests. Service Catalogue: self-service portal for IT and non-IT requests — Record Producers (create records in any table from a catalogue item), Order Guides (bundle multiple items). Request/Requested Item/Task hierarchy: a Request contains one or more Requested Items, which break into Tasks for different fulfilment groups.

The CMDB is the central repository of all IT assets and their relationships — essential for impact analysis during incidents and changes. Configuration Items (CIs): any component that needs to be managed (servers, applications, network devices, services, databases). CI Class hierarchy: the CMDB Class Manager defines the hierarchy — all CIs inherit from the base cmdb_ci table. Discovery: ServiceNow Discovery scans the network and automatically populates the CMDB — finds devices by IP range, identifies OS and installed software via WMI (Windows) or SSH (Linux), creates CI records and relationships. CI Relationships: connects CIs to show dependencies (server A runs application B, application B uses database C) — used in the Dependency View and for calculating blast radius of changes and outages. Asset Management: Hardware Asset Management tracks physical lifecycle (Ordered > Received > In Stock > In Use > Retired), Software Asset Management tracks licence compliance and usage. CMDB Health: data quality dashboard showing completeness, correctness, and compliance of CI data.

ServiceNow automation tools. Business Rules: server-side JavaScript that runs when a record is inserted, updated, deleted, or queried — condition and script define when and what to execute. Use cases: auto-assign incidents based on category, escalate priority based on VIP customer flag, auto-close inactive incidents after 7 days. Client Scripts: run in the browser (client-side) — onLoad (when form opens), onChange (when field changes), onSubmit (when form is submitted). Use cases: hide/show fields based on category, validate field input, auto-populate fields. Flow Designer: low-code workflow builder — triggers (record created, record updated, scheduled, inbound email), actions (create task, send email, update record, call subflow, wait for approval). Replace complex Business Rules with Flow Designer for maintainability. Approvals: built into the platform — any flow can include an approval step with email/mobile notification. Reporting: use the Reports module to create pie charts, bar charts, time-series, and list reports — pin to dashboards for executives. Performance Analytics adds trending and KPI tracking over time.