App Engine Management Center (AEMC) Product Checklist/Getting Started

[KiernanM]

App Engine Management Center (AEMC) Product Checklist/Getting Started

1. Planning and Preparation

• Define Objectives:
  • Clarify the goals for implementing AEMC (e.g., app governance, deployment control, auditability).
• Assess Resources:
  • Evaluate staffing, platform maturity, and process readiness.
• Understand Capabilities:
  • App Engine Management Center (AEMC) provides a centralized governance workspace where platform owners can monitor, review, and control application development across the instance.
    It offers visibility into who is building what, where apps are in their lifecycle, and how compliant they are with organizational standards.
    Through a combination of dashboards, readiness scores, pipeline enforcement, and metadata insights, AEMC enables teams to establish guardrails without blocking innovation—helping organizations scale low-code development responsibly.

View full AEMC Overview

2. Installation & Configuration

• Access Guided Setup:
  • Go to: All > App Engine > Administration > Guided Setup

Follow the guided process outlined here.

• Verify Configuration:
  • Ensure App Engine Management Center is visible in production.
  • Confirm access to configuration settings under App Engine > Administration.

3. Licensing & Entitlements

• App Engine License Required:
  • AEMC is available as part of the App Engine SKU.
  • Developers working on production-bound custom apps built on custom tables require App Engine licensing.
  • End users submitting requests typically do not require licensing.

Licensing Guide

• Environment Access:
  • AEMC is supported in production.
  • ServiceNow Studio, App Engine Studio is available in sub-production.

4. Roles & Permissions

• Assign Key Roles:
  • admin – to install, configure, and manage AEMC
  • app_engine_admin – to manage governance features
  • now.assist.creator – if using Now Assist AI capabilities such as app summarization

• Review Access Controls:
  • Ensure RBAC (role-based access control) is configured in line with your governance model.

5. Governance Pipeline Setup

• Configure Pipelines:
  • Pipelines enforce stage gates (e.g., DEV → TEST → PROD).
  • Follow this guide to configure: Configuring Pipelines
• Govern Deployment Approvals:
  • Define approval policies for app promotion using pipeline stage rules in AEMC.

Learn more: Monitor Requests Using AEMC

6. Visibility & Readiness Checks

• View Application Health:
  • Enable and review app readiness indicators (security, upgradability, UX)

Learn more: Readiness & Compliance Details

• Enable Readiness Scoring:
  • Make sure readiness scans are configured to run during deployments for compliance oversight.

7. Training & Enablement

• Take Training Courses:
  • Recommend the App Engine Management Center Fundamentals training on Now Learning.
• Distribute Setup Guides to Developers:
  • Use the ServiceNow product documentation and in-platform guided setup for consistency.
• Support Change Management:
  • Ensure development teams are trained to follow new governance rules and promotion workflows.

8. Maintenance & Continuous Improvement

• Solicit Developer Feedback:
  • Use retrospectives to improve governance policies over time.
• Stay Updated:
  • Monitor AEMC release notes and upgrade guidance to stay aligned with best practices.