Query on CI/CD in ServiceNow

[Suggy]

Hi, someone asked me 'Can ServiceNow support CI/CD'? 

My questions to community members 🙂

1. Can anyone explain in layman terms like how CI/CD can be used in ServiceNow

2. Are you using CI/CD in ServiceNow today? If so, can you please provide few scenarions/use cases how using CI/CD in ServiceNow.

Thank you 🙂

[LS7]

Greetings.

There is also a self-paced course on Now Learning that may give you more insight:

Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) Fundamentals 

ON-DEMAND COURSE  (40 minutes)

Learn to develop apps at scale with source control and Continuous Integration and Continuous Delivery (CI/CD) toolsets on the ServiceNow Platform.

[Community Alums]

Technically, CI (Continuous Integration) CD (Continuous Delivery) defines code moving from one instance to another and by this definition, anyone actively configuring/customizing their ServiceNow platform in using CICD. However, in the industry, when folks use the term CICD, they are thinking of a set of applications and automation that will move, test and track code changes in an auditable fashion. Using CICD for ServiceNow is very different than for traditional full stack applications because it is a 'cloud platform'. In layman's terms, this means that most of the code driving ServiceNow (the kernel) is hidden from its users and configurations and customizations made in ServiceNow translate to individual code objects which cannot be tested independently of the kernel. Additionally, when you move this code (via update set) you are only moving these code objects, not the whole application. This nuance makes CICD for ServiceNow interesting at best and extremely confusing at worst. 

I did create a CICD pipeline for ServiceNow using GitLab that was very eye opening and I think might be useful to you. https://www.servicenow.com/community/developer-articles/ci-cd-promoting-servicenow-code-using-gitlab...

To date, I have not yet worked with (nor heard of via third party, and I have been implementing ServiceNow for 11 years) a client who is using CI/CD (as understood in general tech industry terms) for ServiceNow code promotion, but rather manages update set promotion with defined governance and SOPs.