What is expected from ServiceNow Architect, CTA, CMA wrt the tons of ServiceNow products?

[Suggy]

What is expected from ServiceNow Architect, CTA, CMA wrt the huge list of ServiceNow products/features/capabilities?

As per ServiceNow, CMAs are trusted technical advisor, but for which Products??

CTAs give architectural blueprints, proposing solutions etc, but for which products??

Will CTA/CMA do the above activities for ANY of the 200+ ServiceNow products? 

Will there be CTA/CMA separately for ITSM, ITAM, HRSD etc? No right? Then what is CTA and CMA for?

Accounts Payable Operations	Domain separation for service providers	Legal Conflict of Interest	Scaled Agile Framework (SAFe)
Adoption services	Dynamic Translation	Legal Digital Forensics	Search administration
Agent Client Collector	E-signature	Legal Investigations	Service Creator
Agile Development	Edge Encryption	Legal Matter Management	Service Level Management
AI Search	Employee Document Management	Legal Mobile	Service Management
Analyze and optimize business processes	Employee Service Management	Legal Request Management	Service Mapping
Asset Management	Enterprise Architecture (formerly Application Portfolio Management)	Legal Service Delivery	Service Portal
Audit Management	Enterprise Onboarding and Transitions	Legal Simple Contracts	Service Portfolio Management
Benchmarks	ERP Customization Mining (ERP-CM)	Legal Stock Preclearance	ServiceNow application repository
Build apps using App Engine Studio	Event Management	Legal Virtual Agent Conversations	ServiceNow Extensions for Visual Studio Code
Build workflows	Expense Line	List administration	ServiceNow Studio
Case and Knowledge Management	Exploring playbooks	Live Feed Core UI	Software Asset Management
Classic Orchestration	Exploring Self-service	MetricBase	Source-to-Pay Integration with 3CLogic
Classic Workflow	Facilities Service Management	Metrics	Source-to-Pay integration with third-party applications
Cloud Cost Management	Field administration	MID Server	Source-to-Pay Operations
Cloud Observability	Financial Management	Mobile Platform	Sourcing and Procurement Operations
Cloud Provisioning and Governance	Financial Services	Natural Language Query	State Management
Coaching	Form administration	Notifications	Strategic Portfolio Management
Collaboration services	Form configuration	Notify	Supplier Lifecycle Operations
Communities	Generative AI Controller	Now Assist	System Events
Configuration Management Database (CMDB)	Governance, Risk, and Compliance	Now Mobile app	System Localization
Configure user experiences	Guided Application Creator	Password Reset	System update sets
Connect	Hardware Asset Management	Planned Maintenance	Table administration
Connections and Credentials	Health and Safety	Platform performance overview	Table Builder
Content Management System	Health and Safety Incident Management	Policy and Compliance Management	Task Communications Management
Continual Improvement Management	Healthcare and Life Sciences	Portfolio Management	Task Intelligence
Contract Management	HR Service Delivery	PPM Standard (Project Portfolio Management)	Task Outage
Conversational Interfaces	Impact	Predictive Intelligence	Team Development
Cost Management	Incident Communications Management	Proactive Service Experience Workflows	Telecommunications Network Inventory
Creating integrations with applications	Incident Management	Problem Management	Telecommunications Service Operations Management
Currency administration	Industry Products	Process Mining	Test Management applications
Customer Service Management	Innovation Management	Procurement	Test your apps with the ATF
Data Certification	Instance Data Replication	Product Catalog	Threat Intelligence
Data Management	Instance Scan	Program Management	Time Card Management
Data Separation	Integration Hub	Project Management	Time configuration
Decision Tables	Integration with third-party applications and data sources	Project Portfolio Management	Timeline Visualizations
Demand Management	Interaction Management	Quizzes	UI Builder
Dependency Views	Investment Funding	Ranking records with Spotlight	Upgrade Center
DevOps Change Velocity	IT Asset Management	Regulatory Change Management	Upgrades and conversions
DevOps Config	IT Operations Management	Reporting	Virtual Agent
Digital Portfolio Management	IT Service Management	Request Management	Visual Task Boards
Digital Product Release	ITOM Cloud Accelerate	Resource Management classic	Vulnerability Response
Discovery	ITOM Health	Response templates	Walk-up Experience
Document Intelligence	ITOM Optimization	Responsive dashboards in the Core UI	Web services
Document Services	ITOM Visibility	Sales and Order Management	Workplace Service Delivery

[Dr Atul G- LNG · Accepted solution]

Hi @Suggy 

Let me try to answer my view here. SN is very wide and now a days it is not possible for anyone or everyone to know about all products. CTA provide overall solution about platform betterment / enhancement and implementation and improvement. It is not necessary he./ she know the induvial product in depth and it depends on person experience as well and capabilities. 

So again, will the CTA/CMA is expected to have "overall knowledge of the products, their purpose and benefits" of the 100s of products/platform capabilities that I mentioned in my post?

So to answer this question, No, a bit and piece is required and with time and implementation everyone learn. I have seen few in my connection who are CTA and don't know many products. 

This blog might help you

https://www.servicenow.com/community/training-and-certifications/cma-vs-cta-they-are-the-same-right/...

[Mathew Hillyard]

@Suggy there's a big difference between a solutions knowledge of product suites and technical knowledge of each of the 200+ ServiceNow applications you have listed.

Generally speaking both CMA and CTA should have a sound knowledge of the core platform - instance structures, how the CMDB and CSDM fit in, security, data and integration architectures and solutions and a practical experience of building solution roadmaps.

• For a CTA there are no specific product suite requirements - it's more about the technical architecture components and solutions within the core platform, together with technical governance:
  • Core Services
  • Intelligence & Generative AI
  • Admin & Configuration
  • Integration Services
  • Security & Compliance 
• For a CMA, understanding of the solutions and high level product features within the capabilities map, which is downloadable from NowCreate:
  • Customer experience and industry
  • Technology excellence
  • Employee experience
  • Operational excellence
  • Hyperautomation & low-code 

As has been said already, it's simply impossible for one person to have expert knowledge across every product as the platform is so big, the products and solutions have become ever more complex and are constantly growing. In customer conversations if there is a focus on a particular product area, a CMA or CTA would normally bring in a product SME in that space so think of these roles as trusted advisors that sit above specific product considerations. This is reflected in the typical stakeholders a CMA or CTA would expect to engage with - senior management, program management and enterprise or other senior architects.

This doesn't stop a CMA or CTA from having specific product expertise and having those conversations directly with a customer, of course - but the difference is the need to retain that helicopter view of how the platform as a whole interacts, and keeping current with changes across the platform (for example, the recent change from Application Portfolio Management to Enterprise Architecture).