ServiceNow model in ServiceNow

[PhilippeH]

Dear community,

I would like to create ServiceNow CIs in ServiceNow and I am wondering what was your experience about it.

Some companies create a business application per module (Incident Management, change Management, ...), which make a lot of business apps. Then some use the "Architecture type" field to differentiate the ServiceNow Platform from the modules. Could you please share your experience on that or maybe there is recommanded modelisation ?

Thanks in advance,

Philippe

[Ravi Peddineni]

@PhilippeH 

The first approach of having business app for each of the module and make use of Platform Host and Platform Application on Business Application to link them is the suggest way. Example, ServiceNow could be a Platform Host and Incident Management could be a Platform Application. This is suggested as per CSDM 4.0. Please watch this latest community video: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=hANONH1c1vQ

[PhilippeH]

Thanks Ravindranath for your answer. I do appreciate. I understand this approach and would like to know your opinion about this one : create one business app for ServiceNow Platform and create the other modules (like incident management) as Application services linked to this business application.

[Ravi Peddineni]

@PhilippeH 

Sorry for the late reply.

I see where you're going with this approach but fundamentally the Business App should provide Business Capability. So my question is does your org have a single capability that is provided by ServiceNow? If yes, I would like to recommend that you break that capability down as many of the orgs these days divide the functional outcomes into different capabilities that are provided by different BAs and Business Services. 

Now thinking your idea technically..,,, Incident, Problem or Change managements represent a managed entity rather than a technical entity. Application Service is all about infrastructure conectivity as many of them might be discovered App Services . You can create manual App Services but you might end up having complicated relationships that might not give you the ultimate visibility. I can't even imagine the relationships since I don't know your infrasructure but I can imagine the complications of this approach. Remember CSDM is all about making the capability and service design easy.

[Mathew Hillyard]

One approach when building out a Business Application inventory to look at platforms first, as they are usually much bigger, more complex and more critical within an organization. I've found that when not entirely sure how to map out a platform (and ServiceNow is definitely a platform) it's worth thinking about the applications in the platform, what they do, and what business capabilities and/or processes they underpin.

You could take the approach of a Business Application for each ServiceNow product suite (ITSM, ITOM, IRM, CSM etc.) but this is too high-level, because you're not seeing which capabilities the components of these suites underpin.

Therefore, as @Ravi Peddineni has suggested, look at the specific outcomes each application delivers. Start with ITSM. You will find many applications that correspond with IT processes; Incident, Request, Problem, Change, Configuration, Knowledge etc. These should be Platform Applications, running on a ServiceNow Business App that is a Platform Host.

These are suitable as Business Applications as you can associate them to a Business Process (which is a reference field on the Business App form), and relate them to one to many Business Capabilities via CI Relationships.

As a final point - be clear on what each of the Business Application fields are intended to achieve. There are a few fields that look similar on first glance, and it can be easy to mix data up. In addition, in the baseline you get a small sample of possible choices, some of which are a bit out of date (e.g. Technology stack!) and will need to edit/extend these for your organisation. Review this Docs site page for details.