Understanding User and Group Administration in ServiceNow

Abhishek_Thakur · a month ago

🔹 Introduction

User and Group Administration is one of the most fundamental aspects of managing access and responsibilities in ServiceNow. Every ServiceNow Administrator should have a strong understanding of how users, groups, and roles work together to control access and define responsibilities across the platform.

In this article, we’ll cover:

What is a User in ServiceNow
What is a Group in ServiceNow
How to create Users and Groups
How to assign Roles
Best practices for managing Users and Groups

👤 What is a User in ServiceNow?

A User in ServiceNow represents an individual who has access to the instance. Each user record holds key details such as:

Name
Email
Department
Roles
Manager
Active status

Users can be internal employees, external partners, or customers — depending on how your instance is configured.

🧠 Tip: It’s always good practice to deactivate user accounts that are no longer required to maintain security and system cleanliness.

👥 What is a Group in ServiceNow?

A Group is a collection of users organized based on department, role, or function (e.g., IT Support, HR Team, Change Management Team).

Groups are often used for:

Assigning approvals
Distributing tasks
Managing user access collectively

🔄 Example: Instead of assigning the “ITIL” role to every Service Desk agent individually, you can assign it once to the Service Desk Group. Every user added to that group will automatically inherit the assigned role.

🛠️ How to Create a User

Navigate to User Administration → Users
Click New
Fill in the required details like User ID, Name, Email, etc.
Click Submit
Assign roles as needed using the Roles related list

🧭 How to Create a Group

Navigate to User Administration → Groups
Click New
Enter Group Name and Description
Add Members (Users) to the group
Assign Roles to the group if necessary

🧩 Assigning Roles to Users or Groups

Roles define what actions a user or group can perform within the ServiceNow instance.

You can assign roles directly to a user or indirectly through group membership.
Assigning roles via groups is often more efficient, especially for teams with similar access needs.

💡 Best Practices

✅ Assign roles through groups whenever possible — it’s easier to manage and audit.
✅ Regularly review inactive users and remove unnecessary access.
✅ Keep user and group naming conventions consistent for clarity.
✅ Document role assignments for governance and compliance.
✅ Avoid giving admin-level roles unless absolutely required.

🎥 Watch the Video Tutorial

If you’d like to see a step-by-step demonstration, check out my latest YouTube video where I walk through:

Creating users and groups
Assigning roles
Understanding inheritance
Implementing best practices

📺 Watch here: https://youtu.be/Ci8cHg-k4Vs

🏁 Conclusion

Proper management of Users, Groups, and Roles in ServiceNow ensures secure access control and smoother operational management. Following best practices will not only simplify administration but also strengthen compliance and data integrity within your instance.