Getting started with Core Business Suite

[Sarah Means]

What it Contains

The ServiceNow Core Business Suite is an AI-powered platform that unifies HR, health & safety, finance, procurement, legal, and facilities operations into a single, intelligent experience. Employees submit requests from one portal, AI agents route and resolve work automatically, and managers gain real-time visibility across all functions — eliminating the disconnected systems and manual processes that slow businesses down.

Key Highlights

• Single unified front door: Employees find answers and submit requests across HR, finance, procurement, legal, and facilities in one place.
• AI-powered from day one: AI agents classify, route, and resolve cases automatically, with guided setup that helps you automate quickly.
• Fast deployment: Most organizations go live in weeks, not months, with out-of-the-box workflows ready to configure.
• Built-in analytics: Track SLAs, case volumes, and resolution times across every department from a single dashboard.
• Designed to scale: Optimized for organizations of all sizes, with flexibility to grow as your business evolves.
• Cross team collaboration: Utilize universal request as a single ticket entry point to easily transfer between departments and enhance cross team collaboration.

 

Recommended Getting Started Steps

Core Business Suite is designed for fast deployment. Follow these five steps to move from purchase to live operations quickly:

• Step 1: Access Your Instance and Assign Administrators
  Log in to your ServiceNow instance and identify a primary system administrator for each business function (HR, finance, procurement, etc.). Use Now Assist for Setup to install and configure all business applications from a single location. Assign department owners early — they will drive configuration decisions and be your change champions during rollout.
• Step 2: Configure Your Front Door
  Employee Center Pro with Moveworks is the single portal where all employees will go for help and requests. Customize the homepage with your company branding, set up topic pages organized around real employee needs (not just departments), and activate the Manager Hub so team leads have visibility from day one. This is the first experience employees will see, so invest time to make it intuitive. Enabling Moveworks powers a conversational interface to easily deflect common questions and guide users to the right entry points. 
• Step 3: Activate and Configure Your Priority Modules
  Start with the business functions that will deliver the fastest ROI for your organization — typically HR and one additional function such as finance or procurement. Use the out-of-the-box workflow templates and the AI-guided setup assistant to identify automation opportunities. Over time you can expand those existing modules or add on other business functions to grow the impact of the solution. 
• Step 4: Enable AI Agents and Automate Routing
  Activate Now Assist to begin automatically classifying, assigning, and resolving incoming cases. Configure Universal Request so employees submit one request regardless of department, and the platform routes it to the right team. Set up SLA policies and notification rules so nothing falls through the cracks. Most automation can be live within your first few weeks.
• Step 5: Train Users and Monitor Performance
  Deliver brief training sessions for employees (how to submit requests via Employee Center Pro or Moveworks) and department agents (how to manage and resolve cases). Activate the built-in dashboards to track request-to-resolution times, SLA compliance, and case volumes by department. Review performance metrics weekly during the first 90 days to identify bottlenecks and areas for continued improvement.

 

Resources & Support

Take advantage of these resources to accelerate your time to value:

• ServiceNow Docs: Product documentation, configuration guides, and release notes at docs.servicenow.com.
• Now Learning: Self-paced courses and learning paths to upskill your admins and end users.
• ServiceNow Community: Connect with peers, ask questions, and share best practices at community.servicenow.com. You're already here! Check out our CBS blogs for more detailed info on releases and more!
• Now Support: Access technical support, submit cases, and track issues via support.servicenow.com.
• Impact Success Plans: For enhanced adoption guidance and expert assistance, ask your account team about ServiceNow Impact.
• ServiceNow Partners: Implementation and optimization support is available through the global ServiceNow partner network.