ServiceNow Things to Know 58: Best Practice ServiceNow

PrashantLearnIT · ‎12-29-2023

Recommended Best Practices

Governance and Change Management:
- Establish clear governance and change management processes to track and control changes to the platform.
- Use the update sets feature to manage and track customizations, and always create update sets for changes.
Documentation:
- Maintain thorough documentation for configurations, customizations, and scripts. This documentation should include comments in scripts, descriptions in fields, and detailed records of configurations.
Instance Segmentation:
- Consider segmenting your instance into different environments (e.g., development, test, and production) to ensure that changes are thoroughly tested before being promoted to production.
User Training:
- Provide training to users and administrators to ensure they understand how to use the platform effectively. This can reduce errors and improve efficiency.
Service Catalog Best Practices:
- Design an intuitive and user-friendly service catalog with clear categories and descriptions.
- Use variables to capture additional information when users request services.
- Leverage catalog UI policies and client scripts to control the behavior of catalog items.
Data Model and Database Best Practices:
- Design a clean and efficient data model using appropriate tables, fields, and relationships.
- Normalize the database where appropriate to avoid data redundancy.
- Avoid creating too many custom tables unless necessary.
Performance Optimization:
- Monitor system performance and address performance issues promptly.
- Use indexing and database optimization techniques.
- Avoid running expensive server scripts excessively.
Security and Access Control:
- Implement robust access controls and role-based permissions.
- Regularly review user roles and permissions to ensure they align with the principle of least privilege.
- Use ACLs (Access Control Lists) to control record-level access.
Scripting Best Practices:
- Write efficient scripts that minimize database queries.
- Utilize Script Includes for reusable functions.
- Employ client-side scripting for a better user experience.
- Implement proper error handling in scripts.
- Avoid hardcoding sensitive information like passwords or API keys in scripts.
Testing and QA:
- Thoroughly test changes in a non-production environment before promoting them to production.
- Implement automated testing where possible, and create test plans and test cases.
- Perform regression testing after platform upgrades or major changes.
Integration Best Practices:
- Use the Integration Hub for easier and standardized integrations.
- Implement error handling and monitoring for integrations.
- Keep integration credentials and sensitive data secure.
Platform Upgrades:
- Stay up-to-date with ServiceNow platform releases and plan for regular upgrades.
- Review the upgrade documentation and test your customizations in advance.
ServiceNow Community and Resources:
- Utilize the ServiceNow community, forums, and documentation for guidance and support.
- Stay informed about best practices and new features.
Continuous Improvement:
- Continuously assess your ServiceNow implementation for opportunities to improve processes, performance, and user experience.
- Solicit feedback from users and stakeholders and incorporate it into your improvements.