Defining OOTB vs Customizations

[robynsah1]

We have several new developers that seek to have some guidelines as to what is considered out of the box functionality in Instanbul/Jaskarta versus what would be considered customization. We are trying to assist with defining this and putting process around our current developement methodology. Does anyone know or attempting to document?

[adilrathore]

Whatever record is recorded within the Customer Updates table i.e., sys_update_xml is a customization. For these records a previous version of that OOTB record was changed and the record is no longer OOTB

[The SN Nerd]

This is an interesting discussion point, as, at the end of the day, it is essentially subjective.

One common definition is that a Customization is anything that is recorded as a Customer Update (sys_update_xml).

But by that definition, creating a new UI Policy is a customization, when I would see that as configuration. You are configuring the tool via an OOB mechanism.

A more industry aligned the definition of customization is modifications that may impact future upgrades or scripting to create features that aren't natively included in the tool. That being said. without knowing what will change in future versions of the tool, one can never say with 100% certainty that a change may impact upgradeability.

Others might define a customisation as a modification to an OOB artifact.

I would ask ServiceNow for official guidance on this.

[shivanipatel]

Robyn,

Perhaps this will help What's being close to OTTB in ServiceNow?  

Best,
Shivani Patel

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[Sebastian R_]

Although this thread is two years old I want to share the recommendation of ServiceNow regarding Instanze customizations and their definition of customizations with you, because the thread is one of the top results on google.

First of all ServiceNow recommends to always change the OOTB records instead of deactivating and cloning them (except. e.g. Service Portal Widgets). As a guideline they published a knowledge article on Instanze Customization and a quick answer sheet on the customer success center.

Instance Customization FAQ and Guidelines

What are the best practices for customization?