On the Question of Data Separation...

[ben_hollifield]

The need to securely segment data between groups, departments, or even locations is constant, even within IT organizations. What organization doesn't have a particular group that is subject to extenuating compliance requirements that necessitate that their data remain hidden from the rest of the organization? As we delve deeper into the world of Enterprise Service Management, this need only grows. I have yet to find an HR organization that doesn't wish to keep their data separate from IT. Additional requirements for the financial department, medical organizations, etc only add to the complexity!

Historically, there have been 3 methods by which to attack this:

1. Access Control Rules - These make sense at first glance, but can be a real drag on performance. For simple needs, field level security, and role-based security, you're all good! For complex scripted conditions, you'd best keep these at arm's length. Remember, that script with 2 GlideRecord queries that you built into that ACL is going to run for every single record on that 1.2 million record Incident table at Acme Corp, and every single time you view the table - that's potentially 2.4 million queries needed for a simple table list! Not to mention that your users will see that annoying "XX rows removed by security" message every time they view that list.
2. Domain Separation - Pure power! Domain separation is a wonderful thing - separated and secured data between every domain; not to mention the ability to have separate processes for each domain - business rules, client scripts, and now even workflows that are unique to each domain in your instance! Sounds great, but make sure you know what you're getting into. The maintenance and testing requirements on a domain separated instance are far larger than a typical instance, and there is a financial uptick that comes with a license to use domain separation. If you need separated processes between domains, go for it! If you only need separated data, then this may be a hammer too big for the nail.
3. Before Query Business Rules - These are en vogue these days, and for good reason! But, they can sound a bit intimidating. What exactly do they do? Well, before query business rules allow you to inject custom queries onto the front of every database access, so that you may limit the data returned according to whatever custom requirements you may have - these rules can be specific to particular tables and user sessions, providing a great deal of flexibility. The best part? Before query business rules only run once for each table access. So, compared to option 1 above (with the 2.4 million queries), this option only requires a single query - quite a bit more efficient, eh?

Note that each of the methods above apply to every database access - meaning that simple lists will be affected, but so will data returned in your CMS pages, your knowledge base, reference fields, etc. Each of these methods is equally secure and should be functionally identical to the end user. And each one has it's own valid use cases. So, which should you choose? Whenever I'm approached with this question, I generally have 3 golden rules:

1. Are you segmenting data at the field level? In other words, do you want group A and group B to both have access to a given record, but only group B should be able to see field XYZ? If so, then Access Control Rules are your only option - the other options segment data at the record level.
2. Do you require significantly different processes between group A and group B, as well as segmented data? Are there many such groups that each require their own processes and own data? If so, Domain Separation is your baby. There is some gray area here, as small levels of process differentiation are possible via simple code. But, for significant variations, DS all the way.
3. In almost all other cases, go with Before Query Business Rules. They're relatively cheap, both financially and computationally, and they get the job done.

Disclaimer: Promotional Material Below...

Understanding that Golden Rule 3 will apply to most folks, and understanding that configuring before query business rules can be onerous, I've put together an application to simplify the process of building the most efficient business rules with the least amount of effort and time. This solution is available on ServiceNow Share currently, and has been road-tested heavily. Check out the video below, try it out in your dev instance, and see if it works for you!

Simple Record Separation on Share

For the latest supported release, visit Simple Separation on the ServiceNow Store

[ben_hollifield]

Hey tsylte,

In short, Simple Separation separates data at the query level, and according to the user context in which the query is performed. So, in the workflow, an action will have access to the data that is available to the user context that is querying. This can be tricky in the context of workflows, because the system performs actions/queries in the context of the last person who instantiated or 'nudged' the workflow by performing an action.

For instance, if a user places an order for a catalog item, the workflow will progress in the context of the user-who-placed-the-order until it hits a stop point (such as an approval). At that point, it will wait for the approver to 'nudge' the workflow by either approving or rejecting. At that time, the workflow will continue in the context of the user to acted on the approval. And so on and so forth.

This could cause issues when querying Simple Separation separated tables, depending on those user contexts - the user who instantiated the workflow may have different groups/access/etc than the latest user to 'nudge' the workflow. One way to get around this is to introduce a 1 second Timer activity in the workflow before such a query takes place. This forces the workflow to drop the user context and then make the query as 'system' - in most cases, system will have access to all data, and so this can work around those permissions issues.

I hope this explanation makes sense and maybe points you in the right direction. 🙂

[snschuler]

Ben:

I have been testing this on our DEV instance and it really seems to work well, so kudos.  However, just like tsylte, I have a a slight issue with approvals.

If there is a ticket that is initiated for approvals to a specific user (especially non ITIL users), they get the notification, can follow the link (to approve in classic view), but the dropdown menu to "Approvals" on our portal page is now missing.  If I deactivate the "Simple Separator" rule, it comes back.  I am sure it is something related to the way the portal accesses and displays the logged in users approvers and since it isn't officially "assigned" to a group yet, they cannot see anything.  

Any ideas?  Thanks.  

[Laurie Marlowe1]

Hi Ben,

We are no longer using this tool.  I've deleted all the records in the table separation_rules.  I am not seeing the Delete button to delete the table itself.  

Any ideas?

Thanks,

Laurie