Please advise on OOTB customization

[M_Tomy]

Dear Experts

We want to prevent developers from unintentionally customizing OOTB settings and ensure we remain within ServiceNow's support scope.

Question:
Please advise if there is a way for platform administrators to verify that unintended out-of-the-box settings have not been modified.
We are considering incorporating this verification into our change management process before applying update sets.

Thank you in advance.

[Nikhil Bajaj9 · Accepted solution]

Hi @M_Tomy ,

I don't see any direct way but you can track it by periodically review against OOB features. Although During upgrades - skip items and upgrade monitors may help you in tracking it. Also Health scan checkup will provide you a report that what was customize and whether it was as per best practice or not. 

If my answer helped you, please makr it- solution accpeted. It will help future Readers as well.

Regards,

Nikhil Bajaj

[kaushal_snow]

Hi @M_Tomy ,

1. Regularly Audit and Compare Customizations

Use the Compare Versions Feature: ServiceNow provides a built in tool to compare the current version of a record with its OOTB version. ....This can help identify unintended changes.

>> Create a Baseline: Document the OOTB configurations and periodically compare them with the current state to detect any deviations...

2. Implement Access Controls and Permissions: Limit access to critical OOTB records to only those developers who absolutely need it....

3. Establish a Change Management Process:

Review Before Modifications: Before making changes, ensure that the modification is necessary and that it won't impact OOTB functionality.....

>> Use Update Set: Package changes into update sets and review them before applying to ensure they don't affect OOTB settings....

4. Monitor and Alert for Unauthorized Changes

Set Up Alerts: Configure alerts to notify administrators when critical OOTB records are modified.

>> Use ServiceNow's Unauthorized Change Detection: ServiceNow has an OOTB capability to detect changes on IT-infrastructure components that are not 'covered' with an authorized change request. This functionality works well when Service Mapping is also used. ...As soon as a change is detected in the CMDB and an authorized change cannot be found, an Unauthorized Change is created and assigned to a specific group. ...

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