New to ServiceNow – Looking for Guidance on Setting Up Foundational Architecture in PDI

Community Alums
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Hi Community,

 

I'm currently learning the ServiceNow ITSM platform and have access to my own Personal Developer Instance (PDI). To strengthen my understanding, I’d like to set up a complete foundational architecture in the PDI – including companies, locations, departments, users, groups, roles, and other core configuration elements – based on ServiceNow best practices.

 

The idea is to treat this as a self-driven project where I build a realistic ServiceNow environment from scratch. Once the foundational setup is complete, I plan to move forward with configuring and exploring key modules like:

  • Incident Management

  • Change Management

  • Problem Management

  • Service Catalog

  • Knowledge Management

I'm looking for any resources, such as:

  • Step-by-step guides or tutorials (blogs, videos, articles) for setting up foundational data

  • Best practices around organizing users, groups, and roles

  • Example structures (e.g., sample companies or org hierarchies) I can model after

  • Tips from your own experience setting up a training/demo environment

  • Anything else that might help a beginner avoid common pitfalls

If you've been through a similar learning journey or have any recommendations, I'd really appreciate your insights. I'm eager to learn and want to build a solid understanding of how to design and structure a ServiceNow instance properly from the ground up.

 

Thank you in advance for your help and support!

 

Best regards,

Wajahath Farooq

1 REPLY 1

GlideFather
Tera Patron

Hi there,

for both ITSM as well as guided tutorials, go to and scroll to select your:

Career Journeys:

  • System Admin
  • App Developer
  • Platform Owner
  • Implementer
  • Technical Project Manager
  • Business Process Analyst
  • Support Specialist

 

ServiceNow credentials:

  • App Specialist
  • Architect
  • Developer
  • Implementer
  • Pre-sales Expert
  • Sales Expert
  • System Admin

Learning Plan ServiceNow Administrator:

  • Learn admin skills to move into app development.
  • Includes 13 short, self-paced modules

 

For the examples of best practice, go to Now Create.

 

Another resources are:

ServiceNow University 

 

Developer Portal

  • Request your Personal Developer Instance (PDI) — your own ServiceNow sandbox to practice safely.
  • You can try almost everything for free (except a few advanced features like AI).
  • Explore guides, tutorials, blogs, and documentation to learn more.

 

Learning Plan ServiceNow Administrator:

  • Learn admin skills to move into app development.
  • Includes 13 short, self-paced modules.

 

Good luck 🍀

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