Hardware asset provisioning for new joiners

[Tracey Wilmot]

Hi all,

Looking for some advice on how you manage your asset provisioning for new joiners.

We currently have HAM Pro but not HR Service Desk.

At the moment, we are using Service Catalog Items for HR to complete when there is a new starter.  This generates tasks for various teams to action e.g. create accounts,  provision phone, provision laptop etc.

Therefore, the "Requested for" is the HR team and not the new joiner (as they don't exist in the system yet).  My question is how do we link the provisioning of phones and laptops to collect the "Requested for" value after it has been created in the main new starter account creation task?

Any advice on how to get round this?

Many thanks

Tracey

[Mark Manders]

It depends on when that user is being added to the system and when the tasks are created. 

If you first have a task to create the user in your source system (like AD) and it is then integrated into ServiceNow, you can use it in the new tasks. But if it's not available when other tasks need to be created, you can have the team provide the name and email address within your (work)flow somewhere, so it can be taken from there. 

[abby_singh786]

Hi @Tracey Wilmot ,

Here’s what I’d suggest trying:

1: Capture New Hire Details in the Request Form

Since the new user isn’t in the system yet, you’ll need a way to capture their details during request submission.

Solution: Modify your Service Catalog item (used by HR) to include mandatory variables like:

• Full name
• Email address (personal or work to be created)
• Department
• Job title
• Location
• Planned start date

Use a reference field to a custom table like u_new_hire_staging (a staging table to store pre-hire info temporarily).

2: Store New Hire Info in a Staging Table

Create a custom table called u_new_hire_staging to temporarily store new hire data captured during request.

Fields to include:

• Name
• Email
• Department
• Manager
• Start date
• Reference to the RITM or request
• This will act as a placeholder until the user record is created in the User table (sys_user).

3: Modify Fulfillment Tasks to Use New Hire Staging Data

Customize your fulfillment tasks (e.g., Provision Laptop, Provision Phone) to reference the staging data.

• Instead of assigning asset to “Requested for” (which is HR),
•  Use a custom field like New hire reference in each task that pulls data from u_new_hire_staging.

4: Create Logic to Update the Assigned To Once the User is Created

Set up a Scheduled Job or a Business Rule that watches for when the real sys_user record for the new hire is created (e.g., through an identity system, import, or manual creation).

Once the user is created:

•  Find matching records in the u_new_hire_staging table using email or name.
• Automatically update:
  • Assigned to or Allocated to on asset records
  • CI Owner/User on CMDB
  • Requested for in associated RITMs/tasks

You can also update any Asset Transfer or Install Base logic here if required.

5: Clean-Up and Linkage

• Remove the staging record once the user has been fully provisioned and linked.
• Maintain an audit trail by referencing:
• Request number
• HR requester
• Actual new hire user

Optional Enhancements

• Auto-create sys_user record from staging (optional, but only if governance allows).
• MID Server + LDAP Integration: If you have AD integration, sync users automatically and link them back to the staging data.
• Email Triggers: Notify IT/asset teams when the actual user is onboarded and assets need linking.

Most important: maintain clean data linkage between assets and users, even if the users don’t yet exist in the system.

Regards,

Abhishek

Should my response prove helpful, please consider marking it as the Accepted Solution/Helpful to assist closing this thread.

[abby_singh786]

I just tested this on my instance and realized the information I shared earlier wasn’t accurate — some of the details I mentioned don't seem to apply as expected.

Apologies for the confusion. Please feel free to ignore my previous post for now — I’ll recheck everything and come back with a proper, verified response.

Thanks for your understanding.

Regards,

Abhishek