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Eliza
This article captures key lessons learned from implementing Now Assist capabilities in a domain-separated ServiceNow environment. The implementation involved 2 internal - facing domains (ITSM Fulfiller skills & AI Search) and 5 customer - facing domains (CSM Fulfiller skills). This architecture is represented in the following diagram:
The lessons are organized into leading practices, common challenges, and version-specific considerations.
Project Context
Environment Configuration:
- Domain Separation enabled ServiceNow instance
- 2 internal- facing domains implementing ITSM Fulfiller skills & AI Search
- 5 customer-facing domains implementing CSM Fulfiller skills
- ServiceNow version: Upgraded to Xanadu Patch 7 during implementation
Objective: Enable Now Assist capabilities across multiple domains to:
- Improve Service Desk efficiency
- Drive optimization via Now Assist for a consistent delivery experience
- Use data to identify opportunities for additional automation to be triggered by the platform
while maintaining proper data segregation and functionality.
Leading Practices and Recommendations
- Administrative Setup
Key Learning: User permissions and domain context are critical for successful installation.
Best Practice: Ensure the user performing Now Assist for Platform installation is assigned to the global domain to prevent permission-related issues during setup.
Benefit: Prevents installation failures and reduces troubleshooting time.
- Domain Implementation Strategy
Key Learning: Implementation approach varies based on domain complexity.
Best Practice:
- Simple environments (<5 domains): Use update sets to enable Now Assist across domains
- Complex environments (5 or more domains): Manually enable Now Assist in each domain
- General best practice: Implement in the topmost domain first, as it's simpler than separate child domain installations
Benefit: Prevents installation failures and reduces troubleshooting time.
- Testing Strategy
Key Learning: Production-like testing environments are essential for accurate validation.
Best Practice: Test all functionalities in a recent clone of the production instance to ensure the most accurate representation of real-world conditions.
Benefit: Identifies environment-specific issues before production deployment.
- Issue Resolution Approach
Key Learning: Plugin repair is an effective troubleshooting method.
Best Practice: When specific capabilities encounter issues, repair the plugin to restore missing or corrupted components.
Benefit: Useful for resolving functionality gaps and unexpected behavior.
Implementation Challenges and Solutions
Pre-Xanadu Patch 7 Issues
ITSM Domain Challenges
Challenge 1: Inactive Summarize UI Action
- Issue: Summarize UI action was inactive by default
- Solution: Manual activation required on the platform
- Lesson: Verify UI action states post-installation
Challenge 2: Missing Resolve UI Action in Child Domains
- Issue: Resolve UI action available in global domain but missing in individual domains
- Solution: Manual creation of Resolve UI action in each domain
- Lesson: Domain-specific UI elements may not inherit automatically
Challenge 3: Non-functional Create Knowledge Feature
- Issue: Create Knowledge feature not working properly
- Root Cause: KCS article template was inactive
- Solution: Activate KCS article template
- Lesson: Verify all prerequisite components are active
CSM Domain Challenges
Challenge 1: Platform Summarize UI Action
- Issue: Summarize UI action required manual activation
- Solution: Platform-level activation
- Lesson: Consistent with ITSM domain issues
Challenge 2: Propose Solution UI Action Configuration
- Issue: Action not present in specific domains and inactive in sys_declarative_action_assignment table
- Solution:
- Ensure presence in specific domain
- Set active = true in sys_declarative_action_assignment table
- Lesson: Multi-step configuration required for domain-specific actions
Challenge 3: Invisible Create Knowledge UI Action
- Issue: UI action not visible to users
- Root Causes:
- KCS article template inactive
- System property sn_customerservice.enable_knowledge_kcs set to false
- Solutions:
- Activate KCS article template
- Set system property: sn_customerservice.enable_knowledge_kcs = true
- Lesson: Multiple configuration points can affect single functionality
Post-Xanadu Patch 7 Changes
Positive Developments
Key Learning: Version upgrades can resolve previous workarounds but introduce new considerations.
Outcome: Previous manual workarounds were no longer needed, simplifying the implementation process.
New CSM Skill-Specific Requirements
Case Summarization:
- Requirement: Enable skill in both global and external domains
- Lesson: Some skills require multi-domain activation
KB Generation:
- Issue: Known defect PRB1866702
- Solution: Update script include as workaround
- Lesson: Stay informed about known defects and available workarounds
Resolution Notes Generation:
- Requirement: Enable skill in both external domain and specific company domain
- Lesson: Granular domain targeting may be necessary
ITSM Improvements:
- Positive Outcome: No workarounds needed for ITSM in Xanadu Patch 7
- Lesson: Version upgrades can significantly improve implementation experience
Key Takeaways and Recommendations
Strategic Recommendations
- Version Planning: Consider timing implementations with major patch releases to benefit from resolved issues
- Domain Architecture: Plan domain implementation strategy based on complexity (simple vs. complex environments)
- Testing Approach: Always test in production-like environments with recent data
- Documentation: Maintain detailed configuration documentation for domain-specific customizations
Operational Recommendations
- Pre-Implementation Checklist:
- Verify user is in global domain
- Confirm all prerequisite templates and articles are active
- Review system properties relevant to enabled features
- Post-Implementation Validation:
- Test all UI actions in each domain
- Verify skill enablement across required domains
- Validate end-to-end functionality per domain
- Ongoing Maintenance:
- Monitor for new patches and defect resolutions
- Maintain plugin health through regular repair cycles
- Document any custom configurations for future reference
Risk Mitigation
- Permission Issues: Always use global domain user for initial setup
- Review custom components: Customized forms, UI Actions etc. can prevent new components from being installed properly
- Functionality Gaps: Plan for manual configuration of domain-specific elements
- Version Dependencies: Research known defects and available workarounds before implementation
- Testing Gaps: Use production clones rather than development instances for validation
Conclusion
Implementing Now Assist in domain-separated environments requires careful planning, thorough testing, and attention to domain-specific configuration requirements. While challenges exist, particularly around implementation strategy, UI action configuration, and skill enablement, following established best practices and staying current with platform updates significantly improves implementation success. The transition to Xanadu Patch 7 demonstrated the value of timing implementations with major releases to benefit from resolved issues and improved functionality.
Future implementations should leverage these lessons to streamline deployment processes and reduce troubleshooting time while ensuring robust functionality across all domains.
