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Platform Analytics – OOTB Dashboards and Visualization Certification

RaniK3666699030
Tera Contributor

2 hours ago

 

Appreciate your input on the following questions:

  1. Is there a way to identify or flag Out-of-the-Box (OOTB) Dashboards and Data Visualizations for end users?
    Currently, the only potential option I have found is the Created By value of System Administrator, which does not appear to be a reliable method for distinguishing OOTB content from custom content.

  2. Is there a way to certify existing OOTB Dashboards and Data Visualizations without first duplicating them?
    Ideally, we would like to leverage the OOTB artifacts directly while still being able to designate them as approved or recommended content.

The overall goal is to identify and promote certified dashboards and data visualizations as trusted analytics assets. If OOTB artifacts cannot be certified directly, we may need to recreate them in order to apply certification. Conversely, if we choose to promote OOTB artifacts as-is, it would be helpful to have a clear way for users to distinguish OOTB content from user developed analytics.

Any guidance or best practices would be greatly appreciated.

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Vikram Reddy
Tera Guru

54m ago

Hi @RaniK3666699030,

 

Yes to both, and the good thing is you don't need to duplicate anything. Platform Analytics has a native Certified attribute on both Dashboards and Data Visualizations, and it works directly on the OOTB records you already have.

  1. Certifying a dashboard: open it, click Edit, click the (i) info icon, and you'll see a "Mark as certified" option. Toggling it and saving flags the dashboard as certified immediately, no clone required. This needs the dashboard_admin role (admin/pa_admin also cover it).
  2. Certifying a data visualization: same idea from the Visualization Designer, gated by the viz_admin role instead. Note dashboard_admin and viz_admin are separate roles with no overlap in privileges, so plan your certifiers accordingly.
  3. Where it surfaces: once certified, the item shows up under the "Certified" tab in Analytics Center, and under Platform Analytics > Library > Data Visualizations there's a built-in "Certified" filter alongside B​ookmarked / Owned by me / Shared with me. That filter is effectively the "trusted content" view you're trying to build.
  4. ServiceNow itself already ships a handful of dashboards pre-certified out of the box, which confirms certification is meant to apply directly to stock content, not just things you author yourself.

On the first question, honestly I'd stop chasing a reliable "is this OOTB" signal. Created By is exactly as unreliable as you found: system-installed content and admin-authored content both land under System Administrator, and there's no dedicated "source" or scope indicator surfaced anywhere in the Dashboards or Data Visualization UI. The Certified flag is the better axis anyway, since it's independent of origin: you certify whichever dashboards and visualizations you've reviewed and trust, whether ServiceNow built them or your team did. That gives end users one clear signal ("Certified" tab/filter) instead of trying to reverse-engineer provenance.

One thing worth checking before you roll this out: are any of these dashboards built with the older Technical Editor (advanced/responsive dashboards) rather than the current workspace editor? Certifying those sometimes requires an admin to flip the Certified field directly on the underlying dashboard record rather than through the "Mark as certified" UI option, and that changes your rollout plan a bit.

References

 

Thank you,
Vikram Karety
Octigo Solutions INC

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