Best approach to stop automatic Software Model creation from a catalog request

[pavan Punna]

We have a custom catalog item called ServiceNow Catalog Products (Global) that is used to request creation of new Product Catalog Items.

currently, requester enters the Model Name as free text. The automation searches for an existing model using the generated display name and creates a new Software Model when an exact match is not found.

This has resulted in duplicate and incomplete Software Models, including records with Product empty, model_number = NaN, and incorrect values from the free-text input.

One suggested approach is to replace the free-text Model Name variable with a filtered reference to cmdb_software_product_model. The lookup would show only certified Software Models with Product populated and could display Publisher, Product, Version, and Edition to help the requester select the correct record. The existing automation would then use the selected model instead of creating a new one.

The concern is that requesters may still select the wrong model when duplicate or similar records exist, and genuinely new software may not yet have a certified model available. Making the reference mandatory could therefore block valid requests, while leaving it optional requires a controlled exception process.

Would the best approach be to allow selection from filtered valid models, keep the field optional during submission, and route requests with no selected model to SAM for review and manual model creation or selection before the Product Catalog Item is generated and any additional concerns with implementing suggested approach?

[ptishberg-SNow]

Hi Pavan,

Your solution is what you have suggested, with some minor adjustments that I have outlined below:

           "One suggested approach is to replace the free-text Model Name variable with a filtered reference to cmdb_software_product_model. The lookup would show only certified Software Models with Product populated and could display Publisher, Product, Version, and Edition to help the requester select the correct record. The existing automation would then use the selected model instead of creating a new one."

That is the preferred method, and you are correct in choosing that pathway.  Let me be specific here

Instead of a "filtered reference" as suggested above, use a "Choice List" for the variable of Software Model.  That list would ONLY use valid Software Product models from that very table. 

Ensure that you select "publish to catalog" models instead of the whole table to avoid any current duplication or unsupported versions of a product being selected by the user. 

Getting rid of the free-form text field is surely a great idea, and you have hinted slightly that you are for that.  I concur.  Ensure that you also have in the vendor product catalog (whether it is internal to procurement in ServiceNow or is an extract that is updated daily from your procurement system) based on the Publisher Part Number so that when a request for a product is selected from that choice list of published software product models, there is a corresponding product available for when you will need to source that license. Workflow should always first be routed to the SAM Manager for verification of any unallocated licenses that could fulfill that request.

Hope that this clarifies and helps expedite your SW request workflow process.