Platform Academy - July 8th, 2025 From Chaos to Order: Making Service Catalog Work for You

[Sharon_Barnes]

From Chaos to Order: Making Service Catalog Work for You

Anyone who has waited endlessly for a laptop approval or emailed five people to gain access to a tool knows the pain of chaotic service requests. In this session, Tosin walks us through how ServiceNow’s Service Catalog, combined with Catalog Builder, helps teams reclaim order and efficiency.

Starting with a foundational overview, Tosin introduces the layered structure of request management: Requests (the umbrella), Requested Items (specific needs), and Tasks (fulfillment steps). He then contrasts the traditional catalog item creation process—often admin-heavy and slow—with the lightweight, flexible power of Catalog Builder.

The demo walks through creating a remote work equipment request for HR, highlighting how admins can pre-build templates, while business users define and publish catalog items with minimal friction. The result? Faster delivery, less back-and-forth, and catalog items that actually match business needs.

The session wraps with tips on effective taxonomy and categorization—ensuring users can find what they need fast—and a detailed Q&A covering everything from Catalog Builder environments to advanced flow integration.

Key Takeaways:

• Use Service Catalog to replace manual chaos with structured efficiency.

• Empower business users with Catalog Builder and template-based workflows.

• Define clear taxonomy and category logic to make items easy to find and manage.

• For simple items, go live in production; for complex ones, leverage sub-prod and admin oversight.

• Catalog Builder works across domains—HR, IT, finance—and supports metadata movement via update sets or app repo.

The future of service management is low-code, scalable, and user-driven—and Catalog Builder is leading the way.