pros and cons of universal task

[Santosh62]

Hello Community

I have read the documentation and found the pros of implementing a universal task. Can anyone provide the cons of universal task ? Thank you

[Shaqeel · Accepted solution]

Hi @Santosh62 

Here are the cons that I know:

1. Complexity: Universal tasks can become complex to manage if there are a large number of tasks from different applications or departments.

1. Training: Users may require additional training to understand how to use and manage universal tasks effectively.

1. Integration Issues: There might be integration issues with other systems or applications, as not all may support the concept of universal tasks.

1. Customization Limitations: There may be limitations in terms of customization, as universal tasks are designed to work across multiple applications and departments.

1. Performance: If not properly managed, the performance of the system could be affected due to the large number of tasks being handled at the same time.

1. Data Security: There could be potential data security issues, as universal tasks involve accessing and managing tasks from different applications and departments.

1. Dependency: There is a high dependency on the ServiceNow platform for task management, which could be a disadvantage if there are issues with the platform itself.

1. Limited Control: Individual departments or applications may have limited control over their tasks once they are part of the universal task pool.

Regards

Shaqeel

[Santosh62]

Thanks a lot Shaqeel. Very valid points indeed. Thanks for your time.

[Fred Jean]

Hello,

I am investigating this option for a specific need and I have installed the plug in and done a few basic tests. Here are my findings :

Pros :

- enables to assign tasks to users on the Employee center portal

- tasks can actually be shown on the ESC OotB (once assigned to a user and state is work in progress)

Cons :

- Requires some minimal configuration to be useable

- When you use the complete button on a "Mark when complete" tasks, the task is actually closed (which is good) but when you submit the form of a "provide input" tasks, the task is not closed, you can submit it several times. Why ? How it that supposed to work ?

- when you submit that "provide input" tasks, I don't see the provided input on the OotB form of the Universal task or RITM neither on the Workspace nor Core UI

- Tasks must actually be assigned to the user to be visible on the ESC (we would like it to work with groups also)

- Task are only visible on ESC once state is "Work in progress" (seems counter intuitive to me as tha task not actually in progress yet until taken/open by the user)

- Tasks on the ESC don't show the related task they are attached to (I created Universal task for a RITM and then have no information or lonk on the RITM on the ESC form)

[Fred Jean]

If interested about this, note I posted this about our need related to universal tasks : https://www.servicenow.com/community/employee-center-forum/using-universal-task-to-involve-non-it-us...