Recommendation Framework in Service Operations Workspace

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Recommendation Framework in Service Operations Workspace

    The Recommendation Framework in Service Operations Workspace enables agents to view dynamic, contextual recommendations and take relevant actions directly within incident records. However, this framework is nowdeprecatedand not available for new activations. ServiceNow recommends using the latestRecommended Actions for ITSMfeature for enhanced functionality. To access the advanced recommended actions, customers must install theAdvanced Recommended Actions for ITSMplugin and subscribe to the ITSM Pro package, with the best practice being installation of theTask Intelligence for ITSMplugin.

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    Key Features

    • Sidebar Recommendations: Agents can access a Recommendations panel in the incident sidebar, which displays grouped recommendations in two primary card formats:
      • Record Cards: Show relevant record details from tables with associated actions.
      • Message Cards: Present messages derived from recommendations along with related actions (e.g., proposing a major incident).
      Cards from the same recommendation rule are grouped for clarity. Clicking a card or record number opens detailed information and available actions in a new tab.
    • Action Handling: Each card features a primary action plus multiple secondary actions. Performing any action triggers recomputation of recommendations. Recommendations can be discarded if irrelevant, and primary actions move cards from the Current to the History tab. Priority-based sorting ensures the top recommendation card is prominently displayed.
    • Field-Level Recommendations: Predicted values appear for key incident fields such as Assignment Group, Configuration Item, and Service on the Details tab. These predictions come from configured recommendation rules and can be auto-populated or stamped based on threshold settings.
    • Recommendation Rules: Recommendations for incidents are driven by configurable rules within the Recommendation Framework.

    Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers

    • Streamlines agent workflows by providing actionable, contextual guidance within incident management.
    • Improves decision-making speed and accuracy through predictive field values and grouped recommendations.
    • Supports customization of recommendation logic to fit organizational processes.
    • Offers a pathway to advanced AI-driven recommendations through the ITSM Pro subscription and relevant plugins.
    • Facilitates historical tracking of recommendation usage via the History tab for transparency and auditability.

    Next Steps

    ServiceNow customers currently using the deprecated Recommendation Framework should plan migration to the Recommended Actions for ITSM feature by installing the recommended plugins and procuring the ITSM Pro subscription. This transition ensures access to the most current and supported recommendation capabilities in Service Operations Workspace.

    An agent can view dynamic and contextual recommendations and perform a relevant action.

    Recommendation Framework is now deprecated and no longer supported or available for new activation. Recommended Actions for ITSM feature provides the latest experience for this functionality. To get the advanced version, you must install the Advanced Recommended actions for ITSM (com.snc.uib.sow_itsm_ra_advanced) plugin and you must procure ITSM Pro package subscription.

    Note:
    The best practice to get the advanced version is to install the Task Intelligence for ITSM (com.snc.itsm_ml_task) plugin and procure the ITSM Pro package subscription. For more information, see Exploring Recommended Actions for ITSM in Service Operations Workspace.

    Recommendations are available in multiple areas for an incident in Service Operations Workspace.

    Recommendations from the sidebar for an incident

    From the sidebar of an incident, you can access the Recommendations panel where you can configure and group recommendations in any of the following formats.
    • Record card: Relevant record details of a table and corresponding actions are available.
    • Message card: A message derived from the recommendation and corresponding actions is available. For example, Propose major incident card.
    Note:
    All cards of the same recommendation rule are grouped. For example, for the Similar open incidents rule for an incident in Service Operations Workspace, all relevant incidents are grouped as cards under Similar open incidents.
    Figure 1. Recommendations from the sidebar
    Recommendations from the sidebar

    For information on available card groups for an incident and their dependencies on recommendation rules, see Recommendation rules for an incident in Service Operations Workspace.

    When you click a card or its record number, detailed information about that card and its actions is displayed in a new tab.

    Every card has a primary action and multiple other actions. For every action you perform on the card, the recommendations are recomputed. You can discard a recommendation if not relevant. Also, when you perform a primary action on a card, it moves from the Current tab to the History tab.
    Note:
    Based on the priority, the first card of the top card group is displayed as the top recommendation at the top of the Recommendations panel.

    Recommendations at the field level for an incident

    A predicted value is displayed for these fields in the Details tab of an incident.
    • Assignment group
    • Configuration item
    • Service

    These values are predicted based on a recommendation rule for each field. For information about these rules, see Recommendation rules for an incident in Service Operations Workspace. When a threshold value is configured, the recommended value can be stamped or auto-populated as the field value. For information about this configuration, see .

    Figure 2. Recommendations at field level
    Recommendations at field level