Service Builder

  • Release version: Zurich
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Service Builder

    Service Builder is a guided, interactive application within ServiceNow that enables customers to create, edit, and manage business and technology management services and their offerings. It is a feature of Service Portfolio Management but is available as a plugin in the Digital Portfolio Management product list. Customers can maintain service definitions, perform version-controlled updates, and publish finalized services for organizational use.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Guided Service Creation: Service Builder provides a step-by-step experience with contextual guidance to help users define and configure services and offerings efficiently.
    • Service Types: Users can create either business services or technology management services from the Dashboard.
    • Tabbed Workflow: The creation process is organized into tabs including Details (general service information), Team (service ownership and contacts), Service Performance (performance criteria), Manage Offerings (offering details and financials), and Review and Submit (final review before publishing).
    • Version Control and Editing: Services can be edited anytime before or after publishing. Draft changes do not affect the active published version until approved and published. Users can also duplicate services to quickly create similar offerings.
    • Service and Offering Management: Published services and offerings can be viewed and edited both within Service Builder and in the parent Service Portfolio Management application.
    • Dashboard and Services Tabs: The Dashboard allows quick creation and access to recently interacted services, while the Services tab lists all services with key metadata and editing capabilities.

    Practical Benefits

    ServiceNow customers leveraging Service Builder can streamline the definition and management of their services with a structured, user-friendly tool that ensures consistency and governance. The version control and approval workflows help maintain service integrity while enabling continuous improvements and updates. The ability to duplicate services accelerates the creation of related offerings, saving time and effort.

    Overall, Service Builder simplifies and standardizes service portfolio management, improving visibility, collaboration, and control over your service catalog.

    Create and edit services and service offerings using the ServiceNow® Service Builder application. Service Builder is an interactive, guided experience as you create and edit services and service offering details. Even though Service Builder is a feature of Service Portfolio Management, its plugin is part of the Digital Portfolio Management list of products in the ServiceNow Store.

    Service Builder in action.
    Tip:
    Refresh the browser to replay the demo video.

    Service Builder overview

    Create and maintain definitions of your business and technology management services and offerings through a guided experience in Service Builder. You can edit service definitions anytime before you publish as well as update already-published services using version control.

    After your services and offerings are published, you can view and edit them in the Services tab of Service Builder or in its parent application Service Portfolio Management.

    Walk-through experience with contextual guidance

    Service Builder provides contextual guidance for each step tab as you create your services and service offerings. From the Service Builder Dashboard tab, create a service by selecting one of the two options:
    • Create a business service
    • Create a technology management service

    After you select an option, Service Builder provides an organizer for you to see the steps to create a service.Create service organizer.

    Selecting Continue takes you through each step, starting with the Details tab as described in the following Service Builder tabs table.

    Table 1. Service Builder tabs
    Tab Definition
    Details General information about the service such as name, type, and classification.
    Team Service team information including the owner, delegate, and business contacts.
    Service Performance Measurement criteria for the service performance.
    Manage Offerings General information about the service offering. This tab has its own set of tabs to enter or edit the offering's details, team, operations, financials, and performance criteria.
    Review and Submit Comprehensive view of the services and offerings you created. You can make changes, if necessary. After review, submit for publishing.

    You can edit your services and offerings at any time. You can also duplicate them (create a copy) to edit services, as needed so that you can create other services and offerings quickly. The contextual guidance in the experience walks you through how to do these tasks.

    After you edit a service or an offering, the published version stays active until the draft that you’re working on becomes the new published version. For more information, see Service Builder approval flow.

    Table 2. Service Builder home page tabs
    Home page tab Description
    Dashboard The default landing page where you can create a business service or a technology management service. You can also view services that you interacted with in the last few days from the dashboard view.
    Services List of all services along with their state, classification, phase, status, and owner. If you have editing access to the services and service offerings, you can edit them from this tab.