--- sourceDocument: Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/governance-risk-compliance Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Governance, Risk, and Compliance ft:clusterId : - grc bundleId : - grc workflow : - Technology --- # Unified Content Management (UCM) # Unified Content Management (UCM) {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated September 30, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 4 minutes to read Summarize ![AI sparkle icon](https://servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ai-sparkle-icon) 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 Unified Content Management (UCM) Unified Content Management (UCM) provides a centralized foundation for managing regulatory content across various risk and compliance applications in ServiceNow. It enables organizations to organize, version, and deliver regulatory frameworks, citations, control objectives, and related content independently of application releases. This ensures your content stays current with regulatory changes without waiting for new application versions. Show full answer Show less UCM supports multiple ServiceNow applications including Policy and Compliance Management, Operational Sustainability Management, Privacy Management, AI Risk and Compliance, Third-party Risk Management, and Audit Management by standardizing how regulatory content is managed and delivered. ## Key Features * **Decoupled Content Delivery:** Content updates are delivered separately via the Continuance Delivery System (CDS), allowing you to activate or update content as soon as it becomes available. * **Content Library and Packs:** Content is curated from authoritative sources and organized into content packs by domain (e.g., privacy, third-party risk). Content types include agencies, authority documents, citations, control objectives, risk statements, and assessment templates. * **Selective Activation:** Choose specific frameworks and citations relevant to your organization. Activating a framework installs all associated mapped content, reducing manual effort. * **Version Control:** Updated regulatory content is versioned. You control which version is active and can update content while preserving customizations by renaming records before applying updates. * **Integrated Usage:** Once activated, content is copied into your application's records where you can use it as-is or customize to meet your organizational requirements. * **Unified User Interface:** The UCM home page displays content by type and installation state (Active or Inactive), enabling easy management and updates. * **Manual Content Fetch:** Administrators can manually fetch the latest content updates from CDS to ensure timely access to new or updated regulatory material. * **Installation:** UCM is installed via plugins specific to your compliance applications, with dependencies managed automatically. ## What This Enables You to Do * Keep your risk and compliance frameworks aligned with the latest regulatory changes without waiting for full application upgrades. * Manage multiple regulatory frameworks simultaneously, with the ability to handle overlapping requirements through linked control objectives. * Customize regulatory content to fit your organization's unique needs while maintaining version control and traceability. * Use authoritative, curated content to build assessments, policies, and controls efficiently across various compliance domains. ## Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * Improved agility in regulatory compliance through immediate access to updated content. * Reduced administrative overhead by automating content mapping and version management. * Greater confidence in compliance programs supported by standardized, authoritative content. * Streamlined integration of regulatory content into multiple ServiceNow GRC and risk management applications. Unified Content Management (UCM) is the shared foundation that your risk and compliance applications use to organize, version, and deliver regulatory content. ## UCM overview {#ucm-shared-architecture__section_dqp_jsd_tkc} Risk and compliance programs are only as reliable as the regulatory content behind them. When a law or framework changes, your frameworks, citations, and control mappings need to change with it. Previously, updated content reached you only through a new application release, so staying current meant waiting for a release, upgrading, and reconciling versions yourself. UCM now delivers content separately from application releases, so updates reach your instance as they become available. The following applications use or build on UCM. {#ucm-shared-architecture__table_a4x_t5d_tkc__entry__4} | Application | Content delivery | Content provided | Related topics | |-|-|-|-| | Policy and Compliance Management | UCM (sn_esg_content) | Authority documents, citations, control objectives | [UCM in Policy and Compliance Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/n80rBo8vjx3cge3sKCIXSw "The Unified content management application is a centralized library of regulatory frameworks, standards, and citations to help meet compliance requirements.") | | Operational Sustainability Management | UCM (sn_esg_content) | Frameworks, citations, metric definitions, emission factors | [Unified content management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=esg-content-accelerator&version=australia&pubname=australia-environmental-social-governance&ft:locale=en-US) | | Privacy ManagementPrivacy Management | Privacy Management Content (sn_privacy_content) with a dependency on UCM | Authority documents, citations, control objectives, risk statements | [Privacy content accelerator](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/LzlGk42LGkdP3~YldatciA "The privacy content accelerator provides prebuilt privacy content that you can activate directly from the Privacy Workspace.") | | AI Risk and Compliance | AI Risk and Compliance Content (sn_grc_ai_gov_cont) with a dependency on UCM | Agencies, authority documents, citations, control objectives, risk statements | [AI Risk and Compliance Content Pack](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/YmHykiAGYphuc49oD4JrCw "The ServiceNow AI Risk and Compliance Content Pack provides foundational content to help organizations manage AI-related risk and compliance.") | | Third-party Risk Management | UCM (sn_esg_content) | Smart assessment templates | * [Managing TPRM SAE templates with Unified Content Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/3JCsCssdZVRm3mAEQ3x5fg "Use Unified Content Management (UCM) as a centralized, managed repository of pre-built smart assessment templates for Third-party Risk Management. With UCM installed, TPR managers can browse, preview, and activate templates for assessments, and update templates when newer versions are released.") * [Activate or update Smart Assessment templates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/p8PCvdnhKjj4lRJ8tWSo5Q "Manage SAE templates for TPRM from the Unified Content Management page in the Vendor Management Workspace. You can view available templates, select template versions, activate or update templates for use in Third-party Risk Management assessments, and update templates when newer versions are released.") {#ucm-shared-architecture__ul_c44_qlt_5kc} | | Audit Management | UCM (sn_esg_content) | Frameworks, citations | [UCM in Audit Management](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/zurich/governance-risk-compliance/audit-management/unified-content-management_0.html) | [ ] {#ucm-shared-architecture__table_a4x_t5d_tkc} While each application provides its own content, UCM handles how that content is organized, versioned, and delivered. ## Benefits of UCM {#ucm-shared-architecture__ucm-shared-architecture-benefits} * Multiple frameworks are available to choose from based on your organization's requirements. * Citations within a framework can be installed selectively, so you install only the ones you need. * Activating a framework enables you to install associated citations, control objectives, metric definitions and other content already mapped to each other. * Control objectives can link to citations from more than one framework, so one control can address overlapping requirements. For example, the AI Risk and Compliance content pack maps about 300 control objectives across the EU AI Act, NIST AI RMF, California AI Act, and Colorado AI Act. * New frameworks and newer versions of existing frameworks appear in the content library as they're released, and you choose when to activate or update them. ## Content library and content packs {#ucm-shared-architecture__ucm-shared-architecture-content-library} All UCM content comes from the content library, a repository of content curated from authoritative sources such as regulators and standards bodies. The library organizes content into the following types. Agencies : Regulatory bodies and standards organizations, such as the European Commission or ISO, that issue content. Authority documents : Source regulations, frameworks, or standards, such as GDPR or the EU AI Act. Citations : Individual clauses, articles, or sections within an authority document. Control objectives : Goals a control is meant to achieve, each linked to the citations it addresses. Risk statements : Standardized descriptions of risks associated with a framework or domain. Assessment templates : Reusable questionnaires and evaluation formats, such as impact assessments, built from the library's content. Content in the library is grouped into content packs by business domain, such as privacy or third-party risk. The packs available to you depend on the applications you've installed. ## Content delivery {#ucm-shared-architecture__ucm-shared-architecture-cds} UCM delivers content through the Continuance Delivery System (CDS), a platform service that sends content to your instance separately from application releases. UCM checks CDS for new content on a schedule and adds it to the content library on your instance, where you can activate or update it. When you activate a content pack, UCM copies its content into your installed application's records. You can then use the content as provided or edit it to fit your organization's requirements. To fetch new UCM content from the CDS manually, see [Fetch UCM content updates manually](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/z28w5lHnTlNofRtaFlPl3Q "Manually fetch the latest Unified Content Management (UCM) content from the Continuance Delivery System (CDS) to bring new content and updates to your content library."). ## Installing UCM {#ucm-shared-architecture__section_kdr_npj_tkc} Depending on the application you use, install the respective plugin from the ServiceNow Store. * For Policy and Compliance Management, Operational Sustainability Management, Audit Management, or Third-party Risk Management, install UCM (sn_esg_content). * For Privacy Management, install Privacy Management Content (sn_privacy_content), which installs UCM as a dependency. * For AI Risk and Compliance, install AI Risk and Compliance Content (sn_grc_ai_gov_cont), which installs UCM as a dependency. {#ucm-shared-architecture__ul_zyj_15j_tkc} After installation, open UCM by selecting the UCM icon ![]() in your application's workspace. ## UCM home page {#ucm-shared-architecture__section_dcn_ffk_tkc} The UCM home page shows the available content in your library, grouped into tabs by content type, such as Frameworks \& Regulations, Risk Statements, and Emission Factors. Each item appears as a card that shows its name, a short description, and its state, such as New, Active, or Error. You can activate or update content from its respective card. Each tab organizes content into two sub-tabs by their installation state. Inactive : Content that you haven't activated yet. Each card shows the New status and an Activate button. Active : Content that you have activated. Each card shows the currently active version and an Update button. When you activate or update a framework, you select which of its associated content, such as citations, control objectives, or metric definitions, applies to your organization. The content you select is added to your instance already mapped to the framework and to each other, so you don't have to create those mappings yourself. ## Content versioning {#ucm-shared-architecture__ucm-shared-architecture-versions} When regulations change, updated content is released in numbered versions. Each version is stored as its own record, so when a new version is released, it arrives as an additional record. You control which version is in use. Selecting Activate installs a version you haven't used before. Selecting Update enables you to apply a new version's content to the record you have already installed. Note: Updating applies the newer content to your installed records, which can overwrite changes you made to them. To keep your changes, rename the customized record before you update. The update then creates a new record and leaves your renamed record unchanged. * **[Fetch UCM content updates manually](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/z28w5lHnTlNofRtaFlPl3Q)** Manually fetch the latest Unified Content Management (UCM) content from the Continuance Delivery System (CDS) to bring new content and updates to your content library.