--- sourceDocument: Australia Asset Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-asset-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia Asset Management ft:clusterId : - itam bundleId : - itam workflow : - Technology --- # Improve resource usage with Business hours # Improve resource usage with Business hours {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated March 12, 2026 ![](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/portal-asset/ico-clock) 2 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 Improve resource usage with Business hours The Business hours feature helps ServiceNow customers optimize cloud resource usage and reduce costs by running resources only during specified business hours. This approach minimizes unnecessary resource consumption during off-hours, leading to significant potential savings across various service categories such as Compute and Database. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Business hours recommendation page:** Manage and configure Business hours processes, including defining or updating schedules and policies. * **Savings insights:** View total potential savings by service category and change group, helping prioritize cost-saving efforts. * **Resource status tabs:** Track resource candidates for Business hours enforcement across categories like New, Scheduled, Declined, Failed, Report-only, and Excluded, with relevant actions such as applying policies, excluding, or removing exclusions. * **Detailed resource information:** Access key details such as configuration item, predicted monthly savings, provider, service category, policy type, change request, ownership, and failure details when applicable. This data supports informed decision-making. * **Configuration options:** Enable or disable Business hours, set non-business-hour spend thresholds to trigger notifications, and create enforceable schedules to automatically start and stop resources based on defined policies. ## Key Outcomes By applying Business hours policies, customers can: * Significantly reduce cloud spend by ensuring resources operate only during necessary periods. * Gain visibility into potential savings and resource usage patterns through detailed reporting and categorization. * Automate resource lifecycle management with scheduled power on/off operations aligned with business needs. * Prevent unused or excluded resources from unintentionally restarting, maintaining cost control. * Receive alerts when off-hour spending exceeds thresholds, enabling proactive cost management. Improve resource usage and reduce your cloud spend by running resources during the specified business hours. Use the Business hours recommendation page to: * Manage Business hours processes. * [Configure Business hours operations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bqgl0JNIWSR9dupnGw7X4A "Enable or disable the Business hours feature and set a non-business-hour spend threshold to trigger notifications to users or groups. This action helps control unnecessary resource usage and reduce costs.") by selecting Settings. * [Define or update Business hours processes](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/_kkB6IFcBm7FnD8rmMZ6Jw "A Business hours job applies policies to identify resources that are running when they should be powered off, reports them, and can start and stop them on a schedule that you specify. Running only during specified business hours can significantly reduce your cloud spend.") {#improve-res-use-business__ul_eyw_sxb_wxb} {#improve-res-use-business__table_md1_pyb_wxb__entry__2} | Chart | Description | |-|-| | Total potential savings by service category | Total savings to expect if all Business hours recommendations are applied by service category such as Compute and Database. | | Total potential savings by change group | Total savings to expect if all Business hours recommendations are applied by change group such as Change Management and Application Development. | | Business hr vs. Non-business hr spend | Spend for resources during business hours against non-business hours. | [ ] {#improve-res-use-business__table_md1_pyb_wxb} {#improve-res-use-business__table_uqn_1zb_wxb__entry__3} | Tab | Description | Available action on selected recommendations | |-|-|-| | New | Resources that are candidates for applying Business hours processes. | Exclude | | Scheduled | Resources that are tagged to have business hours enforced. | None | | Declined | Resources for which owners (or other approver) didn't want to enforce business hours (rejected the change request). | Exclude | | Failed | Resources for which the attempt to enforce business hours failed. | Exclude | | Report-only | Resources that match Report-only policies. | Exclude | | Excluded | Resources that are configured not to be considered for business hours. Important: After an Unused resources job powers off a machine, the machine is added to the Excluded Resources list for Business Hours. This process ensures that the resource isn't started again in the future because it matches a Business hours policy. The exclusion reason on the Business hours Excluded tab indicates that the resource is an unused resource. | Remove from exclusion | [ ] {#improve-res-use-business__table_uqn_1zb_wxb} {#improve-res-use-business__table_z3j_qjg_wxb__entry__2} | Column | Description | |-|-| | Configuration item | Unique identifier of the resource. | | Predicted monthly savings | Predicted savings if the Business hours recommendations are applied. | | Provider | The provider that hosts the resource. | | Service category | Lists all service categories from the instance sorted by name. | | Cloud service | Lists all cloud categories sorted by  name.​ | | Policy | The Business hours policy that the resource matches to. | | Policy type | Type of the Business hours policy that the resource matches to. | | Change request | Change request that is associated with the recommendation. | | Change Group | Change group for the resource. | | Account | The service account that includes the resource. A service account represents a group of related regions in your provider account. | | Region | If appropriate for the provider, region in the service account that hosts the resource. | | Owned by | Owner of the resource. | | Failure type | This column appears only for the Failed tab. Reason for which the change request wasn't generated or the specified business hours weren't applied to the resource. | | Details | This column appears only for the Failed tab. Details of the failure type and the action that you must take to resolve the failure. | [Table 1. Columns on the New, Scheduled, Declined, Failed, and Report-only Recommendations tabs] {#improve-res-use-business__table_z3j_qjg_wxb} * **[Configure Business hours operations](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bqgl0JNIWSR9dupnGw7X4A)** Enable or disable the Business hours feature and set a non-business-hour spend threshold to trigger notifications to users or groups. This action helps control unnecessary resource usage and reduce costs. * **[Create Business hours schedule](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/rOyTxYTVsSLVPSfx6lTVhg)** Create and apply a Business hours schedule to the cloud resources for enforcing the on/off schedule. * **[Define or update a Business hours policy](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/_kkB6IFcBm7FnD8rmMZ6Jw)** A Business hours job applies policies to identify resources that are running when they should be powered off, reports them, and can start and stop them on a schedule that you specify. Running only during specified business hours can significantly reduce your cloud spend.