--- sourceDocument: Australia IT Operations Management sourceDocumentLink: https://www.servicenow.com/docs/r/australia/it-operations-management Release : - australia ft:locale : - en-US ft:publication_title : - Australia IT Operations Management ft:clusterId : - itom bundleId : - itom workflow : - Technology --- # Exploring Service Observability # Exploring Service Observability {#ariaid-title1} Release version: Australia Updated June 12, 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 Exploring Service Observability Service Observability enables operations teams to efficiently triage and manage incidents within complex, distributed production environments by integrating telemetry from external observability monitoring systems with Configuration Management Database (CMDB) data. This integration is presented through a unified workflow in the Service Operations Workspace (SOW), providing a comprehensive view of service health including application, infrastructure, and network metrics. Show full answer Show less ## Key Features * **Integration with Multiple Observability Vendors:** Supports telemetry ingestion from vendors such as Amazon CloudWatch, AppDynamics, Cisco ThousandEyes, Datadog, Dynatrace, LogicMonitor, Microsoft Azure Monitor, New Relic, Prometheus, SolarWinds, Splunk, and Zabbix, including both cloud and on-premise environments. * **Support for MetricBase Data Source:** Enables additional metrics ingestion with setup options for data mappings. * **Database Compatibility:** Works with MySQL, PostgreSQL (except with Splunk), and Amazon RDS for CloudWatch. * **Service-to-Metric Mapping:** Uses tags to link CMDB services to observability metrics, consolidating metrics from hosts, databases, networks, and related configuration items for holistic service health views. * **Roles and Access:** System admins and Service Observability admins manage configuration, user access, vendor connections, and dashboard customizations. Operators and operations managers monitor service health, investigate incidents, and perform root cause analysis within the SOW. * **AI-Driven Analytics:** Includes AI skills to analyze dashboards and service health metrics automatically, helping operators generate insights and expedite issue resolution. ## How it Works in Practice Admins first identify critical services to monitor and connect Service Observability to chosen observability vendors. They map these services to relevant metric data using vendor-specific tags and customize dashboard templates to display key metrics. Operators detect issues via alerts or dashboards, view overall service health with related incidents and alerts, and drill down into detailed observability data to pinpoint root causes. Ownership identification for impacted entities facilitates prompt remediation. ## Benefits for ServiceNow Customers * **Comprehensive Visibility:** Consolidates diverse monitoring data and CMDB information into a single interface, enabling a full-stack perspective on service health. * **Improved Efficiency and MTTR Reduction:** Operators can quickly assess the blast radius of incidents by viewing combined metrics, related alerts, and changes in one place. * **Integrated Incident Management:** Service Observability data is embedded within Incident Management workflows, enhancing operational responsiveness. * **Customizable Dashboards:** Admins can tailor metric visualization to meet organizational needs, improving usability and decision-making. ## Next Steps for Customers To maximize value, customers should explore the configuration guides for connecting observability vendors, mapping data to CMDB services, viewing overall service health, and leveraging AI-powered analytics within Service Observability. This ensures effective monitoring and faster incident resolution aligned with business priorities. Service Observability helps operations teams triage and manage incidents in a complex and distributed production system. It combines external observability monitoring systems' telemetry with related data from the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) and displays both in a single workflow in the Service Operations Workspace (SOW). ## Service Observability overview {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-overview} Service Observability displays application, infrastructure, and network health metrics in the SOW related to a given service. Metrics can be ingested from an external observability vendor (application, network, and cloud monitors) and displayed alongside information for related configuration items in the CMDB. Service Observability supports the following observability vendors: * Amazon CloudWatch * AppDynamics * Cisco ThousandEyes synthetic tests * Datadog * DynatraceSaaS and on-premise (both Classic and Grail environments) * LogicMonitor * Microsoft Azure Monitor * New Relic * Prometheus on-premise * SolarWinds on-premise * Splunk Observability and logs from Splunk Enterprise * Zabbix on-premise {#exploring-service-observability__ul_ywy_3dz_tgc} Service Observability also supports MetricBase as a data source. For setup instructions, see [Create and manage MetricBase data mappings](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ThCrJc8MToxHgyEx5F~uYA "Map your services to metrics from MetricBase, and view them in charts for the service."). Service Observability supports the following databases: * MySQL * PostgreSQL (not supported with Splunk) * RDS (Relational Database Service) for Amazon CloudWatch {#exploring-service-observability__ul_ymz_m5l_12c} After connecting an observability vendor to Service Observability, you map services in the CMDB to observability metrics using existing tags. With this data mapping, Service Observability displays metrics for entities such as host, database, or network components, along with details about related CI information. Operators use these metrics and contextual information, including current incidents and alerts, to assess service health. Note: Operators can also use the [Analyze a dashboard in Service Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/vLjrmGdl6I0JVZ8zocHCQg "Use the analyze Service Observability dashboard skill to view an analysis of a single Service Observability dashboard.") and the [Analyze service health in Service Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ktsWaPXoSsnnn3caWf~W6Q "Use the Analyze Service Health skill to view an analysis of all Service Observability dashboards for the selected service.") AI skills to generate an analysis for them. For example, you use Dynatrace to monitor your `checkout` service, databases, and hosts. Metrics from all these entities use the tag `checkout-service` to denote requests coming from that service. By mapping the `checkout` service CI to the Dynatrace data tagged with `checkout-service`, Service Observability retrieves metrics for those databases, hosts, and related CIs. It then displays them together. Operators can pinpoint issues on entities related to the service and narrow down the mitigation process without having to leave the SOW. ## Service Observability users {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-users} {#exploring-service-observability__table_y3t_vym_rdc__entry__2} | User | Description | |-|-| | System admin | System admins configure users and teams, register services to be monitored, connect Service Observability to observability vendors, and then map those services to that data. They can also view the data in the SOW | | Service Observability admin | Service Observability admins can configure users and teams, connect Service Observability to observability vendors, and then map services to that data. They can also view the data in the SOW. Admins can also customize dashboard templates used to display metrics and related information. | | Operator/operations manager Note: These users must belong to an `srm` group type to see all data. | Operators use Service Observability when triaging incidents in the SOW. They can view basic health metrics for a service, along with related incidents, alerts, and changes. They can get more detailed information by navigating to the Observability tab to view additional service metrics, along with metrics from related entities, such hosts, networks, or databases. | [Table 1. Users] {#exploring-service-observability__table_y3t_vym_rdc} ## Service Observability workflow {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-workflow} Admins configure Service Observability by creating a connection to an observability vendor and then mapping CI services to that data. Operators use Service Observability to determine if another related entity is causing issues surfaced by the service's performance. As an admin, you: 1. Determine the services to be monitored by Service Observability based on business criticality. 2. Connect existing observability vendor instances to Service Observability. 3. Map services to observability metric data using vendor-based tags attached to that data. 4. Customize the templates used to display metric charts. {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-workflow-ol} As an operator or manager, you: 1. Spot an issue with a service while working in the SOW, for example, from an alert, the Service dashboard, or Express List, then navigate to the Service Details page. 2. View overall health metrics for the service, along with related incidents, alerts, and changes. If one of the metrics seems unhealthy, navigate to the Observability tab. 3. View more detailed service metrics, as well as information from related entities, to start root cause investigation. When finding that the issue is further down the system's stack, identify the ownership for that entity to start remediation. {#exploring-service-observability__ol_sgb_t1m_tdc} ## Service Observability benefits {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-benefits} {#exploring-service-observability__table_bjt_vym_rdc__entry__3} | Benefit | Feature | Users | |-|-|-| | Consolidate data from existing monitoring tools, network health tools, cloud providers, ServiceNow agents, and third-party tools for a full-stack view of service health: * Connect data from external Observability vendors. * Map that data to CMDB services * View combined data in the SOW {#exploring-service-observability__ul_fyd_hyd_h2c} | * [Connect a Service Observability data source](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ttLW27i4lTmCDsV0xd9WQg "Connect Service Observability to an external observability system. Service Observability displays metrics in the Service Operations Workspace (SOW) from that observability instance.") * [Create and manage data mappings](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/hjP4ZbkC0zTgcpJfHmjmWg "Map your services to the data from a connected external observability vendor instance, and view it in charts for the service.") {#exploring-service-observability__ul_jyp_pyd_h2c}. | Admins | | Increase efficiency and reduce mean time to resolution (MTTR). View combined metrics from entities associated with a service to begin to determine blast radius and ownership of an incident. | [View service health metrics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Dwn44AoazCXC2PHZmhUtkg "View detailed metrics for a service, as well as metrics from related entities, such as databases and hosts, on the Observability tab in SOW.") | Operators | | See related changes to the system and alerts associated with a service in one place. | [View overall service health](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bu2o4QMyt18SpO~xVr~VOA "View overall service health and related events, like alerts and changes, with the Overview tab on the Service Details page in the SOW."). | Operators | | Use generative AI to analyze metric data and find insights to help determine service health. | * [Analyze a dashboard in Service Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/vLjrmGdl6I0JVZ8zocHCQg "Use the analyze Service Observability dashboard skill to view an analysis of a single Service Observability dashboard.") * [Analyze service health in Service Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/ktsWaPXoSsnnn3caWf~W6Q "Use the Analyze Service Health skill to view an analysis of all Service Observability dashboards for the selected service.") {#exploring-service-observability__ul_ybx_wqc_j3c} | Operators | | See Service Observability data as part of Incident Management workflows | [Digital End-User Experience and Service Observability UI experience on investigate tab](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/access?context=dex-so-metric-views-investigate-tab&version=australia&pubname=australia-it-service-management&ft:locale=en-US) | Operators | | Customize dashboard templates. | [Customize Service Observability dashboard templates](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/njZA8Q4GktqeBe7OgqAJBw "You can customize the Service Observability dashboards on both the Overview and Observability tabs of the Service Details page. You can change or add metrics and related data to fit your business needs.") | Admins | [ ] {#exploring-service-observability__table_bjt_vym_rdc} ## What to explore next {#exploring-service-observability__cf-exploring-parent-links} To learn more about configuring and using Service Observability, see: * [Configuring Service Observability](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/DT2~2t~i_D_C7ccNxjQMrQ "After you install Service Observability, you must connect external observability systems and map that data to services. You can also customize the out-of-the-box dashboards to show different information, including data from other ServiceNow products.") * [View overall service health](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/bu2o4QMyt18SpO~xVr~VOA "View overall service health and related events, like alerts and changes, with the Overview tab on the Service Details page in the SOW.") * [View service health metrics](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/Dwn44AoazCXC2PHZmhUtkg "View detailed metrics for a service, as well as metrics from related entities, such as databases and hosts, on the Observability tab in SOW.") * [Service Observability reference](https://www.servicenow.com/docs/w6Urx_9JESGiWLvCBjTP6Q "Reference topics provide additional information about administering and using Service Observability.") {#exploring-service-observability__ul_cjt_vym_rdc}