Combined Incident Management release notes for upgrades from Yokohama to Australia

How to use this page

To help you prepare for your upgrade, we have combined the cross-family Incident Management release notes onto one page. Read this summary of the new features, changes, and updated information for your product from Yokohama to Australia.

Tip:

If there were no updates for a release notes section in a certain family release, we included a short note for your reference. For example, if a product did not have any updates in Tokyo, the row says "No updates for this release."

Important information for upgrading Incident Management to Australia

Before you upgrade to Australia, review these pre- and post-upgrade tasks and complete the tasks as needed.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

New features

Between your current release family and Australia, new features were introduced for Incident Management.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	User role for service desk agents With the sn_service_desk_agent user role, increase the operational efficiency by streamlining the process of asking about, gathering, and verifying information, as well as delivering quick resolutions. This role is designed for tier 1 service desk agents and is accessible when the ITSM Roles plugin (com.snc.itsm.roles) installed. The sn_service_desk_agent role includes the following user roles: sn_incident_write sn_problem_write sn_change_write sn_request_write tracked_file_reader Additionally, with the installation of the ITSM Gen AI (com.sn.itsm.gen.ai) plugin, the knowledge_user, and now_assist_panel_user roles are integrated within the sn_service_desk_agent role. The sn_service_desk_agent role can be used starting with SOW version 6.1. Enhanced security model adoption for incident tables Help prevent unauthorized access to incident-related tables using Deny-Unless ACLs. A Deny-Unless authentication ACL restricts access for a non-authenticated user, such as a public role user. Without access, the user can't perform any actions on incident-related tables, including reading, writing, deleting, creating, or accessing the report view. This feature is activated automatically and applicable on the following incident-related tables: kb_template_incident_kcs_articl kb_template_incident_kcs_template Additionally, this feature is available on the following incident-related tables of new or zBoot instances after installing the ITSM Enhanced Security Features (com.snc.itsm.enhanced_security) plugin: incident incident_task task_ci task outage The ITSM Enhanced Security Features (com.snc.itsm.enhanced_security) plugin can be installed and activated by an admin via a support request. Existing or upgrade users must test and evaluate the results in their non-production instance, and then install the plugin and implement the security change in their production instance. For more information, see Deny-Unless ACL.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	Introduction of granular admin roles Configure all the incident, major incident, task outage and related communication features for both UI16 and SOW using the following granular admin roles: sn_incident_admin: Configure all Incident Management features including incident management properties. sn_mim_admin: Configure all Major Incident Management features including major incident properties and trigger rules. sn_tcm_admin: Configure all Task Communications Management features including communication plans and tasks. sn_iam_admin: Configure all Incident Communications Management features including creating, editing, or canceling incident communication plan, communication task, and managing contact information. Additionally, this role can administrate all Incident Communications Management capabilities." sn_contact_admin: Configure all Contact Management features including creating and editing contact definitions, contact responsibilities, configuration of MI users, recipient lists, and groups. sn_task_outage_admin: Configure all Task Outage features including the mapping between the Task [task] table and the Outage [cmdb_ci_outage] table. Form channel for response templates The form channel is added to the Need more information and Schedule meeting response templates. The channel enables you to access the response templates from the incident record, copy the response templates texts to the clipboard from the incident form to be shared in the work notes, comments or other communication channels.

Changes

Between your current release family and Australia, some changes were made to existing Incident Management features.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	Email redirection behavior for major incident email notification links In major incident email notifications, you can now decide where the links to a major incident record are redirected. Instead of a major incident record automatically opening in the classic UI16 interface in Major Incident Management, the record can be opened in SOW. The major incident record link in an email notification opens in SOW only if the following conditions are met: The Redirect SOW Email notification (sow_email_notification_redirect) property is set to `true`. Setting this property to true enables the email redirection behavior for all tables including major incident. The Redirect SOW Email notification for Major Incident Management (sn_major_inc_mgmt.sow_email_notification_redirect.mim) property is set to `true`. You have the sn_sow_user role. The ITSM Notifications Redirection (com.snc.itsm.notifications_redirection) plugin is installed and activated automatically to support this behavior. Email redirection behavior for incident email notification links In incident email notifications, you can now decide where the links to an incident record are redirected. Instead of an incident record automatically opening in the classic UI16 interface in Incident Management, the record can be opened in SOW. The incident record link in an email notification opens in SOW only if you have the sn_sow_user role and any of the following conditions are met: The Redirect SOW Email notification (sow_email_notification_redirect) property is set to `true`. Setting this property to true enables the email redirection behavior for all tables including incident. The Redirect SOW Email notification for Incident Management (sow_email_notification_redirect.incident) property is set to `true`. You can create this property if you want to enable or restrict the email redirection behavior specifically for the incident table. This property, if created and set, overrides the Redirect SOW Email notification (sow_email_notification_redirect) base system property. The ITSM Notifications Redirection (com.snc.itsm.notifications_redirection) plugin is installed and activated automatically to support this behavior. To ensure consistency, the email notification templates for incident tasks are also updated to send the notification from Service Operations Workspace (SOW) in the same format as sent from classic UI16 interface similar to incident. Also, the template theme is updated to match the Next Experience theme. Incident and problem workflow changes When a problem is fixed and the Share fix option is triggered, the event is added to the Work notes (Private) field instead of the Additional comments (Customer visible) field for the incident associated with the problem record. This feature is available in the base system for the new customers. For existing or upgrade customers, admin must set the Communicate problem workaround to incident worknotes (com.snc.incident.communicate_prb_workaround_to_inc_worknotes) system property to `true` to enable the feature. Changes in the reopening incident behavior Enable the agents with incident write access, callers, requesters, or Opened by end users to reopen a resolved incident. Both the caller and the requester can view and use the Reopen option on the incident classic UI16 form and the Portal UIs, such as Service Portal and Employee Service Center (ESC) portal. An agent can view and use the Reopen option on the incident classic UI16 form to reopen any incident that is assigned to them or to other agents. However, on the Portal UI, an agent can only view and use the Reopen option to reopen an incident if it’s assigned to them. Sorting CIs in incident forms The search performance of the available CIs for the Configuration item field on an incident form is enhanced to promote a clean UI and quick loading and sorting of the CIs. The search results that list the CIs are sorted alphabetically by CI name instead of by CI class and then CI name. The ref_ac_order_by=sys_class_name attribute is removed from the default attributes on the cmdb_ci field of the Task [task] table, which increases the performance of the field. This change is applicable to new and existing users using the default attributes. You can use the Override attributes option to restrict this change for any required child tables that extend to the cmdb_ci field of the Task [task] table.
Zurich	Incident task record behavior changes When an incident task is closed, you can no longer edit the field values in the incident task form. Disabling the fields helps prevent any further updates or modifications to closed incident tasks, reducing audit risks. Incident and problem workflow changes When a problem record is linked to an incident or multiple incidents, the incident and problem workflow has the following enhancements: When a fix or workaround is shared from the problem record, an event is added in the activity stream of the incident record as work notes. The event includes a brief description of the provided fix or workaround and a link to the problem record. When a Known Error (KE) article is linked to the problem record, an event is added in the activity stream of the incident record as work notes. The event includes the links to the problem record and the KE article.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Removed

Between your current release family and Australia, some Incident Management features or functionality were removed.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Deprecations

Between your current release family and Australia, some Incident Management features or functionality were deprecated.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Activation information

Review information on how to activate Incident Management.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	Incident Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.
Zurich	Incident Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.
Australia	Incident Management is a ServiceNow AI Platform feature that is active by default.

Additional requirements

If any additional requirements were introduced or changed for Incident Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Browser requirements

If any specific browser requirements were introduced or changed for Incident Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Accessibility information

Review details on accessibility information for Incident Management, such as specific requirements or compliance levels.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich
Australia	No updates for this release.

Localization information

If there are specific localization considerations for Incident Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	No updates for this release.
Zurich	No updates for this release.
Australia	No updates for this release.

Highlight information

If there are specific highlight considerations for Incident Management we have noted them here.


Release	Release notes
Yokohama	Increase the operational efficiency of the tier 1 service desk agents with the dedicated sn_service_desk_agent role. Control whether an incident or major incident record link in an email notification redirects you to the record in the classic UI16 interface or Service Operations Workspace (SOW). Enable agents with incident write access, callers, requesters, and Opened by end users to reopen a resolved incident from the Incident Management classic UI16 form, SOW, or Portal UIs. Restrict unauthorized access to incident-related tables using deny ACLs. Search for a configuration item (CI) in a list alphabetized by the CI name with an improved search performance. See Incident Management for more information.
Zurich	Help prevent changes to closed incident tasks to promote data integrity and to maintain a clear audit. Manage and resolve incidents effectively with the incident and problem workflow enhancements. Coral is the new default theme for Next Experience and Core UI, offering a more user-friendly experience. See Incident Management for more information.
Australia	Perform the incident, major incident, task outage, and related communication features configurations using granular admin roles. Enhance communication capabilities with the form channel added to response templates. See Incident Management for more information.