Generating reports using Document designer

Starting with BCM release 9.0.x, the ServiceNow Document designer with Microsoft Word application (sn_grc_doc_design) is integrated with BCM. It enables you to generate customized reports of the business impact analyses (BIAs), business continuity plans (BCPs), and events in Microsoft Word format. This integration resolves the improper page breaks and truncated content that occasionally appeared in PDFs generated by the previous template.

Working with the application

The Document designer with Microsoft Word application offers a low-code solution, enabling you to configure different aspects of Microsoft Word documents without requiring extensive technical expertise. The templates offered by ServiceNow are designed to align with the company's brand guidelines, confirming consistent and professional documentation.

Use the Document designer with Microsoft Word application to generate intuitive and audit-ready Microsoft Word reports for business impact analysis (BIAs), business continuity plans (BCPs), and events directly from your ServiceNow instance. Configure the Microsoft Word templates in the application to include specific data from the records, such as tables and columns, into the reports. Options include using predefined templates, customizing them with low-code implementation, or creating your own templates to meet your company's specific guidelines.

You can save these reports either within your ServiceNow instance or as cloud documents in Microsoft SharePoint.

Benefits of using the application in BCM

The Document designer with Microsoft Word application enables you to pull metadata, such as fields and related lists, from ServiceNow tables. It also enables you to add content blocks that repeat for each record in a table, for example, 10 blocks for 10 issues. Apply the templates to specific records and create reports in Microsoft Word format.

Workflow for configuring and managing the report templates

To configure and manage the report templates in the BCM application, complete the steps in the given sequence.

Table 1. Workflow for generating the reports in Microsoft Word

Step	Description
Install the applications and assign the roles	Install the Document designer with Microsoft Word (sn_grc_doc_design) application and its dependent plugins. See Install Document designer with Microsoft Word for more information. Administrative roles required to manage the templates are sn_grc_doc_design.admin and sn_bcm.admin. Managers with the sn_bcm.manager roles can generate the reports and save them in your ServiceNow instance or in the cloud (Microsoft Office 365).
Set up the template relationship registry	See Set up the template configurations for more information.
Configure data relationships, content configurations, and scripted variables	Configure data relationships in the templates so that they’re displayed in the Microsoft Word reports. See Configure the data relationships, Set up the content configurations, and Define the scripted variables for more information.
Install the ServiceNow Document designer add-in	Install the add-in into your Microsoft Word document. See Install the Document designer add-in for more information.
Upload the newly created Microsoft Word template	Upload the newly created Microsoft Word template in the All > Business Continuity > General Administration > Word Templates. Alternately, use a predefined template provided in the BCM instance to generating the reports in Microsoft Word format.
Generate the BIA, BCP, and event reports of the records	Generate the BIA, BCP, and event reports of the records in the Business Continuity Workspace and save them in your ServiceNow instance or in the cloud. See Generate reports for BIAs, BCPs, and events for more information.

Downloading it as an optional application

The Document designer with Microsoft Word application is optional. You can use the existing BCM functionality of generating the PDFs of BIAs, BCPs, and exercises or you can use the Document designer with Microsoft Word application to generate Microsoft Word documents. You must manually download and install it from the ServiceNow Store.

The Document designer with Microsoft Word application has dependencies on these applications:

• Data registry (sn_data_registry), 19.1.0
• Microsoft 365 for ServiceNow Reporting (sn_esg_msoff_intg), 20.0.1
• Microsoft Office 365 add-in (sn_office_addin)

Recommended release version

A few limitations on the number of columns and content blocks that can be configured may affect the usability with extensive data requirements. To use the Document designer with Microsoft Word application, you must be on Xanadu release, patch 8 or later.

Troubleshooting information

If you encounter any issues with Microsoft Word Add-in, check these parameters:

• Confirm that you have the latest version of the add-in installed.
• Check ServiceNow instance URL and credentials.
• Confirm that you have the necessary permissions to access the Document designer application.

With these steps, you can effectively use the ServiceNow Document designer with Microsoft Word Add-in to create and manage documents in your ServiceNow instance.