Domain separation terms

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated July 31, 2025
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    Summary of Domain separation terms

    Domain separation in ServiceNow enables organizations to enhance efficiency, security, and performance by isolating data and processes among different customer organizations within a single instance. Understanding key terms and domain types helps you configure and manage domain-separated environments effectively.

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    Key Features

    • Managed Domain: Allows domain administrators to manually assign domains to users, groups, departments, locations, or configuration item (CI) records instead of relying on automatic assignments from company records. This flexibility supports customized application behavior per domain.
    • Process Tables and Delegated Administration: Process tables use the Overrides field to indicate domain-specific policy overrides. Administrators in the global domain can expand or collapse domain scope to view all or domain-specific process records, facilitating domain-aware process control. Data visibility flows downward—parent domains can see child records, but not vice versa.
    • Types of Domains:
      • Customer Domain: Contains user interfaces and processes controlling data usage specific to a customer.
      • Process Domain: Hosts processes and UI settings shared across domains but does not contain core user data.
      • Data Domain: Holds shared data relevant to multiple customers while keeping their domains separate. Use cautiously due to potential performance impacts.
    • User Data Management: User records reside primarily in customer domains; admin accounts live in the global domain to safeguard administrative functions.
    • Choice Lists: Adding choices from the global domain propagates options to all domain-specific lists, supporting consistent configurations across domains.
    • Instance Administration: Instance owners manage overall processes and configurations, while individual domain managers handle user administration, support groups, locations, or tenant-designated applications.
    • Global Processes and Parameters: Global domain processes and parameters include system properties, ACLs, indexing, dictionary overrides, and other core settings that affect all users in a domain-separated instance.

    Practical Considerations for ServiceNow Customers

    • Use managed domains to tailor domain assignments and application behavior for specific organizational needs.
    • Leverage delegated administration and domain scope controls for granular process management and security.
    • Choose appropriate domain types to organize data and processes efficiently while minimizing performance risks.
    • Maintain user records in customer domains to ensure clear separation and security of user data.
    • Coordinate instance-wide configurations from the global domain to maintain consistency while enabling domain-specific customizations.

    With a ServiceNow instance, you can improve efficiency, add greater security, and increase performance for your customer organizations. It's helpful to understand some of the most common terms as you create your configurations.

    Managed domain

    In a managed domain, the Managed domain field allows domain administrators to manually select a domain for the user, group, department, location, or CI record, rather than using the domain that is assigned automatically from the company record.

    If you want to change those properties, you can override them to further customize the functions of the applications in each of your domains.

    Managed domain

    Process tables

    In process tables, if you see a value in the Overrides [sys_overrides] field, a process override record exists. That means that delegated administration, which is how administrators can set domain-specific policies, is in effect. Admins in the global domain can use the Expand/Collapse Domain Scope related link to see override records.

    Note:
    Reports are separated into domains and contain an Overrides field. To view all reports from the global domain, use the Expand Domain Scope related link.

    When you view process tables from a domain, you see only the relevant process records for the selected domain. When you view a process table from the global domain, the Expand Domain Scope related link is displayed to let you see all process records, including overrides. To view only the relevant process records for global again, use the Collapse Domain Scope related link.

    The domain scope feature is used only for process tables and causes the visibility of data on the table to shift in the opposite direction. For example, a record in the parent domain can be seen in the child, but a parent cannot see a child record. This allows the process to flow down to child domains.

    Overrides

    Types of domains

    Different types of domains can help you organize your processes and data and how they function in the application or feature.

    Customer Domain

    In the customer's domain is the user interface, as well as the process that controls how the data Is used.

    The ACME domain in the following image is a customer domain.

    Process Domain

    You create processes for how the data is used and what it does in the domain. These processes must have these attributes:
    • Specific processes and UI settings for a set of domains
    • No core data of any kind (such as specific user data).
    • The TOP domain in the following image is a process domain.

    Data Domain

    The data domain holds data that is relevant to multiple customers. That data can be shared without sharing the actual customer domains. Each customer has its own data domain and can access it.
    Note:
    This kind of domain is not common and can cause performance issues if overused. Consult with an SP architect before use.

    Example: The domain may hold tasks that ACME, Cisco, and the SP all need to interact with.

    The Default domain in the following image is a data domain.

    User Data

    User record data never belongs in the global domain or any of the process domains. Users are primarily created in customer domains and can on occasion be created in data domains.

    Admin accounts are special as they should not be used as everyday users of the instance and should be in the global domain to facilitate administrative functions.

    Figure 1. Domain hierarchy
    Domain hierarchy

    Lists, admin, global process

    Lists

    From the global domain, if you right-click any choice field’s label, select Configure Choices, and then add a new choice, the choice pushes automatically to all domain-specific lists for that field. If the new option is marked as Selected, it is added as active. If the new option is marked as Available, it is added as inactive.

    Instance Administration

    The instance owner’s administrators must handle all normal process creation, modification, and maintenance in a domain-separated instance. Individual domain managers can maintain some parts of data-driven processes. The types of domain managers maintain user administration, support group memberships, and locations, or manage applications that are designed with tenant administration in mind.

    Global process/parameters

    You can create and maintain the process that affect the global domain as well as set the parameters. These properties are common for all users of a domain-separated instance.

    Examples: System properties, dictionary overrides, sys_documentation (field labels), the data model (classes, CI types, and so on), tables and fields [sys_dictionary] (access can be restricted), indexing (text indexes as well as database), ACLs, installation exits, inbound actions, public pages, and interceptors.