Enterprise Service Management Foundation release notes

  • Release version: Australia
  • Updated April 2, 2026
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Enterprise Service Management Foundation release notes

    The ServiceNow® Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Foundation, introduced in the Australia release, unifies service delivery across IT, HR, finance, procurement, legal, and workplace services on a single AI-powered platform. Designed for midsize companies, it simplifies implementation and enhances the employee experience with a streamlined, cross-departmental service request system.

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    ESM Foundation combines the Core Business Suite and Simplified IT Service Management to eliminate service silos, enabling a unified employee interface for all service needs.

    Key Features

    • Streamlined Service Requests: Leverages Core Business Suite and Simplified IT Service Management to provide a consistent service request experience across business units.
    • AI-Driven Guided Setup: Includes preset configurations and a centralized implementation console to simplify deployment and reduce complex configurations.
    • Cross-Functional Workflows: Routes employee queries seamlessly across multiple departments, enhancing collaboration and response efficiency.
    • Integrated AI Capabilities: Powered by Now Assist, the platform offers generative AI features such as chat summarization, resolution note generation, knowledge base article creation, and email drafting to improve service productivity.
    • New Plugins Included:
      • ServiceNow Otto for Setup – simplifies instance management and guided setup.
      • Implementation Agent Content and Common – provide guided setup assets and shared components.
      • Simplified IT Service Management – offers a tailored service desk with AI agent chat and centralized workspace.
      • Core Business Suite Foundation – supports employee and supplier case and knowledge management.
    • AI Platform Licensing Tiers: Offers Foundation (basic AI insights), Advanced (enhanced productivity tools), and Prime (full autonomous AI capabilities) tiers to suit various organizational needs.

    Activation and Additional Information

    Enterprise Service Management Foundation is available for purchase and installation via the ServiceNow Store. Customers can access all related apps, including Core Business Suite and Simplified IT Service Management, and view cumulative release notes through the ServiceNow Store.

    For practical deployment, customers benefit from a modular, guided setup experience that accelerates time to value by reducing configuration complexity.

    The ServiceNow® Enterprise Service Management (ESM) Foundation unifies IT, HR, finance, procurement, legal, and workplace services on one AI platform, delivering a simplified and unified implementation, service delivery, and employee experience for midsize companies. Enterprise Service Management Foundation is a new solution in the Australia release.

    Enterprise Service Management Foundation highlights for the Australia release

    • Provide streamlined service request experience across business units by leveraging the capabilities of Core Business Suite along with the Simplified IT Service Management in the ESM Foundation solution.
    • Deploy with AI-driven guided setup, preset configurations, and a centralized implementation console that eliminates the need for complex configuration procedures.
    • Deliver cross-functional workflows that route employee queries across departments.

    See Enterprise Service Management Foundation for more information.

    Important:
    Enterprise Service Management Foundation is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

    Enterprise Service Management Foundation features

    Enterprise Service Management Foundation
    Enterprise Service Management Foundation brings together Core Business Suite and Simplified IT Service Management to create a comprehensive, AI-enabled service delivery platform.
    The integration eliminates service silos and provides employees with a unified experience for all their service needs across IT, HR, finance, legal, workplace services, and procurement.

    Activation information

    Enterprise Service Management Foundation is available in the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes. For more details on the individual products, see Core Business Suite release notes and Simplified IT Service Management release notes.

    Plugin information

    New plugins

    The following plugins are new in Australia:

    • ServiceNow Otto for Setup (sn_ia): Simplifies instance management with a modular admin home dashboard and enables the Core Business Suite guided setup experience.
    • Implementation Agent Content (sn_ia_content): Provides content assets for the Implementation Agent guided setup experience.
    • Implementation Agent Common (sn_ia_common): Provides common components shared across the Implementation Agent framework.
    • Simplified IT Service Management (sn_ai_itsm_cont): Provides a tailored service desk with a central workspace, AI agent chat, an Employee Slate, and Now Assist to streamline ITSM and enhance productivity.
    • Core Business Suite Foundation: Provides streamlined employee and supplier case and knowledge management to improve service request management across departments. For detailed plugin information for Core Business Suite, see Core Business Suite release notes.
      • The ServiceNow AI Platform now brings you a new AI experience with three licensing tiers available:
        • Foundation: AI basics to deliver insights
        • Advanced: AI to boost productivity across relevant use cases
        • Prime: Act autonomously with all AI assets, and create your own
        For more information, see ServiceNow product tiers.

    Related ServiceNow applications and features

    Simplified IT Service Management
    Provides the Simplified IT Service Management foundation with incident management, request management, catalog items, service channels, and AI-powered fulfiller experience. When combined with Core Business Suite, it extends the unified Employee Center and AI capabilities across all business service domains.
    Core Business Suite
    Provides case and knowledge management for core business functions including Human Resources, Finance, Health and Safety, Legal, Source-to-Pay, and Workplace Services. When combined with Simplified IT Service Management, it delivers a unified employee experience where IT and business requests are handled through a single portal with cross-functional AI routing.
    Now Assist
    Powers the generative AI capabilities embedded throughout ESM Foundation, including chat summarization, resolution notes generation, knowledge base article generation, and email drafting. It also provides agentic workflows for both IT and business service teams.