Using Operational Technology Knowledge Management

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated August 1, 2024
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    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 Using Operational Technology Knowledge Management

    Operational Technology (OT) Knowledge Management enables ServiceNow customers to efficiently create, edit, publish, and retire knowledge articles specifically related to OT incidents. This capability supports OT teams by capturing critical device knowledge, troubleshooting steps, and operational procedures to guide engineers, technicians, and front-line workers. When integrated with the Operational Technology Incident Management application, it allows users to browse and create knowledge articles directly from incident records, enhancing incident resolution and knowledge sharing.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Knowledge Article Lifecycle Management: Manage knowledge articles through creation, publishing (with or without approval), and retiring (instant or approval-based), ensuring content remains accurate and relevant.
    • User Feedback Integration: Update articles based on feedback to continuously improve knowledge quality.
    • Multiple Access Points: Access articles via the Industrial Workspace Knowledge module (list views for unpublished, published, and all articles), Agent Assist window during OT incidents, and global search in the Industrial Workspace header.
    • Create Articles from Incidents: Capture and save resolution information directly from OT incidents or create standalone articles for broader OT knowledge needs.
    • Report Knowledge Gaps: Identify and report missing knowledge during incident management to continuously enhance the knowledge base.
    • Approval Workflows: Approve publishing and retiring of articles to maintain content quality and relevance.
    • Assign Feedback Tasks: Delegate article update responsibilities to ensure feedback is addressed promptly.

    Practical Application

    OT engineers can consolidate their expertise into accessible articles that support junior staff and front-line workers. When issues arise on the factory floor, technicians can quickly find remediation steps or create new knowledge articles if none exist. This structured approach ensures that operational knowledge is preserved, shared, and continuously refined, leading to faster incident resolution and improved operational efficiency.

    Expected Outcomes

    • Enhanced knowledge sharing within OT teams, preserving critical operational expertise.
    • Improved incident resolution times by providing relevant and up-to-date knowledge articles accessible directly within incident records.
    • Streamlined knowledge content management through defined approval and retirement workflows, maintaining a high-quality knowledge base.
    • Increased responsiveness to knowledge gaps and user feedback, promoting continuous improvement.

    After you complete all the required set-up tasks for Operational Technology Knowledge Management, you can begin managing knowledge articles that are related to Operational Technology (OT) incidents.

    Operational Technology Knowledge Management overview

    By using  Operational Technology Knowledge Management, you can create, edit, and retire knowledge articles depending on the needs of your team. When used with the Operational Technology Incident Management application, you can browse articles that are related to an incident and create articles from an incident.

    The following examples show how to apply  Operational Technology Knowledge Management to your team:

    • An OT engineer with several years of experience wants to capture their OT device knowledge in one place for guide workers and junior technicians.
    • Front-line workers and technicians responsible for production process operations have noticed an issue on the factory floor and need a knowledge article that explains remediation.

    Basic Operational Technology Knowledge Management Process

    The following workflow describes the basic process for Operational Technology Knowledge Management.
    Figure 1. Basic OT Knowledge workflow
    Basic OT Knowledge Management workflow that describes the user creating a knowledge base, the knowledge article being added to the knowledge base, and other users using the knowledge article.

    Publish a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how a knowledge article is created and published both with (Approve Publish) and without (Instant Publish) approval.
    Figure 2. Publish workflow
    The two available Publish a knowledge article workflows where the user can either immediately publish an article or the article needs to be approved by a manager or expert.

    Retire a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how a knowledge article is retired both with (Approve Retire) and without (Instant Retire) approval. The Instant Retire workflow lets you retire articles immediately without needing an approval. The Approval Retire workflow sends an approval request to knowledge managers or experts to make sure that retiring the article is necessary.
    Figure 3. Retire workflow
    The two Retire a knowledge article workflows where the user can retire an article either with an approval from a manager or expert, or they can retire it without approval.

    Review and approve changes to a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how an existing knowledge article is updated with user feedback.
    Figure 4. User feedback workflow
    Knowledge article is updated and republished with a user feedback workflow.

    Knowledge articles

    Knowledge articles provide information about workplace updates, self-help, troubleshooting steps, and other information that your OT team must access. For example, you can create the following knowledge articles for the following cases:

    • A standard operating procedure template used throughout your organization.
    • Lessons learned during an incident.
    • An image that annotates the different production materials.
    You can view the knowledge articles in the Industrial Workspace in the following ways:
    • Under the Knowledge module in the Industrial Workspace list view.
    • In the Agent Assist window when you open an OT incident.
    • Using the global search feature in the Industrial Workspace header.
    Under the Knowledge module in the Industrial Workspace list view, you can view knowledge articles in the following lists:
    Note:
    You must be assigned the knowledge role to see these list modules in the Industrial Workspace.
    Your unpublished articles
    The articles you’ve created that aren’t yet published in the OT knowledge base.
    Your published articles
    The articles you’ve created that are published to the OT knowledge base.
    All articles
    All articles that are available in the OT knowledge base.