Domain separation terms

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

    Domain separation in ServiceNow enhances efficiency, security, and performance by organizing data and processes across multiple customer organizations within a single instance. Understanding key domain separation terminology and concepts helps administrators effectively configure and manage domain-separated environments.

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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, overriding automatic assignments to customize application behavior per domain.
    • Process Tables and Overrides: Process tables include an Overrides field indicating delegated administration records that enable domain-specific policies. Global domain admins can view or collapse domain-specific overrides using Expand/Collapse Domain Scope links, controlling visibility of process records between child and parent domains.
    • Types of Domains:
      • Customer Domain: Contains the user interface and controls how data is used per customer.
      • Process Domain: Contains processes and UI settings shared across domains, but no core user data.
      • Data Domain: Holds data relevant to multiple customers for shared interaction, though use is limited due to potential performance impacts.
    • User Data Handling: User records are primarily created in customer domains, occasionally in data domains, but never in global or process domains. Admin accounts reside in the global domain for administrative purposes only.
    • Lists and Choices: Choices added in the global domain for choice fields propagate automatically to domain-specific lists, with options to activate or deactivate them.
    • Instance Administration: Instance owners handle all major process creation and maintenance. Individual domain managers can manage user administration, support groups, locations, or tenant-specific applications.
    • Global Process and Parameters: Global domain properties—such as system settings, dictionary overrides, data models, ACLs, and indexing—are maintained centrally and apply across all domains.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    By leveraging domain separation, ServiceNow customers can securely segregate data and processes for different organizational units or customers while maintaining centralized control over global settings and processes. Proper use of managed domains and understanding domain types ensures efficient administration, tailored user experiences, and controlled data visibility. Customers should be cautious when using data domains due to potential performance issues and consult with ServiceNow architects as needed.

    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.