Exploring domain separation
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Summary of Exploring domain separation
Domain separation in ServiceNow allows you to partition data, processes, and administrative tasks into logically defined domains within a single instance. This feature is ideal for customers who require strict data segregation between business entities, want to customize business processes and user interfaces per domain, maintain some global processes and reporting, or separate data among service providers, customers, partners, or sub-organizations. It supports scenarios with minor to moderate process variations among customers.
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Unlike using completely separate instances, domain separation provides multi-tenancy within one instance, sharing some global properties and processes. If full isolation of all system properties is required without any shared global elements, separate instances are recommended.
Key Features
- Data Separation: Users can only see data within their assigned domain or child domains. By default, users and records belong to the global domain unless reassigned.
- UI Separation: Customizes tenant-specific user interface elements such as views, lists, and labels.
- Business Logic Separation: Enables domain-specific system policies, including email notifications, business rules, client scripts, UI policies, and UI actions.
- Hierarchical Modeling: Supports nested multi-tenancy where parent domains can access child domain resources, with business logic automatically inherited and overridable at any level.
- Cross-Tenant Intelligence: Manages data, metadata, business logic, and processing context for tenants accessing additional tenant data.
- Domain Assignment: Adds a domain field to tables to control data visibility and access.
- Visibility Domains and Contains Domains: Visibility domains control what individual users or groups can see; contains domains define what entire domains can access.
Practical Considerations
- Domain separation introduces additional administrative overhead and cannot be completely removed once activated, so consulting with your ServiceNow representative before activation is essential.
- Domain paths are used for all customers instead of domain numbering, and ServiceNow Customer Service and Support can assist with upgrades involving domain separation.
- It is designed primarily for service providers to configure services for their customers; however, end customers have limited delegated administrative capabilities.
- Separate instances remain a viable alternative when complete system isolation is necessary or when global reporting and processes are not required.
With domain separation you can separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logically defined domains.
Domain separation is best for those customers who:
- Need to enforce absolute data segregation between business entities (data separation).
- Customize business process definitions and user interfaces for each domain (delegated administration).
- Maintain some global processes and global reporting in a single instance.
- Separate data between service providers, customers, partners, or sub-organizations.
- Have minor or moderate process differences among customers.
Domain separation compared to separate instances
While domain separation provides multi-tenancy support, multi-tenancy is still contained within a single instance. Some global properties, data, and processes are shared across all domains. For example, having the system Remember me on the login page of the system is global and cannot be specified per domain.
If you need complete and total separation of all system properties and do not require global reporting or global processes, then separate instances are the best option.
Data separation
Members of a domain see only the data contained within their domain or the child domains that are lower in the domain hierarchy. By default, all users and all records are members of the global domain unless an administrator assigns them to a particular domain. Once you assign a user or a record to a domain, the instance compares the user's domain to the record's domain to determine whether the user can view the record.
ServiceNow applications are defined with the following incremental support levels. These levels are based on the perspective of actual use cases and personas.
Data Separation: Tenants see only data that they have permissions to see. Tenants can be granted access to other tenant data, but cannot query tenant data if they don't have access.
UI Separation: Supports a tenant-specific experience for UI elements such as views, lists, labels, and so on.
Business Logic Separation: You can create tenant-specific system policies such as email notifications, business rules, client scripts, UI policy, and UI actions.
Hierarchical Modeling: Nested-multi-tenancy so parent tenants can access child tenant resources. Business logic for parent tenants runs automatically for child tenants, and can be overridden at any level.
Cross-Tenant Intelligence (Domain Scope): Handles automatically the data, metadata, business logic, and processing context for tenants that have access to additional tenant data.
In general, data defined at a higher level in the domain hierarchy is not visible at lower levels in the hierarchy.
Domain path migration
Domain paths are used for all customers. Domain numbering is not used. Customer Service and Support can assist in the upgrade.Alternatives to domain separation
Separate instances are a common alternative to domain separation. This provides a great degree of flexibility in meeting the requirements for customers and stakeholders with little to no impact on others.