ITIL users can leverage the KCS Article template and the Knowledge check box on Incident records to create a knowledge article from an incident automatically.

When you are ready to close an incident, you can create a knowledge article so the next time the issue comes up the resolution is easy to find.

If you have ticked the Knowledge check box on the incident record, a draft knowledge article is created when an incident is closed automatically or by the caller.

You can also provide a resolution for an issue by creating a knowledge article from an incident with fields defined in an article template. You will need to have the KCS Integration for Incident Management plugin (com.snc.incident.knowledge) activated.

You can create a knowledge article only when the incident is resolved and you have not already created a knowledge article from that incident.

Learn more about creating a knowledge article from an incident using an article template, here!

Learn more about creating a knowledge article from an incident, here!

Here are the different ways to communicate the plan to the staff:

  1) Create a Knowledge Article,

  2) Attach the Article to the Problem,

  3) Post the link in the workaround section on the form, and

  4) Communicate the problem using the related link.

Adding a Plan field to the form is not a viable out-of-the-box option to communicate a plan to the staff.

The incident communication plan state model helps you understand the different states through which a plan can progress and track the plan through its states.

Incident communication plans are created in an 'Open' state. They follow a process that finishes with the 'Closed' or 'Canceled' state. The following state model is applicable to new customers starting the Madrid release.

Diagram: Incident communication plan state model

Learn more here!

Release management serves as a container for change requests and manages the execution of change management.

Release management comprises of a series of activities performed to ensure that the changes are applied successfully to both pre-production and product environments.

The ServiceNow Release Management v2 application encompasses the planning, design, build, configuration, and testing of hardware and software releases to create a defined set of release components.

Release Management can be effectively used to coordinate releases as a vehicle for planning releases, composed of individual work items such as projects, epics, stories, and problems. After the release scope (projects, stories, and so on) is finalised, you can generate Change Items and associate them to the release, allowing the implementation and deployment of a release to be handled within the change management process.

Diagram 1: Release Management concept

Diagram 2: Release Management Tables Hierarchy

Diagram 3: Table relationships in Release Management

Learn more about:

• Release Management
• Release Management concepts

You can view the callers with VIP status on the incident records list view as well as the incident form. Organisations commonly designate VIP status in the user record for some of their VIP users.

The user record is automatically checked for VIP status when a caller is assigned to an incident. If the caller is a VIP caller, an icon appears beside the caller name in the list view or the caller field in the form view.

By default, the caller's name will turn red, and a VIP icon will appear next to the Caller field when a user has the VIP field set to true on their User [sys_user] record.

Screenshot 1: View the record for the VIP caller in the list of incident records.

Screenshot 2: Click the record to view the VIP status in the Caller field.

Screenshot 3: The VIP column on the User [sys_user] table

Learn more here!

Tables associated with service catalog begins with sc_.

The primary tables associated with catalog definitions include:

•  Catalog [sc_catalog],
• Category [sc_category],
• Catalog Item [sc_cat_item], and
• Order guide [sc_cat_item_guide].

The primary tables associated with managing open requests include:

• Request [sc_request],
• Request Item [sc_req_item], and
• Catalog Task [sc_task].

Agent Assist gives agents automatic search results that show possible solutions for records they open.

You can set up Agent assist to give agents automatic search results that show possible solutions for records they open. Agent assist is pre-configured to search Incident, Problem, Change, Outages, Knowledge, and Case tables for solutions. You can set up Agent assist to search for additional information sources.

Agent assist uses contextual search and, optionally, machine learning to surface recommendations based on Knowledge base articles, catalogue items, as well as related incidents, cases, problems, and questions relevant to a record an agent is working on. When an agent opens a record, Agent assist does an automatic search based on a field in the record, typically the short description field. Each search result appears on a card.

Search results typically return multiple cards. You configure the card content, which might be record fields or a custom message. You also configure the card's heading. To improve recommendations, set up Predictive Intelligence, which has a separate subscription fee.

Screenshot: Search result appeared in a card by Agent Assist

Learn more here!

You can select Attach on a knowledge article in an incident's 'Related Search' section to copy the article's content directly to the Additional Comments field.

When the record is saved, the article's content is emailed directly to the caller and Watch list members.

You can resolve an incident by searching for related knowledge and attaching a knowledge article.

You can also use Agent Assist to search for related knowledge, select and preview an article, and then attach it to the incident.

The system attaches the knowledge article to the incident and adds the action to the activity stream.

From the Service Portal, the customer can see the knowledge article attached to the incident and click the link to open the article in a new tab. If the article solves the issue, the customer can click 'Close Incident' in the Actions widget.

Screenshot 1: Attaching a knowledge article to an incident

Screenshot 2: The knowledge article link is copied into the Additional comments of the incident, so the caller receives an email notification

Diagram: The workflow for resolving an incident using knowledge

Learn more about resolving an incident using knowledge here!

Learn more about Contextual search here!

The actual start/end date is populated automatically when the change state is updated to Implement (start) and then Review (end).

Learn more here!

ServiceNow ITSM applications include:

1. Service Portfolio Management
2. Service Catalog
3. Request Management
4. Incident Management
5. Problem Management
6. Change Management
7. DevOps
8. Release Management
9. Configuration Management
10. Knowledge Management.

• Request management is the process for managing the request lifecycle from initial request, through the fulfilment process, to eventual closure.
• Service Catalog is a portfolio of items and services from which end users and process users can place orders.
• Enhancement and Defect are typically part of the Agile Development application, which falls under ServiceNow ITBM applications.
• 
  

Table: List of ServiceNow ITSM applications 

Learn more here!

Analysing the issue is associated with the investigation and diagnosis stage in the Incident Management Lifecycle.

Investigate the incident by analysing/diagnosing the issue in working towards restoring normal service to the end-user. You should update the incident with your findings/activities at each step throughout your investigation.

Diagram 1: Incident Lifecycle

The Incident Management process has many states, and each is vitally important to the success of the process, and the quality of service delivered. The different states can be represented in a diagram as follows:

Diagram 2: Incident management state model flow

Learn more here!