custom applications at the university of san...
TRANSCRIPT
Jim UominiService Level ManagerUniversity of San Francisco
Custom Applications at the University ofSan Francisco
Agenda
• Introduction• Evolution of ServiceNow at USF• USF Custom Applications• Demonstration of two apps• Application Checklist• Resources• Tips/Gotchas• Calgary Application Creator preview• Questions
Flexibility of ServiceNow Platform (PaaS)
• Not a developer• Wear multiple hats• Learned as I went along• Grown from doing, reading, and a lot of
networking• Part trial and error, part good mentoring• ServiceNow empowers you to do a lot without a
team of people and without being a JavaScript pro
Evolution of ServiceNow at USF
• Launched in January, 2009– Incident, Problem, Change, Configuration– As an “old” customer, our instance may vary
• First customization: Incident Task - February, 2009• Ongoing customization to Incident• Several rounds of customization to Project
USF Custom Applications
• One Stop (Financial Aid, Registration, and Tuition & Billing)• One Card and Campus Security (IDs, Security Equipment,
Etc.)• Payroll Adjustment• Online Degree Program (Like One Stop, for Online
students)• Communications & Marketing (Projects and Invoicing)• Budget Assist (Budget proposals, approval, and analysis)• Digital Signage (Requests, Tasks, Incidents for digital signs)• Data Assist (Student data report requests)
Sub Apps
• Technical Service Request (TSR)– Technical Service Request record producer– Turns a Standard Change Request into a submission and
approval process for application administration– Example of grafting functionality onto an existing table
without building an entirely new application• Equipment Exception Request
– Request Equipment record producer– Adds a tab to Incident table when categorization matches– Plan to convert this to Order Guide on Request table
Current Project
• PRM Assist– Prospect Research Management for Development– Funding for high-end solution turned down –
enter opportunity for ServiceNow– Prospect Research
• Intake and fulfillment of research requests to assist fundraisers
– Prospect Management• Update prospect assignments• Enter and track proposals• Reporting and review
How are apps requested?
• Project requests to PMO– Sponsors ask for a recommended solution– Sponsors see a sister department using a ServiceNow app– Sponsors ask for similar functionality to ITS Help Desk
• ITS recommends ServiceNow as a solution– Digital Signage app recommended to meet cross-department need
• I recommend a custom solution– One Card and Campus Security spun off from Incident to better
meet their specific needs
Communications & Marketing
• Submit OCM Intake Form record producer– Project choices display sections of form using Catalog UI
Policies– Help in labels and at variable level
• OCM Tickets table– Challenges were number of fields, number of people
involved, availability– Went through multiple design rounds; evolved as it went
along
Communications & Marketing
• OCM Tasks table• Related Data
– Used in Related Lists, Look ups• OCM Invoice table
– Invoices link back to OCM projects– Charges entered manually because they may bill multiple
times for a project– Invoice email created using Quick Message template in email
client
• Demonstrate Communications & Marketing app
Budget Assist
• High-profile project– Challenges were number of fields, need for multiple years,
and a lengthy export report string• Submit a Budget Request record producer
– Option for 2nd and 3rd years– Table can accommodate five years
• Budget Assist table– Home pages for high-level overview of plans – Export report is used to move approved plans into Hyperion
forecasting application or Excel for modeling and analysis• Demonstrate Budget Assist app
Application ChecklistNot all steps apply to every application
Plan Requirements Edit wtFilterUserRole Script Inactivity MonitorsCreate Table Create Template Events (Fewer needed in Berlin)
Numbering Business Rules Record ProducerTurn on Audit Client Scripts Catalog UI PoliciesEnable Email Client UI Policies Catalog Client ScriptsPersonalize Form Email Client Template WorkflowAnnotation Create Application in Navigator Edit ESS Home Page FiltersField Styles UI Actions Edit Service Desk All Tasks FilterChoice Values (Ex: State,Priority) Email Templates Edit Self-Service ApplicationCreate Role(s) Notifications Create Documentation EntriesCreate Group(s) Inbound Email Actions TestCreate ACLs (Access Control) SLAs Move to Development
Work Samples
• juomini.com/servicenow/– Screen shots of all USF custom applications– Selected script samples– Screen shots of customizations to standard applications– Contact information
• Work in progress – check backagain later for more material
Resources
• wiki.service-now.com– Not as complete as a novice might want, but always
your starting point
• community.servicenow.com– Search or browse first, then ask. You may receive
helpful answers.
• www.servicenowguru.com– Run by one of my mentors Mark Stanger. Great source
of tips and practical solutions.
Resources
• Sales Rep– Ask your rep for access to a Sales Engineer or Product
Specialist when stuck. (Try not to overuse this.)
• Local Users’ Group• Network! We love to help each other.• Cultivate ServiceNow relationships
– Network with as many ServiceNow employees as you can; they’re very helpful and love their jobs
Tips/Gotchas
• Plan out a new application as best you can before starting– You can make changes down the road, but you’ll be stuck
with some decisions• Be cautions making changes in Production
– It is easy and tempting to make changes on the fly you may regret
• Use Update Sets• Read the wiki closely before activating a plugin
– You can’t turn them off once they are activated
Tips/Gotchas
• Customizations can conflict with later ServiceNow upgrades
• Perform calculations in scripts• When extending tables from a table such as Task,
remember to grant access to fields used from the extended table– Examples: State, Assigned to, Priority, Work notes
• Reuse whenever possible– Insert and Stay, Copy/Paste are your best friends
Calgary Application Creator
• In Calgary Applications are packaged solutions– Associate configuration files with an application– Automatically populate an application with files and detect
cross-application conflicts– Dedicated place for creating, modifying, packaging, and
deploying applications
• Streamlines process and provides a more formal structure for building and bundling applications
Calgary Application Creator
• http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Application_Creator
• Outline of creation process– Define the business requirements– Define the data model– Create the application– Test the application– Publish the application
• New tables– Dictionary– Tables
Calgary Application CreatorDictionary Table
Calgary Application Creator
• Application Picker– Automatically assign new files to application– Or move files to application manually
• New Table Creator– Combines multiple steps into one dialog
Calgary Application Creator
• Publishing Applications– Create update set at the end rather than recording
everything as you build
• Conference Room Bookings example on wiki– http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Example:
Conference_Room_Bookings
Questions?
So…What Did You Think?
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