The ServiceNow® Service Operations Workspace application is a configurable workspace that provides a unified experience for multiple IT Service Management and IT Operations Management capabilities. You can configure your agent experience by using the interface of Service Operations Workspace for ITSM. Service Operations Workspace was enhanced and updated in the Vancouver release.

Service Operations Workspace for ITSM highlights for the Vancouver release

  • Get quick access to various administrator configurations by using the admin console.
  • Display the best possible response to a search query by using genius results.
  • Cancel the execution of the remedial actions that are in progress.
  • Control the concurrent or duplicate execution of remedial actions.
  • Resolve incidents quickly by using guidance recommendations and field recommendations for an incident.
  • Support short messaging service (SMS) and voice channels on the Now Platform to communicate with your stakeholders about resolving incidents.
  • Starting in version 3.1, you can:
    • Use multiple generative AI skills and features that enable agents to understand the chat and incident context.
    • Customize the Assign and Resolve dialog boxes for an incident and change request.
  • Starting in version 4.0, you can do the following:
    • Simplify the upgrade experience using the standard record page for various record forms.
    • View all the available metrics to determine the device health of the selected CI using the Digital End-User Experience (DEX) console.
    • Categorize all the incident notifications in the notification preferences so agents can easily turn on and off all the notifications for a specific category.

See Service Operations Workspace for ITSM for more information.

Important: Service Operations Workspace for ITSM is available in the ServiceNow Store. For details, see the "Activation information" section of these release notes.

Important information for upgrading Service Operations Workspace to Vancouver

Ensure that the following applications have compatible upgraded versions:
  • Service Operations Workspace ITSM Applications application (sn_sow_itsm_cont)
  • Service Operations Workspace ITOM Applications application (sn_sow_itom_cont)
Table 1. Compatible SOW versions
SOW-ITSM (sn_sow_itsm_cont)SOW-ITOM (sn_sow_itom_cont)
1.1.x 21.0.y
1.2.x 21.1.y
1.3.x 21.2.y, 21.5.y, and 21.6.y
2.0.x 22.0.y
2.1.x 22.1.y and 22.y.y
4.0.x 24.y.y

Here, x is the sub-version of Service Operations Workspace ITSM Applications application (sn_sow_itsm_cont) and y is the sub-version of Service Operations Workspace ITOM Applications application (sn_sow_itom_cont).

If the upgraded instance has any of the following customizations, you need to migrate standard record page changes. For more information, see Configure a Standard Record Page in Service Operations Workspace.
  • Any custom declarative action of the client type
  • Any custom modal
  • Any custom horizontal tab or contextual side panel tab's screen or screen condition

After the 3.0 upgrade, the Recommendation Framework feature is no longer available, and instead, only the standard version of the Recommended Actions for ITSM feature is available.

New in the Vancouver release

Admin console
Quickly access and manage customizations in Service Operations Workspace for ITSM from a single console.
Genius results for a search query
Display relevant answers to a search query. The answers then appear as genius result cards with the regular search results. Your user can view the answers and actions at one time.
Remedial action enhancements
  • Cancel the remedial action (End process or Restart service) playbook by using the Cancel action option on the playbook panel.
  • Control the duplicate concurrent execution of the remedial actions by using the Allow concurrent execution option in the Remedial Action Type and the Consider for concurrency check option in the Remedial Action Parameter.
CI action and metric definition enhancements
  • In the Adapter configuration, define the time (in seconds) for duplicate metric requests not to run when a metric request is already running.
  • In the Action configuration, define the time (in seconds) for duplicate action requests not to run when an action request with the same parameters is already running.
Exploring Recommended Actions for ITSM in Service Operations Workspace
Configure and display the relevant actions to agents based on the record context. Agents can quickly and easily take these actions to help customers and resolve issues.
Collaboration in Service Operations Workspace
  • Communicate and collaborate in real time to resolve the incidents and other records on Service Operations Workspace.
  • Make conference calls by using a service provider supported by the Notify framework, so that you can collaborate with stakeholders, responders, and users.
  • Initiate a sidebar or Microsoft Teams chat from an incident and other records to work toward the resolution of an incident.
  • Send an SMS invite from an incident and other records on Service Operations Workspace.
Customization of the Assign and Resolve dialog boxes for an incident and change request
Starting in version 3.1, display the fields of your choice on the Assign and Resolve dialog boxes.
  • For an incident, you can customize the Assign and Resolve dialog boxes.
  • For a change request, you can customize the Assign dialog box.
Generative AI skills in Service Operations Workspace for ITSM
Starting in version 3.1, propose quicker resolutions by understanding the chat and incident context. You can summarize an incident, generate incident resolution notes, and summarize a chat interaction.
Standard record page
Starting in version 4.0, improve the experience of upgrading record pages by using the standard record page. It is built using presets, controllers, and extension points that simplify the component configuration.

For an incident record, you can customize the various UI components of an Incident record page using standard record page configuration to enhance your experience. For more information, see Incident record page customization.

Device health visualization
Starting in version 4.0, view all the available metrics that are collected for the selected CI through the Digital End-User Experience (DEX) architecture.
Incident notification configuration
Starting in version 4.0, categorize incident notifications as Incident in the notification preferences so agents can easily turn on and off all the notifications for a specific category.

Activation information

Service Operations Workspace for ITSM is active by default and its default version is 2.1 in Vancouver. When you upgrade from any previous release to Vancouver from ServiceNow Store, Service Operations Workspace for ITSM 2.1 is automatically installed.

Visit the ServiceNow Store website to view all the available apps and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.

Related ServiceNow applications and features

Now Assist for ITSM
Use the ServiceNow Now Assist for ITSM application to summarize your incident information, generate resolution notes, and generate the chat information for an interaction. You can enable your agents to understand the chat and incident context and to propose quicker resolutions.
Change Management
Control the life cycle of a change and implement the change with minimum disruption to IT services.
Incident Management
Enable users to identify IT issues and log incidents through the Incident Management system. Efficiently track, classify, and prioritize incidents to effectively work toward their resolution.
Interaction Management
Respond to an incoming chat, phone, walk-up, or messaging interaction quickly using an interaction that provides a centralized location for all communication channels.
On-Call Scheduling
Identify available on-call members of a support group who can be contacted to resolve an issue.
Problem Management
Identify the root cause of recurring incidents or a major incident to help prevent them from happening again.
Recommendation Framework
Dynamic and contextual recommendations provide relevant information to help you resolve the incident.
Recommended Actions for ITSM in Service Operations Workspace
Get field recommendations and guidance for the incident form in the Service Operations Workspace.
Predictive Intelligence
Machine-learning algorithms provide dynamic and contextual recommendations for resolving an incident.
Request Management
Initiate a catalog request flow from a different IT Service Management flow such as an incident flow using catalog requests.
ServiceNow for Microsoft Teams
Enable users to collaborate through the connected experience provided by Service Operations Workspace for ITSM.
Advanced Work Assignment
Automatically assign interactions to your agents based on their availability.
Service Level Management
Access service level agreement (SLA) information for an incident on the Service Operations Workspace for ITSM landing page and incident record page.
Walk-up Experience
Manage walk-up interactions and queues easily using Service Operations Workspace for ITSM.
Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Manage agent schedules using Workforce Optimization for ITSM Scheduling. Use Coaching to review and complete assigned trainings.
Knowledge Management
Provide an agent with knowledge articles that include information such as self-help, troubleshooting, and task resolution.
Notify
Provide support for SMS and voice channels on the ServiceNow platform to communicate with the team and the customers.
Service Operations Workspace for ITOM
Configure your operator experience through a unified interface for multiple IT Operations Management workflows.