Typically, ServiceNow fits the bill for an IT Service Management (ITSM) landscape, particularly for a digital transformation-taking company. Its greatest strength is the holistic approach that gives a company the ability to handle all its ITSM needs through one platform.
Organization workflows are streamlined through the various modules offered by the platform while decreasing operational costs, increasing customer satisfaction, and minimizing security threats. In this article, we'll dive into what a module is in ServiceNow, review the top 10 types of ServiceNow modules, and then discuss the key steps of their successful implementation.
In ServiceNow, modules are the secondary navigation items, often referred to as child elements, within an application listed in the Application Navigator. These modules generally link to specific pages or records across the platform. You can control which modules appear through the Application Menus module.
With a clear understanding of what ServiceNow modules are, let’s dive into the various types and their features.
The ITSM (IT Service Management) module supports organizations in meeting and exceeding customer expectations while reducing response times for IT teams. It includes robust analytics to evaluate performance and identify areas for improvement.
ITSM utilizes the Common Service Data Model (CSDM) to align IT services with business objectives. Additionally, it includes a Virtual Agent to automate routine service interactions, enhancing both user and employee experiences.
Key Features of the ITSM Module:
Incident Management
Problem Management
Change Management
Service Request Management
Knowledge Management
Service Level Management
Asset Management
Service Catalog
Self-Service Portal
Automated Workflow Engine and more.
The ITAM (IT Asset Management) module offers a centralized system for tracking hardware, software, and cloud assets throughout their lifecycle—from procurement to retirement. It improves decision-making on resource allocation and helps avoid overspending or underutilization.
It also aids in contract, warranty, and maintenance oversight, contributing to improved compliance and cost management.
Key Features of the ITAM Module:
Asset Lifecycle Management
Software Asset Management
Hardware Asset Management
Cloud Asset Management
License Compliance Tracking
Contract Management
Vendor Management
Asset Discovery and Tracking
Inventory Management
Asset Cost Management and more.
The ITOM module focuses on the improvement of service operations, governance, and deployment, especially in cloud and hybrid environments. It is designed to provide higher visibility and efficiency via intelligent mapping of services and data centers.
By identifying root causes of issues quickly, ITOM reduces downtime and removes the need for multiple tools and platforms across cloud infrastructure.
Key Features of the ITOM Module:
Service Mapping
Event Management
Discovery and Service Graph
Cloud Management
Orchestration
Operational Intelligence
Predictive AIOps
Application Service Management
Infrastructure and Cloud Insights
Metric Intelligence and more.
The ITBM (IT Business Management) module is designed to manage IT investments and ensure that resources are aligned with strategic goals. It supports better planning, budgeting, and project delivery while increasing business value.
By bringing transparency to projects, teams, and timelines, ITBM empowers organizations to adapt to change and stay within budget.
Key Features of the ITBM Module:
Project Portfolio Management
Resource Management
Agile Development
Financial Planning and Budgeting
Time Tracking
Idea and Innovation Management
Roadmap Planning
Risk Management
Benefit Realization Tracking
Demand Management and more.
Demand Module Diagram ServiceNow
Demand Management, there within ITBM, is the orienting core for capturing, assessing, and prioritizing new business demands. The diagram below explains how requests evolve from being mere raw ideas into actionable projects.
This visual workflow showcases how Demand Management aligns new ideas with business priorities, ensuring strategic initiatives deliver maximum value.
HRSD empowers the transformation of the traditional HR departments through providing digital tools for employee services through the entire employee service lifecycle-from onboarding to offboarding.
It automates the mundane tasks of HR teams, reduces manual intervention, provides self-service for employees, and, in essence, leads to a responsive and efficient HR function.
Key Features of the HRSD Module:
Employee Self-Service Portal
Case Management
Onboarding and Offboarding Workflows
Document Management
Knowledge Base
HR Task Automation
Employee Life Cycle Management
Benefits Administration
Time-Off Management
Performance Management and more.
Being a centralized database of information on IT assets and their relations in an organization, ServiceNow's Configuration Management Database (CMDB) acts as one source of truth wherein a team can mutably look at some items and identify the impact of a change applied to one on the other.
The CMDB impacted objective decision-making around all IT functions such as incidents, problems, and change management. With up-to-date and precise asset data, organizations are able to reduce risks, enhance service quality, and maintain an orderly IT environment.
Key Features of the CMDB Module:
Configuration Item (CI) Management
Relationship Mapping
Automated Discovery
Visual Dependency Mapping
Data Normalization
CI Lifecycle Management
Impact Analysis
Change Management Integration
Service Mapping
Data Quality Management and more.
The ServiceNow Security Operations offers a platform for a centralized approach to efficiently respond to threats. The SecOps integrate various security tools and processes to assemble for detection, analysis, and incident remediation.
This module gives a view of the vulnerabilities, incidents, and associated tasks to better collaborate across various security teams. By way of automated features, SecOps diminishes the manual efforts and response time and bolsters the organization's security framework, besides helping it in complying with regulatory standards.
Key Features of the SecOps Module:
Security Incident Response
Vulnerability Response
Threat Intelligence Management
Risk Management
Security Task Management
Automated Security Workflows
Security Dashboard
Integration with Security Tools
Compliance Management
Threat Detection and Alerting and more.
DevOps serves as an integrated environment to bridge development and operations teams under one roof for managing the whole software delivery lifecycle. It allows releasing teams into better collaboration, increasing development speed, and improving the quality of releases by providing automation and real-time tracking.
DevOps methodology integrates with popular CI/CD tools to hasten deployments and reduce errors. It also provides complete visibility through software pipelines to identify inefficiencies and possibly improve them.
Key Features of the DevOps Module:
Project and Portfolio Management
Agile Planning and Tracking
Continuous Integration/Continuous Delivery (CI/CD)
Release Management
Change Management Integration
Environment Management
Test Management
Automated Deployments
Pipeline Orchestration
Code Repository Integration and more.
The Governance, Risk, and Compliance module (GRC) is a powerful tool ServiceNow utilizes to provide any kind of support in mitigating enterprise-wide risks, managing compliance, and applying governance policies.
The areas where GRC acts as the interface include policy enforcement, audit trails, and risk tracking. This allows organizations to cut down on redundancies, foster accountability, and promote better decision-making. Such dashboards illuminate the present risk posture of the enterprise in real time to assure proactive management and confidence from respective stakeholders.
Key Features of the GRC Module:
Policy and Compliance Management
Risk Assessment and Mitigation
Audit Management
Issue Management
Control Monitoring
Regulatory Change Management
Vendor Risk Management
Business Continuity Planning
Third-Party Due Diligence
Compliance Reporting and more.
In ServiceNow, Change Management allows organizations to apply changes in a controlled and systematic manner. It aims to minimize any disruption in service by providing structured workflows in change planning, assessment, approval, and implementation.
It provides end-to-end transparency into the change lifecycle, allowing stakeholders to assess the risks and impact of the changes. It enforces best practices for compliance and finds a fine balance between operational stability and introducing necessary changes.
Key Features of the Change Management Module:
Change Request Creation and Tracking
Change Calendar
Risk and Impact Assessment
Approval Workflows
Change Advisory Board (CAB) Management
Standard Change Templates
Emergency Change Handling
Change Planning and Scheduling
Task Management
Integration with CMDB and more.
Setting up ServiceNow well boosts efficiency in the organization, allowing resources and budgets to be redirected toward innovation. However, implementation must be treated as a broader transformation initiative and not just as an exercise in tool deployment.
There are, of course, issues to be faced in the departments-development, HR, support, marketing, etc. ServiceNow modules provide several solutions based on the issues that could include slow development life cycles, inefficient asset management, repeated security incidents, or simply outdated processes.
When implemented correctly, these modules eliminate operational bottlenecks, enhance productivity, and introduce scalable solutions that improve overall performance. This comprehensive approach transforms traditional ITSM models and paves the way for complete digital transformation.
While ServiceNow cannot simply be branded as a one-size-fits-all level of platform, it does allow organizations to tailor ITSM solutions to their unique demands. Well worth its benefits, they take time and dedication to achieve with the right guidance.
Should your organization still be uncertain about picking the right ServiceNow implementation partner or simply wishes to address some common pitfalls, the team at Appinventors stands ready to assist. With our experience and technically proficient leadership, we will ensure a smooth ServiceNow implementation that will foster digital success.