3 ServiceNow Reporting Secrets: Crafting Visualizations That Drive Real Change

ServiceNow is a powerhouse for managing workflows and data, but the true value lies in how you interpret that data. Reporting is the key to unlocking actionable insights and driving real change within your organization. While ServiceNow offers robust out-of-the-box reporting capabilities, mastering a few key secrets can elevate your reports from simple summaries to powerful tools for strategic decision-making. This post dives into three essential secrets to create visualizations that truly make a difference.

Secret 1: Deep Dive into Data Structure and Table Relationships

Many ServiceNow reports fall short because they’re built on a superficial understanding of the underlying data. You can’t create insightful reports without understanding how your data is organized and how different tables relate to each other.

• The Foundation: ServiceNow Tables: Everything in ServiceNow revolves around tables. Each table represents a specific type of data, such as incidents, problems, changes, users, or groups. Understanding the columns (fields) within each table and the data they contain is crucial.
• Navigating the Schema Map: The Schema Map is your best friend. Access it by right-clicking on any field in a form and selecting “Show > Schema Map”. This visual tool allows you to explore the table relationships and understand how data flows between tables.
• Leveraging Dot-Walking: Dot-walking is the ability to access fields from related tables directly in your reports. For example, if you’re reporting on incidents, you can dot-walk to the “Caller” field (which is a reference to the User table) and display information like the caller’s department, location, or manager. This enriches your reports with contextual information.
• Common Table Relationships: Be aware of common relationship types:
  • Reference Fields: A field in one table that points to a record in another table (e.g., Incident’s “Caller” field referencing the User table).
  • Database Views: A virtual table that combines data from multiple physical tables. Useful when reporting across tables without direct relationships. Note: Using database views can impact performance, especially with large datasets.

Practical Example: Improving Incident Resolution Times

Imagine you want to analyze incident resolution times based on the caller’s department.

1. Without Understanding: You might create a report on the Incident table showing the average resolution time. However, you can’t directly filter or group by the caller’s department because that information resides in the User table.

2. With Understanding: Using the Schema Map, you see that the Incident table has a “Caller” field that references the User table. You can then use dot-walking in your report to access the “Department” field on the User table. You can group your report by “Caller.Department” and see which departments have the longest resolution times.

3. Actionable Insight: The report reveals that the “Finance” department has significantly longer resolution times than other departments. You investigate and discover that Finance users have unique software requirements not adequately supported by the standard IT procedures. You can then tailor training or allocate specialized support to the Finance department, directly impacting resolution times.

Secret 2: Mastering Different Report Types and Customizations

ServiceNow offers a diverse range of report types, each suited for specific data analysis needs. Choosing the right type and customizing it effectively is critical for clear and impactful visualizations.

• Key Report Types:
  • List Reports: Display data in a tabular format. Useful for detailed data exploration.
  • Bar Charts: Compare values across categories. Excellent for showing performance against goals.
  • Pie Charts: Show proportions of a whole. Best used for a limited number of categories.
  • Line Charts: Visualize trends over time. Ideal for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs).
  • Area Charts: Similar to line charts, but emphasize the magnitude of the values.
  • Pivot Tables: Summarize and analyze data in a flexible, interactive format. Powerful for identifying patterns and relationships.
  • Single Score: Displays a single key metric, such as the average incident resolution time or the number of open requests.
• Customization is Key:
  • Filters: Target the data you want to analyze. Use dynamic filters (e.g., “Created within the last week”) for automated reporting.
  • Groupings: Categorize your data for meaningful comparisons (e.g., group incidents by category, assignment group, or priority).
  • Aggregations: Calculate summary statistics (e.g., sum, average, count, minimum, maximum).
  • Styling: Use colors, fonts, and labels to improve readability and highlight key insights.
  • Interactive Filters: Allow users to dynamically filter the report data based on their selections.

Practical Example: Visualizing Change Request Success Rates

You want to track the success rate of change requests over time and identify potential areas for improvement.

1. Start with a Line Chart: Create a line chart on the “Change Request” table. The X-axis represents time (e.g., “Created Date” grouped by month), and the Y-axis represents the count of change requests.
2. Add a Filter: Filter the data to include only “Closed” change requests.
3. Introduce a Calculated Field/Indicator: Create a calculated field (or use an existing indicator) to determine if the change was successful (e.g., “Close code” is “Successful”).
4. Second Data Series: Add a second data series to the line chart representing the count of successful change requests over time. This line will show how the number of successfully closed change requests evolves over time.
5. Calculate Success Rate: Use a Formula Indicator to calculate the success rate. The formula would divide the number of successful changes by the total number of changes and display the result as a percentage.
6. Enhance Visualization: Customize the chart with clear labels, appropriate colors, and a legend. Consider adding a target line to represent the desired success rate.

Actionable Insight: The line chart reveals a dip in the success rate during a specific month. Further investigation uncovers that a major system upgrade was performed that month, leading to unexpected issues. You can then adjust your upgrade procedures or provide additional training to mitigate future problems.

Secret 3: Delivering Reports That Drive Action

Creating insightful reports is only half the battle. The other half is ensuring that the right people receive the right information at the right time and in a format that encourages action.

• Scheduling Reports: Automate report delivery via email on a regular schedule (e.g., daily, weekly, monthly).
• Interactive Dashboards: Create interactive dashboards that provide a comprehensive overview of key metrics and allow users to drill down into specific areas of interest.
• Performance Analytics: Leverage Performance Analytics to track KPIs over time, identify trends, and forecast future performance. Note: Performance Analytics requires a separate license.
• Report Sharing and Access Control: Carefully control who can access and modify reports. Use roles and groups to grant appropriate permissions.
• Contextual Reports: Embed reports directly into forms and workflows to provide users with relevant information in the context of their work.
• Actionable Insights: Present reports with clear conclusions and recommendations. Don’t just show data; explain what it means and what actions should be taken.

Practical Example: Managing Service Level Agreements (SLAs)

You need to proactively manage SLAs to ensure that incidents are resolved within agreed-upon timeframes.

1. SLA Breach Dashboard: Create a dashboard displaying key SLA metrics, such as:
   • Number of incidents breaching SLAs (single score).
   • Average time to resolution for incidents breaching SLAs (single score).
   • List of incidents nearing SLA breach.
   • Trend of SLA breaches over time (line chart).
2. Scheduled Report: Schedule a weekly report to be sent to the relevant resolver groups, highlighting incidents nearing or already breaching SLAs.
3. Contextual Report: Embed a report showing the SLA timeline directly into the incident form. This allows resolvers to quickly see the remaining time and prioritize their work accordingly.
4. Action-Oriented Presentation: The dashboard and reports should include clear calls to action, such as:
   • “Prioritize resolving incidents nearing SLA breach.”
   • “Investigate the root cause of recurring SLA breaches.”
   • “Review and update SLA definitions as needed.”

Actionable Insight: The SLA Breach Dashboard highlights a sudden increase in SLA breaches for “Priority 1” incidents. You analyze the data and discover that a recent change to the incident assignment rules is routing critical incidents to an understaffed team. You immediately adjust the assignment rules and allocate additional resources to the team, preventing further SLA breaches.

Conclusion

Mastering these three secrets – understanding data structures, utilizing diverse report types and customizations, and delivering action-oriented reports – will transform your ServiceNow reporting capabilities. By moving beyond basic summaries and crafting visualizations that drive real change, you can unlock the full potential of your ServiceNow platform and empower your organization to make data-driven decisions. Always remember to tailor your reports to your specific audience and business needs.