Beyond the Basics: Mastering ServiceNow Reporting for Strategic Advantage

ServiceNow is a powerful platform for managing IT services, but its true potential unlocks when you can effectively analyze and visualize the data it holds. While most users are familiar with basic report creation, truly mastering ServiceNow reporting can provide a strategic advantage by enabling data-driven decision-making, identifying bottlenecks, and optimizing processes. This post will delve into advanced reporting techniques, demonstrating how to move beyond simple lists and charts to create insightful reports that drive business value.

Understanding the Core Components

Before diving into advanced techniques, let’s recap the core components of ServiceNow reporting:

• Data Sources: Reports pull data from tables within ServiceNow. Understanding the table structure and relationships is crucial for accurate reporting.
• Report Designer: The primary interface for creating and customizing reports. It allows you to select data, define filters, grouping, and visualizations.
• Filters: Filters narrow down the data included in the report based on specific criteria.
• Groupings: Grouping organizes data into categories, allowing for aggregated views and comparisons.
• Calculations: Perform calculations on data, such as sums, averages, counts, and percentages.
• Visualizations: Choose the appropriate chart type (e.g., bar, pie, line, time series) to effectively present your data.

Advanced Reporting Techniques

1. Database Views:

   • Concept: Database Views allow you to combine data from multiple related tables into a single virtual table for reporting purposes. This eliminates the need for complex scripting and simplifies data retrieval.
   • Real-World Example: Imagine you need a report showing the average resolution time for incidents, grouped by the assignment group manager. Incident data resides in the incident table, while assignment group manager information is stored in the sys_user_group table and the sys_user table. Without a database view, you’d have to script this relationship. With a database view, you can join these tables based on the assignment_group field in the incident table and the sys_id in sys_user_group table, and then link the sys_user_group.manager to the sys_user table.
   • Implementation: Navigate to System Definition > Database Views and create a new view. Define the tables you want to join and the join criteria (e.g., incident.assignment_group = sys_user_group.sys_id). Once the view is created, it appears as a regular table in the Report Designer.
   • Benefits: Simplifies complex reporting, improves performance compared to scripted solutions, and reduces maintenance overhead.

2. Scripted Filters:

   • Concept: Scripted filters provide the flexibility to define dynamic filtering criteria based on custom logic. This is useful when standard filters cannot achieve the desired results.
   • Real-World Example: You need a report showing incidents resolved in the last week, excluding incidents resolved on weekends. You can achieve this with a scripted filter that calculates the date range and excludes weekends.
   • Implementation: In the Report Designer, add a filter and select “javascript:…” as the filter type. Write a script that returns true if the record should be included in the report and false otherwise.

   // Example Script for excluding weekends:
   (function(){
   	var gr = new GlideRecord('incident');
   	gr.addQuery('resolved_at', '>=', gs.daysAgo(7));
   	gr.query();
   	while (gr.next()) {
   		var dayOfWeek = new GlideDateTime(gr.resolved_at).getDayOfWeek();
   		if (dayOfWeek != 6 && dayOfWeek != 7) { // 6 and 7 represent Saturday and Sunday
   			return true; //include
   		}
   	}
   	return false; //exclude
   })();

   • Benefits: Enables complex and dynamic filtering, handles edge cases, and allows for custom business logic.
   • Caution: Scripted filters can impact performance if not optimized. Test your scripts thoroughly.

3. Bucket Groups:

   • Concept: Bucket groups allow you to categorize data into predefined ranges or buckets. This is useful for analyzing data distribution and identifying trends.
   • Real-World Example: You want to analyze incident resolution times and categorize them into buckets: “Resolved in < 1 hour,” “Resolved in 1-4 hours,” “Resolved in 4-8 hours,” and “Resolved in > 8 hours.”
   • Implementation: In the Report Designer, add a grouping on the “Resolution Time” field. Then, right-click on the grouping and select “Create Bucket Group.” Define the bucket ranges and labels.
   • Benefits: Simplifies data analysis, highlights key trends, and provides a clear view of data distribution.

4. Trend Reports and Time Series Visualizations:

   • Concept: Trend reports visualize data over time, allowing you to identify patterns, track progress, and forecast future trends.
   • Real-World Example: You need to track the number of open incidents each month to identify potential spikes and resource allocation issues.
   • Implementation: In the Report Designer, select “Time Series” as the chart type. Choose the table (e.g., “incident”), the date field (e.g., “opened_at”), and the aggregation type (e.g., “count”). Configure the time interval (e.g., “monthly”).
   • Benefits: Enables proactive problem solving, improves capacity planning, and facilitates data-driven decision-making.

5. Performance Analytics Integration:

   • Concept: Performance Analytics (PA) is a separate ServiceNow module that provides advanced reporting and analytics capabilities. It allows you to create dashboards, track key performance indicators (KPIs), and identify areas for improvement.
   • Real-World Example: Monitor the first call resolution (FCR) rate for the service desk and identify trends. PA allows you to not only visualize the FCR but also to drill down into the underlying data, identify factors affecting FCR, and track the impact of improvement initiatives.
   • Implementation: Requires a separate Performance Analytics license. Once enabled, you can create indicators, breakdowns, and dashboards to track and analyze KPIs.
   • Benefits: Provides advanced reporting, predictive analytics, and proactive monitoring capabilities.

Best Practices for Effective ServiceNow Reporting

• Define Clear Objectives: Before creating a report, clearly define the question you are trying to answer.
• Choose the Right Visualization: Select the chart type that best presents your data and insights.
• Keep it Simple: Avoid overly complex reports that are difficult to understand.
• Use Consistent Formatting: Maintain consistent formatting across all reports for a professional and cohesive look.
• Schedule Regular Reports: Schedule reports to be automatically generated and delivered to stakeholders on a regular basis.
• Document Your Reports: Document the purpose, data sources, filters, and calculations used in each report.
• Regularly Review and Update: Ensure your reports remain relevant and accurate by reviewing and updating them as needed.

Visual Summary

Example Scenario: Incident Management Optimization

Let’s illustrate how these advanced techniques can be applied in a real-world scenario. Imagine you are the IT service manager responsible for improving incident management efficiency. You can use the following reports to gain insights and drive improvements:

1. Database View Report: Combine data from the incident, sys_user, and sys_user_group tables to create a report showing average resolution time by assignment group manager.
2. Scripted Filter Report: Filter incidents to only include those resolved within SLA, excluding incidents that were escalated. This helps you understand how often SLAs are being met without requiring escalations.
3. Bucket Group Report: Categorize incident resolution times into buckets (e.g., < 1 hour, 1-4 hours, 4-8 hours, > 8 hours) to identify areas where resolution times are excessive.
4. Trend Report: Track the number of new incidents opened each week, and the number of incidents closed each week to identify trends and potential resource bottlenecks.
5. Performance Analytics Dashboard: Use PA to track KPIs such as first call resolution rate, customer satisfaction, and mean time to resolve (MTTR).

By combining these reports, you can gain a comprehensive understanding of incident management performance, identify areas for improvement, and track the impact of your initiatives.

Reference URL

• ServiceNow Documentation: https://docs.servicenow.com/ 
• ServiceNow Community: https://community.servicenow.com/ 

Conclusion

Mastering ServiceNow reporting is essential for unlocking the full potential of the platform. By leveraging advanced techniques such as database views, scripted filters, bucket groups, trend reports, and Performance Analytics integration, you can gain valuable insights, drive data-driven decision-making, and optimize your IT service management processes. Remember to define clear objectives, choose the right visualizations, and regularly review your reports to ensure they remain relevant and accurate.