Configuration and customization

ServiceNow provides a great deal of functionality. However, the platform is also designed to be adaptable to specific requirements that are not available out of the box. The platform and any ServiceNow apps can be configured or customized to make them work as desired.

But there is always a tension when building new functionality: can I make it it secure? Will it be fast? Can I maintain it easily? Will platform upgrades be straightforward? As discussed in the previous section, ServiceNow has designed scoped applications to help as much as possible, and if you build in an application, the risk of your app doing something 'bad' is low.

But what happens when you build in the global scope? Unlike some other software, it is difficult to define the difference between configuration and customization. It is generally accepted that the former is less at risk of you regretting it later, and the latter is something you should only do if you have to.

• Configuration...