Designing and Creating an Application · Topic 1 of 4
Is the Application a Good Fit?
How to judge whether an application suits ServiceNow for the CAD exam: good-fit traits such as forms and repeatable processes, and poor-fit traits.
- 5 min
- Good fit: simple forms, task and request management, spreadsheet driven processes, repeatable processes.
- Good fit also covers third party integrations, orchestration of several systems, and web plus mobile access to the same data.
- Poor fit: unstructured data, unrepeatable processes, graphics processing, streaming audio or video, a highly customized interface.
What it is
Not every application idea belongs on ServiceNow. The platform is built around records in tables, forms and lists, and processes that move those records forward. An application that matches that shape gets a lot for free. An application that does not will fight the platform.
The exam tests this as a judgment call: a business need is described and you decide whether it suits the platform, or which trait makes it a good or poor fit.
How it works
What the platform gives an application
When you create a custom application, every table you add immediately has list and form views, search, filters, reporting, access controls, notifications and an audit history. Workflow Studio, business rules and events add automation without a separate server. Because all applications share one data model, your application can reference users, groups, locations and other records that already exist.
That is why the strongest fit is an application whose value comes from data entry, routing, approval, tracking and reporting.
Good-fit and poor-fit traits
ServiceNow product documentation lists traits on both sides.
| Good fit | Poor fit |
|---|---|
| Simple forms | Unstructured data |
| Task management and request management | Unrepeatable processes |
| Spreadsheet driven processes | Content that needs graphics processing |
| Repeatable processes | Streaming audio or video |
| Third party integrations and orchestration of several systems | A highly customized user interface |
| One experience that pulls together functions from several systems | |
| Web and mobile access to the same apps and data |
The common thread on the good side is structured, relational data plus a defined process. The common thread on the poor side is content the platform cannot store as fields and records, or work with no repeatable steps.
Typical candidates
Spreadsheets and email chains are the classic signal. A team that tracks equipment loans in a shared spreadsheet and chases approvals by email has a process with states, owners and approvals. That maps directly to a table, a form, a flow and notifications.
Other strong candidates include facilities requests, onboarding checklists, contract tracking, audit findings and anything that looks like "someone asks, someone approves, someone does the work, someone reports on it".
Poor candidates include a video editing tool, a real time multiplayer game, a graphics rendering service, or a free form document repository with no process around it.
Questions to ask before building
A developer works through a short checklist before creating anything:
- Users and roles. Who submits, who fulfills, who only reads?
- Data. Can the information be described as tables and fields? Does it relate to records that already exist, such as users or configuration items?
- Process. Are there repeatable steps, states and approvals?
- Integration. Does it need data from another system, and does that system offer an API?
- Existing features. Does a base application or a ServiceNow Store application already do this?
If the answers point to structured data and a defined process, the application is a good fit. If the core of the work is media, graphics or a pixel perfect custom interface, it is not.
How the exam asks about this
- "A department tracks laptop loans in a spreadsheet and approves them by email." Good fit: a repeatable process with forms, approvals and reporting.
- "A team wants to host and stream training videos." Poor fit: streaming audio or video.
- "Which two traits make an application a good fit? (Choose two.)" Repeatable processes and task or request management.
What to remember for the exam
- Good fit: simple forms, task and request management, spreadsheet driven processes, repeatable processes.
- Good fit also covers third party integrations, orchestration of several systems, and web plus mobile access to the same data.
- Poor fit: unstructured data, unrepeatable processes, graphics processing, streaming audio or video, a highly customized interface.
- Spreadsheets plus email approvals are the textbook sign of a good candidate.
- Every new table gets lists, forms, reporting, security and notifications without extra code.
- Check the base platform and the ServiceNow Store before building something new.
"It needs an integration" is not a reason to reject an application. Third party integrations and orchestration are on the good-fit list.
Common mistakes
Rejecting anything with external data. Integrations are a strength of the platform. The question to ask is whether the data is structured and the other system has an API, not whether the data lives elsewhere.
Accepting anything with a database. Storing data is not enough. If the work has no repeatable process, or the main content is media, the platform adds little and the application is a poor fit.
Building before checking what exists. A requirement may already be met by a base application or a Store application. Rebuilding it creates code you must maintain on every upgrade.
Check yourself
Name two traits that make an application a poor fit for ServiceNow.
Any two of unstructured data, unrepeatable processes, content that needs graphics processing, streaming audio or video, or a highly customized user interface.
Why is a spreadsheet and email approval process a good candidate?
It has structured data and repeatable steps with approvals, which map directly to a table, a form, a flow and notifications.
Does a need for third party integration make an application a poor fit?
No. Third party integrations and orchestration of several systems are listed as good-fit traits.
Topic 1 of 4 in Designing and Creating an Application
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