The Assignment Rules engine is the native, declarative feature designed specifically for automating group and user assignments based on conditions. It is more maintainable and performant than a custom business rule for this common use case, and it properly evaluates conditions in order when the record is inserted or updated.

The incident ‘State’ (e.g., Active, Resolved, Closed) tracks the procedural stage. The ‘Close code’ (with values like ‘Solved (Workaround)’, ‘Solved (Permanent Fix)’, ‘Closed/Resolved by Caller’) is the standard, out-of-the-box field designed precisely to categorize the *nature* of the resolution. This allows for accurate reporting on resolution type without complicating the core state model.

Request Management is the ServiceNow application specifically built for fulfilling user requests through structured, multi-step workflows (orchestrations). It allows you to define a catalog item that, when requested, automatically generates a request record and executes a workflow that can create tasks for different groups, manage approvals, and coordinate dependencies in a sequence—perfect for complex processes like onboarding.

The ‘Create Request’ related link is the standard, supported functionality for this scenario. It allows the agent to seamlessly convert an incident into a service request (RITM) while maintaining a link between the two records for auditability. This is more efficient and user-friendly than deleting records or misusing other fields.

ServiceNow provides a native, declarative setting for this exact purpose. In Problem Management > Settings, the ‘Auto Create Problem’ section allows administrators to define criteria (like category, priority, etc.) for incidents that should automatically spawn a linked problem record. This uses the platform’s built-in automation, avoiding the need for custom scripted business rules.

While training and communication help, the most effective and sustainable solution is a user-centric portal design. Clearly separating the pathways for incidents (something broken) and service requests (something needed) with intuitive labels and descriptions directly guides users to make the correct choice at the point of entry, reducing misrouted tickets and improving user satisfaction.

A Stop Timer is a crucial SLM concept. It is used to temporarily halt the elapsed time calculation for an SLA condition (like ‘Resolution time’) when work is waiting on a third party, the user, or another valid reason not accounted for in the original agreement. This ensures the SLA metric only measures time when the support team is actively responsible for progressing the ticket.

Linking the catalog item to the specific Software Model CI (Configuration Item) in the process designer is fundamental. This association ensures the request is for a tracked, approved software asset, allows for license compliance checks, enables automatic population of the task’s configuration item field, and ensures the resulting asset record is correctly linked to the user’s CI.

The power of the Known Error Database (KEDB) is its contextual visibility. By associating the known error record with the specific Configuration Item (the network device model), it becomes dynamically available to agents. When they work on an incident for that CI, the known error and its workaround appear in the ‘Known Errors’ related list, providing immediate, in-context guidance without requiring memorization or searching.

The Assignment Rules engine is the native, declarative feature designed specifically for automating group and user assignments based on conditions. It is more maintainable and performant than a custom business rule for this common use case, and it properly evaluates conditions in order when the record is inserted or updated.0