Our next release puts more power at your fingertips with new and updated Now Platform features. Join the TechNow team as they discuss Quebec features like: Improved ways to integrate between systems, Enhancements that make it easier to create and maintain workflows, New UI builder tools, Many additional enhancements to make it easier and faster to develop

Originally aired: January 26, 2021 8:00 AM PT

Featured Experts

Chuck Tomasi is a Sr. Developer Advocate for ServiceNow. He is a computer science major with over 35 years of IT experience. As a former ServiceNow customer, Chuck won the first Innovation of the Year Award at Knowledge 10. Since joining ServiceNow in 2010 as a Technical Consultant, he has done many large scale ITSM implementations and custom applications, acted as an adjunct instructor for Education Services, created and lead the Technical Best Practices program, makes appearances on Live Coding Happy Hour, created dozens of fit for purpose custom applications, and co-hosts the ServiceNow series "TechNow".

Kreg Steppe is a Staff Programmer Lead within ServiceNow Training and Certification developing and supporting cloud training infrastructure. He specializes in developing integration solutions, automating repeatable processes and Cloud Management in ITOM. Kreg's prior experience includes operating his own ISP, developing web applications in PHP, network integration, managing network support, Application Development on cloud based networks, DNS and email server maintenance. He is a Linux enthusiast and enjoys Photography.

Jeremy Duncan is a Platform Architect on the Workflow Design Studio team at ServiceNow. Jeremy is an Enterprise Architect with over 16 years of IT and Service Management experience. His experience and certifications span across retail and manufacturing with focuses on hardware, software, and information security specialties. He has done many implementations in both the Enterprise Federal and Commercial spaces since 2011 and brings a breadth of platform knowledge that aids him in sound architectural decisions. He achieved his B.B.A. at MTSU and majored in Information Systems. He spends his free time fighting crime as a volunteer certified police officer in North Nashville since 2012 and enjoys family time, camping, with his wife and kids!

Questions and Answers

When will focus on the Release Module more and how it should automate processes with Agile Stories and Change records?

Hey Johnny, we will be focusing on platform capability, and not specific app capabilities in this webinar. Check out our list of many topics out on the Docs site or in our TechNow repo: http://bit.ly/servicenow-technow

just so you know, Quebec pronounces like Kay Beck ;-)

Thank you! I've heard at least a half dozen variations from plenty of people, but no "local authorities" who could tell me. I'm a firm believer in pronouncing words and proper names like the locals, but someone needs to teach me first. You've made me a convert. :)

Does the AI search work with the contextual search results as well?

Excellent question. I don't see anything in the docs to indicate it, but that doesn't mean it doesn't exist. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-platform-administration/page/administer/contextual-search/concept/c\_ContextualSearch.html

Is there a Document that outlines all the Product Applications and which the price tags apply too? Basically what comes OOB with the Platform and what is an addtional cost

Hi Patricia, the best person to speak to about that would be your Account Team here at ServiceNow that's assigned to your account to get updated product pricing.

Will Mobile Deep Links all us to access and submit catalogue items on different instances of ServiceNow? We have multiple global production instances of SN. We currently use deep-links/content items on the desktop to link to catalogue items across instances.

Theoretically, that could work. I'd be concerned about credentials however.

Flow Variables deserve applause!!

I agree. Sorry I missed it. Ding ding ding.

Will there be a rollback action created for flow designer? (in reference to your question about legacy workflow dependancies)

Watch my comment around this question at the 49:26 time mark.

Good Morning... Has the audio started?

Good morning, yes it has!

My company has just upgraded to Paris. We're new to Workspaces. On the "old" Incident, Change, etc.. forms we have custom Client Scripts. How can we use UI Builder to transport existing client scripts to this new form?

The short answer is "it depends". If you've stayed with standard API calls, you should be OK. I haven't done a comprehensive study to determine what works and what doesn't. Obviously if you've violated best practices and done DOM manipulation, it's not going to work.

Does Data Classification work on Catalog Variables?

I don't see variables in the release notes. You might want to reach out to customer support on this one.

do we have previous webcast recording. please share the link if we have any

-- Muthukumar Ramachandran

http://bit.ly/servicenow-technow

Will the new AI Search replace Zing for knowledge searching?

I know you said, you wont answer pricing q's but does the Rest Trigger use IH counts?

Yes, it does impact the IH licensing.

In flow designer has there been any work to let us know what went wrong when a flow can't be activated?

Aside from the status message that pops up and checking the system logs, I don't know if anything in addition to that. You might want to reach out to customer service. I haven't run in to a situation where a flow cannot be activated.

What's the easiet way to transition from old workflows to new flow designer, especially for Change Requests?

Easiest way - continue to maintain your legacy workflows where they are. There's no upgrade/conversion path. Build new logic in Flow Designer.

What is the name of Chuck's podcast again? Where is it available?

Break Point

0365 - Integration of O365 Email accounts?

Hi Thierry, this is a part of the SAM publisher pack, which is separate from Integration Hub. Please double-check with your account manager to understand licensing as it changes from release to release.

Does AI Search replace the CMS Contextual search all together, or is this an additional option

AI search is a new option for the legacy Zing search technology.

Do you know if a list will be shared which known problems / issues will be fixed on the Quebec release? E.G past year there were a lot of issues with exporting to PDF from dashboards in PA which they couldn't solve, they always referred that it was reported as a known issue and that it would be fixed in a future release. Would be nice if they have a list available of known issues/problems what are solved on Quebec.

Available patches and fixes page usually has that information. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/available-versions.html

Flow Designer isn't good for flows that need to loop back...like a Change Request Rejection...is this going to be addressed before you force us to drop Workflow Editor?

Watch my comments about using WF for monolithic workflows vs. FD for smaller components of logic. (around 49:26) You'll find your Rollback requirement practically disappear.

With Flow Designer can the regular user see where the "Flow" is in process like the legacy Workflow.

Not easily and considering a flow can be triggered multiple times (e.g. send a Slack message, for example) it might be confusing. If you're looking for visualization, you might want to consider using Process Automation Designer and Playbook (see TechNow ep 80/81) http://bit.ly/servicenow-technow

Is integration hub required for the O365 integration?

Hi Suzanne, as always, check with your account team, however it reads as though O365 is a part of SAM. There IS an O365 Spoke for IH around Excel introduced in Paris, but i'm certain this isn't what you're mentioning.

Is AI Search available in classic and pro

I'm not sure what you're referring to as "classic and pro". Pro is generally mentioned with licensing and classic in terms of a user experience/UI. Send me a message and we can talk more.

How can we install apps from the store in our Personal DI instances, I am always asked for a HI Account

Have you tried going to the store first (store.servicenow.com) and clicking GET, then entering your PDI name?

With the Mobile Card Builder, is there plans to have something similar for non-mobile uses? Embedded email survey/approvals also use cards and it would be nice to get the ability to customize the look and feel for those emails.

I haven't heard of it, but that doesn't mean it's NOT on the roadmap. I invite you to check out the Idea Portal on the community (top menu) to see if it has been suggested. If so, upvote it. If not, put it in there. Our product managers love this place!

Flow Designer - is it possible to convert existing workflows to use Flow Designer?

Sorry no. They are completely different technologies and paradigms. It was considered from the beginning, but ultimately not practical.

We've been using ServiceNow since 2015 and have MANY legacy workflows. We're not yet familiar with Flow Designer and maybe this is a dumb question, but do we need to convert our legacy workflows to Flow Designer? If so, is there an easy way to do this?

Conversion is not available and not necessary. Continue to maintain them using legacy workflow, but any new work- start and maintain in Flow Designer.

is there any restriction on number of rest API transactions from flow.

If you're dealing with REST APIs, you're going to need IntegrationHub licensing. For that, I recommend you talk to your account team.

Can you call Flow Designer from a catalog item?

Yes. You need to check that the plugin "Flow Designer support for Service Catalog" is activated (com.glideapp.servicecatalog.flow_designer). It's free. You'll then see a Flow field on the catalog item. Docs: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-servicenow-platform/page/administer/flow-designer/task/create-sc-flow.html

Would catalog items be planned as studio or stay as update sets?

Service Catalog is part of the global scope so starting with Paris, you can manage global apps using Studio and source control. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-application-development/page/build/applications/concept/manage\_global\_application\_files.html

Not sure if this was answered but can we do JDBC calls from flow designer?

Yes, JDBC has been available for a while. The new feature includes JDBC as part of the Data Stream action to make it easier for the instance and the remote target to process large amounts of data.

Will Legacy workflows be deprecated soon?

They won't be removed from the platform any time soon to protect the investment that many customers have made. Legacy workflow isn't receiving any additional enhancements going forward. I hope that answers your question.

On the idea of going away from update sets, how can we move changes between dev, testing, and prod instances carefully and in a test, measured way without update sets? What is the alternative?

Option 1: Use the app repo via "File> Publish" in Studio, or Option 2: Use Source Control (starting in Paris).

Question - with more and more coming from the store - as updates are available we are notified, but are these updates also included in new releases or do we need to manage both new releases and updates from the store independantly?

They would be independent. Much like your mobile phone where the OS update is separate from the individual applications. The OS enables new features that the apps can then leverage.

Not related to this...I need to develop my scripting capability with little scripting experience. What language should I focus on, i.e. javascript, Python, other?

Short answer: JavaScript. Take a look at a video series I released in mid-2019 http://bit.ly/sn-learn-js

Hey guys if you have time could you talk a little more about what fields can now be calculated in reports?

Sorry we did not get to this. Keep your eyes out for videos around Quebec reporting. I'm sure someone is going to spotlight this.

Where is the best place to see scoped app specific enhancements? Some links in the release notes do not work. (Specifically asking about HR)

-- Katherine Schoenthaler

The docs site (https://docs.servicenow.com) is the best place to find release notes. If there are specific pages that do not work, the pages offer the ability to provide feedback to the docs team.

Instance Scan - We have done the Jumpstart Your Upgrade health scan (free). Is that what this is? Or does the Instance Scan replace the paid Health Scan that provides a more in-depth report?

There are some differences in Health scan vs. the paid service. I don't have details on what that might be.

Script Tracer seems awesome! Will it provide visibility into SN server scripts that are not exposed to us?

Any server side script you can read will be traced.

Is the scan different than what is provided by the customer success team that runs the health scans?

Very similar (if not the same). Based on the same technology/rules.

Hi guys. Any things to look out for with upgrading directly from NY to Quebec? Yes we are skipping Orl and Paris!

Glad to hear you are upgrading to Q! There are release notes specifically for N-Q. Take a look here: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/concept/rn-n-q-landing-page.html

Can the script tracer trace the script written pre-Qubec?

Absolutely.

When will you folks be reviewing the new catalog item builder?

I don't have a definite date yet, but it's likely to be covered in another video series on the Now Community YouTube channel. https://www.youtube.com/user/ServiceNowCommunity

Would user on boarding enable 'guided tours' for agent workspaces?

I don't know exactly what you're asking here, but I'm pretty sure, Guided Tours supported workspaces. So yes, you could create guided tours for workspaces to help your on-boarding process.

Any CSDM changes for Quebec?

I don't know. It's outside the scope of the core platform features I keep track of. I did find some CSDM release notes on the docs site, though. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/now-platform-capabilities/csdm-rn.html

There was a mention in a previous webinar that Quebec might have a replacement to Service Portal. Is that still on the Quebec roadmap?

I think you might be referring to UI Builder being able to create portals. If that's correct, I know it's coming (if not already available in Q). Now Experience is a family of features that provides a modern UI/UX above the classic lists and forms and Service Portal.

Do your comments about Angular being abandoned mean that Service Portal will be deprecated in a future release?

Service Portal will not be taken out of the platform -we have too many customers that are invested in this technology. It will not be getting any additional development effort however.

I always have issues with installing some of the new features in my PDI because it asks for a HI account, how can I install the features in my PDI

The first place to start is the Developer Portal, using the Manage button next to your instance info. That brings up several options including activating plugins.

I know if this is for NOW platform. I would love to know if there is any feature planned to be introduced for managing service/offering commitments VERSIONING in Service Portfolio Management Application to be released in Quebec.

Hi Marta, i'm seeing some things around Service and Offering record enhancements. Nothing specific around versioning, but it may be hiding. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/it-service-management/service-portfolio-management-rn.html

For O365 integration, is that through IntegrationHub?

Hi Stacey, this is a publisher pack which is a part of ITAM, therefore shouldn't require IntegrationHub. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-it-asset-management/page/product/software-asset-management2/concept/sam-publisher-packs.html

Is "ITSM enterprise" different than ITSM pro?

Nomenclature changes over time. Today, we have ITSM Standard and ITSM Professional. Check with your Account Team for more updated information about pricing models.

So favorites are now available as part of now agent like the now classic app for the mobile application?

That's my understanding. I haven't had a chance to test this out yet and unfortunately as of this writing, the docs page is empty. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-mobile/page/administer/tablet-mobile-ui/concept/using-mobile.html

Does AES place any restrictions on those citizen developers to coincide with the customer's licensing? ie. custom table and field counts

Let's chat offline about specific examples, but high level, if you have the role to build apps, you have the role to create tables which could implicate your customer's licensing needs.

Anything new for on-call scheduling? Major incident management?

Those would be covered in an ITSM. Sorry, but this video focuses on the core platform technologies. You might want to take a look at the Quebec release notes. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/reference/release-highlights-quebec.html#d618636e153

Is there a cross walk of terminology from legacy workflow to flow designer?

Not that I'm aware of. Sounds like a good blog article. Have you checked the community?

Re: Wait for completion on Subflows - After we upgrade, will we have to go through our Flows, and check the "Wait for completion" box on each subflow action?

I'm 99.9% sure it defaults to wait since Pre-Quebec would wait for completion by default.

oohhh... ServiceNow hat

What does the price tag in the upper corner represent?

The price tag indicates the capability/product is a separate/add-on price.

Is Zing functionality completely replaced by the "new acquisition".

You can still use Zing, but it's very "keyword" driven whereas AI Search is a smarter option to provide more consumer-grade search results. Hope that answers your question.

Report enhancements: Are there any enhancements to dashboard filtering outside of the Incident table. Other dynamic table filtering is only available in PA.

Hey Ronald, have you checked out the Interactive Filter capability? https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-now-intelligence/page/use/dashboards/reference/r\_CustomPublisherExample.html

Are there any improvements to accessibility WCAG 2.n in Quebec?

We are always working to improve accessibility. I found this in the Q release notes. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/administer/accessibility-508-compliance/reference/r\_Accessibility508Compliance.html

if there is something new about ETL, then what about the transform map ?

You can still use transform maps in the same way you did in the past with data sources. No change there.

What about FLow Designers for Change Management?

Totally possible.

Can flow designer call orchestration activities or do we still need to use legacy workflow for that? (we do not have Integration Hub)

Flow Designer is built to work with IntegrationHub and legacy workflow with Orchestration. While you can call legacy workflows from Flow Designer, you cannot use the Orchestration Activities directly within Flow Designer. Hope that clears things up.

it will be available for use on mid March? just missed that ..

Early availability is out now (since 21-Jan). General availability is mid-March. Thanks

Can UI builder used for building new custom portal or modify existing portal?

Currently, UI Builder is specific to Workspace UI. Stay tuned though ;).

Can you use AI Search in an inbound action to help categorize the ticket?

Based on what I've been told, AI search is for interactive searches. What you're looking for is more aligned with Predictive Intelligence to help route/assign. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-now-intelligence/page/administer/predictive-intelligence/concept/predictive-intelligence.html

Could you please comment what new features are in Quebec for CMDB and for Hardware Asset Management?

Hey Jorge! Here are the latest release notes for Quebec and HAM: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/it-asset-management/hardware-asset-management-rn.html

For the mobile "saved views", is it also going to be possible to "sync" your favorites within platform to your mobile? I miss this from the original mobile app...

Not that I know.

Is ETL still focused on CMDB targets or can we leverage non-CMDB targets in Quebec?

I haven't checked yet. If I had a few moments to dig in deeper, I'd start here: https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-servicenow-platform/page/product/configuration-management/concept/integrationhub-etl.html

Has flow designer caught up to legacy workflow at this point?

Is Workflow Editor going away at some point? and do you recommend migrating existing WF's to Flow designer? We have some pretty complex WF's

Basic answer: There's no conversion utility. (See the similar question that starts with "Flow Designer -") Continue to maintain your legacy workflows, manually convert only those that may be high maintenance, and start all new flow logic in Flow Designer (including Business Rules, Scheduled Jobs, and potentially even Script Includes.)

I'm rolling out ITAM in our org and would like to know about any feature updates around Asset Management. Thank you

That goes a bit beyond our scope of this webinar (platform capabilities). I invite you to check out the release notes. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/it-asset-management/it-asset-management-rn-landing.html

The new Now Experience UI builder can be used for HRSD scope? Should we have the Agent workspace created in legacy UI builder redesigned on this new UI builder?

Hi Arun, you should be able to configure any Agent workspace across existing scopes or in custom built scopes. Check out the Now Experience tutorial in SN Dev site: https://developer.servicenow.com/dev.do#!/learn/courses/paris/app\_store\_learnv2\_uiframework\_paris\_now\_experience\_ui\_framework/app\_store\_learnv2\_uiframework\_paris\_build\_my\_first\_now\_experience\_ui\_framework\_custom\_component/app\_store\_learnv2\_uiframework\_paris\_build\_my\_first\_now\_experience\_ui\_framework\_custom\_component\_objectives

As I understand it, UI Components will be usable on portal as well. Is that in Quebec, or vNext? Specifically, we'd love to create richer input experience on our customer service portal.

To clarify, you can build a portal using UI Builder, but don't confuse that with a Service Portal using UI Builder components.

NLU doesn't have the price tag on the slide... is NLU base platform instead of an additional license cost?

Hmm.... Good catch. I'm pretty sure it's a separate SKU or part of another SKU. This is one of those situations where you'll want to talk to your account team.

Why are there separate apps, Mobile and Mobile Agent? I am having trouble keeping track of all the different apps published by ServiceNow and which ones we should be exploring and making available to our customers.

Hi Claire! I COMPLETELY understand!! So, Mobile is for your end users, and Mobile Agent is for your workers. Agent is commonly used by Field Service Agents and those who would typically be fulfilling requests from end users. When you open each, you should be able to load a demo to see how they both interact.

When does Quebec become available

Early access was Jan 21, 2021. General availability is scheduled for mid-March 2021.

Does IntegrationHub Remote Process Sync support ServiceNow to non-ServiceNow integration? For example, connecting with a service provider that uses Ivanti or Remedy?

Not as of the Quebec release. It's on the roadmap.

Should we be moving current Workflow Editor items to Flow Designer? Is or will there be a conversion app to assist folks with this?

Basic answer: There's no conversion utility. (See the similar question that starts with "Flow Designer -") Continue to maintain your legacy workflows, manually convert only those that may be high maintenance, and start all new flow logic in Flow Designer (including Business Rules, Scheduled Jobs, and potentially even Script Includes.)

Is it good practice to trigger the notification right from Flow designer? Or still trigger from event?

If you have logic that is triggering notifications from events, continue to use that, but to make it easier to build and maintain, consider either triggering your notifications using the Insert/Updated record conditions or from Flow Designer to avoid scripting.

Regarding scripting. Any chance upgrading support to >=ES6 is on the roadmap?

Haven't heard anything on this from the product team yet.

is there a summary of new functionalities in Quebec

Check out the Quebec release notes. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/family-release-notes.html

Are there any enhancements in relation to automated test framework. More specifically the ability to test custom UIs with complex list views

I haven't heard of that specifically. There were ATF updates made to Quebec (https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-release-notes/page/release-notes/now-platform-app-engine/automated-test-framework-rn.html). I know it could do custom pages in the past so I don't see why it wouldn't work now.

Any idea of when those individual apps will be broken out into their own scopes (i.e. incident, problem, change) vs. being in global scope?

I haven't heard if migrating ITSM apps from global to scoped is on the roadmap or not. It would obviously be a heavy migration for customers who have been using these for years and have lots of legacy data to migrate.

can you talk to the connection between flow designer and the process automation tools that allows an entire process to pull together different flows?

You might want to check out TechNow episodes 80 and 81 where we covered a lot of that on Playbook. http://bit.ly/servicenow-technow

Is it a good idea to utilize workflow into flow designer for the long run?

Not really. I only mention this if you have functionality (e.g. subflows) in the legacy workflow that you would like to call from Flow Designer. If ongoing maintenance of legacy workflows is a concern, consider a plan to migrate some of those higher maintenance flows.

Is ES6 coming anytime soon?

No word yet.

One thing that holds me back from using scoped apps is the fact that we can't seem to put catalog items that belong to a scope into a category that doesn't belong to that scope. Is there a plan to allow scoped cat items into unscoped categories in the catalog?

I haven't heard. Sounds like a great question for the Idea Portal. Based on what I know, the catalog tables are all global which means catalog items themselves will be global.

Hello - Please consider a TechNow episode on Instance Scan

Excellent suggestion. If not TechNow, we could also show it off on the Creator Toolbox feature starting in Feb 2021.

is dev @ scale batch things only for application changes OR is it also for update sets? slide 43

Based on what I see in the release notes (https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-application-development/page/administer/integrationhub-store-spokes/concept/cicd-spoke-batch-install.html) it doesn't mention update sets.

How do I get there? I went to servicenow and searched on break point - but I don't see it listed there

You can find Break Point by going to http://bit.ly/sn-break-point. It's also available with many other podcasts by going to the community (https://community.servicenow.com) and navigating to Resources> Podcasts. You'll also find several others there that may interest you.

This is my first ServiceNow podcast - I am enjoying it! Is there a list of other podcasts (non-TechNow)?

Try Break Point. Chucks SN podcast

Regarding customizing global apps. Are all ServiceNow apps going to be customizable through Studio? Are update sets going away asap (please say yes)?

Thanks for your question, answered live!

Scan for any issues is this something that we should not run in Production environments? and is this a fee or something an Admin can run?

I would avoid scanning a prod instance, but there shouldn't be any technical reason you couldn't. https://docs.servicenow.com/bundle/quebec-servicenow-platform/page/administer/health-scan/reference/hs-landing-page.html

Will they ever try and do away with workflows completely and go 100% to FD?

Flow Designer is going to be the supported product going forward, but legacy workflows will never completely be taken away - we have too many customers with a lot of investment in that capability.

slide 47 - you can use studio for all apps? Can you define the record types that show up... eg.. atf test definitions?

Thanks for your question, answered live!

Is mobile deeplink an enabler for more secure data sharing with other apps eg O365?

Good question. I haven't heard that as a feature of that capability

Has the React framework been introduced in Quebec? If so, where is it being used?

See the Q&A at the end of the video. I know we mentioned it somewhere when talking about the Now Experience.

i like the mobile impersonation, any ideas coming about impersonating which mobile OS for testing?

I haven't heard about impersonation of the OS. I'd love to hear the use case since development of the SN mobile apps is platform agnostic.

Will studio be available for Vulnerability Response and Configuration Compliance?

Hi Jodi, If you're not seeing any pre-loaded tables/elements in Studio you can extend VR with new tables/elements in Studio and manage those.