🔄 Workflows and Flow Designer in ServiceNow

🌐 1. Introduction

ServiceNow offers two major automation engines:

1. Workflows (Legacy Workflow Editor)

   • A drag-and-drop tool for building process automation.

   • Used for approvals, notifications, and task creation.

   • Visualizes processes as flowcharts.

2. Flow Designer (Modern Automation Tool)

   • Replaces legacy Workflow Editor.

   • No-code/low-code environment for building flows.

   • Uses natural language actions, conditions, and integration spokes.

   • Recommended for new development.

💡 Key Difference:

• Workflows = Older, but powerful for ITSM tasks.

• Flow Designer = Modern, scalable, integrates with IntegrationHub for cross-system automation.

⚙️ 2. Workflows (Legacy)

Features:

• Graphical drag-and-drop canvas.

• Activities: Approvals, Notifications, Script actions, Timer waits.

• Subflows: Reusable workflow components.

• Context: Tracks the execution path of each workflow instance.

Example Use Case:

• Change Request Workflow

  1. Request Submitted

  2. Manager Approval

  3. Risk Assessment

  4. Implementation Tasks Generated

  5. Change Closure

Limitations:

• Complex scripting often required.

• Limited integrations.

• Being phased out in favor of Flow Designer.

⚙️ 3. Flow Designer

Features:

• Trigger: Defines when the flow starts (record created/updated, scheduled, or API call).

• Actions: Tasks like creating records, sending emails, or calling integrations.

• Conditions: Control branching logic.

• Data Pills: Drag-and-drop variables passed between actions.

• Subflows: Reusable mini-flows.

Example Flow: Incident Auto-Assignment

1. Trigger: Incident created.

2. Condition: If Priority = 1.

3. Action: Assign to “Major Incident Team.”

4. Action: Send notification to on-call manager.

Example Flow: Onboarding Employee

1. Trigger: HR Case created for new hire.

2. Actions:

   • Create IT tasks for laptop and email setup.

   • Create Facilities task for badge access.

   • Send welcome email to employee.

⚡ 4. IntegrationHub with Flow Designer

• Extend Flow Designer with Integration Spokes (prebuilt connectors).

• Common Spokes: Slack, Microsoft Teams, Jira, Azure, AWS, Zoom, Salesforce.

• Example: Automatically create a Jira issue when a ServiceNow Change Request is approved.

🛠️ 5. Real-World Use Cases

1. Incident Management

   • Auto-assign incidents to groups.

   • Escalate to managers if SLA breached.

2. HR Service Delivery

   • Automate new hire onboarding.

   • Handle leave requests and approvals.

3. Security Operations

   • Trigger investigation workflow on a Security Incident.

   • Launch vulnerability remediation tasks.

4. Customer Service Management (CSM)

   • Automate customer escalations.

   • Route cases to regional support teams.

5. DevOps & Change Management

   • Auto-create change requests from CI/CD pipelines.

   • Send Teams/Slack notifications for approvals.

💡 6. Best Practices

• ✅ Use Flow Designer for new automations.

• ✅ Use Subflows for reusable actions across multiple flows.

• ✅ Document workflows/flows for clarity.

• ✅ Test automations in sub-production before deployment.

• ✅ Monitor execution with Flow Designer Execution Details.

• ❌ Avoid overly complex branching in a single flow—split into smaller subflows.

• ❌ Don’t leave workflows unmonitored—failed actions can block business processes.

🎬  Conclusion

ServiceNow provides two automation engines:

• Workflows → Legacy tool, widely used in ITSM but slowly being replaced.

• Flow Designer → Modern, scalable, low-code automation tool integrated with IntegrationHub.

By leveraging Flow Designer, organizations can:

• Automate cross-functional processes.

• Integrate seamlessly with external systems.

• Improve agility and reduce manual intervention.