Groups and Group Membership are fundamental concepts in ServiceNow that enable effective collaboration and streamlined administration within the platform.
Groups in ServiceNow are collections of users who share common responsibilities, roles, or functions within an organization. They serve multipl…Groups and Group Membership are fundamental concepts in ServiceNow that enable effective collaboration and streamlined administration within the platform.
Groups in ServiceNow are collections of users who share common responsibilities, roles, or functions within an organization. They serve multiple purposes including assignment routing, notification distribution, and access control. Groups can represent departments, teams, geographic locations, or any logical grouping that aligns with your organizational structure. For example, you might have groups like 'IT Support', 'HR Team', 'Network Operations', or 'Change Advisory Board'.
Group Membership defines which users belong to specific groups. When a user is added as a member of a group, they inherit the group's associated roles, responsibilities, and permissions. This membership relationship is managed through the Group Members (sys_user_grmember) table, which links users to their respective groups.
Key features of Groups include:
1. Assignment Groups - Tasks, incidents, and requests can be assigned to groups rather than individuals, allowing any group member to work on items.
2. Approval Groups - Groups can be configured as approvers for workflows and change requests.
3. Notification Groups - Email notifications can be sent to entire groups, ensuring all relevant stakeholders receive important updates.
4. Role Inheritance - Roles assigned to a group are automatically granted to all group members, simplifying access management.
5. Group Types - ServiceNow supports different group types to categorize and organize groups effectively.
Managers can be designated for groups, providing oversight and escalation paths. Groups can also have nested relationships, where one group contains other groups as members.
Administrators manage groups through the User Administration module, where they can create groups, add or remove members, assign roles, and configure group properties. This centralized approach to managing user collections significantly reduces administrative overhead and ensures consistent access control across the platform.
Groups and Group Membership in ServiceNow
Why Groups and Group Membership Matter
Groups are fundamental to ServiceNow's organizational structure and workflow management. They enable efficient task assignment, access control, and collaboration across teams. Understanding groups is essential for the CSA exam as they appear in questions about assignment rules, notifications, security, and workflow automation.
What Are Groups?
A Group in ServiceNow is a collection of users who share common responsibilities, roles, or functions within an organization. Groups are stored in the sys_user_group table and serve multiple purposes:
• Task Assignment: Work items like incidents, problems, and changes can be assigned to groups rather than individuals • Access Control: Groups can be used in Access Control Lists (ACLs) to grant permissions • Notifications: Email notifications can be sent to entire groups • Approval Workflows: Groups can act as approvers in workflow processes
Group Membership Explained
Group membership defines which users belong to which groups. This relationship is stored in the sys_user_grmember table. Key aspects include:
• A user can belong to multiple groups • Groups can have a manager designated for escalations and approvals • Members can be added or removed through the group form or user record • Group membership can be managed through the Group Members related list
How Groups Work in Practice
1. Creating Groups: Navigate to User Administration > Groups and click New 2. Adding Members: Use the Group Members related list on the group form 3. Assigning Roles: Roles can be assigned to groups, and all members inherit those roles 4. Group Types: Groups can be categorized by type for organizational purposes 5. Nested Groups: Groups can contain other groups as members
Key Fields in the Group Table
• Name: The display name of the group • Manager: Reference to the user who manages the group • Email: Group email address for notifications • Type: Categorization of the group • Active: Determines if the group is currently in use • Parent: Allows hierarchical group structures
Exam Tips: Answering Questions on Groups and Group Membership
Tip 1: Know the Tables Remember that groups are in sys_user_group and membership records are in sys_user_grmember. Questions often test this knowledge.
Tip 2: Understand Role Inheritance When a role is assigned to a group, all members of that group inherit the role. This is a common exam topic.
Tip 3: Manager vs. Member The group manager is a special designation separate from regular membership. Managers receive escalation notifications and can approve on behalf of the group.
Tip 4: Assignment Rules Connection Groups are frequently referenced in assignment rules. Know that assignment rules can route work to groups based on conditions.
Tip 5: Read Questions Carefully Distinguish between questions asking about adding users to groups versus assigning roles to groups. These are different administrative actions.
Tip 6: Navigation Path The standard path to manage groups is User Administration > Groups. This navigation question appears frequently.
Tip 7: Group Email Notifications When a notification is sent to a group, it goes to all members with valid email addresses, not just the group email field.
Common Exam Scenarios
• How to add a user to multiple groups • Where group membership records are stored • How roles assigned to groups affect member permissions • The purpose of the group manager field • How assignment rules utilize groups for ticket routing