Data Catalog release notes
Summarize
Summary of Data Catalog release notes - Australia Release
The ServiceNow® Data Catalog application, introduced in the Australia release, is a self-service discovery layer within the Workflow Data Fabric application. It enables teams to efficiently find, understand, and govern data assets across the organization through a unified interface. Data Catalog integrates metadata from multiple external platforms and supports business glossary management, enhancing data governance and collaboration.
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Key Features
- Search and Discovery: Users can search for data assets using keywords, filters, and faceted browsing, preview schema and sample data without opening each record, and browse by asset type, domain, tag, or owner.
- Asset Details and Relationships: Comprehensive metadata is available including schema, field descriptions, ownership, classifications, and lineage across connected systems.
- Business Glossary: Enables defining and managing business terms linked to data assets to standardize terminology and provide consistent organizational definitions.
- Metadata Collectors: Automates metadata collection and synchronization from over 14 external platforms (e.g., Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, Tableau, Power BI, Azure Data Factory) with scheduling or on-demand runs to keep catalog content current.
- Tags and Domains: Organize and classify assets with tags and domains to reflect organizational structure, improve discoverability, and support governance by delegating stewardship.
New Capabilities in this Release
- Clone Metadata Collector Connections: Accelerate setting up new data source connections by cloning existing ones, carrying over configuration but excluding sensitive credentials.
- Data Quality for Assets: Review data quality status, rule results, and quality badges for tables and columns. External tools can submit quality results via the Data Quality API.
- Azure Data Factory Metadata Collector: Support for automated metadata collection from Azure Data Factory.
- ServiceNow Metadata Collector Enhancements: Control API size limits, exclude specific artifacts during harvesting, and include Platform Analytics artifacts.
Activation and Installation
Data Catalog is available for installation via the ServiceNow Store. Customers must request it from the store to activate the application. The installation includes multiple new plugins that provide the UI, core business logic, metadata collection capabilities, and connectivity hub for external data sources.
Related Applications and Integration
- Workflow Data Fabric: Data Catalog operates on top of this application, using its data interfaces and published assets.
- Data Products: Published data products are discoverable within Data Catalog, enabling data consumers to find and request access to governed data.
- MID Server: Enables secure communication with on-premises or private cloud data sources for metadata collection when direct instance access is not possible.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
By implementing Data Catalog, customers gain a centralized, governed, and easily navigable data asset inventory that supports self-service discovery and collaboration across teams. Automated metadata harvesting and data quality insights ensure that the catalog remains accurate and trustworthy, facilitating better data-driven decision making and compliance with organizational governance policies.
The ServiceNow® Data Catalog application is the self-service discovery layer within the Workflow Data Fabric application that enables teams to find, understand, and govern data assets across your organization. Data Catalog is a new application in the Australia release.
Data Catalog highlights for the Australia release
- Discover and search for data assets across your organization using a unified self-service interface.
- View asset details including schema, descriptions, and data lineage across connected systems.
- Define and maintain a business glossary to standardize data terminology across teams.
- Collect and synchronize metadata from 14 or more external platforms using automated collectors.
- Organize assets with tags and domains to improve discoverability and governance.
See Explore Data Catalog for more information.
Data Catalog features
- Search and discovery
- Find data assets across your organization using keyword search, filters, and faceted browsing in a unified self-service interface. Browse assets by type, domain, tag, or owner, and preview schema and sample data directly from search results to evaluate assets without opening each record.
- Asset details and relationships
- View comprehensive details for each data asset including schema, field descriptions, ownership, data classifications, and data relationships, including lineage.
- Business glossary
- Define and manage business terms and associate them with data assets to establish a shared vocabulary across teams. Link glossary terms to catalog assets so that business and technical users understand the meaning and context of data using consistent, organization-approved definitions.
- Metadata collectors
- Automatically collect and synchronize metadata from external data platforms using metadata collectors. Collectors support 14+ platforms including Snowflake, BigQuery, Databricks, dbt Cloud, Tableau, Power BI, and Fivetran. Schedule collection runs or trigger them on demand to keep catalog content current as source systems evolve.
- Tags and domains
- Organize and classify data assets using tags and domains to reflect your organization's structure and governance policies. Apply tags to individual assets or in bulk. Group assets into domains to control visibility and delegate stewardship to responsible teams.
New in the release
- Clone metadata collector connections
- Clone an existing metadata collector connection to create data source connection faster. When you clone a connection, the system copies the connection type, collection settings, filters, and advanced parameters to a new connection record with an auto-generated name. Sensitive information is not carried over. Update credentials and any other environment-specific details before activating the new connection.
- Data quality for data assets
- Review data quality information for table and column assets, including the overall data quality status, the total number of rules, the number of passed rules, and any quality badges awarded to the resource. View each rule with its source, asset type, asset name, category, status, and last run time, and filter or search to locate a specific rule. External data quality tools submit rule results through the Data Quality API.
- Azure Data Factory metadata collector
- Automatically collect and synchronize metadata from Azure Data Factory using metadata collectors.
Changed in the release
- ServiceNow metadata collector
- Control how the collector harvests metadata. Enable an API size limit to cap the volume of data retrieved per request, exclude Glide artifacts from harvesting, and harvest Platform Analytics artifacts.
Activation information
Install Data Catalog by requesting it from the ServiceNow Store. Visit the ServiceNow Store to view all the available apps, and for information about submitting requests to the store. For cumulative release notes information for all released apps, see the ServiceNow Store version history release notes.
Plugin information
- New plugins
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The following plugins are new in Australia:
- Data Catalog UI (sn_dcg_ui): Provides the self-service search and discovery interface for browsing and viewing data assets in the catalog.
- Data Catalog Core (sn_dcg_core): Provides the core data model and business logic for catalog asset management, classifications, and lineage.
- Metadata Collectors (sn_meta_collectors): Enables automated metadata collection from external data platforms to populate and synchronize catalog content.
- Metadata Collectors Core (sn_dcg_cc): Provides connectivity services for integrating Data Catalog with external data sources and platforms.
- Workflow Data Fabric Connect Hub (sn_wdf_connect_hub): Provides the central hub for managing external data source connections used by Workflow Data Fabric and Data Catalog.