Navigate portfolio types in Digital Portfolio Management

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 6 minutes to read
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    Summary of Navigate portfolio types in Digital Portfolio Management

    Digital Portfolio Management (DPM) enables ServiceNow customers to navigate and manage three types of enterprise portfolios: service, business applications, and application service portfolios. Each portfolio type is structured in a nested content tree format, allowing easy navigation and detailed insights relevant to that portfolio’s focus. As of May 2025, enterprise portfolios are created directly within DPM, with business application and application service portfolios managed through enterprise portfolio tables in the DPM UI16 module.

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    Service Portfolios

    Service portfolios are created in the DPM Workspace and organized with taxonomy nodes at the top level, followed by services and service offerings. Key features include:

    • Taxonomy Node: Displays summary information such as ownership, subscriber count, and performance metrics including availability and incident status, along with needs attention cards for critical issues.
    • Services and Service Offerings: Categorized as business or technical, each includes lifecycle and status information based on CSDM guidelines, performance snapshots, and needs attention cards. Users can edit or add services to personal portfolios or the DPM homepage.
    • Templates are available to create service portfolios quickly from predefined structures.

    Business Application Portfolios

    Business application portfolios are displayed in a nested content tree starting with enterprise taxonomy nodes, which may include child nodes. Important details include:

    • Enterprise Taxonomy Node: Shows ownership, management, subscriber data, and portfolio success metrics such as availability and SLA breach incidents, alongside needs attention cards covering critical incidents, risks, and audits.
    • Business Applications: Provide detailed ownership, status, and performance metrics similar to the taxonomy nodes, with options to add applications to personal portfolios and view detailed application data.
    • Users can switch portfolio types by clearing and selecting the desired portfolio field value.

    Application Service Portfolios

    Application service portfolios are structured similarly to business application portfolios but focus on application services. Key distinctions include:

    • Enterprise Taxonomy Node: Displays ownership, management, subscriber data, availability, MTTR (mean time to resolve), and change-related metrics, plus needs attention cards.
    • Application Services: Provide operational status, ownership details, performance metrics, and critical issue tracking. Users can add services to personal portfolios and access detailed service information.

    Practical Use and Benefits

    ServiceNow customers can leverage these portfolio types to organize and monitor their enterprise assets effectively. The nested content tree structures and performance snapshots allow for quick identification of issues and management of services and applications. The ability to add items to personal portfolios and customize views enhances user productivity and portfolio oversight.

    Additional Resources

    For detailed guidance, customers are encouraged to consult the DPM Academy Learning Resources and related documentation on navigating enterprise portfolios and creating personal portfolios within DPM.

    Navigate three types of enterprise portfolios in the Digital Portfolio Management (DPM) application — service, business applications, and application service. The way to create a portfolio depends on the type. As of May 2025, Enterprise portfolios are created directly in DPM. Business application and Application service portfolios are created using the enterprise portfolios tables in the DPM module in UI16.

    Enterprise portfolios are structured in a nesting content tree format so you can easily navigate each type of enterprise portfolio. Access Enterprise portfolios using the Enterprise portfolio icon (Enterprise portfolios icon.). For more information about accessing enterprise portfolios, see Navigate enterprise portfolios in Digital Portfolio Management.

    Each type of enterprise portfolio offers unique data pertinent to its type. See the DPM Academy Learning Resources, especially the video series, for more information about the difference between each portfolio, how they should be used, and who they are for.

    Service portfolios

    As of May 2025, you can create service enterprise portfolios directly in the DPM Workspace. Service enterprise portfolios are structured in a nested content tree with the taxonomy node, and then services that are in the service portfolio. You can create a portfolio from scratch or use one of the provided templates. For more information on service enterprise portfolio templates, see Navigate service enterprise portfolio templates in DPM.
    Table 1. Portfolio structure for services
    Section Description
    Taxonomy node
    • The first level in the content tree under the service enterprise portfolio.
    • The following information is provided for the taxonomy node:
      • Header with a short description, owned by name, and total subscribers.
      • Performance snapshot metrics for availability, open incidents, incidents not updated for 5 days, and new requests.
      • Needs attention cards for critical incidents, outages, and changes.
    • The View details link provides the following information about the taxonomy node.
      • Header with the service portfolio name, manager name, and total subscribers.
      • Overview tab with performance snapshot metrics and the breakdown of services in the category.
        Note:
        DPM versions prior to 2.2.15 may have duplicate services showing in the Service breakdown section. For information, see KB1123710.
      • Taxonomy node tab with all the taxonomy nodes related to the portfolio.
      • Services tab that lists all services in the portfolio, with their parent, classification (business or technical), phase, status, criticality, and owned by name. You can also select Create business service or Create technical service to perform those tasks in Service Builder.
      • Info tab with a description and general information about the taxonomy node.
      • Needs attention panel that lists critical incidents, outages, and changes.
    Service and service offering

    Business application portfolios

    The DPM Workspace displays enterprise portfolios in a nested content tree starting with the enterprise taxonomy node at the top level (there could be more than one). After the top node, it lists the business applications that are in the enterprise portfolio. Here’s an example of a business application enterprise portfolio content tree.

    Figure 1. Business application enterprise portfolio content tree example
    Business application enterprise portfolio content tree example
    Important:
    The image shows the Portfolio field as Enterprise business applications. To select a different type of enterprise portfolio from the one you're in, delete the value in the Portfolio field, and then select the field (again) to see the other portfolio types (service, business, or application service).
    Table 2. Portfolio structure for business application
    Section Description
    Enterprise taxonomy node
    • The first level in the content tree under the business application enterprise portfolio. Could contain a second or third level if it has child enterprise taxonomy nodes.
    • The header:
      • Short description.
      • Owned by name.
      • Managed by name.
      • Total subscribers
    • The portfolio success metrics for availability, incidents with a breached service level agreement (SLA), incidents caused by changes, and successful changes.
    • Needs attention cards for critical incidents, outages, changes,alerts, risks, and audits.
    • The View details link provides the following information about the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Header with the Owned by name and the Managed by name.
      • Overview tab with portfolio success metrics and the breakdown of business applications in the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Taxonomy nodes tab that lists all the related taxonomy nodes.
      • Business applications tab with a list of the business applications that are in the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Info tab with a description and general information about the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Needs attention panel that lists critical incidents, outages, changes, alerts, risks, and audits, for the enterprise taxonomy node.
    Business application
    • The next level in the content tree under the enterprise taxonomy node.
    • The header:
      • Short description.
      • Application owner name.
      • Business owner name.
      • Total subscribers.
      • Status.

        The Overall risk is empty.

    • The portfolio success metrics for availability, incidents with a breached SLA, incidents caused by changes, and successful changes.
    • The Needs attention cards for critical incidents, changes, risks, and audits.
    • The More menu icon (More menu icon) enables you to add the business application to a personal portfolio. For more information, see Create a personal portfolio in Digital Portfolio Management.
    • The View details link launches the business application details. For more information, see the Business applications section in Digital Portfolio Management related applications and data sources.

    Application service portfolios

    The information in application service portfolios is similar to that of business application portfolios with some differences that pertain to application services.

    For information about KPI groups in application service portfolios, see View application service details.

    Table 3. Portfolio structure for application service
    Section Description
    Enterprise taxonomy node
    • The first level in the content tree under the application service enterprise portfolio. Could contain a second or third level if it has child enterprise taxonomy nodes.
    • The header:
      • Short description.
      • Owned by name.
      • Managed by name.
      • Total subscribers.
    • The portfolio success metrics for availability, mean days to resolve (MTTR), incidents caused by changes, and successful changes.
    • The Needs attention cards for critical incidents, outages, changes, alerts, risks, and audits.
    • The View details link provides the following information about the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Header with the Owned by name and the Managed by name.
      • Overview tab with portfolio success metrics and the breakdown of application services in the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Application services tab with a list of the application services that are in the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Info tab with a description and general information about the enterprise taxonomy node.
      • Needs attention panel that lists critical incidents, outages, changes, alerts, risks, and audits for the enterprise taxonomy node.
    Application service
    • The next level in the content tree under the enterprise taxonomy node.
    • The header:
      • Short description.
      • Owned by name.
      • Managed by name.
      • Operational status.

        The Overall risk is empty.

    • The portfolio success metrics for availability, incidents with a breached SLA, incidents caused by changes, and successful changes.
    • The Needs attention cards for critical incidents, changes, outages, risks, and alerts.
    • The More menu icon (More menu icon) enables you to add the application service to a personal portfolio. For more information, see Create a personal portfolio in Digital Portfolio Management.
    • The View details link launches the application service details. For information on what this screen includes, see the Application services section in Digital Portfolio Management related applications and data sources.