Major incident assignment

  • Release version: Yokohama
  • Updated January 30, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
    • Summarize
    Summarized using AI
    This content was generated using new OpenAI-powered functionality. Results are provided on an as is basis and are not guaranteed to be accurate or complete.

    Summary of Major incident assignment

    This content explains how major incidents are assigned within ServiceNow's Major Incident Management process, particularly in the Yokohama release. It details the automatic assignment of major incidents to groups and individuals based on specific conditions, including system properties and the activation of the On-Call Scheduling plugin.

    Show full answer Show less

    Assignment Logic for Major Incidents

    • Automatic Group Assignment: Major incidents are assigned to a group automatically during proposal and promotion phases based on the system property Major Incident Management Group (sysid). This ensures incidents are routed to the correct management group.
    • Individual Assignment with On-Call Scheduling: If the On-Call Scheduling plugin (com.snc.oncallrotation) is active and a shift is defined for the group, the incident is assigned to the on-call user during that shift. Otherwise, the Assigned to field remains empty.
    • Manual Promotion and Creation: When an incident is manually promoted to a major incident or created, assignment behavior depends on whether the Assignment Group field is empty or populated:
      • If empty, the group is set based on the property value; the Assigned to user is the promoter or creator of the incident.
      • If not empty, the group remains unchanged; the Assigned to user is updated to the promoter on promotion, or remains unchanged on creation.
    • Notifications: When reassignment occurs, notifications are sent to the original group members and previously assigned users to keep all stakeholders informed.

    Assignment for Incident Communication Plans and Tasks

    • When an incident communication plan or task is created with a major incident as the source:
      • If the Assignment Group field is empty, it copies the group and assigned user from the source incident or communication plan.
      • If the Assignment Group field is populated, the existing assignment values remain unchanged.

    Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

    • This assignment process automates routing of major incidents to the appropriate groups and users, improving response times and accountability.
    • Activation of the On-Call Scheduling plugin enhances granularity by directing incidents to individuals currently on shift, supporting 24/7 incident management.
    • Manual promotions and creations respect existing assignments but update the assigned user to the promoter or creator when appropriate, ensuring clarity on ownership.
    • Notification mechanisms keep teams informed about reassignment, supporting communication and collaboration during major incident resolution.
    • Consistent assignment behavior for incident communication plans and tasks maintains alignment with the originating major incident, aiding coordination.

    A major incident is assigned to a group automatically at the time of proposal and promotion based on the value of the property Major Incident Management Group (sys_id) to whom the Major Incident should be re-assigned on promotion to 'Major Incident' (sn_major_inc_mgmt.major_incident_management_group). The assigned group works on the major incident and resolves it.

    The incident is assigned to an individual if the On-Call Scheduling plugin (com.snc.on_call_rotation) is activated and a shift is defined for the group. The following table illustrates the different conditions under which a major incident is assigned to a group and a user.

    Table 1. Assignment of major incident
    Action Condition Assignment group Assigned to
    Incident is proposed as a candidate manually or based on major incident trigger rules Assignment Group is empty Group based on the property value
    • If on-call is activated, shift is defined and a user is available on-call then the incident is assigned to the on-call user
    • If on-call is not activated, the Assigned to field remains empty
    Assignment Group is not empty No change - incident retains the current value of the assignment group No change - incident remains with the current value in the Assigned to field
    Incident is manually promoted to a major incident Assignment Group is empty Group based on the property value The value for the Assigned to field is the user who promoted the incident to a major incident
    Assignment Group is not empty
    • Incident reassigned to group based on the property value
    • Send a notification to the original Assignment Group members about the latest incident reassignment.
    • Assigned to value is overwritten by the user who promoted the major incident candidate
    • Send a notification to the user to whom the major incident was previously assigned
    Major incident is created Assignment Group is empty Group based on the property value The value of the Assigned to field is the user who has created the major incident
    Assignment Group is not empty No change - incident retains the current value of the assignment group No change - incident remains with the current value in the Assigned to field
    Table 2. Assignment of incident communication plan and communication task
    Action Condition Assignment group Assigned to
    Incident communication plan is created with source as major incident Assignment Group is empty The value for the Assignment group field is copied from the source incident The value of the Assigned to field is copied from the source incident
    Assignment Group is not empty No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the assignment group No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the Assigned to field
    Incident communication task is created from incident communication plan whose source is major incident Assignment Group is empty The value for the Assignment group field is copied from the incident communication plan The value of the Assigned to field is copied from the incident communication plan
    Assignment Group is not empty No change - incident communication plan retains the current value of the assignment group No change - incident communication task retains the current value of the Assigned to field