Tag Categorization in Tag Governance

  • Release version: Xanadu
  • Updated July 31, 2025
  • 2 minutes to read
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    Summary of Tag Categorization in Tag Governance

    Tag Categorization in Tag Governance enhances the management of configuration items (CIs) and cloud resources by automatically grouping similar tag keys into predefined categories. This feature promotes consistent tagging practices and improves tag management accuracy. It requires access to specific CI tag category and key tables in Service Mapping, necessitating installation of Service Mapping Plus version 1.16.3 or later.

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    Key Features

    • Automated Tag Categorization: A daily scheduled job categorizes newly added tags and maps unrecognized keys to the correct category.
    • Customizability: Users can modify tag category definitions, create new categories, and add additional tag keys as required.
    • Compliance Monitoring: The Tag category policy ensures all categories are mapped correctly, marking non-compliant CIs for remediation.
    • Recategorization Process: The system checks if recategorization is needed based on changes to categories, updating tag mappings automatically or on demand.
    • Domain Support: Tag Categorization accommodates domain-specific management, adding categories to global or specific domains based on configuration.

    Key Outcomes

    By implementing Tag Categorization, ServiceNow customers can expect streamlined tag management, improved compliance with tagging standards, and the flexibility to adapt tagging strategies to meet organizational needs. This leads to better organization of CIs and enhanced operational efficiency within cloud resource management.

    By automatically grouping similar tag keys into predefined categories, Tag Categorization streamlines the management of configuration items (CIs) and cloud resources while promoting clear and consistent tagging practices.

    Tag categorization requirements

    Note:

    The Tag Categorization feature in Tag Governance leverages the CI tag category [svc_tag_categories] and the CI tag key [svc_tag_names] tables in Service Mapping. Full access to these tables requires installation of the version 1.16.3 or later of Service Mapping Plus. Without it, access to these tables might be limited, affecting your ability to recategorize tags, modify tag definitions, or fully use the feature. For more information, see Install Service Mapping Plus.

    Tag Categorization overview

    Tag Categorization helps streamline and improve the accuracy of tag management by providing preconfigured categories to help you group tags for your CIs. A daily scheduled job categorizes newly added tags and maps any unrecognized tag keys to the appropriate category. For more information about the predefined tag categories, see Components installed with Tag Governance.

    You can modify the tag category definitions, create your own categories, or add additional tag keys as needed. For more information, see Modify tag category information for Tag Categorization.

    The Tag category policy confirms that all categories are properly mapped and up-to-date. It retrieves records and checks for category mappings to identify any missing categories. CIs that are missing a category are marked as non-compliant, which helps you address and remediate any tag category issues.

    The system uses the sn_itom_tag.recategorization_required property to determine whether recategorization is needed. By default, this property is set to false, but when a change to a category occurs, a business rule sets the property to true, indicating that recategorization is needed. A daily scheduled job then checks this property and if it is set to true, begins the recategorization process. This process automatically updates the tag mappings within 24 hours of the change, but you can also initiate recategorization to apply the changes immediately. All changes and updates are stored in the CI tag category table.

    Tag Categorization and domain separation

    Tag Categorization supports domain-specific management. If an instance isn’t domain-separated, the categories are added to the global domain. For domain-separated instances, the categories are added to each leaf domain. When you access or manage tags, the system gets domain information from the CI and adds tag mappings to the matching category in the appropriate domain. For general information about domain separation with Tag Governance, see Domain separation and Tag Governance.