Hierarchy tab
Summarize
Summary of Hierarchy tab
The Hierarchy tab in ServiceNow enables you to connect processing activities to various entities such as applications, vendors, companies, business processes, and other activities. This feature helps you visualize and understand how data flows through your organization by building a clear and structured hierarchy.
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The Hierarchy tab becomes visible only when a processing activity is in the Discover state, not when it is in the New state. Initially, the tab appears empty and relationships must be added manually or collected via assessments involving business users.
Key Features
- Primary record and nodes: The processing activity you are working on is the primary record. Relationships are created between the primary node (which can be the processing activity or any linked node) and related nodes.
- Relationship types: Define the connection and data flow direction between nodes, clarifying how entities are related.
- Related node types: Include processing activities, entities, business processes, business applications, vendors, and companies. Additional types can be configured as needed.
- Lineage map: Provides a graphical visualization of all nodes and relationships connected to a processing activity, enabling easy navigation, editing, and deletion of relationships. The map shows both directly linked nodes and those further connected downstream or upstream.
- Part of processing activity filter: Distinguishes nodes that are integral parts of the processing activity from those linked but external. This filter scopes the lineage map view to just the nodes that belong to the current processing activity or expands it to a global view of related activities.
- Configurable node levels: By default, the lineage map displays up to five downstream levels and one upstream level. The maximum downstream levels can be increased via a system property, while upstream levels remain fixed.
- Creating lineage: Lineage can be created directly from the Hierarchy tab of a processing activity, facilitating detailed data flow mapping.
Information Displayed on the Hierarchy Tab
Once relationships are established, the Hierarchy tab shows:
- Primary node: The node for which the relationship was defined.
- Relationship: The type of connection (e.g., Sends data to, Contains, Depends on).
- Related to: The connected node.
- Part of processing activity: Whether the node is part of the current processing activity.
- Description: Details about the relationship.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
Using the Hierarchy tab allows you to:
- Visually map and understand data movement within and across processing activities.
- Clarify relationships and dependencies among applications, vendors, processes, and other entities.
- Filter and focus on nodes that are core to the processing activity or explore broader data interactions.
- Customize lineage depth to suit organizational complexity.
- Collect hierarchy data through assessments to ensure accuracy and completeness.
This functionality supports better data governance, impact analysis, and risk management by providing a comprehensive view of data lineage related to processing activities.
Use the Hierarchy tab to connect your processing activity to applications, vendors, companies, entities, business processes, and other activities. The Hierarchy tab builds a clear picture of how data moves through your organization.
When the Hierarchy tab is available
The Hierarchy tab is not visible when the processing activity is in New state. You must move the processing activity to Discover state before the tab appears. When a processing activity is first moved to Discover state, the Hierarchy tab appears with no data. No relationships exist until you add them.
You can also collect hierarchy information from business users by adding this section as part of an assessment. The hierarchy information is added to the processing activity after the assessment is complete.
Key concepts
- Primary record
- The processing activity in the context of which you're creating or viewing the relationship. The primary record is always the processing activity you currently have open. When you add a relationship, the Primary Record field is pre-filled with this processing activity and cannot be changed.
- Primary node
- The node for which you're creating the relationship. When only one node has been added to the hierarchy, the primary node is the same as the primary record. Once more nodes are added, the primary node can be any node that has been linked with the processing activity.
- Related node
- The node connected to the primary node by a relationship. Depending on the relationship type selected, the related node can be the source of data flowing into the primary node or the destination of data flowing out of it.
- Relationship type
- Defines how the primary node is connected to the related node. Each relationship type includes a description that explains how the two nodes are related and the direction of data flow between them.
- Related node type
- The type of entity you're connecting as a related node. Related nodes can be processing activities, entities, business processes, business applications, vendors, or companies. Additional record types can be configured based on your organization's needs.
View lineage map
The Lineage map button in the Hierarchy tab displays a graphical view of all the nodes and relationships connected to the current processing activity. You can use the lineage map to visualize data flows, navigate between connected nodes, and edit or delete relationships.
The lineage map not only displays the nodes directly linked to the current processing activity but also the nodes connected to those nodes. You can trace the entire chain of data transfer across all levels from a single view.
Part of processing activity
The Part of Processing Activity filter helps you distinguish between the applications, vendors, business processes, companies, entities, and processing activities that are part of the specific processing activity versus those that are linked to it, but not part of it.
Consider the Talent Screening processing activity, which includes SHL, HireVue, and Tableau. While Tableau and HireVue are part of Talent Screening, it is also used in other activities such as Interview Planning, since its data feeds into that process.
Enabling this filter scopes the lineage map strictly to the nodes that belong to Talent Screening. To explore the broader data landscape, toggle the filter off to access the global map, where you can see how HireVue and Tableau connect to and support other processing activities beyond Talent Screening.
How Part of processing activity works
Part of Processing Activity is always defined relative to the primary record. You can use the Part of processing activity toggle in the lineage map to show only the nodes that constitute the current processing activity. Nodes that exist in the hierarchy but are not marked as Part of processing activity are hidden when the toggle is enabled. By default, the lineage map displays only nodes marked as Part of Processing Activity.
Update the maximum node level for the data lineage map
By default, the lineage map displays nodes up to five levels downstream and one level upstream from the primary processing activity record. To display nodes beyond five downstream levels, update the
sn_privacy.nodemap.maxLevel system property. The upstream display is always limited to one level and cannot be changed.
For more information, see Update the maximum node level for the lineage map.
Methods to create a lineage
You can create a lineage from the Hierarchy tab of a processing activity. For more information, see Create a lineage for a processing activity.
Information displayed on the Hierarchy tab
After a relationship is created, the Hierarchy tab displays the following columns:
- Primary node: The node for which the relationship was created.
- Relationship: The relationship type that defines how the primary node is connected to the related node, such as Sends data to, Contains, or Depends on.
- Related to: The node connected to the primary node by the relationship.
- Part of processing activity: Indicates whether the application, vendor, company, entity, business process or processing activity is marked as part of the current processing activity.
- Description: A description of the relationship.