State model and transitions
Summarize
Summary of State model and transitions
ServiceNow Change Management in the Yokohama release provides a structured state model to track and manage change requests as they progress through various stages. This model supports normal, standard, and emergency changes, each with distinct workflows and state transitions. Email notifications keep requesters informed when changes reach key states such as Scheduled, Implement, Review, and Canceled.
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Change States and Transitions
- New (-5): Initial state where the change request is drafted but not submitted.
- Assess (-4): Peer and technical review for approval of change details.
- Authorize (-3): Final authorization and scheduling by Change Management and CAB.
- Scheduled (-2): Change is fully scheduled and awaiting start date; triggers notification.
- Implement (-1): Execution of the change work begins; triggers notification.
- Review (0): Post-implementation review to assess success; cancellation disabled; triggers notification.
- Closed (3): Change is completed and closed with no further action.
- Canceled (4): Change can be canceled anytime except from Closed; triggers notification.
Normal changes move through all states sequentially. Standard changes skip Assess and Authorize states as they are pre-authorized, while emergency changes require authorization but also have a streamlined flow.
Key Functionalities for Change Requests
- Revert to New: Emergency and Normal change requests can be reverted to the New state from Assess or Authorized states, restarting workflows and canceling pending approvals. This is useful if the scope or configuration items need adjustment before approval.
- Modify Change Request Type: When a change request is in the New state and no approvals exist, its type can be changed between Standard, Normal, and Emergency to accommodate evolving requirements or rejections.
- Cancel Action Restriction: The Cancel option is disabled during the Review state to prevent cancellation after work completion but before review.
Customization and Configuration
- Change Model Attributes: Change Managers can enforce specific actions on change requests via attributes such as allowcimodification (permits modification of configuration items) and allowimplementation (indicates implementation status). These attributes can be assigned per state and override default settings if included in the change model.
- Adding States and Transitions: Organizations can extend the state model by adding new states or configuring state transitions tailored to their processes using script includes or UI policies. This flexibility allows adapting the change lifecycle to unique operational requirements.
Practical Benefits for ServiceNow Customers
- Structured and transparent change progression with clear stages and user notifications.
- Flexibility to revert and modify change requests early in the process to correct or adjust scope.
- Control over cancellation to protect change integrity post-implementation.
- Customization options to align change workflows and rules with organizational policies.
Change Management offers a state model to move and track change requests through several states.
The following table provides a list of all the states that a change request can progress through. Email notifications can be sent to the user who requested the change when it progresses to the following states: Scheduled, Implement, Review, and Canceled.
| State | Description | State value |
|---|---|---|
| New | Change request is not yet submitted for review and authorization. A change requester can save a change request as many times as necessary while building out the details of the change prior to submission. | -5 |
| Assess | Peer review and technical approval of the change details are performed during this state. | -4 |
| Authorize | Change Management and the CAB schedule the change and provide final authorization to proceed. | -3 |
| Scheduled | The change is fully scheduled and authorized, and is waiting for the planned start date. An email notification is sent to the user who requested the change. | -2 |
| Implement | The planned start date has approached and the actual work to implement the change is being conducted. An email notification is sent to the user, who requested the change. | -1 |
| Review | The work has been completed. The change requester determines whether the change
was successful. A post-implementation review can be conducted during this state. An
email notification is sent to the user who requested the change. Note: You cannot
cancel the change request if it is in the Review state. |
0 |
| Closed | All review work is complete. The change is closed with no further action required. | 3 |
| Canceled | A change can be canceled at any point when it is no longer required. However, a change cannot be canceled from a Closed state. An email notification is sent to the user who requested the change. | 4 |
Normal, standard, and emergency changes progress through states in different ways.
State progress for different changes
- Normal changes progress through all states.
- Standard changes are considered to be pre-authorized, so they bypass the Assess and Authorize states that trigger approval records. Approving these changes progress the change to the next appropriate state. Rejecting these changes send them back to New state.
- Emergency changes are similar to standard changes, except that they must be authorized.
Revert a change request to a New change
Change Management allows the Emergency and Normal change types to be reverted to the new state which is the first approval state using the Revert to New action from the Context Menu. This action is performed if the approval was requested and the submitter recognizes that not all configuration item in the scope of the change is included before submitting for approval.
- To modify the Normal change request to the New state, modify the state of a change request from Assess state to New state by clicking Revert to New from the Context menu.
- To modify the Emergency change request to the New state, modify the state of a change
request from Authorized state to New state
by clicking Revert to New from the Context menu.Note:When you revert to New from the Assess state or the Authorized state, the workflow is restarted and all pending approvals are cancelled.
Modify change request type
- A new ACL for change_request.type has been added that allows modification of the Type field in change request when the change request is in a New state and no approvals have been generated yet for it.
- In case of Standard change request, you can modify the type of the change request from Standard to Normal or Emergency, if the state of a change request is New.
- In case of Normal or Emergency change request, you can modify the type of the change request from Normal to Emergency or vice versa if the state of a change request is New.
- If a Normal or Emergency change request is rejected, the state of the change request is set to New. As the state of the change request is New, you can modify the type of the change request again. For example, if your Emergency change request is rejected on the grounds that the change request is Normal, you can modify the Type of the change request to Normal and resubmit the change request.
Disabled Cancel change action
The Cancel option for a change request in the Review state is disabled. This restricts cancelling the request when the work is complete and is waiting for review.
Change model attributes
The Change Manager has the option to mandate specific actions when a Change Request is moved to a specific state. Attributes assigned to that state determine what actions can take place.
- allow_ci_modification – Allows to modify the CI. Attributes are only considered if they are included in a model. If the
allow_ci_modificationattribute is not added to a model, it defaults to its initial state. - allow_implementation – Indicates that the change will be implemented. By enabling
allow_implementation, this feature replaces the implementation states field currently present on the Change model. Both the states listed in the implementation states field and the attribute will be respected.