Using Operational Technology Knowledge Management

  • 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 Using Operational Technology Knowledge Management

    Operational Technology (OT) Knowledge Management enables ServiceNow customers to create, edit, manage, and retire knowledge articles specifically related to OT incidents. Integrated with the Operational Technology Incident Management application, it facilitates browsing and creating knowledge articles directly from OT incident records. This capability helps OT engineers, front-line workers, and technicians capture and share critical device knowledge, troubleshooting steps, and remediation procedures.

    Show full answer Show less

    Key Features

    • Knowledge Article Lifecycle: Articles can be created, published (with or without approval), updated based on user feedback, and retired (immediately or via approval workflows).
    • Article Types: Includes standard operating procedures, lessons learned from incidents, annotated images, and other relevant OT information.
    • Access and Visibility: Knowledge articles are accessible through the Industrial Workspace via Knowledge modules, Agent Assist window within OT incidents, and global search. Users must have the knowledge role to view article lists.
    • Article Lists: View unpublished articles, published articles, and all articles within the OT knowledge base.
    • Knowledge Article Creation: Articles can be created from OT incident records or directly in the Industrial Workspace to address specific solutions or broader OT issues.
    • Knowledge Gap Reporting: Users can report missing relevant articles directly from OT incidents to improve the knowledge base.
    • Approval and Feedback Management: Approvers ensure the knowledge base remains current by approving publish and retire requests. Feedback tasks can be assigned to update articles effectively.
    • Incident Resolution Support: Related knowledge articles linked to OT incidents provide quick access to prior resolutions, improving response efficiency.

    Key Outcomes

    • Centralized and structured knowledge repository tailored to OT environments enhances knowledge sharing and operational efficiency.
    • Improved incident resolution times through quick access to relevant, vetted knowledge articles.
    • Controlled publishing and retiring processes maintain the accuracy and relevance of knowledge content.
    • Proactive identification and closure of knowledge gaps ensure continuous improvement of the OT knowledge base.
    • Empowered OT teams with easy-to-use tools for capturing and sharing critical operational knowledge.

    After you complete all the required set-up tasks for Operational Technology Knowledge Management, you can begin managing knowledge articles that are related to Operational Technology (OT) incidents.

    Operational Technology Knowledge Management overview

    By using  Operational Technology Knowledge Management, you can create, edit, and retire knowledge articles depending on the needs of your team. When used with the Operational Technology Incident Management application, you can browse articles that are related to an incident and create articles from an incident.

    The following examples show how to apply  Operational Technology Knowledge Management to your team:

    • An OT engineer with several years of experience wants to capture their OT device knowledge in one place for guide workers and junior technicians.
    • Front-line workers and technicians responsible for production process operations have noticed an issue on the factory floor and need a knowledge article that explains remediation.

    Basic Operational Technology Knowledge Management Process

    The following workflow describes the basic process for Operational Technology Knowledge Management.
    Figure 1. Basic OT Knowledge workflow
    Basic OT Knowledge Management workflow that describes the user creating a knowledge base, the knowledge article being added to the knowledge base, and other users using the knowledge article.

    Publish a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how a knowledge article is created and published both with (Approve Publish) and without (Instant Publish) approval.
    Figure 2. Publish workflow
    The two available Publish a knowledge article workflows where the user can either immediately publish an article or the article needs to be approved by a manager or expert.

    Retire a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how a knowledge article is retired both with (Approve Retire) and without (Instant Retire) approval. The Instant Retire workflow lets you retire articles immediately without needing an approval. The Approval Retire workflow sends an approval request to knowledge managers or experts to make sure that retiring the article is necessary.
    Figure 3. Retire workflow
    The two Retire a knowledge article workflows where the user can retire an article either with an approval from a manager or expert, or they can retire it without approval.

    Review and approve changes to a knowledge article

    The following workflow describes how an existing knowledge article is updated with user feedback.
    Figure 4. User feedback workflow
    Knowledge article is updated and republished with a user feedback workflow.

    Knowledge articles

    Knowledge articles provide information about workplace updates, self-help, troubleshooting steps, and other information that your OT team must access. For example, you can create the following knowledge articles for the following cases:

    • A standard operating procedure template used throughout your organization.
    • Lessons learned during an incident.
    • An image that annotates the different production materials.
    You can view the knowledge articles in the Industrial Workspace in the following ways:
    • Under the Knowledge module in the Industrial Workspace list view.
    • In the Agent Assist window when you open an OT incident.
    • Using the global search feature in the Industrial Workspace header.
    Under the Knowledge module in the Industrial Workspace list view, you can view knowledge articles in the following lists:
    Note:
    You must be assigned the knowledge role to see these list modules in the Industrial Workspace.
    Your unpublished articles
    The articles you’ve created that aren’t yet published in the OT knowledge base.
    Your published articles
    The articles you’ve created that are published to the OT knowledge base.
    All articles
    All articles that are available in the OT knowledge base.