Exploring domain separation
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Summary of Exploring domain separation
Domain separation in ServiceNow allows you to logically segregate data, processes, and administrative tasks into distinct domains within a single instance. This feature is ideal for organizations that require strict data segregation between business entities, need to customize processes and user interfaces per domain, or want to maintain some global processes and reporting while serving multiple customers, partners, or sub-organizations.
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Domain separation supports multi-tenancy within one instance, but some global properties and processes remain shared. If complete isolation of system properties is needed, separate instances are recommended instead.
Key Features
- Data Separation: Users and records are assigned to domains, and users can only access data within their domain or its child domains, ensuring secure data segregation.
- Incremental Support Levels:
- Data Separation - Tenants see only permitted data.
- UI Separation - Tenant-specific customization of UI elements such as views and labels.
- Business Logic Separation - Tenant-specific system policies including notifications, business rules, and UI policies.
- Hierarchical Modeling - Nested multi-tenancy allowing parent tenants to access child tenant data and override business logic.
- Cross-Tenant Intelligence - Automated handling of data, metadata, business logic, and processing context for tenants with extended access.
- Domain Assignment and Visibility: Domain fields are added to tables for visibility control; "visibility domains" limit what users/groups see while "contains domains" control access for an entire domain.
- Configuration Delegation: Enables service providers to configure services for customers, though customers have limited administrative capabilities.
- Domain Path Migration: Domain paths are standardized across customers, with support from Customer Service and Support during upgrades.
Considerations for ServiceNow Customers
- Domain separation adds administrative overhead and cannot be removed once activated; consult your ServiceNow representative before enabling.
- It suits environments where some global processes and reporting are needed alongside strict domain data segregation.
- If absolute isolation of all system data and properties is required, separate instances are a better alternative.
- Domain separation enhances multi-tenancy but shares some global instance settings like login page behavior.
Next Steps
To implement domain separation effectively, understand your organization's data segregation needs and assess if domain separation aligns with your use cases. Leverage ServiceNow’s support and recommended practices for service providers to manage domain configurations, data access, and tenant-specific customizations. Ensure proper domain assignments and governance to maintain security and operational efficiency within your instance.
With domain separation you can separate data, processes, and administrative tasks into logically defined domains.
Domain separation is best for those customers who:
- Need to enforce absolute data segregation between business entities (data separation).
- Customize business process definitions and user interfaces for each domain (delegated administration).
- Maintain some global processes and global reporting in a single instance.
- Separate data between service providers, customers, partners, or sub-organizations.
- Have minor or moderate process differences among customers.
Domain separation compared to separate instances
While domain separation provides multi-tenancy support, multi-tenancy is still contained within a single instance. Some global properties, data, and processes are shared across all domains. For example, having the system Remember me on the login page of the system is global and cannot be specified per domain.
If you need complete and total separation of all system properties and do not require global reporting or global processes, then separate instances are the best option.
Data separation
Members of a domain see only the data contained within their domain or the child domains that are lower in the domain hierarchy. By default, all users and all records are members of the global domain unless an administrator assigns them to a particular domain. Once you assign a user or a record to a domain, the instance compares the user's domain to the record's domain to determine whether the user can view the record.
ServiceNow applications are defined with the following incremental support levels. These levels are based on the perspective of actual use cases and personas.
Data Separation: Tenants see only data that they have permissions to see. Tenants can be granted access to other tenant data, but cannot query tenant data if they don't have access.
UI Separation: Supports a tenant-specific experience for UI elements such as views, lists, labels, and so on.
Business Logic Separation: You can create tenant-specific system policies such as email notifications, business rules, client scripts, UI policy, and UI actions.
Hierarchical Modeling: Nested-multi-tenancy so parent tenants can access child tenant resources. Business logic for parent tenants runs automatically for child tenants, and can be overridden at any level.
Cross-Tenant Intelligence (Domain Scope): Handles automatically the data, metadata, business logic, and processing context for tenants that have access to additional tenant data.
In general, data defined at a higher level in the domain hierarchy is not visible at lower levels in the hierarchy.
Domain path migration
Domain paths are used for all customers. Domain numbering is not used. Customer Service and Support can assist in the upgrade.Alternatives to domain separation
Separate instances are a common alternative to domain separation. This provides a great degree of flexibility in meeting the requirements for customers and stakeholders with little to no impact on others.