Basic understanding of Alert Management and AIOps

What is an Alert?

An alert is an indication generated by the system when it detects unusual or abnormal behavior in an IT environment. These alerts are based on the analysis of various data sources, such as logs, metrics, and events, and are designed to draw attention to potential issues that may require investigation or action by IT operations teams. Alerts are generated based on events from the Agent Client Collector, from 3rd party tools using an out-of-the-box connector, from a Metric Intelligence anomaly, or from Health Log Analytics.

What is AIOps?

AIOps in ServiceNow refers to the integration of Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) technologies into the ServiceNow platform's IT Operations Management (ITOM) and IT Service Management (ITSM) solutions. AIOps aims to enhance IT operations by automating routine tasks, providing actionable insights, and improving overall IT service delivery. By harnessing the power of AI and ML to analyze data, AIOps in ServiceNow empowers IT teams to predict issues, automate processes and remediation, and ultimately deliver more reliable and efficient IT services. AIOps supports IT teams in their journey toward a more proactive, intelligent, and responsive IT operations management.

Alert Management in Service Operations Workspace (SOW)

What is Alert Management in SOW?

In Service Operations Workspace, you can work on an alert record without navigating out of the interface. You can maintain context while opening and working in several tabs and respond to alerts without leaving the form. In the Service Operations Workspace navigation pane, from the list of alerts sorted in order of smart priority, you can drill down to see key information relevant to the alert. For example, you can see the priority of the alert, key indicators, and a timeline together with information from other alerts that are part of the alert group. Check out our product docs for more information.

What are Alerts in SOW?

The Service Operations Workspace interface displays alerts and their details on a specific alert form. When clicking an alert in the alerts list, the Details tab of the selected alert appears and the issue that caused the alert (the identified issue) appears in the alert title. Only the sub tabs that are relevant to the alert appear on the resulting page. For example, the Alerts in Group option appears in the Related Records tab only for alert groups.

The AIOps Experience in Service Operations Workspace (SOW)

What is the AIOps Experience in SOW?

The AIOps Experience app is a transformative addition to the AIOps product in ServiceNow, revolutionizing the entire ITOM (IT Operations Management) Health user experience. This app introduces three powerful capabilities, namely the Express List, Integration Launchpad, and AIOps Dashboards within Service Operations Workspace. Each delivers unique value, but when combined, they elevate the AIOps user experience to a whole new level.

When used in tandem, the Express List, Integration Launchpad, and AIOps Dashboards create a unified, seamless, and efficient user experience. The revamped ITOM Health interface empowers IT teams to swiftly identify and resolve alerts, optimize performance, and enhance overall operational efficiency. By providing a consolidated platform for alert management, simplifying integrations, and offering data-rich dashboards, the AIOps Experience helps organizations achieve greater operational excellence and deliver exceptional IT services.

AIOps Experience is officially released in August 2023, as an add-on app on top of the Service Operations Workspace allowing you to manage the E2E alerts lifecycle in SOW. Check out our product docs for more information.

What is the Express List in SOW?

Service Operations Workspace Express List provides a live feed of alerts, serving as a centralized and consolidated platform that streamlines the entire alert management process. Express List enables users to efficiently triage, conduct root cause analysis (RCA), and remediate issues with unparalleled ease and speed.

At its core, the Express List is a dynamic and constantly updated list of alerts, ensuring that users always have access to the latest data and real-time insights. Gone are the days of manual refreshing and constantly switching between various screens; with the Express List, users can stay on top of their alert workflows and take immediate action without delay.

Key capabilities of Express List:

• Dynamic filtering
• Users can apply custom filters to the list, enabling them to focus on specific types of alerts based on priority, configuration items, impacted services, alert tags, or any other relevant criteria
• Empowers users to prioritize their efforts, tackle critical issues first, and efficiently manage their workload
• Perform remedial actions within the list view
• Reduce the need to navigate through different interfaces to address alerts
• Integrates with remedial action capabilities to accelerate alert resolution, minimize downtime, and enhance overall efficiency
• Preview pane
• Users can quickly access additional context and essential details about each alert without having to open a separate page
• Provides a snapshot of the alert, enabling users to grasp the nature of the issue and make more informed decisions on how to proceed

What is Integrations Launchpad in SOW?

Integrations Launchpad simplifies the way you approach ITOM-Health integrations. With its intuitive interface and powerful features, it empowers you to streamline your operations, increase efficiency, and gain valuable insights from your IT infrastructure.

Integration Launchpad provides a new and enhanced experience for viewing, configuring, and managing all your available ITOM-Health integrations. With Integrations Launchpad, you can optimize the power of your IT Operations Management by managing the following key components: Event connectors, metric policies, and log data inputs.

What are the AIOps dashboards in SOW?

The AIOps dashboards provide a unified, modern experience for all AIOps-related dashboards as part of the Service Operations Workspace. It targets multiple ITOM personas with different needs: Admins, executives, and SMEs. The AIOps dashboards are built with ServiceNow Performance Analytics (PA) using reusable components (PA data visualizations) to allow customizations. All dashboards can be duplicated and edited.

What are the licensing requirements for using AIOps Experience features in SOW?

You can access the baseline AIOps Experience features with your ITOM Operator Pro license. Advanced features like Health Log Analytics, would need an ITOM Operator Enterprise license.

Is there any plugin I need to install to start using AIOps Experience in SOW?

To use the AIOps Experience app in SOW, you would need to install the Service Operations Workspace ITOM Apps store app, the AIOps Experience app, and the base ITOM plugins.

What role(s) is required for users to use Alert Management in SOW?

To use the AIOps Experience capabilities a user needs to own the evt_mgmt_operator role to view and act on alerts. Specifically for the Integrations Launchpad, a user needs to own the evt_mgmt_admin role.