How to Get ServiceNow Certified
ServiceNow, a fast-growing leader in IT Service Management (ITSM), is rapidly expanding its footprint in health care. Many hospitals use the company’s cloud-based IT service and operations platform to automate management of EHR applications and other clinical software assets. ServiceNow’s HR Delivery product is also widely used by hospital Human Resources departments.
NJ-based startup Nuvolo leverages the ServiceNow platform for medical asset management. Healthcare IT Leaders is a Nuvolo implementation partner.
ServiceNow was founded in 2004 and became a publicly-traded company in 2012 with a $210M IPO. Today, more than 4,400 enterprise customers worldwide use ServiceNow to drive their digital transformation. With the growth of the company and platform, demand for ServiceNow administrators, developers, and implementers has also grown exponentially over the years.
Are you interested in becoming ServiceNow certified? Use this guide to navigate the ServiceNow certification process. This blog post also includes tips and advice from our in-house ServiceNow expert, Ernest Lessenger.
ServiceNow Certification Paths You Can Take
Just this year, ServiceNow changed their certification process and requirements. Originally the certifications were divided by role: ServiceNow System Administrator, Implementation Specialist, and Application Developer. There weren’t any requirements on the type or number of products an administrator, implementer, or developer needed to know in order to work on a project. For example, a developer could receive their administration and development certifications and would be allowed to work on any product line, even if they didn’t have training or experience working with that product. But with the new rules, that has changed.
To improve processes and services, ServiceNow decided to parse the certifications by role and by products. Now, ServiceNow administrators and implementers are required to receive necessary certifications by product line. So if you are a developer and interested in Human Resources, you will need to take the HR Developer certification exam. And if you also want to work on a CSM project, you will need to take the CSM Developer certification exam.
So now, administrators, implementers, and developers will need to receive separate certifications for the various ServiceNow products: ITSM, ITOM, ITBM, CSM, HR, Security, and Platform. Click here to access the full Certification Guide.
Preparing For ServiceNow Certification Exams
Before you jump into taking the product and role-specific certifications, you’ll need to take it back to the basics. ServiceNow recommends that everyone takes the ServiceNow Fundamentals Class in order to learn how to configure and manage a ServiceNow instance. “I found it to be a well-designed class,” said Ernest Lessenger, Chief Platform Architect of Healthcare IT Leaders. “Understanding the platform and taking the class is a very good first step for anyone getting into the ecosystem even if you’ve used ServiceNow in your job or have developed on the platform informally.”
Lessenger has received a few ServiceNow certifications and is continuing to take classes. He actually comes from the Salesforce industry and found it useful to become cross-certified with Salesforce and ServiceNow since most organizations he works with use both systems. “I want to be able to work efficiently and to give good advice to my clients who use both products.”
For both systems, Lessenger explained that it’s good to understand the development, change management, and release management philosophies of the cloud platform providers, whether that’s Salesforce or ServiceNow. By knowing the basics, Lessenger said: “An expert knows what use cases and solution are likely to work well on either platform.”
In addition to taking the Fundamentals Class, ServiceNow recommends that you should have at least six months of hands‑on experience. Your experience should include database concepts and system management, as well as knowledge of IT Help Desk processes and the incident, problem, and change workflows. You should also consider learning programming languages like JavaScript and C++ as these are both used often with ServiceNow.
“The ServiceNow Wiki and documentation are also great resources to learn the best practices of the system and products,” said Lessenger. “Simply read the documentation and you will learn a lot. This is often where you will find the answers to your questions so it pays to understand the layout and documentation style.”
To ensure these new rules are followed, ServiceNow requires that any administrator, implementer, and developer on a project have all of the certifications required for that specific project. For example, if your team is implementing Security on your client’s ServiceNow instance, then all implementers on the team will need the Security Implementer certification.
What To Expect During The Exams
ServiceNow makes exam blueprints available online for each certification exam so you can download and review them before the test. The blueprint gives general information about the exam as well as information on the exam structure and question formats.
While taking the exam, you will need a quiet room with a strong internet connection since it is online. It is also mandatory that you use a standalone webcam (one that is not integrated to a computer or laptop). The webcam has to be set up so the proctors are able to watch you during the exam.
Keeping Your ServiceNow Skills Fresh
“It’s critical that you stay on top of ServiceNow’s releases and understand the differences between releases,” said Lessenger. ServiceNow makes significant changes each year to the cloud-based platform so it’s crucial for administrators, developers, and implementers to constantly learn and educate themselves on these changes.
Lessenger also recommends taking the Fulfiller Training, especially if you are a developer or architect. “It’s important to learn how the end-users use the system so you can create processes and workflows that work for them,” said Lessenger. You can take end-user training with your company or with ServiceNow.
Learn more about the ServiceNow certification process on the ServiceNow website.