ServiceNow certification guide: Mastering ITSM

ServiceNow is among the leading ITSM tools available today. The cloud-hosted IT management platform helps businesses manage and maintain IT infrastructure — a key role for today’s leading enterprises. IT pros looking to get an edge in their IT service management careers can do so by pursuing ServiceNow credentials.

ServiceNow offers three certification paths for customers and partners who work with and use ServiceNow products or services. These paths include the Certified Systems Administrator (CSA), Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS) and Certified Application Developer (CAD). You can also earn product-specific certifications through courses offered on each different path.

Before you can register to take a certification exam, you’ll need to complete the required courses for that training path. These courses are offered through certified ServiceNow instructors in a variety of formats. Courses taught in-person by ServiceNow Certified Instructors offer a hands-on environment that can be either public or private, depending on your needs. Classes are also offered virtually through online courses that give you access to a live instructor without the need to travel. You can also select on-demand courses that offer videos, live and recorded webinars and interactive tools for you to explore at your own pace. Third-party courses are also available through authorized ServiceNow training providers, which include exam vouchers along with training materials.

ServiceNow courses are designed to let you tailor your certification path to your skills and career goals. Within the Implementer and Administrator certifications, you will take courses based off each ServiceNow product. The Developer certification isn’t broken out by specific products, but it does have course requirements on the path to get certified.

Each path has individual courses and certifications that fall under the learning path, so you can choose the specific products that align with your career.

Certified Systems Administrator (CSA)

The ServiceNow Systems Administrator Certification Exam tests your ability to manage, configure and implement the ServiceNow platform. It also lays the foundation for everything you need to know about ServiceNow before continuing on to other courses or certifications paths. It’s relatively entry-level, so there are few prerequisites, but it’s recommended that you have experience working with ServiceNow products.

The 60-question CSA exam covers five specific learning domains that each account for a percentage of the exam. These include user interface and navigation (20%), collaboration (10%), database administration (30%), service automation (30%) and introduction to scripting and application tools (10%).

• Audience: ServiceNow customers, partners, sales engineers and others interested in becoming a ServiceNow Certified System Administrator
• Product certifications: CSM, HR, ITBM, ITOM, ITSM and Platform.
• Prerequisites: At least six months of hands-on experience with ServiceNow and experience with database concepts and system management, IT help desk processes and incident, problem and change workflows
• Required courses: ServiceNow Fundamentals
• Duration: 90-minute exam
• Cost: $150 per exam

Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS)

The Certified Implementation Specialist certification is part of the implementer path and it includes six specialized certifications that are each aligned with specific ServiceNow products. Specialized certifications on this path include Service Mapping, Service Management, Financial Management, HR, Customer Service Management, Security and Vulnerability Response. Each path requires its own set of courses and training to earn the product-specific certifications.

The CIS exam consists of multiple-choice and multiple-selection questions that cover five learning domains that each account for a certain percentage of the exam. These include engagement methodology and project planning (10%), core system setup (30%), security (10%), tuning and performance (20%) and configuration (30%).

• Audience: ServiceNow employee and ServiceNow partners
• Product certifications: CSM, HR, ITBM, ITOM, ITSM, Security Operations, Software Asset Management
• Prerequisites: ServiceNow Certified Systems Administrator certification, ITIL v3 Foundations certification and experience with at least two end-to-end ServiceNow deployment projects
• Required courses: ServiceNow System Administration, Advance System Administration, Implementation Bootcamp and Scripting.
• Duration: 90-minute exam
• Cost: $150 per exam

Certified Application Developer (CAD)

The Certified Application Developer (CAD) certification covers your ability to design applications, including the user interface, using business and database logic. You should understand how to write, test and debug client-side and server-side scripts, manage applications, implement application security and automate applications using multiple products. Successful CAD candidates can also design and implement a user interface while taking into account requirements, usability, form, design, platforms and scripts.

The CAD exam consists of 60 questions that focus on six specific learning domains that each account for a certain percentage of the exam. These include design and creating an application (15%), application user interface (20%), security and restricting access (20%), application automation (20%), working with external data (10%) and managing applications (15%).

• Audience: ServiceNow customers, partners, sales engineers and anyone else interested in earning this level of certification
• Product certifications: All products
• Prerequisites: None are required, but it’s suggested you become a Certified ServiceNow System Administrator. It’s also recommended that you have hands-on experience with application development and systems administration.
• Recommended courses: Courses are not required, but it’s recommended you take ServiceNow Fundamentals, Scripting in ServiceNow and ServiceNow Application Creation.
• Duration: 90-minute exam
• Cost: $150

More on ITSM:

• What is ITSM? Managing IT to serve business needs
• 5 ITSM hurdles and how to overcome them
• 10 must-have skills for ITSM pros
• 6 ways ITSM automation is changing business
• The top 9 ITSM suite vendors for 2017