Field Analysis for ServiceNow
What is Field Analysis for ServiceNow?
Quality Clouds Field Analysis for ServiceNow is an application on the ServiceNow Store which analyses the custom database table fields and gives visibility as to which fields are populated and which are not. This analysis helps identify custom fields which are underused, and custom fields which have not been updated in a long time based on configurable thresholds.
Once identified, the underpopulated fields can either be eliminated, and the corresponding forms be redesigned to a simpler layout. On the other hand, if the percentage of records for which the custom fields are populated is lower than expected / desired, actions can be taken to increase the use of these fields, such as making them mandatory or auto populated if the information is of value to the business.
Only aggregate queries to count the number of records and the last modification date are executed, the data itself is not scanned.
Using Quality Clouds Field Analysis
The application is only available to users who have been granted the application role (x_qucl_field_trip.field_trip_user).
Once the Quality Clouds Field Analysis application is installed from the ServiceNow Store, the Quality Clouds Field Analysis menu items will be available as below.
- Field Analysis Homepage
- App Configuration
- Custom Fields Usage
- Customer Support
App Configuration
Here you can define the different parameters and thresholds for the Quality Cloud Field Analysis for ServiceNow usage analysis. From here you can also launch data gathering.
The usage statistics are collected on every field. The thresholds set on this page are only to filter the information displayed on the Home Page dashboards.
Configuring the report
Set a limit on the utilization percentage of custom fields, and last update date.
The Underutilized Fields Report graph displays the list of custom fields for which a value has been set a % equal to or lower than the threshold set. The percentage of utilization is calculated from the date on which the field was created. Therefore, even if a table already had 100 rows at the time that the custom field was added, and 1 row was created after the field was added, if that single row has a value for the field, the calculated utilization percentage would be 100%, not 1%.
The Custom Legacy Fields Report displays the fields which have not been updated in the last X days to be displayed in the list in the application dashboard.
→ To configure your report
- Select the Underutilized Fields Report and insert the desired threshold value.
- On the Custom Legacy Fields Report, insert number of days in the Last Updated Before (Days).
Gathering data
Check your instance data with the limit you set.
You can do that for the first time after installing Field Analysis or after a significan change to the instance - e.g. after a release.
→ To gather data on the instance, click Gather Data.
Updating dashboard thresholds
Every time you've changed the thresholds for the fields calculation, and after gathering data, you can either wait for the page to refresh or click Update Dashboard Thresholds.
The dashboards now display your updated data.
Field Analysis Homepage
Check the results of the latest Field Analysis execution run. The thresholds applied to the Field Utilization chart and to the Legacy Fields list are those which have been configured in the App Configuration Page.
The Field utilization threshold % graph displays the usage of the database fields and tables in a percentage threshold format. This view helps to identify custom fields which are seldom used.
The Custom Legacy Fields analysis indicates the number of days since the last update of selected fields.
The values reference the number of days which fall under the legacy threshold set during the field configuration.
The Custom Tables Utilization graph provides a count of the number of records which have been filled in for each of the custom fields in the instance. This graph does not depend on the limits set for % utilization and legacy fields analylsis.
The utilization average graph shown below displays the average % of utilization across all custom fields in the instance. This graph does not depend on the limits set for % utilization and legacy fields analysis.
Custom Fields Usage
The Custom Fields Usages table shows the results of the scanning performed in the custom fields. This is the source data which is used to generate the graphs in the application home page. Note that every custom field is included in this list, even if it is not shown on the graphs due to the thresholds specified.
The table fields which have been added to ServiceNow as a result of development activities are listed and analysed along with a summary of their content:
- Table name - The table name on which the field is defined. This can be an out of the box table (such as Incident), or a custom table.
- Field label - The public display name of the filed
- Field name - The name of the field
- Field type - The data type of the field
- Populated (%) - The percentage usage of the field. That is, out of all the rows created on the table after the field was added to the table, what % of those rows have a value set on the field.
- Populated - The number of record which have a value for the custom field
- Created on - The date at which the field was created
- Last Populated - The timestamp for the last insert or update on the field
- Days since last update - The difference in days between the current date and the last populated value for each field
More information can be found about a specific table if you double click on the Table Name top menu.
Unpopulated Fields
The data can be sorted alphabetically (A-Z or Z-A) or by % Population of fields.
Click on the Populated (%) and select Group by Populated (%) and the table will display the information sorted from the least to the most populated fields, i.e. used or not being used.
Selecting the Populated (%) display option on the previous screen, generates the results of the content we see listed below. The results are the fields which have not been updated in the last X days. They may have been used in the past, but could be considered "legacy" since they have not been updated in the specified threshold.
These fields could be in brand new tables (i.e. tables which have been added, in which case all the fields in that table are analysed), or they could be fields which have been added to the ServiceNow default (or Out Of the Box) tables. For the later, only the fields which have been added are analysed.
For more details on the fields to be analysed, expand the down arrow on the left of each row.
See it in a video
What's here
What's new in Field Analysis
We've improved the calculation of the Populated (%) field in the Custom Fields Usage table.
See all updates here.