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on 10-24-2022 02:37 AM - edited 2 weeks ago by Maik Skoddow
Workflow Automation CoE > Playbooks> Getting Started with Process Automation Designer
Playbooks, built in Workflow Studio, promote your subflows and flow actions to a new level by driving cross-enterprise and cross-departmental workflows. Together with Playbook Experience, you can expose your playbook, the expected next steps, and all relevant information directly to the end-user for increased efficiency and process transparency. With optional, ad-hoc activities you can make your processes flexible to meet any unexpected needs.
With the introduction of Workflow Studio in the Washington DC Release, all workflow automation types can be developed in a unified builder experience. At the same time, we are renaming Process Definitions to Playbooks to reduce friction and streamline communication.
Playbooks are designed to be usable by developers of all skill levels while encouraging collaboration. Business Process Owners can map out their process with placeholder and pre-made activities while more experienced developers connect the pieces by passing data between the different activities and throughout the process lifecycle. Additionally, they can create new, custom activity definitions based on flows, subflows, or actions to cover specific business process needs.
First, Playbooks do not replace Flows, instead, it leverages them as the action plan behind each activity.
Flows are ideal for creating targeted automation that solves for a specific business case. Examples include updating a record from a certain trigger, processing an inbound email, running SLA automation, or fulfilling Service Catalog requests.
Playbooks are great for creating multi-stage, multi-activity workflows that cross departments or enterprises. Examples include onboarding a new employee which involves workflows across IT, Facilities, HR, and Finance.
Step 1: Documentation
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Step 2: Training
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Step 3: Guidance & Best Practices |
Step 4: Further Resources
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To familiarize yourself with the complete spectrum of Playbook features and the newest enhancements in a given release, ServiceNow Docs is the place to go.
Washington
Playbooks in Workflow Studio Release Notes
Playbook Experience Release Notes
Vancouver
Process Automation Designer Vancouver Release Notes
Important update: We removed the trigger table restrictions in PAD. This means that you, our customers and partners can trigger processes using any SN table you are entitled to. We released this fix via Utah P7 (available from Sept 21, 2023) and Vancouver P1 (available from Sept 20, 2023).
Utah
Process Automation Designer Utah Release Notes
Start by completing the training on Now Learning, I'll recommend to take the Flow Designer courses first before moving on to PAD & Playbooks.
Get certified:
Flow Designer Fundamentals Micro-Certification Assessment
Introduction to Playbooks and Process Automation Designer
Playbooks and Process Automation Designer Fundamentals
Next, request a Personal Developer Instance (PDI) to practice what you learned.
Whether you’re a first-time implementer or an experienced developer, if you’re only just starting to use the Workflow Automation products, or are looking to migrate off your legacy tech stack, the following resources will help you understand how to best approach using Process Automation Designer and Playbooks.
NEW! Learn how to determine access to Process Automation Designer, its features, and access at runtime
CoE/Securing Workflow Automation Products
We have also been covering PAD & Playbooks topics in our Platform Academy. These include sessions on Best practices, guidance, performance, debugging, error handling, and migration use cases.
July 7th, 2022 - Getting Started with Process Automation Designer
August 4th, 2022 - Getting Started with Playbook Experience
NEW! November 8th, 2023 - Securing Workflow Automation Products
NEW! November 30th, 2023 - Updates for Playbook Experience
NEW! December 7th, 2023 - Updates for Process Automation Designer
Process Automation Designer and Playbook Experience Whitepaper (Now Create)
Article and Video: Adding a Playbook Record Page Tab to a Workspace Record (Author: Arnoud Kooi, Release Tokyo)
Article: Make an activity optional in Process Automation Designer (Author: Lisa Holenstein, Release San Diego & Tokyo)
In addition to PDIs and courses, the developer program publishes blogs, podcasts, and videos about our Workflow Automation products.
Creator Toolbox
Order Guide Sequencing in San Diego
Playbooks in Rome
Live Coding Happy Hour
Process Automation (PAD) for Meetups - Live Coding Happy Hour for 2020-09-18
Building Playbooks in Rome Part 1 - Live Coding Happy Hour for 2021-08-19
Building Playbooks in Rome Part 2 - Live Coding Happy Hour for 2021-09-02
Process Automation Designer Optional Activities - Live Coding Happy Hour for 2023-03-17
TechNow
TechNow Ep 80 | Process Automation Designer/Playbook Part 1 (Release: Paris)
TechNow Ep 81 | Process Automation Designer/Playbook Part 2 (Release: Paris)
Blog
Blog | What’s New in Process Automation Designer (PAD) for Vancouver
Our greatest asset is YOU. Our ServiceNow community has a wide array of amazing ServiceNow developers, practitioners, admins, and content creators. Thank you!
Platform: Process Automation Designer & Playbooks || Knowledge & Troubleshooting Resources (Author: Maik Skoddow)
Leveraging Arbitrary Data in Playbooks with Process Automation Designer (Author: Zachary Gumm, Release Quebec)
Hi Lisa
Thanks for this. I'm trying to setup a process automation design for an onboarding a new hire with an order guide. I can't get the triggers to work as needed
I've posted but had no response can anyone provide some help?
thanks
Rob
I love these blog posts Lisa. TY for providing such a great resource to our community!