4 Steps to Migrating the ServiceNow Content Management System to Service Portal

When your customers don’t speak the language of your ServiceNow instance, they are at a disadvantage. The ServiceNow Service Portal allows for self-service capabilities that can empower your customers or employees to do their work without needing any technical knowledge of the IT department.

Users can access the portal, enjoy simplified navigation, and have click-through capabilities to easily leverage the data they need without being experts in your specific instance. This blog will walk you through the step-by-step process of migrating the ServiceNow Content Management System to the Service Portal.

What is Service Portal

Service Now Service Portal is a front-end portal framework that allows enterprises to build self-service experiences for their customers and employees.

What is CMS (Content Management System)

The Content Management System (CMS) enables you to create a custom interface for the Now Platform and ServiceNow applications. This allows your end-users to request items, read articles, and update records in a simple, web-like interface that can be unique to your organization.

CMS Vs Service Portal

Sr. No	Components	CMS	Service Portal
1.	Design	Fixed Design: The pages are non-responsive; therefore, a user needs a different version for each device.	Responsive Design. With the limitless design potentials, any desired look can be achieved. Cooperation with graphic and UX designers can result in good and user-friendly creations
2.	Underlying technology	Jelly, HTML, CSS: CMS uses Jelly, which is not a widely used technology.	Bootstrap, Angular, JavaScript: Service Portal instead uses AngularJS, server-side JavaScript, HTML, and CSS. Any scripts that use Jelly do not work in Service Portal.
3.	Visual layer	CMS uses iFrames which can be difficult to work with, limited in terms of styling, and susceptible to upgrade issues.	Service Portal is a self-contained application that accesses data from other tables on the platform. This enables fine-tuned control over the style and responsive design.
4.	Mobile-first	NA	Service Portal is optimized for a mobile environment
5.	The Future	Legacy Application: The future improvements won’t sit in the CMS as the service portal supports self-service in a much better way	Continued ServiceNow support: With every release Service Now will receive improvements increasing its value further.

The ServiceNow Overview Diagram

Service Portal Advanced features

Intuitive, modular design: Create and configure engaging and robust self-service experiences with a user-friendly interface.
Ready-made components: Access functional, context-aware components to extend pages or create custom parts from scratch.
AI-powered search: Connect users to what they are looking for in a powerful, consumer-grade search experience.
Cross-device compatibility: Integrate seamlessly with mobile apps to give users access whenever and wherever they need it.

Migration steps Service CMS to Service Portal

Step 1: Change the update set state to complete
Need to change the update state from “InProgress” to “Complete”.

Step 2: Export and download the XML file.
Click on Export to the XML file and download the XML file.

Step 3: Using “retrieved update set” upload the XML file.
Click on the “Retrieved update set” then click on the related list “Import update set from XML” and upload the XML file

Step 4: Load the XML file
Once the XML file is uploaded then the state will be changed to loaded. After successfully loading the XML file, the state value will be changed to “Committed”

Benefits using SERVICE PORTAL

Empower users with self-service: Deflect issues with a single portal for everyone to access services, information, and applications.
Create engaging experiences: Drive user productivity and satisfaction by providing simple and immediate access to resources.
Increase accuracy and speed: Build end-to-end self-service portals quickly and smoothly with an easy-to-use, modular UI.
Reusable content with widgets

Conclusion

The ServiceNow Service Portal has undoubtedly been a welcome addition to the ServiceNow platform, and with its benefits being many, brings a number of improvements in terms of user experience. Many have incorporated the Service Portal in their day-to-day tasks in a variety of ways, making it a prime example of how ServiceNow customers wish to operate within the platform.

It is your one-stop destination for prominent content management systems, user self-service capabilities, an integrated knowledge base, and much more. Start reaping the benefits of the portal to help improve the efficiency and effectiveness of your users.