⬡ Part 7 · Topic 3

Dashboards & Scheduled Reports

Dashboards organize multiple reports into a single view for specific audiences. Scheduled Reports automatically email report results. Both use shared visibility settings that interact with ACLs in ways the exam tests carefully.

📋 4 sections ⏱ ~14 min read 🎯 ~6% exam weight 🏷 Dashboards · Scheduling

Section 1

Dashboards

A Dashboard is a collection of report widgets arranged on a canvas. Each widget is a report (bar chart, pie chart, list, scorecard) displayed inline. Dashboards are the primary way executives and team leads get a real-time overview without running reports manually.

Navigate to: All → Dashboards or via the homepage widget selector.

Dashboard Visibility

Like reports, dashboards have visibility settings:

Private — only the owner sees it
Shared with groups — specific groups can view
Public — all users with Reports access

A user viewing a shared dashboard sees each report widget rendered with their own data access. If User A is restricted from seeing certain incident categories by ACL, those categories don't appear in the shared widget when User A views the dashboard.

⚠

Exam Trap — Shared Dashboard, Personal Data Two users looking at the same shared dashboard may see different numbers in the same widget. User A (full access) sees 150 incidents. User B (restricted to their group only) sees 42 incidents. The report definition is the same — the ACLs determine what data each user's query returns. Dashboards are NOT a way to bypass data access restrictions.

Section 2

Scheduled Reports

A Scheduled Report runs a report automatically on a schedule and emails the results to a list of recipients. This is the primary way to deliver regular status reports (weekly incident summary, daily CMDB health snapshot) without requiring recipients to log in and run reports manually.

Configuration

Report — the report to run (must exist already)
Frequency — Daily, Weekly, Monthly, or custom Cron expression
Run as — the user whose context the report runs in. This user's ACLs determine what data appears in the emailed output.
Send to — email addresses or user groups to receive the report
Format — PDF, Excel, CSV, or HTML email body

⚠

Exam Trap — "Run As" Determines Emailed Data The Run As user on a Scheduled Report is critical. The report runs with that user's data access. If the Run As user is an admin, the email shows all data. If the Run As user is a regular technician, only data accessible to that user appears. All recipients receive the same email with the same data — the ACLs of the recipients are irrelevant. Only the Run As user's access matters.

Section 3

Homepage vs. Dashboard

ServiceNow has two overlapping concepts for personalized views that confuse exam candidates:

Feature	Homepage (Legacy)	Dashboard (Modern)
Technology	Older portals framework	Now Platform UI framework
Widgets	Gauges, lists, mini-reports	Full reports as widgets
Personalization	Per-user customization of shared homepages	Owner controls layout; sharing by group
Mobile support	Limited	Responsive layout
Recommended?	Legacy — prefer Dashboard	Yes — current standard

💡

Tip — Exam Uses "Dashboard" as Current Standard Exam questions that say "create a shared view for the management team" mean Dashboards, not Homepages. When in doubt, answer with the modern Dashboard approach. Homepages are a legacy feature still in the platform but not the recommended path for new builds.

Section 4

Report Distribution via Notifications

Beyond Scheduled Reports (email with report output), ServiceNow can also send Notifications triggered by record conditions — for example, notify the CMDB team when a CI's health score drops below 50%. This is configured via the standard Notification mechanism (System Notification → Email → Notifications), not via the Report Builder.

The distinction matters for the exam:

Scheduled Report = report output emailed on a schedule
Notification = email triggered by a record event or condition

Exam Quick Reference

Common Exam Traps — Dashboards & Scheduling

Different users see different data on the same shared dashboard — ACLs apply per viewer
Scheduled Report "Run As" user determines what data is emailed — recipient ACLs don't matter
All recipients of a Scheduled Report email receive identical data (Run As user's view)
Dashboard = current standard; Homepage = legacy
Scheduled Report ≠ Notification — report is on a schedule; notification is event/condition triggered

Exam Checkpoint

Practice Questions

4 questions · Select an answer to see the explanation immediately.

Dashboards & Scheduling Quiz 1 / 4

A Scheduled Report is configured to email the weekly Incident summary to 10 managers. The "Run As" user is the IT Director. Manager A has access to all global incidents. Manager B only has access to their team's incidents. What does each manager receive?

💡 Explanation

B is correct. The Scheduled Report "Run As" user determines what data is included in the email. The report runs as the IT Director (who can see all incidents), generates a report with all incidents, and emails that identical report to all recipients. Recipient ACLs are completely irrelevant to what data appears in a Scheduled Report email. This is a critical exam trap: Scheduled Reports are NOT personalized per recipient. If you need each recipient to see only their data, each person needs their own Scheduled Report running as themselves, or the report must use a filter based on recipient identity — a much more complex setup.

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