Byte #10: Triggering Notifications from Workflows

There’s more than one way to send out notifications from a Change or Service Catalog workflow… what’s the best way?

The Possible Methods

1. Create a workflow “Notification” activity.
2. Use the “event” activity in a workflow to trigger a notification.
3. Create a script activity in a workflow, and use the “gs.eventQueue()” function to trigger a notification.

The Preferred Method

In most situations, #2 is the way to go – use an event activity in a workflow to trigger a notification. The reason for this is because it helps keep the upkeep and management of notifications centralized in one part of the tool. Additionally, it allows the text of a notification to be updated and immediately applied to workflow contexts that are already running.

There are some occasions when using the script activity to trigger a notification would be necessary, and that’s a perfectly acceptable method if you’re attempting to fire a workflow on a different table. Otherwise it’s more complicated to upkeep than is necessary.