ServiceNow Certification Pathways Infographic: How to Get Started

If you’re looking to build a career in the ServiceNow ecosystem, there’s a good chance you’ll find yourself taking a ServiceNow certification exam sooner or later. This is one of the best ways to prove your expertise and credibility, since the syllabi are directly built by ServiceNow itself. 

The certifications come in a wide variety of shapes, sizes, and difficulties – meaning there’s almost certainly something for everybody here. They are widely recognized and respected across the ServiceNow ecosystem and are often a prerequisite for many ServiceNow-specific roles and opportunities. So where do you start?

ServiceNow Certifications Infographic

ServiceNow offers a wide range of certifications designed for learners at different stages of their career journeys. Some can be completed by relative beginners after studying a few courses through the ServiceNow University. But others require you to have already completed another certification before you can qualify. 

To help you visualize these prerequisites, we’ve created this infographic:

At a Glance: A Guide to ServiceNow Certifications

Like many aspects of the ServiceNow ecosystem, certifications can be a bit tricky to get your head around at first glance. That’s because there are various types of exams, each with its own prerequisites, formats, and requirements:

• Accreditation: These are awarded upon passing a short, non-proctored exam. They are free and can be completed easily online. These are not pictured in the infographic above. 
• Micro-certification: Very similar to accreditations, these certificates are also awarded after completing a short online exam. These tend to focus more on technical skills than accreditations. These are not pictured in the infographic above. 
• Suite: A Suite certification is automatically achieved when the required underlying requirements are complete. There is no additional exam to complete. They generally include mainline and micro certifications, as well as accreditations and learning courses/pathways through the ServiceNow University. 
• Mainline: The most important and common certifications all fit into this category. These are paid (usually around $2,000), proctored exams with a number of learning requirements. All mainline certifications can be completed without having an existing certification, though many require you to have completed courses/pathways in the ServiceNow University, or to have already gained particular micro-certifications or accreditations as well. Despite this, learners are generally advised to start with Certified System Administrator and move onwards from there. 
• Expert: The highest level of SN certification. These are paid ($7,000-$17,000) and require participants to have lots of ServiceNow-specific experience and existing certifications. 

Of these five categories, the most important by far are the mainline and expert certifications, both of which are included in the infographic above. If you want to demonstrate meaningful skills and expertise, these are the places to go. 

At a Glance: Full List of ServiceNow Mainline and Expert Certifications

Here is the full list of prerequisites for each mainline and expert certification. Please note that each certification also has a list of online courses and/or learning paths that learners must also complete before taking the exam. See the ServiceNow guide here for the full list.

While the information in this table is correct at the time of writing, the ServiceNow certification landscape is constantly changing, with courses and prerequisites being regularly added and removed. Therefore, it’s important to check the ServiceNow Credentialing Program Guide before embarking on a pathway.  

• ¹ Recommended
• ² Under development, due to be released in 2026

Certified Implementation Specialist: Which Course to Study?

As you’ll have noticed in the infographic above, there are a lot of Certified Implementation Specialist courses. At the time of writing, there are 16 total, with another currently in production. 

For all intents and purposes, these are exactly the same as other mainline certifications like Certified Application Developer and Certified Platform Owner Associate. However, they are specific to different ServiceNow products and modules. This means the course you’ll study will be different depending on the technology you’re looking to specialize in. 

In the vast majority of cases, it makes little difference what course you study, and you can choose whichever is best suited for your career goals or organization. Most expert certifications require you to have completed one or two of these modules, but don’t specify which one. 

The only exception here is the Certified Master Architect, which requires you to have completed the CIS – ITSM certification along with two others of your choice.  

Here is the full list of Certified Implementation Specialist courses at the time of writing: 

• Certified Implementation Specialist – Customer Service Management (CIS – CSM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Data Foundations (CMDB and CSDM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Discovery (CIS – DISCO)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Event Management (CIS – EM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Field Service Management (CIS – FSM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Hardware Asset Management (CIS – HAM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Human Resources (CIS – HR)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – IT Service Management (CIS – ITSM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Platform Analytics (CIS – PA)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Risk and Compliance (CIS – RC)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Security Incident Response (CIS – SIR)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Service Mapping (CIS – SM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Service Provider (CIS – SP)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Software Asset Management (CIS – SAM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Strategic Portfolio Management (CIS – SPM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Third-Party Risk Management (CIS – TPRM)
• Certified Implementation Specialist – Vulnerability Response (CIS – VR)

ServiceNow Certifications: Where to Start? 

As you’ll have noticed, there are a lot of certifications on this list. And when you expand the list to include suite and micro-certifications, accreditations, on-demand courses, and more, the picture starts to look very complex. 

If you’re just starting, you might therefore be wondering which path or approach is right for you. Here are some thoughts to help:

• Getting started with ServiceNow: If you have no knowledge or experience whatsoever, the ‘Welcome to ServiceNow’ on-demand course is the place to go, as it will give you all the basics in a quick and digestible format. This is recommended training for most mainline certifications. Find out more.
• Preparing your first exam: If you’re eyeing up a ServiceNow mainline certification, it’s helpful to develop your skills further through the ServiceNow University before getting started. Though there are far too many on-demand courses to list here, the following regularly feature as recommended training for mainline certifications: ServiceNow Administration Fundamentals, Scripting in ServiceNow Fundamentals, Application Development Fundamentals On Demand, Get Started with Now Create, ServiceNow Platform Implementation.
• Your first certification: Certified System Administrator will almost certainly be the first certification you complete, as it’s by far the most common and fundamental option. Indeed, it’s a recommended prerequisite for all other mainline certifications and is required for expert certifications. If you’re just looking to gain and demonstrate general ServiceNow expertise, this is almost certainly the one for you. 
• Taking it to the next level: From here, the opportunities are endless and will vary hugely depending on your career goals and experience. If you’re looking to develop skills in a specific niche, you may want to explore additional mainline certifications. And if you want to really stand out, then expert certifications might well be for you.

If you want to find out more about ServiceNow learning courses or pathways, check out our recent post covering the ServiceNow University. In the meantime, best of luck with whatever exam you’re aiming for.