Free CIS-PPM sample questions

Correct answer: A custom approval rule within the Project Management Workflow.

The Project Management Workflow is the designated place to handle state transitions and approvals. A custom approval rule can be configured to trigger based on a script that calculates the forecast variance. This ensures the approval is formally requested, tracked, and required before the state transition occurs, which is a more robust and auditable solution than UI policies or standalone business rules.

Correct answer: `resource_aggregate_daily`

The `resource_aggregate_daily` table (and its weekly/monthly counterparts) stores pre-calculated summaries of resource capacity, allocations, and availability. The Resource Allocation Workbench is designed to query these aggregate tables for performance gains, rather than calculating from raw `resource_plan` and `resource_allocation` data on the fly. If this table is not being populated correctly by the 'Update Resource Aggregates' scheduled job, the system falls back to real-time calculations, causing performance degradation.

Correct answer: A Bubble Chart

Bubble charts are the primary tool for visualizing and comparing multiple demands or projects against several dimensions simultaneously. The X-axis, Y-axis, bubble size, and bubble color can all be configured to represent different metrics like NPV, cost, risk, or strategic priority, making it ideal for the Program Manager's analysis.

Correct answer: Create a Project Template with the required Project Task templates and dependencies.

Project Templates are the out-of-the-box solution for standardizing project creation. A template can contain a pre-defined work breakdown structure, including project tasks, dependencies, milestones, and even associated resource or cost plans. This is the most efficient and maintainable method for enforcing a standard project structure.

Correct answer: In the Idea module's Properties.

The behavior of the voting mechanism, including whether users can vote for their own ideas, is controlled by a system property. Specifically, the `com.snc.idea.allow.creator.voting` property must be set to `false` to prevent idea creators from voting on their own submissions. This allows for configuration without the need for custom scripting.

Correct answer: False

False. While Cost Plans and Benefit Plans are copied from the Demand to the newly created Project, they become the initial baseline for the project's financials. They are fully editable on the project record, allowing the Project Manager to refine estimates and manage the budget as the project scope becomes clearer.

Correct answers: Configure Time Card Categories for 'Billable' and 'Non-billable'.; Apply the relevant Time Card Categories to the appropriate Project Tasks.

Time Card Categories are used to classify the type of work being performed. Creating 'Billable' and 'Non-billable' categories allows users to select the appropriate type when logging time.

After creating the categories, they must be associated with tasks. This can be done by setting a default category on the task or allowing users to select from a list of valid categories for that task, ensuring time is booked correctly.

Correct answer: The 'Show Critical Path' toggle is disabled in the Planning Console settings.

The Planning Console has a user-specific setting (gear icon) that includes a toggle to 'Show Critical Path'. If this is disabled, the critical path will not be highlighted even if it has been calculated correctly. This is often the first place to check for this issue.

Correct answer: Domain Separation

Domain Separation is the ServiceNow architecture designed for multi-tenancy scenarios where hard data segregation is required between different business entities. It allows for configuring separate domains for each business unit, isolating their data, while also allowing users in the 'top' domain (like the executive team) to have visibility across all child domains. Teamspaces offer a customized UI and some data filtering but do not provide the robust data segregation of Domain Separation.

Correct answer: The projects' statuses remain unchanged.

The what-if analysis in the Portfolio Workbench is a non-destructive simulation. Changes made, such as selecting or deselecting projects, only affect the displayed totals and constraints within that session. Unless the user explicitly saves the changes as a new scenario or commits them, the underlying project and demand records are not modified.