Updated on 1 October 2026. What’s new: prerequisites corrected: ServiceNow now lists CIS Data Foundations as required before you register, and the exam is booked through Pearson VUE.
CIS-ITSM stands for ServiceNow Certified Implementation Specialist - IT Service Management. The exam has 60 multiple-choice questions, runs 90 minutes, costs USD $450 and reports only Pass or Fail. Three quarters of the marks come from three areas: Incident, Change, and Service Catalog and Request Management, at 25 percent each. This guide covers all six domains, the prerequisite and a study plan.

The credential is for people who set up ServiceNow ITSM for an organisation rather than just use it: consultants, partner engineers and senior platform owners who decide how incidents are prioritised, how changes are approved and how requests are fulfilled. The exam is therefore less about where a button is and more about which configuration choice fits a described business situation.
One detail changed since this article was first written. ServiceNow now asks candidates to hold the Data Foundations credential before they register, and exams are booked through Pearson VUE. The sections below explain both, and they show where to confirm the details yourself before you spend USD $450.