ServiceNow Certified System Administration Practice

Using the Coalesce field is a well-established method to prevent duplicate data during record imports in ServiceNow. When you designate one or more fields as the coalescing field(s) in the import set, ServiceNow uses these fields as unique identifiers. If a record being imported matches an existing record based on the coalesced field(s), the system will update the existing record instead of creating a new one. This process ensures data integrity and reduces redundancy, maintaining a clean database.

While import sets are central to the data import process and are necessary for transferring data, they do not inherently prevent duplicates unless coalescing fields are defined. Data validation rules also play a significant role in maintaining data quality, but they do not specifically address duplicate entries during the import process. Restricting access to import functionalities can help control who can import data, but it does not prevent duplicates if imports are managed by authorized personnel without any coalescing criteria.