“Nowadays, companies no longer ask whether they are automated, but how they can automate processes,” said Georg Goller, regional vice president of software provider ServiceNow Germany. Many places recognize the value associated with technologies such as automation and machine learning. Nevertheless, so far, German companies have only achieved a third of the process automation. IT support is the most advanced. In the personnel department, the degree of automation is only 30%, and the customer service is even worse, as high as 27%. In contrast, 49% of services in IT have been automated.
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Goller mentioned a recent study organized by the market research company Lawless Research on behalf of ServiceNow. To this end, 1,874 executives in Australia, France, Germany, Mexico, Singapore, the United Kingdom, and the United States were asked about the state of automation in their organizations. The survey has about 200 participants from Germany and can also draw conclusions about the local market.
Photo: ServiceNow
According to their own statements, 54% of study participants have used “intelligent automation” in at least one company process. “On the contrary, this means that almost half of the people are still struggling with manual processes,” Goller said. For ServiceNow, which is committed to the automation of IT internal and external processes, the growth potential is huge.
Unsurprisingly, this commissioned study mainly reveals the positive effects of automation. For example, the results show that there is a close connection between automation and sales growth: the higher the degree of automation, the faster sales revenue will grow. 90% of respondents believe this will increase their productivity.
Another survey result shows that currently, German executives are wasting about 15 hours on manual management, almost two days a week. With the help of automation, employees can be freed up for strategic and creative tasks.
Although employees are generally concerned that automation may destroy jobs on a large scale, 79% of respondents believe that it will also create jobs. 94% of respondents also believe that automation requires employees to have more soft skills, such as communication skills.
The results of the study are in line with ServiceNow’s medium and long-term growth strategy. Starting as an ITSM expert, this software vendor is still positioning its platform and tools for business processes outside of IT. With the help of automation and machine learning functions, the concept of IT service management should also be transferred to the core process of the enterprise.
Photo: ServiceNow
In this context, ServiceNow demonstrated numerous expansions of its product portfolio at the “knowledge17” customer conference. For example, this includes “enterprise onboarding and trading” services. Companies should be able to automate their recruitment process in the personnel field. Through the “Trusted Security Circle”, ServiceNow also provides an online platform where security experts can exchange ideas.
The German boss-Goller sees a rapidly increasing demand for new products “cloud management”. The system is mainly aimed at multi-cloud and hybrid cloud scenarios, including cloud user portals and cloud resource self-service catalogs.
ServiceNow has also strengthened in the area of software asset management (SAM). So far, users have mainly been able to use the ServiceNow platform to manage infrastructure assets. The SAM tool now enables the company to control all software licenses and use unused licenses to identify potential savings. This is the promise. Through “Supplier Risk Management”, ServiceNow also solves particularly sensitive compliance issues. This should enable users to identify security risks from partner companies and vendors.
Suppliers also have high hopes for its “intelligent automation engine”. Machine learning solutions are designed to help solve the biggest IT problems companies are currently facing. For example, in this way, failures can be prevented, and IT processes can be classified and assigned automatically, Goller explained. With the help of benchmarks, IT managers will be able to compare their services with those of similar IT organizations and make performance predictions.
For example, in the field of fault protection, ServiceNow relies on anomaly detection. Algorithms identify patterns and specific events that may cause service failure. Combined with other mechanisms, the system “learns” which activities are within the normal range, and reports on special circumstances that may trigger failures in the future. For the first time, ServiceNow provides such features through its product “IT Operational Excellence”.
ServiceNow has developed rapidly since its establishment in 2004. As early as 2015, the former startup company headquartered in Santa Clara, California, surpassed the $1 billion mark in annual sales. Therefore, these goals are ambitious. By 2020, management’s goal is to achieve sales of 4 billion U.S. dollars. Before that, products outside the traditional ITSM business should contribute half of the revenue.
Goller believes that these goals are realistic. In the past few years, the company has grown at an annual rate of more than 30%. In particular, he sees great potential in the growth areas of human resources and customer service.
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