Benefits of the Fed’s ServiceNow approach

How agents can improve their IT workflow

ServiceNow was originally used as an IT service management platform to provide agencies and organizations with services such as IT service desks, but now it has developed into more areas. One of its many enhancements is the ability to automate workflow.

This is crucial in the federal government. Consider how much work needs to be done within and between organizations to effectively perform tasks, whether in IT procurement, network security, cloud computing or document management. Sometimes, the workflow needs to be automated. Whenever the IT director needs approval, there will be a workflow.

Using ServiceNow, IT leaders and employees can access a self-service workflow portal, allowing them to check the workflow themselves. The user can also initiate a workflow request to deliver the message to the right person. This can be done on a desktop or mobile device.

Another aspect of IT management that ServiceNow can help solve is IT asset management. The government manages millions of different IT assets, including hardware solutions and software. To track them, ServiceNow has an asset management module.

There is also a facility management module that allows facility managers to automate their workflow. Such workers should be able to enter a portal and notice that the light bulb goes out or request a laptop for a particular room. ServiceNow enables all these features through a single portal, without users having to call three different people.

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Agent has used ServiceNow workflow method

Oak Ridge National Laboratory uses ServiceNow to understand the relationship and interdependence of its vast equipment, applications, and data networks.

The laboratory has an extensive network of equipment and applications, so data sources and configuration items cannot be tracked. Oak Ridge also lacks configuration mapping, which makes it difficult to make timely decisions. In addition, the laboratory lacks a configuration database, and the incident, problem, and change management processes are very weak, causing users to circumvent the system.

Oak Ridge has partnered with ServiceNow to automate service delivery on its 27,000 systems and devices and run hundreds of complex applications. The laboratory currently relies on its automated platform to replace isolated request management systems such as human resources, training and facilities.

Now, IT managers can more easily account for equipment and better understand the relationship between services and applications, thereby reducing inaccuracy and increasing efficiency. Oak Ridge can more easily determine whether hardware and applications meet compliance requirements, thereby helping to ensure that non-compliance fees are not incurred.

The Department of Energy estimates that using ServiceNow’s cloud-based IT service management platform will save 40% of the cost of upgrading its old ITSM software. The agency wants to enhance service delivery, and ServiceNow has provided a single system of record for the department, and it is better than the process automation allowed by traditional systems.

By cooperating with elite partners such as ServiceNow and its CDW, agents can simplify their work processes without having to focus on IT asset and process management, but can focus more on serving citizens.

This article belongs to Federal TechnologyThe CapITal blog series. Please use the following to join the discussion on Twitter: #FedIT Hashtag.