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ServiceNow cut its teeth in IT service management (ITSM) and IT operations management (ITOM). The platform helps streamline the process of reporting and solving IT problems. A significant update to the core platform, called the Now Platform Tokyo release, takes a big step toward the broader realm of enterprise service management to address issues at an enterprise level rather than a IT level only.
Monish Mishra, VP for service market lines and strategic engagements at Mindtree, told VentureBeat, “By using ESM, businesses can leverage service management capabilities and frameworks across the organization .”
For example, ServiceNow is adding new solutions for enterprise asset management (EAM), supplier lifecycle management (SLM), and environmental, social, and governance (ESG) management. It also includes new tools for improving the experience and engagement for customers and employees. A new ServiceNow Vault also promises to centralize data security and privacy management on the Now Platform.
It’s all about helping businesses be digital first. On a practical level, this means simplifying the underlying platform and the business processes built on top.
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ServiceNow CIO Dave Wright told VentureBeat, “When implemented properly, a single platform, like ServiceNow, should reach the far corners of the company, seamlessly connecting disparate systems, breaking down data silos and makes things easier, everywhere for both employees and businesses. itself.”
Now Platform Tokyo is designed to help businesses focus on improving experiences rather than just service levels. For example, the new Manager Hub provides a destination for leaders to create learning and development plans for their teams and get personalized training.
The new release also improves connectivity between disparate systems to simplify complex processes. For example, it can help companies move from an SLM process based on emails and spreadsheets to an automated process that covers employees and suppliers.
Start at the process level
When executives sit around the conference table, they may start with vague goals such as improving the utilization of assets such as buildings, factories and expensive equipment, enabling supply chain resilience, or becoming net zero in 2030. To turn each of these goals into measurable results requires coordination of people, processes, and equipment.
The new feature-built features in the Tokyo release take the first step in aligning high-level goals for EAM, SLM and ESG with business processes that run across multiple apps. ServiceNow started with these solutions to help businesses address some of the most pressing challenges facing customers.
“We’re simplifying complex supply chains, automating asset management, and delivering investor-grade sustainability data so our customers can more effectively safeguard their businesses and manage risk and compliance,” said Wright .
Wright says they also fill an important gap with their expanded ESG management capabilities. Most solutions focus on individual ESG components or even a single goal such as reducing carbon emissions. But the United Nations has identified 17 broad sustainable development goals (SDGs) and 169 measurable targets.
The risk in pursuing individual targets lies in compromising others in the process or adding extra work. A broader approach like ServiceNow’s new ESG Command Center for managing multiple simultaneous targets and the processes for achieving them is needed to increase them all simultaneously. It integrates ESG management and reporting with business risk management and strategic project management.
ServiceNow empowers collaboration
ServiceNow is working with leading system integrators such as Mindtree, NTT DATA Corporation and RSM US LLP to customize these new capabilities for each enterprise. This will help businesses implement and adjust the latest release for their specific purposes. System Integrators believe that new solutions will be essential to meeting broader enterprise goals.
NTT Data head of ServiceNow business Tomoyuki Azuma told VentureBeat, “ServiceNow is a complete success in terms of the way the software is made and in terms of the conventional wisdom of excellence.”
Azuma says it will play a key role in creating the employee experience necessary for the collective to drive ESG goals. Most of the businesses he works with struggle with a sustainability dilemma where the extra work required to manage new KPIs drags down financial sustainability. A better ESG management experience will help employees identify ways to assess small changes to achieve the optimal state of business processes.
“The ESG Management solution empowers our clients to shape the future of our society sustainably in a way that they can measure ROI, manage risk, and demonstrate impact on their local and global footprint. Awareness of the benefits of ESG benefits will spread general involvement and change in ESG,” NTT Data’s VP ServiceNow Marci Parker said.
Strengthening engagement
The update also includes new tools for improving employee experiences for common workflows. All of this is built on ServiceNow’s recently launched Next Experience UX.
Manager Hub provides a single place to review employee journeys and respond to requests. The tool lets managers create personalized experiences for each employee. They can edit assignments, add advisors, include AI-based learning recommendations from learning posts, and include satisfaction surveys to understand how students feel. employees about their experience and journey with the company.
The Admin Center allows system administrators to discover, install and configure ServiceNow solutions. Previously, ServiceNow administrators relied on their account managers when administering new applications or manually classifying ServiceNow Knowledge Management apps or resources. In the Admin Center, system administrators can now discover, install, and configure ServiceNow solutions in one place.
Issue Auto Resolution for Human Resources applies natural language understanding to review requirements and deliver self-service content. Issue Auto Resolution was previously available for ITSM to help IT agents resolve routine incidents faster by proactively diverting them to an AI-powered virtual agent. New capabilities for HR teams automate common HR inquiries such as PTO requests, HR policy or benefits enrollment questions, and payroll issues.
Privacy and security controls
Businesses often scatter data across dozens of separate applications, databases and workflows. A new ServiceNow Vault promises to centralize privacy and security control. It includes a tool for simplifying the management and protection of machine credentials and verifying the authenticity and integrity of the code being deployed to ensure no malicious entry.
Wright says Vault applies to all apps and data running on the Now Platform. However, it does not manage data from other apps.
Cautious optimism for EAM, SLM and ESG
Yugal Joshi, partner at Everest Group, an advisory firm, told VentureBeat that the addition of new solutions for EAM, SLM and ESG signal ServiceNow’s continued transition from its ITSM and ITOM heritage to become a enterprise platform for clients to solve for complex business problems. These new solutions have the potential to help IT leaders improve their positioning and engagement with business teams.
However, Joshi cautions new customers to do thorough research before committing. This should include a cost analysis of subscription, integration, maintenance and upgrade factors. “Leaders need to understand the functions of these newer offerings and their relationship to their environment,” Joshi said.
It is also important to check the maturity of these solutions. Everest research suggests that businesses are not fully satisfied with the maturity of newer ServiceNow launches and the service partnerships to implement and scale them.
“This will be important for the CIO organization engaging with ServiceNow as a strategic platform vendor,” he said.
In addition, businesses will need to understand the licensing policy. Everest research suggests that businesses struggle with licensing ServiceNow.
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