ServiceNow invests in mobile apps, chatbots and AI

“Work Now” in Frankfurt am Main ServiceNow invests in mobile apps, chatbots and AI

At its customer event “NOW at Work”, ITSM and CSM provider ServiceNow demonstrated numerous innovations from its integrated NOW platform from Frankfurt am Main. These include mobile applications, virtual agents, and entry solutions. The “predictive intelligence” analysis module uses machine learning to support users.

About this company

With an annual growth rate of more than 30%, ServiceNow is one of the fastest growing cloud companies. General Manager Detlef Krause of Germany said: “It has been introduced in 75% of the Fortune 500 companies and 60% of all DAX companies. The platform combines customer service management (CSM) with IT service management (ITSM) from the beginning. ) Combined together. This field of activity continues to expand: today it also covers field service management, personnel management, IT security and predictive analysis. CSM manager Abhijit Mitra said in 2017: “We want to become an ERP solution for IT. “Detlef Krause does not want to reveal the focus of the new CEO Bill McDermott, who will take office in early 2020.

ServiceNow’s unique selling proposition is its workflow engine. They make everyone in the workflow more efficient. Self-service can facilitate small automated workflows (such as changing passwords), making not only employees but also customers more efficient. Karel van der Poel, vice president, explains: “the workflow engine is the core platform between the requester – one is serving, self-service machine, real-time database queries, etc., on the other hand is the operator: automatic forwarding, distribution and Priority and action. This layer is a single action system.

Brief summary of innovation

Detlef Krause explained that the “New York” version is good for simplification and mobility. “This will affect IT workflow, employee workflow and customer workflow.” This version contains 680 new features such as mobile applications, virtual agents and chatbots. The new Now Mobile App is designed to make it easier for employees when they need additional information or permission.

The new onboarding application is designed to accelerate the training, configuration and staffing of new employees. The virtual agent “ServiceNow Agent” is part of the same product family. ChatBot recognizes natural language and executes simple commands and requests.

Marian Zaler, ServiceNow project manager at Henkel Group, is already testing these innovations and welcomes them. He welcomes the fact that “use cases such as case handling are pre-configured”. His company, a manufacturer of detergents and industrial adhesives, has set a strategic focus for itself: digitalization, ITSM and ITIL agility, and process modernization (including SAP). “A shared data center was created with the central IT department to allow international teams to conduct business and IT cooperation.” Zaler believes that ServiceNow’s availability “still has room for improvement” and the ordering process can still be optimized. Zaler said: “The license model is heterogeneous and non-transparent. Everything is not so easy.” There is only one license model for each module. I hope to see standardization and a better overview here. “

Simplify application development

Detlef Krause and his colleagues emphasized that guided application creators have simplified the independent development of applications for the ServiceNow platform: there is no longer any need to write any code. For example, using Flow Designer, Integration Hub can be further developed. van der Poel believes that the rest of the API can be used to integrate applications. It is now possible to fully automate IT workflows, such as the service operator’s workspace (with notifications). This also applies to testing: “The new version includes pre-configured tests.” Krause believes that artificial intelligence is a tool for automating, prioritizing and categorizing through machine learning, so employees have time for higher quality tasks. Chatbots and virtual agents are clearly the first step in this direction.

New land registration application

An example cited by van der Poel shows the remaining tasks for ServiceNow-CSM and its customers: “We provide a new product for the company’s land register that is important for the financial department.” Up to 5,000 quarterly accounts are required. Separate step. “The reason why financial managers use SAP, Excel, etc., is because they are desperate, because they need to know where in the settlement process and when to complete.” ServiceNow allows the use of data in the ERP system for process modeling to create structured process designs And customization. PayPal using SAP is a customer with 12,000 employees.

All kinds of operating models

The ServiceNow cloud suite is provided on the infrastructure of AWS, Microsoft Azure, Google and IBM, “to ensure maximum scalability, availability, security and compliance”. Van der Poel made an important distinction between the common multi-tenant architecture and its own multi-instance architecture. “Each customer has their own instance of the platform, which only they can access. It covers storage, network, and computing, so it can scale the same at all levels. Customers can use the services they subscribe to, but there is no scalability The problem.

In the private cloud, ServiceNow provides its own virtualized hardware with failover capabilities (in two separate data centers). van der Poel said: “Only 0.01% of customers run ServiceNow internally.” On the other hand, the Internet of Things can be implemented in a hybrid cloud: ServiceNow is open to all types of clouds and all data in the system, and through the integration center The joint method combines them so as to transfer the load of data movement to AI and big data systems. All security rules can be implemented and modified in the ServiceNow platform.

Advanced user analysis

The “Predictive Intelligence” module uses ML algorithms to enable many useful functions. The main events in the system are identified using historical data and classified according to priority. Recommend the content of knowledge articles based on text analysis to help solve problems faster. Machine learning uses historical data to classify a large number of tasks, events, and cases.

Through continuous segmentation and grouping (clustering) of entities, the system has identified its own opportunities for improvement. In the BI area of ​​reports and dashboards, ML algorithms enable real-time insights. In order to protect data, only use your own data that has never left the ServiceNow data center to train ML solutions. Data, insights and recommendations are provided in English, Japanese, Dutch, French, Spanish and German.

This “New York” release of Now Platform (released twice a year, named in alphabetical order) is already generally available. Now Mobile and Onboarding Apps can be downloaded in the Apple iOS store and Google Play store.

(ID: 46276265)