Windows 365: Microsoft and ServiceNow optimize mixed work

More and more companies are adapting to the new realities of the mixed work world. How they do depends on how easy it is for them to allow employees to remotely access their desktops. Because this will allow your employees to smoothly switch between home office and face-to-face work-resulting in a great employee experience.

For this mixed working method, the company needs to quickly create a new workflow, while considering how employees and teams work. But this is not far away at the moment. For example, more than half (59%) of employees surveyed in ServiceNow’s job survey (PDF) stated that their company does not have a fully integrated system for managing digital workflows.

At the same time, the use of digital collaboration tools has skyrocketed. In 2021, 145 million people are actively using Microsoft Teams every day. There are only 75 million users in 2020. For some time, Microsoft and ServiceNow have established a good partnership in Microsoft Teams and have also found a way to provide outstanding services to mutual customers through Microsoft’s latest products.

Windows 365 is a virtual PC completely located in the Microsoft cloud, which is specifically designed by Microsoft for a mixed working environment. For using Windows 365, desktop applications, settings, and content from the Microsoft cloud can be safely transferred to any device, no matter where the user is.

In Windows 365, Microsoft has launched a new hybrid computer category “Cloud PC”, in which cloud performance and terminal device functions bring a comprehensive and personalized Windows experience. Thanks to Microsoft’s innovation, Windows has evolved from a device-based operating system to a personalized computer system in the cloud, and has been optimized for the new hybrid working world.

Thanks to the new features of ServiceNow for Windows 365, users of joint customers can directly request and receive their cloud PCs through the familiar Microsoft Teams user interface. Using the functions of ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) and Virtual Agent, the corresponding workflow can be started directly from Microsoft Teams.

All employees need to do is request a Windows 365 cloud PC in Microsoft Teams. This request triggers the workflow that ServiceNow ITSM uses to obtain the necessary approvals. ITSM then adds the requested user to the appropriate security grid through Microsoft Azure Active Directory, and it automatically assigns the user a Windows 365 license.

Once the virtual Windows 365 PC is available, ITSM will send a notification to the user in Microsoft Teams and activate access to the requested cloud PC. This process used to require several manual steps, which may take days or even weeks. But the new solution can be deployed in minutes and provide employees with an excellent end-to-end experience.

ServiceNow plans to provide Windows 365 integration as a free application in the ServiceNow store to existing ITSM customers starting in the fall.

You can find more information about the partnership between ServiceNow and Microsoft and the solutions that ServiceNow uses to increase collaboration, productivity, and employee satisfaction.