ServiceNow is software that can maximize customer experience and improve various operational processes. Like other modern platforms, it’s based on a cloud providing clients with unparalleled accessibility and simplicity.
In this article, we’ll go through ServiceNow’s pros and cons, basic features, and pricing plans. Hopefully, some of this information can help you when deciding whether or not to get a subscription.
What is ServiceNow?
ServiceNow is classified as ITSM software, providing the best results for large tech companies. Businesses use it to streamline various processes, from custom apps development to email and inventory management. However, aside from IT brands, the tool can also benefit manufacturing, healthcare, financial, and other industries.
The platform includes various workflows that the software creators classified into four categories:
- IT workflows
- Customer workflows
- Employee workflows
- Creator workflows
Each of these groups is further divided into subcategories, focusing on specific daily IT tasks. Even if you can’t find what you’re looking for, the ServiceNow platform allows your developer team to create a customized solution.
The software is fantastic for managing different workflows and is often used by customer support teams for tracking and answering external inquiries. Overall, ServiceNow can significantly improve internal collaboration and increase the speed of resolving various requests.
ServiceNow features
Unlike ServiceNow competitors, most of which rely on the SaaS model, this company offers a full aPaaS experience (Application Platform as a Service). Basically, you get access to an entire platform that can be used for all sorts of tasks.
- Incident management
As the name indicates, incident management is vital in case of emergencies. If something bad happens with your systems, ServiceNow can help you out for the time being. Aside from providing temporary solutions, the platform allows you to remedy the issue much quicker.
Besides internal processes, incident management can also assist with external customer relationships. You can rely on virtual agents to process incoming client requests and resolve them when possible. The incident management system also has a proactive role, reducing the total call volume.
All in all, this feature is fantastic for improving customer experience and restoring your systems whenever an emergency strikes.
- IT service management
With IT service management, you can deliver digital solutions to your clients in an efficient and timely manner. The product gives you access to scalable client workflows through a single, unified dashboard.
Advanced artificial intelligence systems can track issues even before they occur. They can provide suggestions to your team as to how to best resolve the problem. AI will process every incoming ticket and create a customized solution.
Like most other modern software, ServiceNow stores all interactions with users in its database. That way, the company’s managers can access different cases and assess how employees tackled specific problems. As a result, your company will not only improve customer satisfaction but also make operations more efficient.
- Change management
Through change management, a company can streamline and respond to various internal and external changes and challenges. Besides implementing suggestions as to how to best tackle newfound situations, ServiceNow monitors all related activities.
Through machine learning, the software can learn what worked in the past, thus improving future reactions. As a result, you’re less likely to implement inefficient solutions to your changes. The platform also provides risk assessment and conflict detection making the results much more predictable.
The software reacts differently depending on a change. When encountering low-risk changes, the platform might automatically resolve the problem without human interference. That way, you don’t have to waste time on processes that don’t matter much.
- Problem management
Problem management focuses on finding issues within the infrastructure while also having preventative functionality. ServiceNow’s algorithms do a great job of learning from past situations, significantly reducing the number of potential future incidents.
With its great diagnostics, the platform can detect potential problems during the initial stages and immediately resolve them. Users can access a log that breaks down all previous issues while also outlining how the tool resolved the situation.
- Asset management
With asset management, you can streamline the use of a company’s assets. ServiceNow tracks various details pertaining to your devices and software. Aside from digital assets, the tool can also manage real-world company resources such as inventory.
The feature is fantastic for tracking financial activity and can serve as the backbone of certain accounting processes. As with other previously mentioned features, ServiceNow records all asset management activities. Based on data, software engineers and management can make decisions when to retire certain company assets.
Pros and cons of ServiceNow
If you take a look at ServiceNow features and benefits, you’ll quickly realize this is one of the best platforms on the market. Nevertheless, that doesn’t mean this aPaaS is tailor-made for every company.
So, to help you make the right purchasing decision, we’ve made an outline of ServiceNow benefits and drawbacks.
ServiceNow pros
- Despite offering so many things to users, ServiceNow does lack certain functionality. Luckily, the developers had enough foresight to encompass for this issue, providing users with numerous integrations.
- One of the major benefits of ServiceNow is the customization. You can modify every workflow that you’re using to better fit your specific business purposes.
- You can also create self-service portals when using ServiceNow. They require minimal coding, so you can set them up in no time.
ServiceNow cons
- ServiceNow is an extremely complex platform that can become even more convoluted with integrations. While the base product is amazing, you’ll still need integrations to get the most out of it. In other words, you’ll have to spend money on numerous other tools.
- Users might also struggle with some of the program’s reporting features. Compared to its competitors, this functionality is severely lacking with ServiceNow. The platform can also do better with its business intelligence.
- The basic setup is overly complex, so it isn’t surprising that many companies struggle to modify the workflows. While this might not be a major issue for IT companies that have numerous software engineers, it can be a major issue for brands doing business in other industries.
Pricing
ServiceNow doesn’t disclose prices on its site. Instead, you’ll need to contact their team for a quote.
Conclusion
Packed with features, ServiceNow can occasionally be complex to navigate and may require additional integrations for the full package. If you’re seeking a tool that enhances both your team’s efficiency and customer satisfaction, ServiceNow is certainly worth exploring. Just ensure you get a quote from their team and balance its advantages with its intricacies.
Tim M. Hill helped bring Digital-Overload from a weekly newsletter to a full-fledged news site by creating a new website and branding. He continues to assist in keeping the site responsive and well organized for the readers. As a writer to Digital-Overload, Tim mainly covers mobile news and gadgets.
