Author: Malwina

How do I get started with Predictive Intelligence?

Posted on by Malwina

You have probably heard about machine learning possibilities and how artificial intelligence can make your work easier within the ServiceNow platform. Perhaps you are a step away from deciding that you want your agents to get all the AI benefits like automatic categorization, assignments, and automatic recommendations. Predictive Intelligence and Predictive Analytics also bring many possibilities and functionalities to predict actions, make decisions, and plan the next steps based on analyzed historical data. Take a look at our summary of what Predictive Intelligence can do for you and your organization.

Predictive Intelligence as an operational brain

Predictive Intelligence covers three capabilities around AI technology – machine learning, natural language, and search and automation. Machine learning is a set of algorithms that, through historical data analysis, can make predictions, while natural language processing focuses on analyzing users’ language allowing more ‘human’ ways of communication. AI search delivers highly relevant results based on user context and natural language. Algorithms get information through deep learning, mimicking how our brains work, continuously learning and improving their ways.

By using predictive intelligence and predictive analytics, you can manage a higher volume of tasks and tickets while lowering costs. Automation, as well as AI and improved categorization, reduce:
* Task resolution times.
* The number of interactions required to resolve tasks.
* The error rates of categorizing and assigning work.

Predictive Analytics
Source: ServiceNow

Predictive Analytics is all about making intelligent predictions to improve efficiency and deliver better results on your platform. Classification and similarity framework allows searching through knowledge articles, open/closed incidents, problems, and changes. All of it is to give a ready solution to the agents as soon as they get their tickets assigned. Also, your agents have a single point of information in the Agent Workspace. The clustering framework helps them discover patterns and group tickets and lets them see the hotspots. The purpose is one – let your employees focus on more advanced tasks by powering workflows with machine learning.

Predictive Intelligence
Source: ServiceNow

Predictive Intelligence – similarity and clustering frameworks

The Predictive Intelligence similarity frameworks allow an instance to identify existing records to add new ones, thanks to the fact that they have similar values. It’s all based on building a corpus of words within a certain framework. A corpus of words is a collection of vocabulary that has been predetermined and trained, which the system relies on to find textual similarities. By reusing similar closed incidents that have a proven resolution, you can help agents and fulfillers quickly provide the best resolution for an incoming incident. It is necessary to keep the corpus of words up to date. For this purpose, from time to time, you should refresh and retrain solutions.

How can you use the clustering framework? It is very simple – just group similar records into clusters. Thanks to this function, you can deal with incidents collectively or identify patterns. For example, you can group recent incidents into a cluster to identify a serious incident. Examples of grouping into cluster frameworks are shown in the graphic below.

Source: ServiceNow
Source: ServiceNow

Why are AI and machine learning worth it?

Using Predictive Intelligence in the ServiceNow platform gives your agents advanced AI tools without data science expertise. Getting suggestions from the AI tool makes the work fast and smart and allows a quick response as well as spotting major incidents in the ServiceNow instance. Resolution times are shorter, the manual errors decrease, and the tickets are assigned to the right people at the right time. That naturally leads to better efficiency, increased customer satisfaction, and fast improvements.

Predictive Intelligence
Source: ServiceNow

Additionally, you get regression analysis to predict the time to resolution of a task. Connecting AI to analytics for real-time insights is a great advantage. You can surely count on data security, as you use your data, which means they never leave ServiceNow data centers. You also can measure and refine machine learning models thanks to Predictive Intelligence Workbench. The Predictive Intelligence tool provides your agents with recommendations in 6 languages (English, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, and Dutch) and does not require coding skills as you can use out-of-the-box templates. You can also connect it with the Virtual Agent to use the automation to assist users quickly and effortlessly.

Here you can learn how to choose the right Virtual Agent for your platform

Machine learning success story

Implementation of any new technology may become difficult. You must educate your teams on machine learning benefits, find the best ways to collaborate and improve incident and case management performance, and build expertise and enthusiasm around AI. And this is how the University of Maryland has transformed its IT service delivery with Now Intelligence. To deliver a great experience to university staff and students, the IT department chose intuitive self-service to report issues, access services, find solutions and share questions and answers with other community members.

Thanks to AI technology, users can now automatically create a website for a new research project or schedule delivery of equipment for specific classes. Since the adaptation of Virtual Agent and Predictive Intelligence, the staff noted a huge increase in correct incident routing. It went from 56% to 85%, helping the IT team to get the right work faster. The incident resolution time was reduced by 75% because of more accurate incident routing and thanks to the ITSM Agent Workspace, which is intuitive and easily managed by IT support.

Predictive Intelligence
Source: ServiceNow

ServiceNow’s predictive intelligence and machine learning improve productivity and work experiences. You deliver better self-service, detect major incidents, discover hidden patterns and optimize knowledge bases. Agents’ work gets easier with automatic recommendations for actions and answers, while users are empowered with accurate and relevant search results.

Remember that adopting a new feature is an essential step for your ITSM maturity. We encourage always searching for professional support to ensure you get 100% out of your ServiceNow instance. Contact us if you are interested in more and want to know how you can adjust the AI processes to your needs.

Busting the 6 myths around ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence

Posted on by Malwina

Artificial intelligence, machine learning, and predictive intelligence have been hot topics for many years, and the presumptions around new technologies still bring mixed feelings in the business area. You might have heard some of these before, or perhaps you are still very cautious regarding machine learning. We are here to debunk these beliefs and set the record straight about what embracing predictive intelligence can bring to your organization and the ServiceNow platform.

MYTH #1   Using AI and predictive intelligence is not safe

Using the ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence function is as safe as having ServiceNow. The infrastructure and data security are highly resilient with its cloud-based services. Predictive Intelligence, formerly known as Agent Intelligence before the New York release, works on dedicated servers, which are as safe as the instance itself. Of course, cybersecurity requires regular checks. That is why ServiceNow enables you to access dashboards, which are crucial to the security and give the proper insight into what is happening with your data. 

Source: ServiceNow

Additionally, by using performance analytics, you can foresee any safety threats. Since the decisions are based on data, the risk of errors is lower with artificial intelligence. Analyzing data through AI tools, you are less likely to commit any bias – the machine is objective and does not choose one data over the other.

MYTH #2   Giving space to AI makes me lose control

Concerns about losing control of the technology are standard. Fortunately, ServiceNow gives you complete power over the AI function. You are the one who determines how to configure the Predictive Intelligence and when the algorithm should be decisive.  

Source: ServiceNow

For example, using Virtual Agent Professional, you can set an 85% accuracy threshold to automatically assign incoming requests from your users. This allows for the agents’ last word on giving less straightforward cases. At the same time, the most apparent tickets get posted automatically, improving the response time and customer satisfaction.  

By choosing the correct parameters, you check random cases occasionally to verify the predictive intelligence correctness. Thanks to the generated reports, you see the comparison between the agent and machine decisions and have the proper insight to take further actions in customer service management. So, long story short – you are in charge.

Source: ServiceNow

MYTH #3   My ServiceNow platform doesn’t need AI

What is wrong with service desk manual work? The agents have managed it until now, so they can go on without artificial intelligence. Indeed, they can. But isn’t it worth using predictive intelligence to make things quicker, more convenient, and more accurate? Wouldn’t automatic ticket assignment or predicting possible problems make your agents more effective? Also, what about the user experience? Nobody wants a separate channel just for sending requests.  

Virtual Agent lets your users contact the agents through their channel of choice, with integration in Microsoft Teams, Slack or Messenger, and many others. That leads to customer satisfaction and less frustration when the bot guides the user, resulting in fewer mistakes. So you get improved workflows, smooth and fast user experience, resources for more complicated tasks, fewer human errors, and predictive capabilities based on raw data. It’s a win-win.  

Source: ServiceNow

MYTH #4   Predictive intelligence is too expensive

Applying tools like Virtual Agent Professional or Performance Analytics might not be the cheapest solution, but it depends on how you look at it. AI in ServiceNow brings pretty fast ROI, not only improving the work but also letting you rearrange the assignments to your resources. It is more of an investment.  

The agents get time for other, more complicated tasks while machine learning solutions are doing repetitive jobs. In the long run, it should result in time and money savings. Obviously, every company has different needs, so machine learning capabilities should be adjusted to these specific requirements. By knowing how to optimize the ServiceNow paid solutions, you can get a pretty good deal.  

Source: ServiceNow

MYTH #5   Introducing AI solution is too confusing and complex

Every new implementation takes a little effort. If you look at the outcomes, though, there is no confusion or complexity. On the user end, it gets easier. They receive the right help and instructions straight away, through the communication channel of their personal preference. It becomes a streamlined path leading to a resolution. 

Source: SPOC

Conversely, agents have access to everything in their Agent Workspace, which is very convenient. Predictive intelligence is there to get all the information and displays it in a user-friendly way through the dashboards. All the historical data is in one place, and the overview is straightforward. Your agents do not need to know how to code due to the simplicity of the Predictive Intelligence feature.

MYTH #6   ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence is designed for simple tasks

The functionality is expected to affect the automation of repetitive tasks, solving issues faster, based on machine learning. All this is true. But Predictive Intelligence is a more advanced solution.

Predictive Intelligence ServiceNow is just opening the door to the world of AI capabilities. And what is behind those doors? Machine learning, automation, ticket rewriting, ticket clustering, performance analytics, event prediction, and response planning, Classification Framework Dashboards – and still only a part of the possibilities that ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence provides. You will be able to get acquainted with the description of all the possibilities and functionalities in the next article dedicated only to ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence. Stay tuned!

Source: ServiceNow

Maximized ServiceNow or the basic ITSM version? 

Adopting predictive intelligence is a great way to take your ITSM process maturity to the next level. But since it’s an important step, we always advise our clients to analyze their needs and see how such a solution might streamline processes and workflows.

With your implementation partner or even alone, you should be able to determine the most critical areas – sometimes the essential solutions can address your needs, e.g., when users mainly send requests about resetting passwords or ordering equipment. It can be easily handled by the Virtual Agent Lite solution and does not require a high investment or a long time. On the other hand, an experienced implementation partner can help you with more advanced needs and get the best value for the chosen solution. 

Sylwester Jassa, ServiceNow Presales Manager & Business Solutions Consultant at SPOC

Machine learning solutions are great tools, ensuring a better work experience and more satisfied agents and users. There are many scenarios in which the Predictive Intelligence feature makes sense, e.g., you want to cut time spent on resolving tickets, improve customer experience or know about possible issues through predictive models. Different frameworks, like classification or similarity frameworks, can be used to fulfill these various goals.  

Indeed, deciding to maximize your ITSM instance with predictive intelligence is not easy, especially when you consider that you need historical data in significant volumes to benefit from it fully. If you are interested in more and want to know how you can adjust the AI processes to your needs, contact us. 

How to choose the right Virtual Agent for your platform?

Posted on by Malwina

Every business can take advantage of an automated tool to assist its users quickly and efficiently. The question is, which type of Virtual Agent is the right choice for your company to enable a better user experience on your ServiceNow platform? We are here to help you find the right solution!  

The power of ServiceNow Virtual Agent

To make it simple, a Virtual Agent is a sort of chatbot that uses Artificial Intelligence to take communication to the next, more sophisticated level.

With Virtual Agent, you can create tickets, manage them, respond to questions, and fulfill user requests. If it is needed, it transfers the user to the live agent. Thanks to the natural language processing engine, the tool does not only analyze the keywords but also takes into consideration the context of a conversation. Smooth integration with all communication channels like Slack or Microsoft Teams makes it easy for the user who doesn’t need to login into the ServiceNow portal.  

ServiceNow Virtual Agent is proven to help organizations in achieving better results in a number of areas, including ITSM, HR, and CSM, while constantly improving user experience and satisfaction.

Axel Starosta – SericeNow Developer at SPOC
Source: ServiceNow

The idea behind Virtual Agent is to save users’ and agents’ time and lower the effort and the mistakes in the process. Faster, easier, and more pleasant. And greater customer satisfaction with the use of the chatbot. And it learns over time! The Virtual Agent technology is constantly improving through data analysis to give your users the best conversation path. The more data, the better results. Analyzing the user’s request helps the Virtual Agent to become a well-oiled machine, better understanding the user’s communication patterns and guiding the user through the process. The Virtual Agent currently supports 8 languages, but as every organization uses its own, ‘inside language’, the tool’s learning skill is priceless. Preparing a chatbot for work is very simple. It is based on the popular no-code or low-code platform model. As shown in the graphic, an example conversation just needs to be prepared in a drag-and-drop interface.

Source: SPOC

Building a chatbot in Servicenow via Virtual Agent is as easy as doing it on different competitive cloud solutions like Google Dialogflow or AWS Chatbot!

Adam Goździewski – ServiceNow Developer at SPOC

Empower your users by finding the best match 

Respond to a few questions to determine which type of Virtual Agent fits you the most. Choose your answer and check which kind of Virtual Agent you need.

1. What processes do you wish to make self-serviceable? 

a) basic ITSM actions like checking ticket status or reporting an issue – A 

b) more advanced ITSM actions like password reset, run knowledge base search or transform a caller to the Live Agent aid queue – B 

c) my own, custom, not necessarily ITSM processes – C 

2. What languages should your chatbot be able to understand? 

a) English – A 

b) any of the following: – B 

Italian, Norwegian, Japanese, Canadian French, Finnish, Polish, Korean, Danish, Swedish, Brazilian Portuguese, Portuguese, French, Spanish, Dutch, Chinese, German 

c) other

3. Is there a need for Teams/Slack Integration with your system? 

a) yes – B 

b) no – A 

5. Should a chatbot have access to a knowledge base to suggest helpful articles? 

a) yes – B 

b) no – A 

6. Are their surveys required to gather user feedback to supervise virtual agent activity? 

a) yes – B 

b) no – A 

Basic needs for self-service
– Virtual Agent Lite 

Your answers indicate that the lite tool is probably enough for your needs. The limited version of Virtual Agent gives you access to the keyword-based conversation in web chat and other messaging apps like Slack, Microsoft Teams, or Messenger. It has an introductory collection of topics for your IT support. Virtual Agent Lite can improve your ITSM system self-service experience, giving you a primary conversational interface. Your users can check their ticket status or report an issue. It is a stiff path, but if you want to improve the response time and do not have many complicated tickets, then go for it.  

This version is free for ServiceNow license owners, so it is the most economical option. Keep in mind that the lite version does not allow any modifications to topics in Designer, like creating new topics, topic blocks, or custom controls. You will not have access to Virtual Agent Analytics Dashboard or Natural Language Understanding support either. The two available paths let the user check the ticket status or report an issue.  

Source: SPOC

Extended support with natural language
– Virtual Agent Professional 

Virtual Agent Professional might be a perfect choice for you. The extended version of the tool offers all core functionalities plus customization and NLU. What does it mean for you? The tool improves over time and can give a better, more personalized customer experience by applying the information from previous conversations. With NLU, your Virtual Agent understands, processes, and responds in an improved way to the users’ needs. Thanks to access to Virtual Agent Designer, you are free to develop, test and deploy tailored automated conversations. It allows you also to build new topics and topic blocks that can perform certain functions or custom controls during the interactions with your users. 

Virtual Agent Professional covers different communication channels and third-party messaging apps, making it more convenient and easier for users to resolve their issues. The available channels are broader than in the Lite version, thanks to conversational custom chat integrations. Your users can choose a channel familiar to them, making the whole user journey smoother. The technology in the full version of the tool supports also: 

  • answering FAQs; 
  • providing tutorial (“how to”) information; 
  • querying or updating records, e.g., to get status on cases or incidents; 
  • gathering data, such as attachments, for the live agent; 
  • capabilities performing diagnostics; 
  • resolving multi-step problems. 
Source: ServiceNow

Specific needs for improved customer satisfaction
– a dedicated solution 

Sometimes even the extended version does not meet the company’s needs. You might as well need a customized AI bot for your ServiceNow, written accordingly to your specific requests. Perhaps you have different communication channels that need to be covered, or you want to automatically assign tickets to a particular person. You might also want to take a step further and make your Virtual Agent more fun, enabling it to chat about the weather or the latest news. The sky is the limit thanks to unlimited integration possibilities with NLU engines like IBM, Watson, Microsoft LUIS, or external APIs. Your Virtual Agent solution can be anything you want and need. 

Read about the 6 most common myths around ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence.

We helped AMS to build a customised chatbot with the app engine. With 400K recruitment interviews organised each year, the custom solution was a perfect choice. It allowed AMS to automate and coordinate the interview process at every step of the way – from the first online to the last face-to-face meeting. Results?

Using ServiceNow, and its elite partner SPOC based in Poland, AMS Interview Scheduling automates and co-ordinates every aspect of the process, enabling everyone involved to focus on getting the maximum value from the interview.

Natalia Mikrut, Head of Digital Automation at AMS

Read more about this success story. And find out more about our experience in developing custom applications. 

Source: ServiceNow

How to get better business outcomes with Virtual Agent? 

Based on 10 years of experience and extensive ServiceNow knowledge, we believe that choosing the right version of the tool is critical. First, consider your company’s needs and how this tool can improve the user experience. Do you need more advanced help, or is it just a question of a basic solution to improve the response time from your agents?  

So our tip is to go for adjusting the tools towards the needs, keeping in mind that any automation will be positive for your agents to free them from repetitive tasks and let them focus on more complex user needs. When we analyze our clients’ instances and provide them with a health check, we usually come up with a reasonable solution that will be both appreciated by the agents and end-users.  

Please tell us more about what you want to achieve, and what are you prerequisites or expectations – contact us.

How to improve the work-from-home experience with ServiceNow?

Posted on by Malwina

The last three years and the COVID-19 pandemic disrupted the way we work. Despite the vaccinations, the World Health Organization has said that Europe will experience a challenging autumn and winter of 2022/23 with the new infection wave. How can your company be prepared for another potential work-from-home season? What are the best practices to improve self-service?  

Hybrid is the new normal

The digitization of the workplace has been one of the most impactful trends of the last decade. In 2021 Okta pointed out in their report that the average amount of apps at organizations has increased by 22% in the past four years. Many of these solutions were introduced to provide easy self-service to employees. More apps mean more problems and increased work for service desks. But the higher number of tickets hasn’t been the only challenge during the pandemic.  

Source: https://www.okta.com/businesses-at-work/2021/

Most companies addressed arising issues with data security, time tracking, and workplace safety by creating work-from-home policies. ServiceNow platform did everything to ensure employees’ flexibility and safety, having a home office or hybrid work environment. For example, a ServiceNow plug return-to-work product has been widely used by companies like Uber or Bank United, allowing them to shift from 100% remote working to hybrid mode safely.  

Predictive Inteligance
Source: ServiceNow
Predictive Intelligance

More than that, ServiceNow offers automation systems, workflow handling, and new ways to digitize processes usually done in person before. From an IT perspective, the most important elements to address are IT support and service desk team agility, making work from home much easier for the employees. Ensuring a business continuity plan for remote work scenarios is a safe way of facing the possible new COVID-19 waves.

Service management at its best with an office-in-a-box solution 

Different pandemic restrictions forced the business world to introduce change and remote work quickly. Facing this challenge, one of our clients reached out to create a tailored home office solution for the company employees. This leading supply chain solution company utilizes high-quality infrastructure, modern facilities, and proven IT systems like ServiceNow to meet and exceed the expectations of its customers.  

During several lockdowns, the company employees had to perform their duties from home. The managers saw how important it was to provide employees with a working environment and to keep efficiency levels high. That’s when the idea of creating a dedicated platform to order home office supplies was born.  

The collaboration with our client on this project has been very enjoyable. Responsiveness and knowledge from customer side part allowed us to create a novel solution fit for our times.

Magdalena Kurzymska, Project Manager at SPOC

We approached this idea with an MVP solution, choosing CSM customization to ensure high speed to market. CSM is a great choice to support several external users and company clients. The solution allowed people to order all the equipment needed for their remote work environment and resulted in quick service delivery. It made the process smooth and effortless without losing any additional time, improving both service desk staff work and employee experience.  

Automation, artificial intelligence & self-service 

As mentioned before, remote or hybrid work setup results in many IT tickets from the users. Usage of new software, VPN, and connection poor quality create an accumulation of cases that service desks need to cope with. How to handle the ticket pile-ups in the most effective way? Technology can help overworked service desks by automatically resolving common service desk questions and 24/7 availability for all users.  

Source: ServiceNow

With ServiceNow Virtual Agent, these numbers can significantly go down. Self-service solutions like chatbots responding to users’ questions and assigning tickets automatically save time on both service desks and users’ sides. A faster, easier, and more pleasant way to provide FAQs, give status on cases or incidents and resolve multi-step problems. All of it is in one channel of the user’s choice – without logging into the service desk portal.  

Read more about the Virtual Agent portal

Source: ServiceNow

With predictive intelligence as an additional tool, you can do even more. It helps you foresee what problems might arise, allowing your service management a better and quicker response. Machine learning is a great solution, ensuring a great work experience and more satisfied agents and users. 

Discover the most common myths around ServiceNow Predictive Intelligence

Source: ServiceNow

Go hybrid with ServiceNow 

Whether there is another COVID-19 wave or you plan to switch from remote work to hybrid, you need to improve the user experience on your ServiceNow platform constantly. The reason is simple – with well-working service desks, automation, self-service, artificial intelligence, and other solutions improving the ways of working, your employees will be more pleased. And it will have an impact on their work, meaning improved efficiency. Let’s talk about how we can help you to adjust the platform to your users’ needs. 

What’s new in ServiceNow San Diego release?

Posted on by Malwina

The ServiceNow San Diego update

New release of ServiceNow is available now! Named after the city of San Diego, it brings many changes, new and shiny like the California sun, that will fire users’ imagination. The ServiceNow San Diego release includes not only improvements of the previous features but also services, products and events that are completely new.  A metamorphosed user interface, complete data automation, low-code innovations, IT Management Business transformed into Strategic Portfolio Management and Specific Industry Solutions – there are some examples of the new features. As always, we prepared a summary of the most important changes, just as we did with previous updates, to make your work better, faster and easier. We hope reading this article will make you ready for the next step – reading ServiceNow release notes for information about new features and preparing for the upgrade.

ServiceNow San Diego Release

New Experience UI (Polaris)

ServiceNow platform developers listen carefully to user feedback. Previous versions were criticized by users for unattractive design, unchanged since 2016. It was considered to be old-fashioned, distinctly different from other modern services. One of the most important changes in the ServiceNow San Diego is a user interface redesign and introduction of the new Next Experience UI (Polaris). ServiceNow completely changes user experience. The difference is not only about the colors, better typography or rounded edges – the new ServiceNow release UI delivers a modern and intuitive experience. This is the change you are going to love. San Diego upgrade focuses on personalization. Users have access to all the content and are able to create a new task – this function is not reserved for admin only but also for the user. All tasks, current and previous ones, can be easily viewed and added to Favorites. Applications in the platform are built on four tabs: All, Favorites, History and Workspaces. Each of them enables keyword search and viewing search results. San Diego also introduces a dark mode – something that many users have been asking for.

Here you can read about previous ServiceNow release – Rome.

Automation Engine with RPA

Every user of ServiceNow knows Integration Hub that enables integration with any API based system. San Diego introduces Automation Engine – excellent solution for automatization and integration. It connects Integration Hub with brand-new possibilities of RPA. Robotic Process Automation plays a key role in business process automatization, making it much easier and allowing to reduce time and money at the same time. The San Diego Release enables problem-free integration of old systems with ServiceNow and full automatization of manual processes. Human abilities are mimicked by artificial intelligence in the form of bots, also called “virtual workers”. It’s not only a change, it’s a real revolution.

Low-Code Innovations

Low-code platforms and citizen development are very popular terms in IT industry right now, considered to be game-changing features and the future of developing applications. This opinion is shared by ServiceNow – looking at new release, we understand why ServiceNow was named a leader in low-code development platforms. One of the most popular low-code platforms App Engine Studio with App Engine, a development tool for creators to build applications; another, for instance, is Mobile App Builder that helps to create mobile experiences. The new release introduces many features that are based on low-code solutions and require very little or no coding at all in order to make build application or processes. Users are given more freedom – you can use the platform the way you want to and adjust it to your businesses.

Strategic Portfolio Management

Formerly known in ServiceNow as IT Business Management, this feature undergoes a rebranding in ServiceNow San Diego Release. Now it is called as Strategic Portfolio Management. The new name reflects the changes – in comparison to the previous ServiceNow releases, San Diego has a bigger collection of applications, enabling their better integration. Strategic Portfolio Management allows you to see the entire life cycle of a service or an application, from idea to implementation, in one place. The San Diego release focuses also on Goals Management, an application you should pay attention to if you are responsible for strategic planning in your company. Some features, adapted to their needs, were created also for Solution Owners.

ESG management

ServiceNow San Diego release introduces ESG management – a completely new product that shows how the platform effectively responds to the problems of our time. Issues such as climate change or gender inequalities require taking action – this is more and more important for companies and their investors. ESG Management allows you to effectively manage ESG (Environmental, Social & Governance) criteria that include relations with the environment, community of employees, suppliers and customers and management style. These criteria can be easily evaluated, improved, monitored and reported. ESG management enables also managing initiatives, processes and data about above-mentioned issues.

Industry Specific Solutions

Last but not least – ServiceNow San Diego Release offers many unique upgrades for specific industries, such as insurance, banking and telecommunications. As a result, functions such as Customer Service Management become easier to use than ever before. San Diego opens a world of new possibilities, primarily for healthcare, life sciences service management and financial services. The new features include new features for transactional data and dedicated data models.

ServiceNow San Diego release – prepare your company for the new!

One of the highest priorities at ServiceNow is platform security when it comes to protecting your information. With the new features and improvements to existing ones (for instance, areas as Field Service Management or IT Service Management were enhanced and updated), the San Diego release allows users to reach a new level of productivity and rise their skill levels. Summarizing new services and events, the biggest change is New Experience UI that meets the highest of expectations and improves user engagement. RPA & artificial intelligence as virtual workers enable full automatization of manual processes; IT Business Management has transformed into Strategic Portfolio Management. Low-code development innovations become increasingly popular and accessible, confirming they are the future of application development. The San Diego Release also introduces new products such as ESG Management or Industry Specific Solutions, dedicated to specific businesses. They improve work and make it faster and better, taking innovation to the next level.

Discover the possibilities of ServiceNow platform with the new services and make your work easier, faster and better thanks to all opportunities that San Diego release is opening for you now. Next experience is around the corner as another release – Tokyo – is coming at the end of the year. Prepare for the platform upgrade.

5 practical tips for effective ServiceNow implementation

Posted on by Malwina

Before implementation

ServiceNow is a powerful technology platform that can drive digital transformation and process automation in large organizations. But implementation can also be frustrating and cumbersome. Based on my experience as an implementation consultant, you need to do these 5 things if you want to increase the odds of ServiceNow project success. Here are 5 tips for successful implementation of ServiceNow – the best practices you need to think about before starting your journey with ServiceNow platform.


Set clear business goals 

It’s time to begin, and let’s do it with the first step – business goals. When I join new ServiceNow implementation engagements, I like to ask myself some questions, and the most important ones are: “We need to consider, what are we doing here”? What do we want to accomplish by investing everybody’s time and effort into the project that will likely take months and cost millions? 

You have to answer this and the funny thing is, it is not always clear how.  

What is not so funny is that when it comes to a successful ServiceNow implementation, without clear business goals everybody involved in the project – without a single exception – struggles. And this is to be expected. The truth based on many case studies is: you don’t know where you’re going (at least roughly), you will (most likely) never get there. 

Before thinking about implementing ServiceNow, it’s time to approach what you want and what you have to accomplish. Think out of the box. Answering this question, ideally in measurable ways, makes it easier to select the ServiceNow product and services, including the right license package, assemble the team that is fit for the job, plan timelines and distribute tasks, destined to ensure a successful ServiceNow implementation.


Put boundaries on the scope

Scope creep is a real thing. It doesn’t come out of nowhere. It drains resources. It derails and frustrates teams. It delays go-lives. You don’t want to have these struggles in your project, definitely not in a major way. 

That’s why scope boundaries are needed. Ideally, they should flow from clear business goals. But they are more specific.  Your business goal may be migrating from your legacy ticketing solution to IT Service Management in ServiceNow within 3 months.  

Your scope should specify whether migrating existing tickets from a ServiceNow implementation of the old tool to the ServiceNow is part of the project. Or which ITSM processes (incident, change, problem, service request) will be part of implementing ServiceNow. Or whether Knowledge management is in scope too. And so on. 

The more you explicitly include and exclude from the scope, the easier it will be for everybody, including your ServiceNow implementation vendor and platform support team, to estimate their effort and manage ServiceNow delivery without drama. 


Put together the team  

I guess this is my personal favorite from all best practices to ensure the right ServiceNow implementation. IT systems are about technology, about the platform, but, out of the question, they are also the people.  People who collaborate to define business goals and scope. People who bring technical expertise to configure, customize and test your ServiceNow instance. People who drive and embed the change in your organization. People from the IT department, responsible for IT processes. And finally people who will be using ITSM applications, Customer Service Management, Project Portfolio Management, GRC, HR Service Delivery, Safe Workplace Suite, Event Management or whatever ServiceNow solution or product that you are planning to roll out. 

The quality of the team that you put together on your side (especially process owners and product owners) and the quality of the team your ServiceNow implementation vendor will bring to the table will to a large degree define the quality of a ServiceNow implementation. 

One fatal mistake I’ve seen is dismissing this good old human aspect of technical implementations based on the assumption that “technology will simply take care of itself” or “developers will just do it”. As disappointing as it sounds, we’re not there yet, not even close, and strong teams are key to successful ServiceNow projects.  

You’ll find even more practical tips how to avoid pitfalls in implementing ITSM ServiceNow here.


Follow the implementation process 

And strong teams work much more effectively if they operate within some framework. Let’s call it the implementation process of ServiceNow. It’s simply a sequence of steps, to some degree predictable and repeatable across ServiceNow projects, that provide guardrails for everyone involved, from business stakeholders to solution architects to quality assurance engineers. 

ServiceNow is promoting its own methodology called Now Create, based on years of the most important customer experiences, best practices, successes and failures of the platform.  

The most successful implementation of the platform vendors embrace it but also enhance it with a lower-level process for SDLC (software development lifecycle), team collaboration mechanisms (like Agile) and other practices that provide structure to what is often a very dynamic, non-linear process of implementation and embedding ServiceNow as an ITSM, ESM, CSM, ITOM, PPM, GRC or HR solution.


Embed this change 

One of the halves of the battle is getting the technical part. We need to think about what the other half is. The right answer is: getting the intended users to make the new tool – ServiceNow – their own.  
One thing to consider is if employees really visit the new Service Portal and use the Service Catalog. Do they see value in ServiceNow? Do business approvers log in to the mobile app to approve requests, changes or contracts on the go? Do team leads pay attention to SLAs to drive efficiency of their teams? Are support agents more productive and less frustrated now that they have dashboards, reports and Performance Analytics to make their work easier? Are their business needs completely fulfilled? Are they satisfied with usage of the platform?

It’s not enough to say that these things work – technically. Well, it may be enough to sign off the completion of the project. You know – tick this box. But in the bigger picture, for the ServiceNow product, like ITSM, PPM or a custom app, to be successfully implemented, it needs to be backed up with organizational change management.


How to do it? This means user adoption support, training and communication, documentation and sharing, usage monitoring, feedback management and continuous improvement. All this is needed to make the platform truly transform the organization. And the best value is that this job is never complete (or easy) as organizations evolve and so should their people, processes, services and tools, including ServiceNow.

Another thing worth your consideration is platform’s user experience. We gathered in ebook 7 tips that you should take a closer look at while improving your platform UX.

Prepare for ServiceNow implementation

To sum up, 5 things you should remember when implementing ServiceNow: make sure people will use it, build realistic scope, set clear business goals, gather a strong team of people who will be project ambassadors across your organization. Don’t forget that you don’t have to know it all. We are here to prepare you for the journey and make this process smooth and successful. Prepare for implementation with a partner who cares.

How to use Automated Test Framework?

Posted on by Malwina

Automated Test Framework

The usability of ServiceNow and the possibilities it offers allow users to constantly develop the platform, which translates into many benefits. However, there are no safe implementations without testing the prepared solutions. The purpose of testing is of course to minimize the risk and unexpected post-implementation failure, as well as to check the correctness of the solution and the related logic.

ServiceNow allows for automated testing, which results in savings. Below you will find information about the ATF plugin that can be used on the platform. You can read about the advantages of this solution.

What ATF is?

ATF (Automated Test Framework) is used to automate most of the manual tests. ServiceNow offers it as a plugin and platform feature.

Where ATF is useful?

ATF is intended for regression testing. It can be used on instance to retest the feature that could impact the instance. When you maintain the test scenarios and take care of extending them, they can bring enormous value to your organization. ATF allows you to minimize the risk of incidents on the production instance after deployment. You have an additional option to ensure correct work of your system and reduce the potential impact on the users. Regression testing with ATF can be used for complex and risky changes to make sure that all system components are working fine according to the prepared testing scenario after change implementation.

In addition to that, ATF can be a real game changer during upgrades.

Why ATF can be helpful during upgrades?

Preparing test scenarios and testing the system are important parts of upgrade process. Both of these activities can take a long time. When you decide to use ATF, you invest the most time in the beginning because you need time for configuring testing scenarios in the system. But don’t be scared. With this investment, you can save time and money in the future. Test automation supports the upgrade process. Automated tests makes upgrade process shorter and can be used in continuous iterations without waiting for the team’s availability.

What is the price of this tool?

You can use ATF in ServiceNow for free. The cost you have to bear is the configuration of test scenarios in the system based on existing documents or new ones prepared by qualified SPOC QA team.

Where should I start?

You may find it difficult to analyze your instance objectively and prepare your first testing scenarios on the instance or extend existing ones. But an external expert can help you understand what should be done. Find a trustworthy partner with the right experience to ensure that your ROI increases and the end-users are pleased.

How to attract more users to your ServiceNow? 

Posted on by Malwina

User-friendly and intuitive Service Portal

So you invested in ServiceNow, created a Self-Service Web Portal and Mobile App for your users, but the interest is low. What now? You need to improve your ServiceNow perception internally and make sure that the platform is optimized to your needs. A successful interface translates into less frustration, fewer errors, a more user-friendly approach and an increased number of users. These 4 basic questions can help you find the cause of your problems. 

Is my ServiceNow portal user-friendly? 

A user-friendly portal is a key to self-service. What does it mean? Portal needs to be up-to-date, simple to navigate and visually attractive. Take away everything unnecessary for your users. Focus on the User Interface and User Experience of the Portal. Make it intuitive. By focusing on the end-users from the start, you commit to Design Thinking principles.  An example? What often fails is the navigation – check if it aligns with your customer’s needs. Never try to put too many categories or information on one page, but rather lead users to what they are searching for. Check if you have the ways to navigate back to any previous page and make sure that the paths are intuitive.  

Source: SPOC
Source: SPOC

Does it reflect users’ needs? 

You need to make sure that your portal looks appealing to your target group. Does it reflect the company and the user needs? Take into consideration how your users work and what they appreciate. Customize your portal or app to the company and users’ needs. When it comes to banal orders, like getting office supplies, the process should be as straightforward as possible. No one will want to spend more than several clicks and a few minutes for that kind of request – otherwise, it is easier to write an email, and we miss the point. An essential part is adapting to the devices preferred by most users – is it mobile, laptop screen or desktop? Let’s not forget about those unfamiliar with technology – the more simple, the better. Keep in mind what your users need from you to prepare a successful interface they will want to work with.

Source: SPOC

Is my ServiceNow platform  mobile-focused? 

Non-mobile-friendly design can lower your statistics. Google says that even 48% of users are frustrated and annoyed when the site they are using is not mobile-friendly, and more than a half of them will not engage with the page. While building your Self-Service Portal or Mobile App, you should focus on a straightforward and user-friendly mobile interface for a better experience. Service Portal works pretty well on mobile devices since it has a built-in responsive layout. But it can be optimized for mobile use, making sure that the layout and widgets are used to deliver the best possible experience on any device. What should the mobile-focused design look like?  

Knowing what your users want and expect from your product is the most important part of creating a successful service. If you adjust your mindset to this knowledge and make it a priority you will save everyone’s time and frustrations in the long run and simply make a better product. 

– Jacek Witek UX/UI Designer

Source: SPOC

Do my employees know how to use it? 

Employees resist new tools due to several barriers. It takes time to adopt a technology. Among the main reasons behind it, listed by the Economist Intelligence Unit, is a lack of awareness. When the Service Portal or Mobile App is ready, you need to ensure that everyone is on board. How to do it? Start with clear, regular communication to your users. Make sure that it is also well-designed and distributed strategically. The right layout for your communication, an awareness campaign, done with marketing support is a first step to spread the news and encourage your audience to use the portal. 

ux design
Source: SPOC

How to increase my ServiceNow platform’s UX? 

You may find it difficult to analyze your Service Portal objectively. You see it every day, working with it, so you are used to it the way it is. But an external expert can help you understand what is missing and what needs to be changed. You need to find a trustworthy partner with the right experience to ensure that your ROI will increase and the end-users will be pleased.

If you are interested in this topic, be sure to download our ebook. A gigantic dose of knowledge and practice on 40 pages.

What is Agent Workspace?

Posted on by Malwina

Agent Workspace – my findings

When I first started learning about incident, problem, change and request management, I thought I had a general idea of how these processes operate and intertwine with each other. Yet I felt something was missing, a possibility for a more unified and coherent way to act on process records. After spending some time with Agent Workspace, I got on top of it, and I believe after reading this article, you will get there too. like to check the health of your instance. HealthCheck can also be included in the support contract and be performed on a regular basis, e.g. once every six months. 

Clear functions

Agent Workspace is a graphic user interface that puts all the tools to find, research and resolve issues. As it works on identical records as a regular instance, the core functionality of forms isn’t lost but built up. Almost all fields and buttons fit into a single page. You don’t need to scroll too much, and your options appear more transparent.

The new design is much more readable and digestible, especially for someone with little ServiceNow familiarity and experience like myself. You don’t have to search for the essential elements like Short Description, Urgency and Category. They are placed in front and never get lost during the form exploration. The Agent Assist and Templates, which I will touch upon soon, are also always available within a single click.

Agent workspace 1
Agent Workspace 1 ServiceNow
agent workspace 2
Agent Workspace 2 ServiceNow

Modern multitasking

One of the most significant improvements in Agent Workspace is the ability to work on multiple records at once in a single window. You no longer need to open each record in a separate browser tab which crowds bloated browsers.

agent workspace 3
Agent Workspace 3 ServiceNow

Instead, each record has its own tab inside the Workspace, which can also have sub-tabs related to its parent. Working on multiple records now is a much more efficient and pleasant experience.

Smooth user communication 

Still relatively new and, in my opinion, under-utilized Interactions found their place in Agent Workspace. By using Service Portal, Virtual Agent, Incident, or other channels through integrations, users can open chat with Agent who sees the Interaction record and tab containing user’s case in real-time. Managing Interactions became more convenient and transparent for both users and agents.

Workspace Agent improves your agent experience and is tailored to the kind of issue that the agents work on. Integrated with chat on the same page, helps to easily communicate with end-users from the same interface while finding, researching and resolving issues.

– Konrad Mamica, Presales Consultant

Intelligent source of knowledge

The Related Search feature allows searching for knowledge and solutions in the form of articles, catalog items, similar closed cases, etc. I appreciate the new spin as it gives me a whole new level of sources organization. The accessibility and intelligent search boost efficiency and reduce redundancy and frustration from searching up constantly the same results. Speaking of which, we also have Templates that, when set up accordingly, can fill out an entire record worth of fields. It eliminates clicking out the same data over and over again.

Properly customized searches

It’s not like regular filters couldn’t customize the search and be saved, but Lists have become even more straightforward. They require fewer clicks to run and are easier to create. Categorizing and organizing my searches made the work a lot more comfortable, efficient and tailored around what I needed.

Agent workspace 4
Agent Workspace 4 ServiceNow

Why Agent Workspace is my ultimate choice?

Using Agent Workspace enabled me to understand the process I was involved in a much better way. Its clear, single-pane view and a bunch of enhancements over regular Form View made working on records faster, more comfortable and understandable. In my belief, Agent Workspace is the next step in evolving the ITSM processes for Agents. I can’t imagine not using it with its current value, which will continue to grow as AW is constantly developed with every new upgrade.

How to check my instance performance?

Posted on by Malwina

What HealthCheck is? 

Can HealthCheck from SPOC really heal your instance? If yes, how is it possible? Read the service key elements to learn more about how you can unlock the potential of your instance and improve its performance.

Healthcheck from SPOC is a service provided by Maintenance & Development Team. You can use it even if you’re not a SPOC customer and would like to check the health of your instance. HealthCheck can also be included in the support contract and be performed on a regular basis, e.g. once every six months. 

HealthCheck is an innovative solution from SPOC. Through that, we quickly discovered areas to improvement our ServiceNow instance. SPOC’s specialists showed commitment to the project. During the consultation, they identified targeted improvements. SPOC has great knowledge of the ServiceNow platform.

– Rene Karjus, Internal Services Team Lead at SK ID Solutions

What HealthCheck contains? 

HealthCheck is a complex service. We start with a session with you to discuss your needs and expectations or any issues that occur on the instance. Your business and your needs are our starting point. We have an out-of-the-box and customized approach.   

If the main issue is the instance performance, we use the core version of service that contains the following activities: 

  1. We perform an automatic performance inspection with SPOC proprietary tools. 
  2. This prepared report will show you the issues we identified and point out which ones can have a real influence on the ServiceNow environment. 
  3. During the joint session to show you the issues we identified with their defined priorities and present the impact on the ServiceNow environment. You will learn where fixes are needed and how we can help you to improve the instance performance.  

  You can extend the core version of the service and get: 

  1. The exact action plan with steps to do, description of what shall be fixed, estimates and proposed timeline. 
  2. The team to fix the found issues within proposed timeline and according to the agreed estimates. 

If your company instance issues are not related to the performance, during the first session, we focus on your point of view. e.g. If your Discovery algorithms are not working properly or Service Catalog workflows approvals are not ordered, we’re ready to help you and review specified system areas to propose the further improvements. The key is to know as-is and to-be state. 

Within HealthCheck service, you get a complex consulting adjusted to your needs that will help you to order some system areas, learn ServiceNow features better and set the direction of development. 

How do I know I need HealthCheck? 

Reach out about HealthCheck service if you: 

  1. Observe performance issues on your ServiceNow instance (the whole instance or some areas work slowly e.g. slow forms and reports, delays in sending notifications). 
  2. Observe issues with any ServiceNow process or feature and you would like to improve some elements (not enough data protection, record duplicates, issues in integrations with 3rd party tools). 
  3. Would like to identify potential development opportunities for your instance and learn about new ServiceNow features. 
  4. Would like to optimize the operation of your instance by disabling the functions that are no longer usable. 
  5. Would like to have your instance health checked on a regular basis in order to react to any problems and to ensure the effective maintenance of the continuously developed environment. 

What is unique about HealthCheck?

You probably take care of your instance either way. So, what is so special in HealthCheck service? 

  1. We use our proprietary tools, not widely available on the market to check the ServiceNow instances performance based on ServiceNow best practices. We have implemented tools that help with the effective analysis. 
  2. We organize an unlimited session with you to answer all of your questions. The session is not limited to an hour. Also, you don’t have to analyze the results yourself. The session to discuss report results may take as long as you like to explain any doubts, regardless of your level of technical expertise. 
  3. We offer you a team of experienced developers and consultants who verify your instance and answer your questions with their help you can get to know ServiceNow features better and decide which ones are worth your time and money. This way you can open up your system to new possibilities with our consulting service. 
  4. We can analyze also custom solutions implemented on your instance (not only out of the box configuration) to show you which customizations elements can be problematic. 
  5. You don’t need to put any effort in the process – we coordinate fully the service, even if we need ServiceNow help to get access to some system elements. We can present you only the final results if your availability is limited. 
  6. You don’t need dedicated teams. You can fix your issues permanently with SPOC and reduce the needed costs. 
  7. We offer you attractive price with higher possibilities. 
SPOC S.A.
ul. Szyperska 14
61-754 Poznań, Poland
ul. Grzybowska 43
00-855 Warszawa, Poland
sales@spoc.eu +48 614 152 903

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