Leveraging ServiceNow: How UK businesses are keeping their cool this summer

As the UK swelters under the summer sun, businesses across the nation aren’t taking a break. Instead, they’re seizing the season as an opportunity to explore and implement new technological solutions through Proof of Concepts (PoCs) on the ServiceNow platform. Despite the soaring temperatures, companies are driving innovation and efficiency, ensuring they remain at the forefront of their industries.

In today’s economic climate, many businesses face financial constraints and limited resources. This makes it crucial to maximize value from existing platforms, staying competitive and efficient—essentially, keeping their cool amidst the heat of operational challenges. Often, businesses are surprised by the untapped capabilities within platforms like ServiceNow.

We’re seeing a growing interest among businesses in unlocking the full potential of their ServiceNow instance. Do you have within your platform modules like Contract Management or Procurement that you are not that could bring value from integrating with asset lifecycle management?

Furthermore, many companies deployed ServiceNow's discovery tools years ago but haven’t updated them to take advantage of recent advancements in pattern technologies. These advancements can now detect previously undiscoverable assets, enhancing visibility and operational efficiency.

Real-World Success Stories: The power of PoCs

To highlight the tangible impact of PoCs, let’s explore how NowBench helped two UK businesses leverage ServiceNow to address critical challenges and drive meaningful improvements.

Customer One, a leader within the Finance sector, embarked on a PoC to enhance the management of their cloud infrastructure using ServiceNow’s ServiceOps capabilities. The initiative focused on improving discovery, monitoring, and alerting processes for their Azure and Oracle Cloud services.

Although the customer had Discovery in place, they were unaware of the advancements it had made. They initially thought that managing containers and other cloud resources required separate point solutions. However, the PoC not only delivered immediate value but also highlighted opportunities for further optimization, helping Customer One align their cloud strategy with long-term business objectives. Throughout the process of overcoming CMDB population challenges and showcasing effective management with Data Manager, they also gained valuable insights into tackling their license utilization challenges within ServiceNow.

The PoC delivered such impressive value that the decision to move the proven concepts into production was immediate. Remember, quick wins can create the biggest impact—sometimes even a small shift can make waves. The benefits were so clear that taking it live was a no-brainer.

Customer Two, a global Public Services organization, aimed to tackle operational challenges and enhance their IT operations using ServiceNow’s Service Mapping. They initially believed that addressing issues related to DORA and operational resilience required procuring another point solution, which would inevitably bring added costs and delay ROI.

Instead, they pursued a PoC to demonstrate the untapped potential of creating service maps with the licenses they already had.

The PoC targeted three critical IT services, demonstrating how service maps could streamline operations and tie into future initiatives like event management. Through collaboration with their ServiceNow team, Customer Two successfully showcased the feasibility and efficiency of adopting service maps, gaining valuable insights into operational resilience. The PoC provided a clear path for broader implementation, equipping the company with the tools needed to enhance their ServiceOps capabilities and drive continued innovation.

They are now looking at this as a key initiative to address their previous challenges.

These case studies demonstrate how targeted PoCs can unlock the full potential of ServiceNow, driving operational efficiency and fostering innovation. By taking such small steps, businesses can follow the best strategic approach, maximizing their existing investments and staying ahead in an increasingly competitive landscape.

While this blog focuses on ITOM, it's important to note that other powerful capabilities within the ServiceNow platform exist. For example, better modeling of the Configuration Management Database (CMDB) can address Application Portfolio Management (APM) needs, among other things. By recognizing and leveraging these capabilities, businesses can unlock significant value from their existing investments in ServiceNow, driving innovation and maintaining a competitive edge.

Don’t let the prospect of a large-scale implementation scare you. Often, the greatest impacts come from bite-sized pieces of work. Just like a small fan can make a big difference on a hot day, incremental changes can transform your operations, helping you stay cool, keep costs low, and enhance the platform’s value. By leveraging ITOM and other ServiceNow capabilities, businesses can drive innovation, improve efficiency, and stay ahead in their industries.

Take the Next Step with NowBench

Is your business ready to unlock the full potential of ServiceNow? At NowBench, we specialize in guiding organizations through their ServiceNow journey, from exploring untapped features to implementing PoCs that deliver immediate value. Whether you're looking to enhance your current setup or explore new possibilities, we're here to help. Reach out to us today to discuss how we can support your innovation and operational excellence goals.