Go to portal
Automation. This seems the buzzword of every Saas community and the ultimate goal for any Saas platform owner but what does it mean and is automation really all it is cracked up to be? SPOILER ALERT – It is.
What is automation?
Automation is the introduction of processes or tools to reduce the need for human intervention in workflows. ServiceNow is a platform that is designed to automate as many of the traditional tasks involved with IT, so naturally you should be striving to automate as much as possible.
Why is automation important?
Your platform should not be more hassle than it is worth. Automation allows you to achieve your maximum return on investment faster. It will free up important resources to focus and prioritize on other tasks within the ServiceNow platform. Automation can allow your developers to focus on building new functionality, Architects to scope out the platform roadmap, Managers to plan ahead instead of focusing on the day to day runnings.
Why should you be increasing your ServiceNow automation?
ServiceNow is designed to allow you to automate business processes in one integrated system. The benefits of adding automation in your ServiceNow environment range from benefits that will have a quantifiable and monetary impact on the business as a whole and those that will have an impact on your team. We’ve highlighted some below:
Maximise investments – When automation is done well, it will bring reliability and consistency to all areas of the platform. Reducing development windows, freeing up valuable assets and making the platform work better for the users.
Functionality – Making some tasks happen as fast as possible, will allow you to bring more functionality and features to the users quickly. For example, Automating testing windows will help you reduce the time it takes to upgrade the platform, allowing you to bring the latest functionality to the users.
Happy and Productive Teams – By automating manual tasks and speeding up processes, this will allow your team to focus on what they want to do. Letting the developers build, giving project managers more control and predictability around upgrades and allowing architects to focus on key parts of the roadmap.
A word of warning:
As with everything, it is important that automation is done correctly. Automation helps with acceleration but you want to make sure that you’re speeding up something that is working, not increasing the amount of issues that will be hitting your platform. Take time to analyse which processes suit you and your team and which will bring you the most value. Don’t just think about tomorrow, think about the impact of automation a further down the line.
ServiceNow Automation tools and processes
ServiceNow offers a full suite of automation tools that are customizable and fully integrated. There’s plenty to choose from in the ServiceNow store, which are designed to help make the life of you and your team easier, we’ve listed some below;
Automatepro is a market leader in ServiceNow test automation, allowing you to upgrade your platform seamlessly and reduce your testing window.
Quality Clouds (shameless plug I know) can automate your end to end quality checks, saving your team countless hours, whilst giving you 100% code coverage.
Run Deck helps to make your automation processes even more secure and efficient. A no brainer for large environments.
Key Takeaways:
ServiceNow is a platform that is designed for maximum automation – Automation, done well, will have a positive impact on user experience, giving users a smoother experience and the ability to benefit from new platform functionality but you need to make sure that you’re putting the correct automated processes in place. The ServiceNow store is a great place to find tools to help you.
