In an era where global spending on digital transformation is expected to reach USD 3.4 Trillion by 2026, platforms like ServiceNow have emerged as a transformative force that is propelling businesses to digital success.
The global cloud market was valued at approximately $490 billion as of 2022. Out of this, the ServiceNow market size alone is estimated to have accumulated at least $24.8 billion going into 2023 and is set to grow to $123.2 billion by 2033 — a CAGR of 17.4 percent.
The growth and dominance of ServiceNow is particularly driven by the irresistible benefits that the platform offers.
In this article, we look at the compelling benefits of ServiceNow for businesses.
10 key benefits of ServiceNow
If we were to summarize all the benefits of ServiceNow, it would come down to Integration and Efficiency. ServiceNow is known for its ability to integrate various systems, processes, and data sources into a unified platform that powers streamlined workflows and improved collaboration across an organization.
This indeed explains why the renewal rate is so unbelievably high, at 98 percent! For many competing solutions, this is a dream rate that may never come to fruition. But give it to ServiceNow, they have been able to do it.
It's therefore not surprising that almost every organization will not have a problem using ServiceNow.
It's all down to the following compelling ServiceNow benefits.
1. One platform, many solutions
If your business needs to manage multiple enterprise services across different departments like HR, legal, customer service, and finance among others, there's no need to utilize many separate platforms. Through the ServiceNow platform, you can conveniently access all the required solutions in one place.
This availability of a comprehensive range of solutions on a single platform ensures that employees, customers, and partners have a centralized point of access for critical services. Consequently, ServiceNow becomes an adaptable and user-friendly solution for any organization.
Also Read: The Key IT Services for Small Businesses
2. Diverse, highly qualified ServiceNow partners (providers) to choose from
If you are in search of a platform full of experienced partners with a wide range of skill sets, deep industry knowledge, and specialized expertise, ServiceNow is the perfect fit.
With at least 794 ServiceNow partners around the world, users have access to serious providers that are committed to excellence, from giants like Deloitte to top performers in the small and medium range.
ServiceNow has different partner levels, which makes it easy for any business to find a partner that best meets their needs. This means your organization can tap into the unique capabilities and experiences of these partners across different areas that include but not limited to;
- IT Services
- Human Resources
- Customer Service
- Security Operations
- Project Management
ServiceNow boasts a Global Ecosystem that offers comprehensive solutions that can cater to specific needs of most mainstream industries.
Also Read: Benefits of Technology in the Workplace
3. Powerful integration capabilities
Looking to integrate your IT solutions and data into one single platform? ServiceNow makes it happen. This will help you eliminate data silos and promote a unified workflow.
Through a comprehensive set of integration tools, APIs, and pre-built connectors, you will easily connect ServiceNow with a wide range of third-party systems, such as CRM, ERP, HRIS, and many more.
ServiceNow integrations particularly support these three use cases:
- Process integrations, which allow different systems to exchange data and trigger automated actions, enabling seamless end-to-end workflows across multiple applications.
- UI integrations, which enable embedding external applications or content within the ServiceNow user interface to provide users with a unified experience across various systems.
- Data integrations, which make it possible to exchange data within the ServiceNow platform.
The Now platform supports most of the common integration technologies, including:
- Web services
- File retrieval/import sets
- JDBC connections
- LDAP
- REST and SOAP
- Excel
- CSV
- E-mail transmissions
The integration of Jira with ServiceNow is the most prominent integration we can learn from. This integration enables seamless flow of information and actions between ServiceNow and Jira. With this level of information flow, teams can track and manage incidents, change requests, and other IT processes in ServiceNow while synchronizing them with corresponding development tasks, user stories, and bug reports in Jira. It promotes transparency, efficiency, and alignment between IT service management and software development workflows. For example, you’ll achieve efficient communication between your customer service department and the development team, helping your business resolve customer issues faster.
4. Highly Scalable
ServiceNow can effectively handle growing workloads and accommodate the needs of organizations of varying sizes.
The platform's scalability stems from its cloud-based architecture, which allows for the flexible allocation of computing resources based on demand. As the number of users, processes, and data increases, ServiceNow can seamlessly scale up by provisioning additional resources to ensure optimal performance.
Also Read: Benefits of Cloud Computing
Example:
Imagine a rapidly growing organization that initially implements ServiceNow for IT service management (ITSM) to handle incident management, change requests, and service catalog. At the beginning, the organization has a moderate number of employees and service requests.
However, as the company expands, hires more employees, and introduces new departments, the volume of service requests and IT processes increases significantly. With ServiceNow's scalability, the organization can seamlessly handle this growth without experiencing performance bottlenecks.
ServiceNow can scale up by dynamically allocating additional computing resources, such as server capacity, memory, and processing power, to handle the increased workload. This means that employees can continue to submit service requests, and IT processes can be efficiently managed even with the growing demand.
The organization can also take advantage of ServiceNow's scalability by extending its usage to other departments beyond IT, such as HR, Facilities, and Finance, without worrying about limitations.
Whether your business is growing rapidly, experiencing seasonal fluctuations or expanding into new markets, you don't need to go looking for other platforms.
5. Improved decision-making
In business, you may often find it stressful to incorporate and secure data from different sources and departments e.g. sales, marketing, finance and administrative data.
But ServiceNow offers a centralized data management system that integrates and consolidates data from your different departments in real time. This offers the much needed data visibility, analytics, and reporting capabilities.
With ServiceNow, you can capture, centralize, and analyze vast amounts of data related to various processes and operations. This data can be transformed into actionable insights through real-time dashboards, customizable reports, and data visualization tools.
This convenient access to accurate and up-to-date information enables decision-makers e.g. Chief Executive officers, middle managers and sales representatives to make quick and informed choices.
6. ServiceNow eliminates unnecessary costs
If your business is looking for a platform that reduces the need for human intervention and minimizes the risk of errors, then ServiceNow is a great option.
Firstly, ServiceNow enables automation and streamlining of manual, repetitive tasks. This reduces the need for labor-intensive processes and associated costs.
Secondly, ServiceNow centralizes and standardizes workflows and processes. This eliminates duplication of efforts and improves operational efficiency, leading to cost savings.
ServiceNow's self-service capabilities empower users to resolve their issues independently, which reduces the reliance on IT support staff and associated costs.
Moreover, ServiceNow's cloud-based architecture eliminates the need for costly on-premise infrastructure, which reduces hardware and maintenance expenses.
Finally, thanks to access to important tools such as machine learning and artificial intelligence technologies e.g. chatbots, your business will continuously take advantage of the latest technology to reduce even more costs.
Also Read: How to Create an AI Strategy for Your Business
7. You can use the ServiceNow platform to build your own apps
If your organization is exploring building apps that serve specific functions such as self-service options or optimized workflows based on your individual preferences, then ServiceNow is the right platform for this.
This is possible through ServiceNow's Guided App Creator or App Studio in the Now platform. You can connect your app to databases, spreadsheets and other external systems using REST APIs to integrate data.
8. ServiceNow saves time and improves productivity
We touched on automation earlier when discussing the cost-reduction benefits of ServiceNow. But time is also a critical resource that needs to be utilized with a lot of care. In the context of ServiceNow, you can save a lot of time through automation.
The automation of repetitive processes such as incident routing, request fulfillment, and approval workflows support your teams to complete tasks faster. This accelerates response times, and ensures consistent adherence to predefined procedures. The result is increased productivity.
Even better, you can customize ServiceNow's workflows and tailor them to specific business requirements.
For example, the Workflow Engine enables the creation of approval workflows using a drag-and-drop interface. The approval workflows you create will automatically seek and approve requests for various processes, including but not limited:
- Purchase requests
- Change management
- Employee onboarding
9. ServiceNow empowers organizations to deliver efficient customer service
ServiceNow provides a unified platform for managing and resolving customer inquiries, incidents, and service requests. Through its service portal, customers can access self-service options, track their requests, and find relevant information. This significantly reduces the need for direct interaction with support staff.
The knowledge base and ticketing system empowers support agents with access to relevant information, which enables them to provide accurate and timely assistance to customers.
ServiceNow also facilitates collaboration between teams, which makes it easy to escalate customer issues.
The consolidation of customer service operations on a single platform enhances the overall customer experience, and this increases customer satisfaction. You can manage customer service requests in real time from various channels, e.g. phone, email, chatbots and social media.
10. Speedy identification and response to security incidents
ServiceNow enables speedy identification and response to security incidents by providing a centralized incident response solution.
Through integrations with security systems, ServiceNow collects and correlates security event data in real-time, allowing for quick identification of potential threats.
Automated workflows and intelligent routing ensure that incidents are promptly escalated to the right security teams for investigation and response.
Meanwhile, incident management capabilities such as SLA Management and knowledge base integration enable effective collaboration among security teams. This facilitates a rapid and coordinated response to security incidents.
Which industries can benefit from ServiceNow
As a platform that drives digital transformation through the automation of workflows, ServiceNow can be used by businesses across most industries.
Here are the most prominent ones:
- Telecommunications, Media, and Technology
- Non-Profit Organizations
- Retail
- Service Providers
- Manufacturing
- Government Institutions
- Financial Services
- Energy & Utilities
- Healthcare & Life Sciences
- Education
Top ServiceNow products
These are the key services/solutions in the ServiceNow ecosystem:
- IT Service Management (ITSM)
- IT Operations Management (ITOM)
- IT Asset Management (ITAM)
- Security Operations
- Governance, Risk, and Compliance
- Customer Service Management
- HR Service Delivery
- Enterprise Asset Management
- Field Service Management
- Financial Services Operations
Conclusion
Efficiency and productivity are the definitive drivers of the modern digital landscape, and ServiceNow delivers this to great satisfaction. It empowers organizations to break down silos and streamline operations through a unified approach to managing workflows.
But the impact of ServiceNow goes far beyond individual organizations. It has become a catalyst for transformation across all the major industries, from healthcare to finance, from retail to manufacturing, and many others in-between.
