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Unconventional Wisdom

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, PlatformNo Comments
The genesis of misconceptions, how they spread, and what to do about them Introduction I’ve written two previous articles about ServiceNow as a platform to-date, focusing on the vision of the founders of the company and how that translates to developing in and configuring it. While I focused on good practices and understanding what ServiceNow is at its core, I also touched on some of the misnomers that have spread throughout the ecosystem. As it has rapidly expanded in recent years, it seems these misnomers have become more pervasive and more ingrained. And unfortunately ServiceNow management and marketing don’t seem…
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A Sophistic User Experience SUX!

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, Platform, SolutionsNo Comments
Why Confirmation, Navigation and Messaging Are Critical to a Good UX (and How to Do It) (One in a Series of Posts About Building the Right User Experience) Introduction User Experience (UX) is a broad topic, with people whose full-time job is designing and ensuring implementation of a good user experience. I’ve found this is a discipline only done in very large organizations, or organizations who have UX as a primary focus. This is a minority of ServiceNow implementations. UX in most ServiceNow environments is left to the best efforts of developers, admins, QA and business stakeholders. And often it…
Can AI Service You Now

Can A.I. Service You Now?

Posted inArchitecture, Configuration, Custom Applications, Customization, Design, Platform, Product, UpgradesNo Comments
A Perspective on AI’s Use in Service Delivery and in ServiceNow Introduction I guess it’s time to write something about AI. The topic seems unavoidable these days. Everywhere you turn there’s another article either breathlessly extolling the virtues of AI, or warning of the dangers, or predicting a future where AI either has given us lives of leisure or made us its slaves. What I don’t see is a lot of analyses of the short-term practical uses of AI, and where it may or may not make sense for business use. In this vein, I will give you my thoughts…
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Think Before You Do (Part 3)

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, PlatformNo Comments
Considerations for All ServiceNow Administrators as they Build and Configure Introduction I often write about leveraging the platform for bespoke business needs, thoughts about proper design and architecture, reviews of ServiceNow solutions and how they fit into an overall platform strategy.  But sometimes it’s good to focus on the basics - what a manager I had called “blocking and tackling” - the fundamentals of administering a ServiceNow platform for its overall health and creating the best experience for users.  These are things I tend to take for granted, but then I see customer instances and realize people working in ServiceNow…
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Think Before You Do (Part 2)

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, PlatformNo Comments
Considerations for All ServiceNow Administrators as they Build and Configure Introduction I often write about leveraging the platform for bespoke business needs, thoughts about proper design and architecture, reviews of ServiceNow solutions and how they fit into an overall platform strategy. But sometimes it’s good to focus on the basics - what a manager I had called “blocking and tackling” - the fundamentals of administering a ServiceNow platform for its overall health and creating the best experience for users. These are things I tend to take for granted, but then I see customer instances and realize people working in ServiceNow…
Wireframe drawing representing planning and structuring

Think Before You Do (Part 1)

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, PlatformNo Comments
Considerations for All ServiceNow Administrators as they Build and Configure Introduction I often write about leveraging the platform for bespoke business needs, thoughts about proper design and architecture, reviews of ServiceNow solutions and how they fit into an overall platform strategy. But sometimes it’s good to focus on the basics - what a manager I had called “blocking and tackling” - the fundamentals of administering a ServiceNow platform for its overall health and creating the best experience for users. These are things I tend to take for granted, but then I see customer instances and realize people working in ServiceNow…
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To Code or Not to Code (this is the question!)

Posted inConfiguration, Customization, Design, Out of the Box, PlatformNo Comments
‘Tis it nobler to bend to false conventional wisdom or to follow the found truth; ay, there's the rub! Introduction Unless you’re brand new to the ServiceNow ecosystem or have completely ignored all talk and literature about the platform in recent years, you’ve heard the drumbeat of a couple of key messages (that I’ll paraphrase): Low and no code solutions are the future Stay “Out of the Box” as much as possible Out of the gate, the question I’ll pose is: does low code / no code matter? If so, why does it matter? In this article, I’m going to…
construction built from the ground up

Buy versus Build

Posted inPlatformNo Comments
How all those who work with ServiceNow should think about buying a solution versus building their own “Construction is the art of making a meaningful whole out of many parts.” — Peter Zumthor Introduction Buy versus build is a discussion perhaps as old as software itself. Certainly it has become more prevalent as software has evolved beyond canned (boxed) point solutions into development platforms. Modern platforms provide the ability to use existing components to develop new solutions and ServiceNow is no exception. In fact, ServiceNow was designed to do this from the ground up - it was the vision of…
architectural structure

Wherefore Architecture?

Posted inArchitecture, Configuration, Custom Applications, Customization, Design, Platform, UpgradesNo Comments
If ServiceNow is built to support Citizen developers, why do we need ServiceNow architects? “Thinking about design is hard, but not thinking about it can be disastrous.” - Ralph Caplan Introduction For almost 14 years in the ServiceNow space, and across a rapid expansion of the exosystem, it has been interesting to observe and analyze various organization’s approaches to developing and maintaining their ServiceNow environment. Specifically, how do organizations manage the inflow of business needs, the distribution and velocity of development, configuration and administrative work, and the ongoing maintenance of the platform? As the footprint of ServiceNow has expanded conjunctionally…
platform part 2

It’s the Platform, Stupid* (Part 2)

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* - A play on the famous James Carville quote about the economy, not implying that ServiceNow folks are stupid It’s been a few years since I wrote Part 1 of this article, going through the history and evolution of the ServiceNow platform, and the morphing of the company strategy from platform to product. After working with multiple clients in the meantime, and reading lots of new marketing and going through many platform release upgrades, I thought it time to revisit the subject with new perspective and analysis. A quick recap: In the early 2000s, ServiceNow (nee “Glide”) was envisioned…