Get to know the ServiceNow platform: key features, benefits, and use cases
ServiceNow is a cloud-based software-as-a-Service (SaaS) platform that helps organisations automate their business and IT processes, making them simpler and easier to manage. Automating manual tasks with the Now platform frees employees from time-consuming processes and routine tasks and increases efficiency so that they can focus on more important tasks. In this article, we would like to provide an introduction and an initial overview of the platform.
A digitalization platform for all company processes
The ServiceNow platform was originally developed as an IT service management tool and has since evolved into a comprehensive and leading enterprise service management solution and a driver of digital transformation. It is no longer limited to the IT area, but can now be used in all business areas, such as HR, marketing, facilities, customer service, legal and finance.
With a wide range of existing functions, companies can optimise workflows, use their infrastructure more effectively, increase their productivity and fulfil compliance requirements more easily. The integration of department-specific and cross-departmental processes significantly improves the work experience and user experience.
Intelligent workflow automation
In order for companies to reap the full benefits of digitalised workflows, it is important to continuously improve automated processes and adapt them to rapidly changing conditions. This significantly reduces operating costs, shortens process throughput times and increases customer satisfaction. ServiceNow offers a powerful workflow engine and the following modules, which are tailored to the specific requirements and use cases of companies in various industries:
- IT Service Management: ServiceNow ITSM provides a comprehensive ITSM framework that covers all aspects of IT Service Management—from service request to problem resolution to change management processes. With ServiceNow IT Service Management, companies can deliver high-quality IT services in a satisfactory, location-independent and cost-efficient manner. This is achieved, for example, through effective, always-available self-service, a consistently automated IT ticket service and ongoing performance analysis to further improve performance.
- IT Operations Management: With ServiceNow ITOM, IT departments can avoid service failures and accelerate issue solutions. For this purpose, a central system is created to record the own IT infrastructure as well as cloud infrastructure used. Dashboards are provided to help IT Operations Management proactively identify IT service problems and potential causes of service outages, often before they occur.
- IT Asset Management: ServiceNow ITAM enables organizations to keep track of the usage, risks, and costs of IT assets such as software, hardware and cloud resources, and simplifies the management and tracking of asset inventory throughout the asset lifecycle. IT Asset Management helps to save costs and to be able to use the available assets in a cost-efficient way.
- Customer Service Management: ServiceNow CSM helps organizations deliver world-class customer service. With this Customer Service Management module, customer service processes can be automated, requests can be handled efficiently, self-service options can be offered, service level agreements can be managed and comprehensive analyses and reports on customer service performance can be generated.
- Strategic Portfolio Management: ServiceNow SPM enables companies to strategically plan, prioritize, and monitor projects, programs, and resources. This Strategic Portfolio Management module helps organizations maintain visibility over their investments and the value they deliver. Through a centralized platform for project and portfolio management, decision-makers can make data-driven choices, manage projects efficiently, and allocate resources optimally to achieve strategic business goals.
- HR Service Delivery: With ServiceNow HRSD, companies can automate HR processes and increase efficiency within their HR departments. The HR Service Delivery module provides a platform to enhance the employee experience through self-service portals, case management, and a centralized HR contact hub. This streamlines the handling of requests and the provision of key information, saving time and boosting employee satisfaction.
- Operational Technology Management: ServiceNow OTM helps organizations improve the availability and efficiency of their operational technologies. By centralizing the management and monitoring of Operational Technology (OT) and integrating it with the IT Service Management system, a consolidated view of critical operational infrastructures is ensured. With ServiceNow OTM, companies can proactively identify operational risks, detect security gaps, and streamline maintenance processes, strengthening operational safety and continuity.
- Field Service Management: ServiceNow FSM streamlines and optimises field service operations by enabling efficient dispatching, tracking, and management of on-site work. With this Field Service Management module, companies can provide their field service teams with the tools they need to complete tasks faster and more effectively. FSM offers real-time updates, mobile capabilities, and intelligent scheduling, ensuring that the right resources are deployed to the right place at the right time. This leads to higher first-time fix rates, improved customer satisfaction, and reduced operational costs, allowing companies to deliver exceptional service while maintaining control over their field operations.
- Security Operations: ServiceNow SecOps improves cyber resilience and vulnerability management while reducing response times in the event of attacks. To identify, prioritize and quickly remediate security threats, security tools are connected to the security-related orchestration, automation, and response module.
GenAI and Agentic AI in ServiceNow
In addition to traditional automation, the use of artificial intelligence is becoming increasingly important—especially in the form of generative AI (GenAI) and Agentic AI.
GenAI enhances automation by generating human-like content, such as automated responses to inquiries, text classification, drafting emails, suggesting solutions for incidents, or creating knowledge base articles. On the ServiceNow platform, GenAI is used in Virtual Agents, among other areas, to deliver context-aware, intelligent answers that help employees and customers work more efficiently. This not only improves user experience but also significantly reduces manual effort.
Agentic AI takes it a step further: it refers to autonomous AI agents that go beyond executing individual tasks. These agents can independently plan, prioritize, and complete entire workflows—aligned with company policies and business goals. This development is already visible on the ServiceNow platform through solutions like Now Assist Agent, which proactively offers recommendations based on user input, prepares decisions, or even automatically initiates the next action in a process. This next generation of intelligent systems transforms how processes are handled—moving from reactive usage to proactive, intelligent support.
The combination of GenAI and Agentic AI empowers organizations to move beyond simple automation toward truly intelligent, adaptive processes—taking a significant step forward on the path to digital excellence.
A wealth of options and functionalities
The ServiceNow platform brings IT services and business processes onto a central platform, improving collaboration and communication between stakeholders and teams across the business. The platform improves the way organisations work, both for professionals and end users. By converting manual tasks into digital workflows,
- Routine tasks can be automated.
- Services can be requested quickly and easily.
- Service tickets can be optimally managed.
- Faults can be quickly rectified.
- The uptime of systems can be maximized.
- A central database for IT assets can be used.
- A meeting room can be booked.
- Order and approval processes can be accelerated.
- The onboarding of new employees can be facilitated.
Advantages of the ServiceNow platform and why it can also be financially worthwhile for companies
The platform offers companies numerous benefits, including:
- Intuitive, user-friendly operation: the platform is as easy to use as a mobile app, which consumers have already become accustomed to in their everyday lives. This leads to an improved work experience and positive user experience, as users can make requests and access services more easily.
- Highly available cloud service: The platform provides an always available, high-performance cloud service. Companies work with their set of applications and their own database in order to be independent of other ServiceNow customers. The globally distributed data centres (including two mirrored data centres in Switzerland) ensure that access is always possible, even during maintenance work. It also offers comprehensive customer support, support communities, online help and support tickets.
- Low-code development: Thanks to low-code tools, even employees without programming skills can develop applications on the Now platform. Ready-made workflow modules, tools for creating data models and configurable user interfaces are available for this purpose. Experienced programmers can also utilise the efficiency gained through low-code development for their work. ServiceNow has been recognised several times as a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms.
- A single data source: All applications on the Now platform, including self-developed applications, access a common database (central database). This eliminates the challenge of data integration and enables access and utilisation of company-wide services, tasks, locations, information, etc. via a single user portal.
- Hyperautomation: It describes automation across specialist areas or across many business processes. The platform supports companies in combining automated processes into a cross-departmental business process and making overall business processes faster, more efficient and more cost-effective by reducing or even eliminating manual work. Among other things, this enables new products and services to be launched on the market more quickly, productivity to be increased, customer service to be improved and clear competitive advantages to be generated.
- Artificial intelligence (AI): integrated AI technology to improve the efficiency and accuracy of processes in order to solve problems faster and increase customer satisfaction.
- Security, data protection, compliance and conformity: Provision of functions and services in a secure, reliable security architecture that protects implementations as well as data, systems, customer applications and application integrations and ensures security, data protection, compliance and conformity.
- Scalability: ServiceNow is designed for organisations of all sizes and industries. Based on its state-of-the-art cloud infrastructure and application and database server architecture, there are no limits to scalability. ServiceNow can therefore easily adapt to changing business requirements and grow with organisations, e.g. as new business areas emerge.
- Lower total cost of ownership: With ServiceNow, the total cost of ownership can be lower over time because a centralised platform eliminates the need for multiple systems and solutions, which can lead to savings in implementation, maintenance, training and support — the latter because the intuitive user interface increases user adoption and users can use the platform effectively right away.
The platform at a glance
ServiceNow supports organizations in automating their business and IT processes from a central platform, making them simpler and easier to manage. Find out more about the functions and applications on the platform in the “platform reference guide”.
Experience the leading ESM solution
As an expert in service management as well as process automation, FROX AG is a Premier Partner in Switzerland and ServiceNow Partner of the Year 2024. Our specialists will be happy to give you a personal insight into the platform and its many possibilities.
Watch the following Video for a brief introduction to the ServiceNow platform:
