ServiceNow IT Operations Management Reviews

We use the solution mostly for CMDB discovery.

I like the solution mostly for CMDB discovery. It consists of a complete package. Due to licensing and cost purposes, I was looking for some other options. I got to know that ServiceNow also uses Device42 for a few of the discoveries. The solution's asset management capability works fine.

The solution’s licensing cost could be improved.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management for nine to ten years.

I rate the solution’s stability an eight or nine out of ten.

We faced some issues while scaling up the solution. ServiceNow has a code base of its own, which is abstract to us. So, we have to rely on the solution's vendor support for scalability issues.

The solution is more suited for enterprise businesses. Small businesses would never go for ServiceNow because it's more costly. They can use a lot of other SaaS tools available in the market. Depending on the complexity and the organized structure, around 50% of mid-size companies may like it, and the other 50% may not. If an organization will expand exponentially, it should go for ServiceNow. Otherwise, it should consider some other tool.

I rate the solution a seven or eight out of ten for scalability.

The technical support team’s response time could be improved.

The solution’s initial setup is simple.

The cost of ServiceNow is much higher.

It is easy to integrate ServiceNow IT Operations Management with our IT workflow. I would recommend the solution to enterprise businesses.

Overall, I rate the solution a seven out of ten.

It primarily focuses on areas such as event and incident management and automating workflows based on events and incidents. It includes automated workflows, assignment rules, and advanced event correlation capabilities. Anyone using ITOM widely utilizes these core features, especially when considering the licensing costs involved.

It offers strong API accessibility, allowing the creation and integration of workflows with external systems. This flexibility enables users to design and execute custom workflows that meet their needs efficiently.

The main issue with ITOM in an enterprise environment is performance. If you're ingesting hundreds of thousands of events per minute, you need infrastructure capable of handling such a large scale. ServiceNow ITOM doesn't have a built-in solution specifically designed for this level of performance extension. While expanding the cluster and creating additional nodes is possible, this may still result in bottlenecks. An external event handler or gateway is often necessary to effectively manage high event loads and spikes.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management for ten years.

The stability is good. Large systems can occasionally run into issues, but those are typically due to external changes, whether it's something someone adjusted or environmental shifts, rather than inherent software bugs. 

Scaling ServiceNow in a global environment depends heavily on the design. In cases where multiple regions require separate ServiceNow instances, you may need to synchronize them through a central instance. The ability to scale effectively depends on how the system is architected.

The cost of implementing ServiceNow, including ITOM, largely depends on the company's budget. ServiceNow licensing can be expensive, especially for ITOM. Larger enterprises often benefit from enterprise global agreements, which can help reduce licensing costs. However, the high cost might be prohibitive for smaller companies without such agreements.

I recommend the solution to medium to enterprise.

I rate the solution’s scalability a seven out of ten.

External AIOps systems like Azure, Sumo Logic, or Grokstream offer robust event correlation and management capabilities. With a solid foundation using these tools, handling events and incidents directly via APIs is possible, potentially bypassing the need for ITOM. 

ITOM provides strong workflow management and additional use cases that integrate well into broader ServiceNow processes. While external tools can be effective, ITOM still has a valuable role, especially in automation and workflow-driven tasks. The balance depends on specific needs.

It is a little expensive.

I rate the product’s pricing a six or seven out of ten, where one is cheap and ten is expensive.

Large organizations managing high event volumes and seeking to drive significant automation should consider ITOM and its potential impact on their business. ITOM's capabilities, especially in workflow automation and event management, can add substantial value when handling complex IT environments.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The main use case for ServiceNow IT Operations Management in my experience was to streamline and enhance various IT operations, including regular management, incident management, change management, problem management, and knowledge management.

The most valuable feature of ServiceNow IT Operations Management is the user interface. It provides an intuitive and user-friendly platform for managing various IT operations and processes, making it easy for our team to navigate and perform tasks efficiently. Additionally, the ability to generate user-level reports is another standout feature. These reports allowed us to gain insights into our IT operations, monitor performance, and make data-driven decisions, which was crucial in optimizing our IT environment and services.

ServiceNow IT Operations Management could be improved by providing more user customization options. Currently, users have limited control over what information they see on the interface, and most customization tasks require administrator involvement. It would be more convenient if users could easily choose and display only the essential information they need for their specific tasks, making the tool more user-friendly and efficient.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management for about five years.

I would rate the stability of the product as an eight out of ten.

I would rate the scalability of the product as an eight out of ten. Approximately 25 to 30 people use it at our company.

My advice to people who are considering using ServiceNow IT Operations Management is to evaluate your specific requirements before making a decision. It is essential to assess your organization's needs and objectives to determine whether ServiceNow ITOM aligns with your goals. Conducting a thorough analysis will help you make an informed choice on whether or not it's the right solution for your IT operations. Overall, I would rate the product as an eight out of ten.

It provides a great variety of features and modules that help optimize the operations. Automation streamlines tasks and improves efficiency, while reducing costs by leveraging machine learning and artificial intelligence.

It includes a valuable feature called Discovery, that aids in application portfolio management, enabling visibility into IT infrastructure from top to bottom.

Enhancing automation-related solutions, such as Wi-Fi, porting, machinery, and product automation would help to achieve better operational outcomes.

I have been using it for ten years.

It offers remarkable stability. I would rate it nine out of ten.

The scalability capabilities are highly satisfactory. I would rate it nine out of ten.

They provide immediate assistance for any product-related issue, ensuring a high level of efficiency.

Positive

We used to operate with IBM solutions previously but with ServiceNow all of the essential functionalities such as project management, deployment, and automation services, are centralized and easily accessible.

The initial setup was straightforward and seamless.

The deployment process took about six months. It involved fulfilling various prerequisites, such as considering the requirements of the network infrastructure and implementing credential authentications. It follows a step-by-step approach as outlined in the ServiceNow instructions.

It is moderately expensive. The pricing itself and the licensing options are depending on the model and the customization. The standard version offers numerous ready-to-use automation options and is free. For advanced enterprise solutions and support, that require additional encryption and intelligence features there is a significant pricing. 

It is recommended to conduct a thorough requirement gathering and hold workshops with customers to understand their specific needs and expectations, before choosing this solution. It would ensure efficient implementation and deployment process. I would rate it ten out of ten.

We use the solution on a daily basis for configuration management, capture of configuration management, consumption, and addition.

We use the solution for everything, including procurement, asset management, and services that particularly fall under ITIL whenever change management occurs.

From my perspective as an asset manager, the most valuable feature of the solution is the configuration management portion, where I can actively add something to the database. The solution gives us the ability to create our own tailored reports. We can create our own dashboards within the system that display everything we currently have within the configuration management database.

The solution needs to add mobilization, where we can connect mobile devices or wireless devices to do wireless scanning and bring assets into the database.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management since January 2022.

I rate the solution a nine out of ten for stability.

ServiceNow IT Operations Management is a scalable solution. Around 600 users use the solution in our organization.

I rate the solution an eight out of ten for scalability.

The solution’s initial setup is simple.

The solution has improved our incident response time. Since we have everything in that one centralized database, someone can quickly submit an incident issue whenever there's an issue, and we can quickly respond to that incident. ServiceNow IT Operations Management supports our cloud resource management well.

The solution's dashboard and reporting tools have improved our decision-making process. We create all types of dashboards for everyone who needs visibility of what's currently going on within the system.

We are using the web-based and cloud-based versions of ServiceNow IT Operations Management. It was easy to integrate ServiceNow IT Operations Management with the current systems we already had on-premises.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

The most valuable features of the solution are discovery, cloud governance, event management, and service mapping. ServiceNow Discovery is a very common use case. Event management was a feature we have used with AWS, like how to generate an event using AWS.

ServiceNow IT Operations Management is a very mature offering from ServiceNow, so I can't think of anything about the improvement aspect of the solution.

The initial setup phase was hard and could be made easier.

The solution's scalability and stability have room for improvement.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management for more than five years.

We may face some instability if the solution is deployed on the cloud. Stability is easily achievable if we opt for on-premises and direct server-to-server connections. Stability depends on the use cases to use cases of the tool. The stability completely depends on the system from which data exchange is happening.

Stability-wise, I rate the solution a five out of ten.

Scalability-wise, I rate the solution a six out of ten.

Data expands in every company. After implementing a solution over a while, the data stack becomes large, and one needs to be careful, cautious, and proactive in checking the configurations in ServiceNow IT Operations Management and ServiceNow Discovery.

The solution's technical support is the same as we receive for ServiceNow Discovery. Proper technical training is required, and the process should be well-defined. I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

The technical support of ServiceNow DevOps can be challenging because we need to train the resources. If the resources don't receive the right training, and if one doesn't know what needs to be done during a particular scenario, then it can lead to a disaster for an enterprise. Proper training is required before using technical support since then only we can make sense of the support we expect to receive. We need to define a proper process for technical support, like whether it will be L1, L2, L3, or L4. The process should be very clear, and the right information should be provided to the right stakeholders. ServiceNow need not work on support because it is a tool. In ServiceNow, it's all about defining the process and training technical support, which is quite easy. The nuts and bolts required for technical support are catalogs, service requests, and incidents.

Positive

The initial setup and adaptation phases of the solution were hard since we needed to take care of the CMDB, processes, and configuration library, owing to which it is not possible to easily achieve the sole purpose for which ServiceNow IT Operations Management has been created.

I rate the setup phase a seven on a scale of one to ten, where one is difficult and ten is easy.

The solution is deployed on the cloud. Mostly my clients opt for AWS or Azure.

The deployment process doesn't take much time since it is a straightforward process, so it's easy.

Those planning to use ServiceNow IT Operations Management should have a very good knowledge of the CMDB while also being very proactive in understanding the landscape of their complete enterprise to understand what you are capturing in the CMDB and what missing parts need to be leveraged, with event management, and discovery, and cloud governance features of the solution.

It is a powerful tool.

I rate the overall solution a nine out of ten.

My company primarily uses the solution for managing our application catalog, incident management, and as a configuration management database. We also use it for lifecycle management over our applications.

In terms of features, the main advantage of the application services is the centralization of various types of information. For instance, if you manage a customer-facing business, having a system for managing incidents would be extremely beneficial. Additionally, the service level agreements associated with incidents is another important feature. The built-in dashboards provide helpful out-of-the-box reports and support while monitoring key metrics. Overall, these features have made the solution highly advantageous for our needs.

Regarding ServiceNow, there is room for improvement in terms of customization, particularly in the area of self-customization. Organizing organizational information and building custom dashboards and reports is not as easy or intuitive as we would like. We either need to rely on our technical services team to handle these tasks or seek vendor assistance or professional services to extend the solution's capabilities. Ideally, we would like to build and maintain these customizations in-house, but this is currently not as feasible as we hope.

Regarding the features I want to see in the solution's future releases, I will prioritize integrations. Specifically, I would like easier integrations into some Microsoft Technology Stack, including Power BI and other dashboards. This would enable us to consolidate information across different technologies and view it from a holistic ITSM perspective that incorporates other platforms, KPIs, and metrics we measure outside of ServiceNow.

I have been using ServiceNow IT Operations Management for six months. Also, I don't remember the version of the solution I am using.

It is a stable solution. I have not experienced any system outages during my time using the solution. However, we have not fully utilized all of its capabilities, including features such as the mobile application. Moving forward, we plan to explore and leverage the entire suite of enterprise applications, including mobile apps. So, we are currently looking into using quick steps to achieve this in the solution.

Approximately 800 people in our organization use the solution. However, around 30 to 40 people actively monitor and use the solution daily, primarily from our IT services department.

I have not personally contacted the technical support team for the solution. In our organization, specific teams appointed by management are responsible for contacting the technical support team when needed.

I wasn't involved in the initial setup process of the solution.

The solution is worth the money due to the visibility and technical capabilities it provides our organization. However, we will likely have more opportunities to utilize the platform and its functions better. Therefore, there are certainly opportunities for improvement.

I suggest those planning to use the solution that if their organization has the budget and intends to utilize the tool, I recommend it. In our procurement process, my organization looked at industry reports to determine the leading technologies in the space. As a result, ServiceNow was identified as one of the leaders and considered one of the candidates. Afterward, we underwent a full RFP process and product selection process to compare it with other products in the market.

The product is quite mature, especially in ITSM, and ServiceNow does an excellent job in its space. The solution has been fairly stable when deployed on the cloud. However, ServiceNow is not attempting to expand into other spaces or enhance its capabilities with low code, no code applications, etc. This is where I see some room for improvement or further maturity to be gained.

Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten.

We use this solution primarily for event management, aggregation, correlation, and analytics. It has moved from simple correlation to AIOps and helps us and our customers move towards AIOps. In addition, the regional ITOM has been valuable.

We measure the challenges we face when detecting an anomaly based on thresholds, KPIs, or application infrastructures. We assess the three Ws of what, where and why. That has been the most valuable feature for any administrator, service, IT operator or support agent.

There needs to be a focus on AI machine learning production. Their AI ML prediction algorithms have been improving, but we would like to see further enhancements. We don't need both Splunk and ServiceNow IT Operations Management. The problem with ServiceNow is that it allows you to coexist, but we don't want to coexist as partners or end users. We want to be able to replace and save some bugs and money.

It should have better integrations with other solutions. For example, rather than out-of-the-box level integrations, it would be good to have tools like SolarWinds, ManageEngine, or any monitoring tool. In addition, the tool plethora is changing fast, and we have some custom tools in the cloud with Google and AWS Azure. So we want those integrations to be enhanced with ServiceNow.

Another issue is that the licensing model is becoming too cumbersome on the DICOM side. Their standard professional enterprise is becoming too onerous with many advanced features, and with their recent acquisitions, they are still figuring out some things. For example, Loom Systems is used to enhance their ITOM AI ML. They also recently brought in a few other tools like Asari. We want all of these to be merged under one roof, so instead of us preparing multiple modules, we would be happier if we could have Asari integrated with ITOM and other advanced analytics.

We have been using this solution for ten years.

It is a stable solution. Once it is set up, it flows, and the data metrics are captured. Unlike an IP on an IPBM, we might create new workflows, so the challenges of having a tech step do not exist. Once it is set up, it's straightforward. I think there is only a pre-defined set of things you can utilize, so it is stable. We have about 15,000 nodes.

It is relatively scalable. It is scalable if you view scalability within a simple ecosystem or the same ecosystem where you add devices and endpoints within the same subnet network. There are no challenges in this case, and it may require a few licenses. However, if we are acquiring another company or expanding geographically, we have to set up a mid-server for the subnets of the new offices and network locations, which can make the scalability complex. Therefore, the scalability in an existing setup is straightforward, but it becomes complex if ramped up.

The technical support has been a bit challenging because if we raise a ticket regarding a lost asset, it takes a while to hear back and resolve the issue. However, they are very responsive if it is a simple issue. The overall support and knowledge of the technical support team are decent. However, there is still room for improvement. Therefore, I rate the technical support an eight out of ten.

The initial setup of IT Operations Management was not that straightforward and was relatively complex. It was complicated because one of the prerequisites to have a full-flow ITOM is to have a discovery dependency on all mapping. Composing this discovery with an agent-based discovery and setting up the mid-server takes time. In other implementations, you can start on the SaaS platform without integration and have separate tickets running separately with just an email. But for an ITOM, it gets tricky because you have to set up your discovery where you keep your dependency topology mapping in place and where you get your CMD.

Therefore, based on the scope that needs to be covered, it can become pretty complex if it is a hybrid environment. An AIOps could be fairly difficult from an implementation perspective. If you don't get AIOps on day one, you have to run it for probably three to six months before collecting enough events and data logs to churn out those analytics. I rate the setup a six out of ten.

ROI is fair because it takes time to realize benefits within the first year. However, the ROI is decent after that because all the hardware and software have complete visibility. There is access to the entire tech desk, and tech refresh and asset lifecycle management are under control. So, it could take 18 to 24 months for a medium to large enterprise to see an ROI. Therefore, I rate the ROI a six out of ten.

ServiceNow IT Operations Management is very expensive. The list price is around $40 per node per month for the high-end, all-inclusive version. So because it is somewhat expensive, an enterprise customer won't put all their nodes on it and would rather use only the production environment. The solution does not distinguish between production and non-production for the nodes. We spend roughly $250,000 US dollars on this solution a month. I rate the pricing a two out of ten, with ten being competitive and one being expensive. The pricing could be better.

Splunk is a close comparison to this solution and would be an alternative as it has heavy application dependency. Other alternative solutions are AppDynamics and New Relic, and the main difference between ServiceNow IT Operations Management and other solutions is the accompanying features. ServiceNow IT Operations Management has service mapping, impact management, metric intelligence and health of analytics. If we want to know the health of any assets, we can do that with ServiceNow. AppDynamics can do that to a degree through a business impact manager but not to the degree that ServiceNow can.

I rate this solution a seven out of ten. It would be good if there were a focus on application performance management. In addition, they could improve cloud capabilities from an event management correlation perspective.