it_user459009 - PeerSpot reviewer
Developer at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
There's not a lot of tools that I've been an administrator of where the community really helps out.

What is most valuable?

The new developer tools with Geneva have been the most valuable so far. The community is really good too. There's not a lot of tools that I've been an administrator of where the community really helps out like ServiceNow’s does.

What needs improvement?

I'm not sure about additional features because really, if you need something, you can build it in ServiceNow so that's pretty neat in itself. Working out some of the things that people might have headaches about and for access to certain things in the workflow, like the delivery time and being able to set that dynamically on a request item would be nice. As far as new features, it looks like they're going the right direction. They have ideas that I haven't even thought of.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for a little over a year.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It has. With the new update in Geneva, there's a few snags with the presence, but they're getting that ironed out. As far as up-time goes, it's always been available.

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What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

We haven't needed to scale yet and right now our licenses aren't size-based as far as storage-based goes. I haven't really seen a need to scale at the moment.

How are customer service and support?

Very good. I've worked with other vendors in the past that haven't been nearly as good as ServiceNow's, like CA technologies and SolarWinds. ServiceNow is way better.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I previously used CA UIM. CA didn't really know what was going on and a lot of the stuff they promised was really not working properly. They got us in the contract, though, so it's too late.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't at the company when the initial setup took place, so I can't really speak on that. As far as upgrades go, it's pretty straightforward. Doesn't take too long and generally goes smoothly.

We will eventually upgrade to Helsinki. I guess we can do it now if we wanted, but we just switched everybody from Fuji to Geneva and getting everybody used to that. The UI hasn't changed a whole lot, but one of the sessions coming up [at Knowledge 16] is the Helsinki features. I'm going to take a look and decide from there whether we should push it quicker or not.

What other advice do I have?

I'd tell them to stay out of the box as much as possible. We've had it for quite a while, I think since 2005. Out of the box as much as possible because once you start developing and making stuff your own and then some cool new features come down the line. It makes a lot of work to look at backing out stuff so you can implement the new features from ServiceNow and then maybe eventually putting your stuff back in. Just stay out of the box as much as possible, alleviate headaches.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
it_user459018 - PeerSpot reviewer
IT Executive at a media company with 1,001-5,000 employees
Vendor
We use it for management and change management. It includes many customizable features we like.

What is most valuable?

For me, it's management and change management. It allows me to figure out if we have issues and when we need to make changes to solve problems. From my side, it's just reporting. Assets, I mean just analytics and stuff like that so I see if there's a high volume of tickets. If we need to resolve something, etc.

How has it helped my organization?

It allows us to have asset inventory, incident change - the standard stuff we need in a corporate environment. 

We have the flow from beginning to end. We know when a person starts at the company to one day if they leave. If they have issues, we could figure out why they have that issue and then just go to make changes. For anything we need to push out company-wide, we have all the information ready, so that's the reason we have ITSM.

What needs improvement?

Performance analytics could be a lot better. I know that's the big thing, they're pushing collaboration and stuff like that. It's just that portion, if that was better done it would be better for us. I the analytics were better and easier, if it didn't require someone with a lot of technical experience to create the reports, but rather if it was more click and drag, then anybody could create these reports. It would be a lot better.

From my standpoint, because we don't have people who are experienced in doing the performance analytics module and stuff like that, ee can't get the right reporting and it's just a beast trying to get that configured the right way. If it was more simplified and easier for us to generate reports, if it was click and drag, you could get all that information and they could produce reports like that. It takes a long time to produce reports.

For how long have I used the solution?

We started using it about two years ago.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

There were no issues with the deployment.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

We have had no performance issues.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It's been able to scale for our needs.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used Microsoft Service Manager. We were on the fence about moving over to Geneva then Helsinki came so we're thinking about moving over to Helsinki. We're trying to get that planned out.

How was the initial setup?

I wasn't involved in the implementation so I can't really say but I don't think it was that difficult. I've not heard any complaints about it, or about the upgrades either.

What other advice do I have?

I would tell you that ServiceNow is a great product to use because just from what we have, what we use, It's highly customizable, there's a lot of features that we like, it's just that performance analytics isn't as great as some of the other pieces that they have.

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
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it_user379710 - PeerSpot reviewer
Lead Engineer with 501-1,000 employees
MSP
The core applications are what our business uses day-to-day, including incident, change, problem, service catalogue and knowledge.

Valuable Features

The core applications are what our business uses day-to-day, including incident, change, problem, service catalogue and knowledge. However, I think the real value comes in when you start using CMDB, discovery, asset management and orchestration. Also, the fact that you can build custom apps and there are additional apps for HR, Facilities, etc. is also what makes this tool great.

Improvements to My Organization

It has given us a single source of record across all departments. Also, it has allowed us to automate many processes along with enforcing processes by making them workflow driven.

Room for Improvement

My only thought is while it is great they are expanding into many different areas of business, don’t forget about the core of this product and why it was originally built. UI and feature enhancements to records like incidents would be great.

Use of Solution

I have been working with the release from June 2011 – Geneva.

Deployment Issues

There have been no issues with the deployment.

Stability Issues

There have been no issues with the stability.

Scalability Issues

With scalability, we have grown quite significantly in the last two years and the performance of our instance has really taken a hit. However, ServiceNow support has been great and we are currently in the process of moving to a new data center and on to faster hardware to improve this issue.

Customer Service and Technical Support

This can be very hit and miss, there are some individuals who are fantastic and a lot of help and then there are others that are not so much. My biggest struggle is with them just not reading my updates and asking the same questions just to put the ball back in your court even though it is likely you already provided them the information. I will say it has gotten a lot better over the years.

Initial Setup

If you aren't very familiar with ServiceNow, I would recommend bringing in a vendor for deployment. They will help you understand the tool and make sure you aren’t boxing yourself in with the way things are built out. The OOB processes ServiceNow offers are all based on ITIL standards so theoretically there aren't a lot of customizations you should need to make up front.

Implementation Team

I have worked for a company who used a vendor and did it themselves and now I do it for customers. My biggest piece of advice is don’t just try to make ServiceNow do what your old tool did. Take advantage of the power behind this tool!

ROI

This isn’t the cheapest solution out there, but is definitely worth it if implemented and used correctly.

Other Solutions Considered

I haven’t necessarily used or evaluated other systems, but I have done work with integrating to other solutions and converting users from other solutions to ServiceNow. I will say ServiceNow makes most of these tools like TrackIt or OmniTracker as a few examples look like they are about 20 years behind the game. The biggest struggle is trying to get users to look at ServiceNow and use the tool to really improve their processes instead of just trying to copy the process you used in their old system.

Other Advice

There are a ton of features and capabilities that can be used to automate processes within your organization and have a single source of data and this is an exceptional tool for that. There is always room for improvement and as they try to expand into different markets ,I do think some of the older applications get left behind and aren’t maintained as they should be.

ServiceNow is a great tool and I would highly recommend it. It will give you powerful automation capabilities and can significantly decrease time users have to spend researching and working tickets not matter what department it is.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are a ServiceNow Partner.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Senior Consultant at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
You can quickly automate delivery of services or goods to the end-user.

What is most valuable?

  • Workflows
  • Automation
  • Integrations

How has it helped my organization?

I would say one of the best things on ServiceNow platform is the way how you can quickly automate delivery of services or goods to the end-user.

What needs improvement?

Reporting capabilities could use some improvement.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for four years.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

It strongly depends on customer awareness of ServiceNow best practices. In some cases stability is an issue.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

It strongly depends on customer awareness of ServiceNow best practices. In some cases scalability is an issue.

How are customer service and technical support?

Depends how big account the customer is for ServiceNow.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

I have a few experiences with HPSD. Thick client instead of web application says everything.

How was the initial setup?

ServiceNow comes with a lot of functionality included as baseline implementation. For example, all main ITIL processes are implemented, as well the fact that it is a cloud solution gives you the whole functional system at the beginning.

What about the implementation team?

I am part of vendor team or advising clients in solution architecture area.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license model is based on a number of fulfillers (active users who play some role within ServiceNow functionality). Therefore, you can serve as many end-users as you want without additional costs.

What other advice do I have?

A strong architect is needed. You should follow best practices and challenge customers. So don’t implement everything right at the moment when you receive requirements.

Find a strong partner with experience of other customers of the same size and nature. Find a parter that will create, together with you, a strategy that will guide you during preparation, all phases of development, and operational times.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We as a preferred solutions partner of ServiceNow directly cooperating with ServiceNow Professional Services on project for customers.
PeerSpot user
it_user261978 - PeerSpot reviewer
CareWorks Tech at a tech services company with 501-1,000 employees
Consultant
The submission and approval parts do not require licenses, but the configuration capabilities of the end-user facing portal needs work.

What is most valuable?

The flexibility of the product in regards to configuring and customizing it to meet the company needs within a few clicks.

How has it helped my organization?

The ability to quickly customize and configure integrations for a centralized source of information has improved automation capability and overall SLA improvement.

What needs improvement?

The configuration capabilities of the end-user facing portal, although this issue is due to be addressed in the next release.

For how long have I used the solution?

I've used it for four years.

What was my experience with deployment of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

No issues encountered.

How are customer service and technical support?

Customer Service:

8/10 - the vendor used to be really good, but with the massive growth of product use it’s deteriorated.

Technical Support:

4/10 - the vendor used to be really good, but with the massive growth of product use it’s deteriorated.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

We previously used BMC Magic, Remedy, and CA ServiceDesk, but their lack of flexibility moved us to ServiceNow

How was the initial setup?

It was very straightforward.

What about the implementation team?

We utilized a ServiceNow partner, and we they were fantastic overall.

What was our ROI?

It's positive but I don't have anything specific.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

It’s higher than most, but the licensing is $X/User/Month, so try to limit the users working tickets. The submission & approval parts do not require licenses.

What other advice do I have?

Ensure you have basic processes in place instead of having the tool guide your process. Within ServiceNow, the saying is “The good and bad side of ServiceNow is that you can do anything.” So while you can customize everything, I recommend streamlining as much as possible.

Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: We are currently a ServiceNow Partner
PeerSpot user
Information Security & Compliance Specialist at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
Upgrade integrations available, scalable, but setting private tickets could improve
Pros and Cons
  • "There are many expansions available."
  • "The solution could improve by making the CMDB integrate with a CI better to allow it to be seen across multiple platforms."

What is our primary use case?

We use ServiceNow as a ticketing tool that processes and catalogs customer service requests in our organization.

What is most valuable?

There are many expansions available.

What needs improvement?

The solution could improve by making the CMDB integrate with a CI better to allow it to be seen across multiple platforms. Additionally, an option to easily make tickets private or not generally visible. ServiceNow has to set up the individual tickets and there is not an easy way for us to do it ourselves.

There are integrations we can do that requires outside people to help us expand, such as business continuity and other areas. It can be complicated to expand the solution which could be made easier.

For how long have I used the solution?

I have been using ServiceNow for approximately five years. 

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

The solution is scalable.

What other advice do I have?

I rate ServiceNow a seven out of ten.

Which deployment model are you using for this solution?

Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
PeerSpot user
Managing Director at a tech services company with 51-200 employees
Consultant
One stop shop – all requests for support, new items, changes and anything else can be done in the portal, flexibility of service – requests can be done directly from the portal.​
Pros and Cons
  • "Easy to integrate with third-party applications."
  • "It's missing monitoring capabilities."

How has it helped my organization?

One stop shop: All requests for support, new items, changes and anything else can be done in the portal, flexibility of service. Requests can be done directly from the portal.

What is most valuable?

  • Your selected platform, for managing and consolidate ITIL Processes, HR, PPM, CSM, and any new enterprise app you want to build on the platform.
  • Set of pre-built ITIL processes as well as a platform that can be used to build a variety of custom business applications.
  • The process flexibility - it's very easy to customize and build off of.
  • Easy to integrate with third-party applications.
  • Customized Dashboard as per user requirement.

What needs improvement?

It's missing monitoring capabilities.

What do I think about the stability of the solution?

Stability is assured by the vendor. No issues found so far.

What do I think about the scalability of the solution?

Easily scalable as the vendor assumes availability at all times.

How are customer service and technical support?

Quick, friendly, and efficiently responsive customer support.

Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?

Compared to other ITSM platforms, ServiceNow is by far the most agile, robust, and scalable platform.

How was the initial setup?

It was very straightforward and to the point, since it's very intuitive and easy to deploy.

What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?

The license model is based on a number of fulfillers (active users who play some role within the ServiceNow functionality). Therefore, you can serve as many end-users as you want, without additional costs.

What other advice do I have?

Integrations: ServiceNow is an open platform that come with out of the box integrations API, but if you really want a deep business process integrations of ServiceNow with JIRA, Salesforce, Microfocus, BMC and others, we recommend https://www.zigiwave.com  read more in the blog post here: https://zigiwave.com/how-to-integrate-jira-servicenow-in-less-than-2-minutes/


Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:
PeerSpot user

Hello Idan,
We are looking for ITSM fulfiller licenses, as I know that ServiceNow doesn't sell the licenses for smaller companies. I request you to please suggest any other companies who resell the ServiceNow licenses. Thanks!

it_user459063 - PeerSpot reviewer
Software Developer at a university with 1,001-5,000 employees
Real User
I like the speed of being able to do things in ServiceNow.

Valuable Features

The speed of being able to do stuff. Once you know where to put your code, it's very fast to put it somewhere and have it running.

Room for Improvement

More publications about what plug-ins are available.

Use of Solution

I've personally used it for about a year.

Stability Issues

There's been very little downtime in the year we've had it. I think we've had one outage that was five minutes or so.

Scalability Issues

Product-wise, I think it's scalable. The pricing model is a little bit prohibitive for us.

Customer Service and Technical Support

They've been great. I haven't used them much in the year that I've done it. I've only had maybe two incidents logged, but they were great with them.

The community is good most of the time. People will answer questions so it's a pretty good community.

Initial Setup

We just did the Fuji to Geneva, and there were a lot of issues. I think it was because we've done a lot of customizations on forms, adding things, and what-not that broke when we moved to Geneva. The other guys who have been there for longer have said it was pretty difficult in comparison to the other upgrades.

Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing

It's kind of preventing us from using it on other things because of the licensing model.

Other Advice

It's worth it, but have a good team around you to help you do it right. Having a team has been good to bounce ideas off of, especially when people have been using it in our organization for maybe eight or nine years. There's always someone who knows, "Oh don't do this," or "Do it that way."

Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
PeerSpot user
Buyer's Guide
Download our free ServiceNow Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.
Updated: April 2024
Buyer's Guide
Download our free ServiceNow Report and get advice and tips from experienced pros sharing their opinions.