The coming year brings promises of further technology innovation with the integration of AI into business software, impressive machine learning capabilities, and more. As technology spending is predicted to rise (IT service spending is expected to grow 4.7% and enterprise software spending is projected to increase by 7.1% in 2018 according to Garter forecasting), companies are undergoing a digital transformation to drive enterprise service management. Top businesses are looking for technology solutions that not only improve internal efficiencies but also disrupt their markets to gain a more competitive edge. We have compiled a list of top ServiceNow predictions and technology trends for 2018 that will continue to shape and change modern businesses.
A Rise in Machine Learning
The ServiceNow prediction for 2018 that is arguably most exciting is the expansion into machine learning and AI. As early as the next version of ServiceNow, called Kingston and expected to be released mid-2018, customers can utilize the intelligent automation engine, which can learn, predict, and adapt to improve service management and strategic planning. Customers can expect to see a fast ROI through its outcomes and can participate in platform benchmarking to drive the development of AI on the ServiceNow platform. Though currently in its infancy, this exciting addition to the ServiceNow platform brings with it a future of further intelligent automation. Machine learning can apply to areas beyond IT, like HR, Finance, Sales, and more.
AI will Transform Data and Service Management
With the power of machine learning, companies can leverage their ServiceNow investment to improve outward services as well as internal efficiencies. Early adopters of the intelligent automation engine will transform security and incident management by:
- Improving request resolution through automated models that categorize and route incoming requests.
- Tracking service performance against industry standards and peers to improve competitiveness.
- Ensuring forecasting accuracy with intelligent predictive modeling.
While these are predicted ITSM trends in 2018, the platform’s AI use will expand IT. Based on ServiceNow’s current offerings for services in other business areas, 2018 will see a rise in companies transforming their overall service management through proactive strategic planning and predictive modeling.
Boosted UX Across the Enterprise
Design is becoming increasingly important in the digital environment and will play an important role in success for 2018. Customers and employees alike expect their digital tools to be intuitive, easy, and user-friendly. ServiceNow has shown its dedication to simple up-front user experience design and interface. As more and more companies look to transform their organization through technology, ServiceNow will continue pushing its user experience offerings through applications that engage employees and customers.
ServiceNow’s acquisition of Telepathy, a company specializing in UX/UI design, gives users a clue about what is to come in 2018. The platform’s offerings will continue to encourage interaction between employees and customers, and new applications will focus on engaging staff. Improved user experience proves valuable for customers interacting with a company’s services, for staff on the field (like sales teams) to quickly gather information or complete requests, and for employees completing day-to-day tasks.
Predictive Modeling for all Areas Across Enterprise
Strategic planning requires accurate data and solid predictive modeling. ServiceNow has offered improved predictive modeling areas to show performance, needs, and trends. With increased data capturing and analysis using machine-learning tools that improve over time, we believe that the future will bring this type of predictive modeling across the organization. From enhanced financial planning to performance tracked against industry leaders and more, ServiceNow users will be able to align services to best fit the needs of their customers and optimize internal efficiencies.
For a practical example, predictive modeling would allow HR organizations to plan for necessary skill sets or capacity planning years in advance. While ServiceNow customers currently can use different applications to accomplish this, future versions may improve upon it to make both short- and long-term resource allocation and capacity planning even easier. Future performance analytics tools could be used for staffing planning, financial allocations, investments, and more.
Targeted CSM for Specific Industries
Providing high-quality customer service continues to be critical to a company’s ability to grow and remain competitive in its industry. We are already well aware of the dangers of offering sub-par customer service, but as customer demand rises, so do expectations of CSM technology. ServiceNow exceeds those demands with its consumer-facing approach to service portals, incident resolution, and lifecycle management of requests.
With so many companies adopting CSM software that allows them to respond and resolve customer needs quickly, 2018 may find ServiceNow expanding into specific markets to offer targeted solutions. Its machine-learning engine could correlate information to trends and take specific controlled action based on captured events. This type of action would not only resolve a single customer complaint but would go deeper to identify and resolve the underlying issue with a service or product.
Focusing on Employee Engagement and Retention
ServiceNow has helped automate HR processes that would otherwise burden staff or negatively affect new and current employees. An automated onboarding process, for example, dramatically improves new employee experience and can help with retention. Employees who can actively engage with HR to fulfill personal requests and find information will spend more time focusing on work. The future of HR service delivery is in further improving that engagement and retention throughout an employee’s time with a company.
Engaging employees begins during the acquisition phase – and the “candidate experience” is a top priority for organizations fighting over top talent. Organizations need a way to remain competitive in talent acquisition, but an HR solution oriented toward this should continue engaging the employee throughout the hiring process, onboarding, and even beyond employment within the company. 2018 will see a rise in technology competing to be this solution, but ServiceNow is in a position to offer a powerful, curated employee experience that begins with the candidate phase.
Addressing Growing Security Threats
Security threat and vulnerability prevention will play a large role in 2018’s ServiceNow trends. With the addition of its intelligent automation machine, companies will be able to utilize a best practices ITIL -based system that captures, predicts, and identifies service problems and other anomalies. This certainly eases some of the burden on IT professionals to identify service problems and even allows companies to proactively resolve and alert customers to issues.
But with a growing concern over security, 2018 may see ServiceNow reaching further with its integrations to bring in new security tools and applications for customers. Increasing its incident management to include intrusion detection or incident pattern recognition will help users better handle vulnerabilities. ServiceNow may even begin creating solutions for specific industries based on customer trends.
An Exciting Year for ServiceNow and its Users
ServiceNow proves its dedication to improving user experience across the board with its latest acquisitions and partnerships. In 2018, users will find improved predictive abilities that assist with strategic goal planning, resource planning, and customer service automation. These tools will make it easier for staff to perform work while easing their workload to drive customer satisfaction. ServiceNow is staying ahead of business trends by directly addressing concerns with user experiences, satisfaction, and scaling with business growth. It will be an exciting year for companies undergoing a digital transformation and will set the stage for further innovations in years to come.
As a ServiceNow Technology Partner, Infocenter can help. Contact us today to learn more.