ServiceNow Utah Release | Technology Workflows

ServiceNow Utah is here!

Twice a year, ServiceNow announces a new release. Last month, ServiceNow Utah was officially announced. Each release is named after a city in alphabetical order (previous releases to ServiceNow Utah being Tokyo, San Diego, Rome, etc.). For more information on previous releases all the way to Aspen (released 2011), read here.

Product Overviews + What’s New in Utah:

In this article, we’ll share info the following products’ highlights, key features, and what’s new in Utah:

• Robotics Process Automation (RPA) Hub
• IT Service Management (ITSM)
• Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM)
• IT Operations Management (ITOM)
• Operational Technology Management (OTM)
• IT Asset Management (ITAM) – HAM, SAM, Enterprise Asset
• Telecommunications Service Operations Management

Robotics Process Automation (RPA) Hub: Overview

RPA in ServiceNow is next level automation to support repetitive, mundane human tasks:

• RPA robots execute predesigned steps without the need for input devices (mouse, keyboard), humans or even APIs:

• Setup unattended robots to run on Windows machines, and execute on scheduled cadences
• For a level of human touch, use attended robo

RPA helps to executive tasks such as:

• Store variables
• Read/write data on a website or windows application
• Manipulate data in Excel files
• Sequence multiple activities:  Pass in inputs, process, pass outputs
• Loop through multiple activities
• Kick back up to ServiceNow to upload attachments, execute Flow designer, etc.

  

RPA Desktop Design Studio allows complex workflows to be developed:

• There are over 1300 types of activities, including low-level programming logic tasks (string builders, date formatters, Powershell commands, SQL scripts, HTTP/API, wait timers, manage directories, try/catch, additional connectors)

RPA Feature Highlights include:

• RPA Hub is now accessible to Personal Developer Instances
• Update sets can now track and move RPA configurations across instances
• There is a robot calendar to visually determine robot availability and help optimize utilization
• Unattended robots now support MFA authentication using Time-based One Time Password (TOTP)
• Universal App Connector now supersedes the need for distinct plugins for: IE/Edge, Chrome, and Windows applications
• RPA sample templates to see how data entry processing (e.g. Invoices) can be used with Document Intelligence
• Auto-retry feature support failed attempts

IT Service Management (ITSM)

ITSM, a staple of the ServiceNow platform since it began:

Service Portfolio Management

• Increased relational flexibility in the portfolio hierarchy:  established layers removed in favor of limitless, nestable nodes
• Visibility of catalog items available for service offerings you are subscribed to

Digital Portfolio Management

• ServiceNow DevOps flow and accelerate metrics are now viewable in DPM
• Added DPM KPI groups for Service performance, Catalog, and Change Management

Workforce Optimization for ITSM

• Agents can self-enroll in courses or learning paths
• See courses/learning paths based on past activities or associated teams
• Service Operations Workspace now shows a Learning section under Overview tab:  My active learning, Completed last 90 days, My skills

Incident/Problem/Change

• Major Incident:  Communication email templates now support showing recipient list instead of overlong list of users in the To, Cc, Bcc fields
• Change:  Restrict some Change Models (Types) to with “Not available for” with Advanced Security
• Problem:  New quick start ATF regression tests support post-upgrade/deployment

Service Catalog

• Create in-form wizards to help annotate complex form entry, as well as contextual help
• Localization Framework process initiation from Catalog Builder to request, fulfill and approve translations for catalog
• Developers:  Populate fields related to reference without the need for additional scripts
• ITSM Agent Workspace is being prepared for future deprecation and will be hidden

Service Operations Workspace

Investigation tab:

• See CI metrics for certain affected CIs.  Requires Microsoft Endpoint Configuration Manager spoke and Investigation Framework to be active
• View System Information modal when you integrate with Agent Client Collector for Investigation
• View color-coded CI metrics to differentiate warning/critical levels of metrics exceeding thresholds
• See the list of applications installed on a CI

Contextual side panel:

• See Contact details of caller through Record Information tab

• See on-call escalation progress of an Incident

Walk-Up Experience

• New modernized look & fee for NOW Mobile

Benchmarks

• No longer just industry only: Benchmarks now allows you to compare KPIs regarding companies of similar size

Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM) – formerly ITBM

Enables you to make the right decisions and leverage digital transformation to drive more customer value, faster:

• Strategize, Align, and Deliver
• Anticipate critical business requirements, allocate resources, and evaluate portfolio value
• Manage strategic and operational work in one place
• Reduce bottlenecks to get to market faster

SPM Encompasses: 

• Project Portfolio Management (PPM)
• Application Portfolio Management (APM)

SPM Key Features

Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

• Higher-level approach that links project management to enterprise management

Application Portfolio Management (APM)

• Visibility into all applications within the organization

• Portfolio & Strategic Planning (Formerly Alignment Planner Workspace [APW]
• Project Workspace and Planning Console
• Innovation Management
• Demand Management
• Resource Management
• Time Card Management
• Cost Management
• Agile Development

 SPM | New in Utah

• Application Portfolio Management (APM)

• Enterprise Architecture Workspace (New feature in Utah)

• Portfolio and Strategic Planning

• Alignment Planner Workspace (APW) has been rebranded into:

• Portfolio Planning
• Strategic Planning

• Project Portfolio Management (PPM)

• Created a new property to sync planned dates with original dates of a project or task

IT Operations Management (ITOM) Key Features

ITOM Visbility:

• Provides a unified, connected view of your entire IT network and the services that it supports.

ITOM Health:

• Product includes the Event Management, Agent Client Collector, and Health Log Analytics applications, which enable you to track and maintain the health of services in your organization.

 ITOM Optimization: 

• Provides automation for the cloud workflows used to manage the cloud resources throughout their life cycle. 

• It enables certified and enterprise-compliant cloud deployment, cost visibility, and other cloud management processes.

IT Asset Management (ITAM) Key Features

Hardware Asset Management:

• Allows you to track and manage your asset environment through advanced workflow, automation and mobile capabilities

Software Asset Management:

• Allows you to track and manage your software licenses, contracts, allocations and remediations through automation

Enterprise Asset Management: 

• Manages the entire life cycle of your enterprises connected and non-connected assets.
• Avoid costly downtime by managing the asset life cycle.

Hardware Asset Management | New in Utah

• Hardware Asset Procurement Workspace: A single workspace for managing asset procurement activities
• Using pallets for inventory!
• Associate assets to pallets for bulk updates – Remember to use the aisle and space details

Asset Donation Workflow: from Request to preparation for donation – Tasks to ensure compliance

Software Asset Management (SAM) New in Utah

• Success Value Builder: Learn where you can leverage underutilized SAM functionality
• Containerized Software Licensing: Determine MS SQL and Windows Server products deployed on containers.  Monitor utilization and auto-create remediation options
• Software Contracts Renewal Calendar: Better plan renewals for SaaS and on-prem software

Enterprise Asset Management | New in Utah

• Enterprise Asset Work Management – Analyze work order history and trends
• Enterprise Asset Maintenance: Automate maintenance schedules across all locations
• Reclamation and Retirement of assets during employee transitions  – make the appropriate disposition decisions

Telecommunications Service Operations Management

Communication Service Providers (CSPs) Solution | ServiceNow TSOM:

• Helps CSPs proactively monitor service health and resolve issues before customer notices
• Integrates with existing monitoring tools
• Uses predictive AIOps and machine learning to analyze network event data for anomalies
• Provides a single end-to-end service health view across technology domains

• Simplifies operations by automating collection, correlation, and analysis of vast network event data
• Real-time dashboard for monitoring service health
• Triggers automated remediation tasks when alerts meet pre-defined criteria
• Reduces Mean Time To Resolution (MTTR) times
• Automates and optimizes workflows across service and network operations, field services, and customer care
• Delivers a seamless and responsive customer experience.

About Infocenter

Infocenter is a leading ServiceNow Elite Partner and the 2023 ServiceNow Americas Accelerated Growth Partner of the Year Award Winner. Our team is Certified across the ServiceNow Platform, including key industry verticals and business areas: ITxM, SPM (PMO), Employee Experience (HR), Customer/Field Service Management, Risk/Security, Legal and Creator Workflows/AppEngine. 

Speak with an expe​​rt today to learn how Infocenter can help you Plan with RADIUS™, Build, and Manage ServiceNow with DEVSHOP™.