Tackling the problem of complex request fulfillment process in ServiceNow

Modern businesses of all sizes, looking to improve productivity, agility and responsiveness, need the support of robust IT service management (ITSM). ITSM is the practice of ensuring that IT service requests, incidents, issues, changes, assets and other aspects of IT services are managed in a streamlined manner. The ITSM function often receives a wide variety of user requests, given the increasingly important role of enterprise IT in driving competitive differentiation. Efficiently managing the volumes of service requests requires IT teams to follow Information Technology Infrastructure Library (ITIL), an integrated, process-based, best practice framework for managing IT services, which specifies that along with the service desk, service requests must be managed by the request fulfilment process. ServiceNow, a cloud-based ITSM tool, leverages the ITIL v3.0 framework. It is the most preferred tool among enterprises for handling the service management process. While ServiceNow empowers IT users to streamline their workflows, there are certain challenges in leveraging it.

In this paper, we propose a method to simplify incident and service request process flow to address ServiceNow related challenges and boost IT as well as user outcomes.

Tackling the challenges in ServiceNow request fulfilment process

The key to Modern day users demand simplicity and instant gratification while using IT services. The ServiceNow platform is designed to maximize user satisfaction by enabling users to easily contact IT support to report and fix issues. The downside: users must navigate between separate pages and forms to submit incidents and service requests (as illustrated in Figure 1).

Tackling the problem of complex request fulfillment process in ServiceNow

Figure 1. Incident and Service Request process

The manual intervention needed to traverse between different form pages makes the Service Request management process time-consuming and cumbersome for users, thereby defeating the main objective of simplifying request management. Request fulfillment aims to provide employees seamless access to IT services, which enables them to work better. According to Gartner, by 2020, business satisfaction with IT support will decrease by 35% due to an inability of the IT Service Desk to support agile releases in a timely and effective manner . An effective request fulfillment process should help users see available services, understand how to request them, and set expectations for how long requests will take to be addressed - all in a user-friendly and quick manner.

The solution: Adopting an ‘Intake’ approach to ITIL

A new Intake approach to ITIL can help reduce the navigation time between multiple forms and provide users a single portal to submit incident and service requests. Here’s how it works (Illustrated in Figure 2):

A record producer categorizes the issues/requests reported for respective business services.
Based on the type of issue reported and the corresponding services, the Intake form creates an incident/ service request
Finally, the portal categorizes the issues and requests to simplify management for users.

The proposed approach promises several advantages over the default approach to request fulfilment that is currently available in ServiceNow. The biggest benefit is the transformation of manual tracking of incidents and requests in the delivery process to automated and streamlined incident and service request management. The other key advantage is reduced navigation between various forms that is currently required to create incident and service requests in ServiceNow.

Figure 2. Intake approach to Request Fulfillment

Leveraging the proposed approach, a record producer applicable to each user can be created to save time, reduce errors, and boost satisfaction. The intuitive portal enables a single destination for users and teams to submit incident and service requests.

The business and IT benefits of the intake approach include:

Better categorization of issues and requests in the system, enabling quick and accurate prioritization of incidents
Enhanced service visibility and control of user environment
Improved customer satisfaction with service delivery
Increased productivity of users as well as IT staff
Improved service management metrics

Embrace agility in service request management

As customer experience surpasses price and product to become the single most important differentiator for businesses, Gartner predicts that organizations will increasingly redirect their investments towards customer experience innovations . In the corporate IT environment, providing a superior user experience boils down to simplifying the chaotic and complicated service request process by adopting an intuitive and user-friendly approach. It involves moving request fulfillment to the edge - as close to the users – as possible. The intake approach is a way to gather relevant information and reduce unnecessary steps by customizing request intake forms. Its varied benefits ranging from simplified request submission process and faster time to resolution, to reduced cost of request fulfillment, lead to superior user experience and in turn drive competitive advantage.

References

1. ServiceDesk Institute, The Future of Support is Now,

https://www.servicedeskinstitute.com/2018/02/07/future-support-now/

2. Customer Thermometer, Customer Service Stats for 2019,

https://www.customerthermometer.com/customer-service/customer-service-and-satisfaction-statistics-for-2019/

About the Authors

Rahul Srinivasan

ServiceNow Architect - Cloud Infrastructure Services, Wipro

Rahul with 18 years of industry experience specializes in infrastructure and financial domains. He works closely with client and technology partners on leading cloud consulting projects and automation initiatives. Rahul has keen interest in transforming traditional ways of delivering managed services and strongly believes that an intent-based paradigm will deliver long-term benefits to clients and service providers alike. Rahul can be reached at rahul.srinivasan1@wipro.com

Malathi Hariharan

Technology Assurance Lead – Process & Product Quality, Wipro

Malathi has over 19 years of industry experience in areas of Project Management, Technical documentation, Quality Assurance, Quality Management and Continuous Improvement. She has worked across Embedded platform, VLSI, Telecom, Consumer, Communication & Medias, and Cloud & Infrastructure domains. Malathi is experienced in handling development, testing, maintenance, and agile projects. She can be reached at Malathi.hariharan@wipro.co

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