BPM tools and Service Now

[cherryonion]

We are looking to implement a Business Process Management (BPM) tool. We do already use Service Now for ticketing, change etc. As it seems Service Now can do a lot of the forms and workflow functionality, is there any point having a separate BPM tool? What are you using in your organisation?

Thanks.

[emerkle]

Yes, I'm going to focus very adhoc processes requiring complex data, forms and calculations on Appian and servicenow will focus more on groups like marketing, HR, finance and IT .

www.bdo.com<http://www.bdo.com>

[astha_chaubey1]

Does Deliver Service Now help as a BPM tool?

Please visit link- http://wiki.servicenow.com/index.php?title=Deliver_ServiceNow#gsc.tab=0

[mbrownschidle]

Hi Dani, a lot of companies have traditionally had general tools for helping automate business processes that typically involved human workflow.   Tools like Lotus Notes, SharePoint, and others have been used since the early 90's.   Companies built a lot of custom applications in these two areas and many of them still exist today. In 99% of the cases, the ServiceNow platform can do everything that these tools can do (Forms, Lists, Workflows, background business logic, etc.)   and a lot more (Data loading, Metrics, Reporting, Analytics) so ServiceNow does become that BPM tool.  

For example, just a few examples of the value add of ServiceNow over SharePoint is as follows:

- SharePoint has no built in report writing tool.

- SharePoint does not handle high volume transactions well at all.

-SharePoint has really no Service Management metrics capabilities without custom building them.

-Creating a nice "CMS like" web interface to SharePoint is extremely difficult.

I have worked at companies that have had a variety of different types of BPM tools if you ever wanted to chat about specific tools. My contact info is I my community profile or mark.brownschidle@crossfuze.com.

[larry-youngquis]

Keeping in mind that both Appian and ServiceNow consist of a suite of tools and capabilities; I believe that there is a place for both.    

My plan is to use the Appian Process Modeler as a way to develop and document business processes that interact with ServiceNow data and processes.   For my purposes, that extends primarily to the CMDB and the processes that create, update or consume CIs.       As most are aware, the success of a CMDB implementation should focus on people and processes first.   Technology is important, but not as critical as establishing the processes     In my view, failed CMDB deployments (ServiceNow or others) focus too much on technology and not enough on people and process.

I may not use the full capabilities of Appian and do not plan on using the execution portion, but will concentrate on getting our processes into a format that can be used for requirements and long term documentation.       Those documented processes will be implemented in ServiceNow and will be used to train operational personnel; support QA and validation; and help establish the culture of CMDB CI ownership across the enterprise.

Appian isn't unique and isn't the only tool that could be used.   Other excellent BPM products like the free Bizagi Process Modeler is also be a viable solution for developing processes.     Another very intriguing (but more costly) solution would be to use a SaaS product like the Navvia Process Designer as a true collaborative environment for creating business processes that are tightly integrated to ServiceNow.

In short, I believe that developing your business processes (and requirements) before implementing them in ServiceNow is a good and necessary step.     No matter the tool, focus on the processes before getting too wrapped up in the technology.

My 2 cents.

Larry

[dmarzovilla]

Hello Dani,

If you are looking for a single large-scale platform where you can perform all your work, you might want to look at the platform DragonGlass.     It has connectors to servicenow, zendesk, and many other common SaaS applications. It extracts data from these applications in order to search and create analytics across data stores.   Hope this helps!

Thanks,

Domenico