Request for Service (RFS) Module in servicenow

[Soufiane B]

Hi everyone,

I am working on improving RFS Process and discovering if there are any ways on how to automate it in ServiceNow.

Current set up: We have supplier that have their own platform for RFS which we are using, but this platform has very few entries only, all correspondence between requestor and supplier are done via e-mail or phone. The platform is solely used for workflow support and documentation, also it is purely for financial tracking.

Desired set up: I created a dedicated catalog Item in ServiceNow to raise RFS under request fulfilment process where I added all necesary variables/questions, but we couldn't automated with the supplier platform for some reasons. Now I am thinking if there is a way or a better solution within ServiceNow.

• Is there any module in ServiceNow dedicated to Request for Service (RFS) ?
• Is there any of you have similar experience with Request for Service (RFS) to share some best practices?

Any feedbacks, comments, ideas or documkentation that might help with the topic are very welcome. 

Thak you in advance

[johnfeist]

Hi Soufiane,

From your description, you have two possible options:

If the supplier is using ServiceNow, that would be a perfect use for eBonding.  If they are not on ServiceNow but their system is accessible via integrations, the same concept applies.  The process does involve development so that when the requested item is created, the relevant data are transmitted to your supplier's system.  Equally when there is an update on the supplier side, that gets transmitted back to your ServiceNow instance where data get updated and notifications can be triggered.

The other option is that when the requested item is created, ServiceNow sends an email to the supplier that includes the item (RITM) number.  Your supplier would then need to set up so that when updates are applied, an email is sent to your instance with the subject starting out RE: RITMxxxxxxx (the number for your item).  When that comes in, the existing inbound actions should pick up that the email relates to the given item and add the email to the log for it.

Please let me know if I misunderstood your question or if you have follow up questions.

Hope that helps.

:{)

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[Soufiane B]

@johnfeist: Yes supplier are using ServiceNow, so both ours & their instances are integrated using another integration solution. The issue is that their RFS platform is very generic/basic, it has 3 free text fields to fill in then attach the file with full technical details to it in order for them to progress the RFS offline. 

So do we have another solution on how to create a module dedicated for Request for Service RFS in ServiceNow? 

Another solutioon which I found is that we will be using our automation engines to integrate the catalogue Item which I created for RFS purpose (Request fulfilment) with the supplier platform. But at this stage I would like to see if any existing idea within ServiceNow.

[johnfeist]

Hi Soufiane,

It sounds like your vendor built a very simplistic, generic interface.  While you can develop as elaborate a solution as you like, you are stuck unless your vendor is willing to make changes. 

The underlying issue is that most vendors try to keep the data/inputs they will accept limited because the alternative is to sync service catalogs with their customers which nobody wants to do.

The eBonding type setups that I have seen, all work around the tables that extend task.  That typically gives you a short description, full description, etc.  In an environment like that, you are pretty much stuck with including attachments where needed to provide diagrams, etc.

We had one vendor with whom we communicated necessary work via eBonding who had no capacity for including attachments in either direction!

Hope that helps.

:{)

Helpful and Correct tags are appreciated and help others to find information faster