Matt Saxton, Principal Engineer at Vantiv, is building the future of work with ServiceNow. Read how he started using the platform, what he has built, and what he hopes to create in the future. Join the conversation on Twitter using #IAmACreator.
Tell us about how you were first introduced to ServiceNow?
I was first introduced to ServiceNow when looking for an alternative to our clunky, aging remedy system. My company needed a robust platform to build custom applications as well as for using the ITSM stack. We needed to consolidate applications. Before ServiceNow, we used to have a problem management application, several service catalog applications and a change application, which were all separate.
How did you learn to develop on ServiceNow?
Before ServiceNow, I had limited professional development experience. We leveraged a vendor to do a lot of our onsite training and implementation. This allowed me to watch and learn how to code in ServiceNow. I took the courses and soon I was developing like a pro. Because ServiceNow uses JavaScript, there are a TON of resources available. I utilized the community to get me started and it has been a true game changer.
It took me a month to get ramped and able to really write and code on my own. Within 3 months I understood most of the concepts that ServiceNow runs on. Now, at 3 years I'm still learning new things every day.
How do you see ServiceNow changing the way people work at Vantiv?
I see users in our organization in need of a single source for work. With ServiceNow, we started in IT and we are rapidly growing out to different aspects of the business. It is one place to request and gather work for the whole company.
What is your favorite aspect of developing on the platform?
My favorite aspect of developing on ServiceNow is the single, simple scripting language based on industry standards. There are no SQL or backend languages to learn. This makes learning and expanding your knowledge very fast and easy.
What application are you most proud of?
I am most proud of InstaImage. The first image editor created for the ServiceNow Store!
What business problem did you address with InstaImage?
Understanding issues can be hard at times. However, trying to explain to a customer how to upload a screenshot to problem-solve the issue, can be even harder. With InstaImage, there is no need to save anything locally. This has saved many frustrated customers and allowed the internal staff to write knowledge articles faster.
How does InstaImage work?
We used a plugin to Adobe's Creative Cloud to work with an image in a canvas. ServiceNow provides the API authentications and hosting of the images. It also displays the images in knowledge articles or tickets.
What impact does InstaImage have on businesses?
Customers have reported:
-Faster MTTR
-More first time resolutions
-Quicker service restorations
-Better knowledge articles
What would be your dream application to build?
I would love to build a Prezi/Powerpoint alternative on ServiceNow. Imagine being able to see presentations on your mobile device with live charts and forms driven by ServiceNow data. Share your presentations with groups or users. Write a tutorial and attach it to a record. I think this would be a killer app for ServiceNow.
A tip for a new ServiceNow developer:
Dive in! Join the ServiceNow Developer Program and get an instance. Follow the tutorials and try to solve a real world problem at your work. If you get stuck, use the community to help. We were new once too and we are here to help!
You can see Matt and other creators in action at Knowledge16. Register today!
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Are you a ServiceNow developer? Join the conversation in our Developer Community and by tagging @ServiceNow and #IAmACreator on Twitter.
