Presenter: Jacob Gsoedl, VP of IT Business Applications ServiceNow
Session title: Financial Management as a Service
Financial Management-as-a-service you ask? ServiceNow responds, "Everything as a Service." And, I couldn't agree more. Unless you are a company of one, then regardless of company size and industry, every employee and every department is a service provider. IT organizations around the world have had this "service provider" concept drilled into them for over a decade, and now departments across the enterprise are starting to embrace the service provider model. In the immortal words of Etta James, "At last."
Jacob's presentation today shared how ServiceNow is using Financial Management to help solve some age old financial management process challenges. Let's recap the top take-a-ways:
- Replacing a manual e-mail based purchasing process with an integrated workflow-based process on the ServiceNow platform led to substantial productivity gains for everyone involved in the purchasing process, transparency, and greater transactional accuracy by reducing manual human errors.
- Being able to leverage ServiceNow core functionality, from Receiving Slip, ITAM, CMDB and integration to the platform's development capabilities, ServiceNow was able to mash-up and create a powerful solution that solved a burning business problem in a fraction of the time it would have taken to build this the traditional way.
After the presentation, I asked Jacob if he had any advice for customers who are starting their financial management implementation journey. He got right to the point:
- Clearly define requirements and get sign off
- Organize frequent demos during development
- Break down the project into manageable milestones
- Keep it simple!
Let's get the party started
Final question of the day for Jacob, "If Financial management was throwing a ServiceNow Platform party, who would you invite, and why?"
- Vendor Management - Suppliers and qualifying suppliers is an essential aspect in the procurement process.
- Contract Management - Many purchases have an underlying contract; being able to track things like renewals, and automatic notifications when renewals come-up keep things simple and organized.
- Asset Management - Having a closed loop process for asset purchases, from purchase requisition and Receiving to CMDB and ERP, and keeping physical assets in-sync with assets on the book, assures compliance and enables scale.
- IT Financial Management - Gives IT management insight into IT-related finances and costing. It empowers IT.
Product Management Shout Out
Big thanks to Jacob Gsoedl (VP, IT Business Applications ServiceNow) for helping me get the word out today.
Want to know more?
Financial management is the process of planning, analyzing, directing, and controlling costs. The goal is to have an accurate account of what an organization is spending in order to maximize resources and control spending. The Financial Management application provides modules for depreciation, fixed assets, expense lines, and cost centers.
