Most organizations face the dilemma of choosing the tools that work best for their needs and if you’re in a similar quandary deciding between sending ServiceNow data out for mining and using the in-platform capability this blogpost provides compelling reasons for leveraging the platform capability.
Benefits of using ServiceNow Process Mining for in-platform data
- Save on time, effort and costs by avoiding data integrations (import/export):
The data resides in ServiceNow platform where you are just one click away from automatically generating process maps, detecting bad process patterns, using machine learning features and much more.
As opposed to that, you need to build integrations with ETL (extract, transform, load) capabilities to first transmit the data before you could mine it in a third-party tool. These integrations are often not a one-time setup and require regular maintenance entailing time and costs commitments.
- Users already trained on table structure and context
ServiceNow users are already fully trained on using data tables e.g. incident, request, case, HR case and more. When using ServiceNow process mining you are harnessing the intuitive user knowledge and context to mine data and interpret results without having to train them again. Whereas, you would have to train the users on a new third-party tool to learn the data schemas for mining and interpreting results.
- Data security intact
ServiceNow offers robust data security and by not transmitting your data to an external tool you ensure it stays secure. With an external third-party tool, you need to perform security assessments for the confidence you need especially to meet data regulations e.g. GDPR and others.
- Quick drill down to base records
You can easily drill down from a process map to reach the base records used for mining. To establish similar traceability in a third-party tool would require a lot of effort and not every data point can be transmitted out making it difficult to perform a holistic analysis.
- Leverage existing ACLs – timesaver!
The access-control-levels set in ServiceNow provide required accesses i.e. create, read, update, delete to the users. It ensures that process mining records are not visible or actionable for someone who is not meant to have the access. Similar accesses and role permissions need to be created from scratch in a third-party tool.
- Machine learning & AI natively integrated
Machine learning and AI are platform capabilities natively used in Process Mining offering pattern detection, automated root cause analysis, clustering and work notes analysis for unstructured data and much more.
- Break silos - mine multiple linked processes
You can mine child and related tables effortlessly in ServiceNow process mining. And for specific tables e.g. approvals and sla, the toggle button allows to add them quickly to the analysis. For wholesome mining in a third-party tool would mean recreating the schemas and mapping of related tables diligently.
- No swivel chairing
When your data mining projects, KPIs, dashboards, automation requests, improvement ideas all are in the same tool you reap benefits from the synergies and avoid user distress from hopping in and out of different tools.
- Free data patterns provided to get you started
ServiceNow Process Mining offers free patterns in the baseline to get you started with pattern detection. An example of a pattern is ‘ping-pong’ where records go back and forth between two activities such as assignment group or state. When you run these patterns i.e. bad process behaviours in your dataset it reveals the anomalies and initiates ideas for process improvement.
- Consolidated continual improvements & automation
In the process mining workbench, you can use the ‘continual improvement management’ records to log your process improvement ideas and assign them as tasks to your teams. You can also create ‘automation requests’ to suggest automating non-value-adding steps. Process improvement enablers are all in one place within the mining workbench which offers great value as compared to reaching out to disparate tools.
- No rigorous training or certifications – free resources!
Learners use free videos and blogs to mine with plugin-and-play features and guided setups.
Tips for consolidating Process Mining in ServiceNow
- Better together
To reap best value, use the following products together with Process Mining:
- Performance Analytics
ServiceNow offers tons of KPIs (key performance indicators) in the baseline e.g. mean time to resolve, average response times. You could tweak them for your needs. Process Mining allows to link KPIs to findings (patterns) for metric-driven mining to improve processes and consequently influences the KPIs positively.
- Platform Analytics
It offers robust dashboarding capabilities with multiple widgets, one of which is process maps from the mining module. You can view insights (patterns / bad process behaviours) on the dashboard in one-click.
- Continual Improvement Management
Create CIM (continual improvement management) records straight from process mining workbench to log process improvement ideas instead of using spreadsheets and track before-and-after impact on metrics.
- Automation Centre
Log automation requests from within process mining workbench to automate non-value-adding steps.
- Target personas for process mining
- Adopt CoE (centre of excellence) for continual improvement
- At ‘detect’ stage, the CoE members are aware of process malfunctioning through KPIs trending badly, SLA breaches and alerts.
- At ‘analyze’ stage, the CoE uses process mining to go deeper to identify bad process behaviours (patterns), root cause, bottlenecks and much more.
- At ‘improve’ stage, the CoE uses CIM records to improve processes by undertaking initiatives such as coach agents, publish effective knowledge articles, update intake forms or automate steps, use Virtual Agent (chatbot), agentic AI and more.
- At ‘monitor’ stage, the CoE forms a ‘community of practice’ by sharing results of process improvements and presenting to senior management the benefits of process improvements.
*Free Resources
ServiceNow Process Mining Academy
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