Key takeaways from the ServiceNow World Forum London 2022

Over the last three years, organisations across the globe have had to constantly adapt to face ongoing challenges. At ServiceNow, our main priority is helping companies do just that.

This involves working collaboratively with organisations—listening to their individual needs and pain points, figuring out exactly how we can help, and sharing insights and knowledge wherever possible. In line with this, we’re thrilled to host events such as the ServiceNow World Forum.

Having numerous industry professionals in one place is a great opportunity for our customers, partners, and team members to check in with each other, stay updated on the latest industry trends and challenges, and learn about what’s going on in the world of ServiceNow.

Here are our key takeaways, learnings, and announcements from World Forum London 2022:

1. Businesses can fight inflation with technology

Inflation presents a huge challenge for businesses. This topic cropped up in multiple sessions.

Typically, during inflationary times, it’s tempting for businesses to enter survival mode—to simply weather the storm and wait it out as best they can. Although many businesses flounder during downturns, some actually achieve more success during these periods.

Therefore, companies must focus on the value they receive through their expenditures, being more careful with their investments, which can lead to better business decisions.

Technology makes this all possible. Investing in one platform that can manage interactions across all stakeholder groups and allow you to view all your data and processes in a single server solution makes it easier to survive times of high inflation—and even thrive during them.

The Now Platform Tokyo release was designed to help resolve inefficiencies within business and combat the effects of inflation by:

· Boosting employee engagement and productivity

· Supercharging intelligence and trust

· Accelerating value with purpose-built solutions

Crucially, all those capabilities exist on one platform. There’s no need to allocate funds to new solutions or multiple technologies. Everything you need can slot easily into and exist alongside ServiceNow technology.

2. Organisations need to prioritise talent

Talent is a huge topic for businesses right now. In the midst of the current digital skills shortage, organisations must look to nurture talent wherever they can.

There’s a clear link between customer and employee experiences. Put simply, a great employee experience increases the connection employees have to their organisation. This in turn boosts productivity and enables employees to serve customers. For this reason, IT and HR departments must work together.

That’s what Manchester Airport Group (MAG) discovered in the wake of the pandemic. When the organisation needed to hire an unprecedented number of employees to meet demand, IT and HR had to align to ensure the employee experience was as efficient, streamlined, and engaging as possible—or risk losing out to other airports.

MAG learned the importance of streamlining and embedding the employee experience across the whole organisation rather than leaving it to the people team.

In addition to prioritising the employee experience, organisations must address the digital skills shortage at its root. We recently announced RiseUp with ServiceNow, a program that aims to upskill 1 million people on the Now Platform to provide potential talent with the practical skills needed to forge successful careers in the technology industry.

3. Business efficiency is everything

Data remains fragmented across entire enterprises, and customers still face challenges regarding how they make work flow. In uncertain or challenging times, this becomes a bigger issue. Understandably, multiple World Forum sessions touched on how to maximise efficiency.

Jon Evans, head of UK margin assurance at Vodafone, shared his experience of creating an intelligent profit and loss statement using ServiceNow technology. Thanks to better data management and automated solutions, large-scale platform integrity tests that once took a full week now take only 9 seconds.

What’s more, low-code and citizen development enable companies to take control of their own processes. This puts the power to fix issues into the hands of the people who know those issues best.

4. It’s time to act on ESG

We’re seeing a lot of change in the area of environmental, social, and governance (ESG) regulation. ESG strategy should be at the forefront of your business agenda.

When it comes to implementing that strategy, navigating the landscape can be tricky. Some companies still don’t know where to start.

Representatives from KPMG joined us at World Forum to discuss their ESG journey. The key takeaway is ESG must be at the very core of a business, not under the purview of a single department.

Simply assigning ESG to a specific team means your ESG strategy will likely work in isolation only. Organisations must manage metrics in all areas of the business, from the supply chain to HR to recruitment.

The power of knowledge sharing

The landscape is challenging right now. By listening to each other, implementing the proper supporting technology, and learning from our shared experiences, we can better navigate the challenges.

Find out more about World Forum London.

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