I’m a developer, so I wouldn’t classify the product as valuable to me, per se. However, through the eyes of a client I can tell you that ServiceNow is highly customizable, so when anybody asks, “Can it do this?”, the answer is usually, "Yes, yes it can."
Solution Consultant with 51-200 employees
Stability is a complete non-issue as it's all cloud-based and I've never experienced down-time.
What is most valuable?
How has it helped my organization?
The whole platform has improved our organization, but that is the beauty of ServiceNow. It provides a solid starting point to manage your IT operations, but not just IT operations, but almost anything your organization needs.
For how long have I used the solution?
I've used it for three years.
What was my experience with deployment of the solution?
It is usually user error rather than system error, and even on the largest deployment that I took part in, that was muddled by an inexperienced admin. I was able to back out and fix within a two hour span of time.
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October 2024
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What do I think about the stability of the solution?
Stability is a complete non-issue. It is all cloud based and I have never experienced down time with ServiceNow.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
I really don’t think there is anything out there that even compares.
How are customer service and support?
This really depends on what the issue is. When you start venturing outside of the base system functionality, they will not support it. You essentially become the owner when you start modifying the base functionality.
That being said, the base functionality really doesn’t need to be modified. When customizing this product to suit your companies/organizations needs, developing solutions that lie within the base functionality are nearly always attainable.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I have used Cherwell, and while it works fine, it leaves a lot to be desired as far as user experience. I may be jaded because of ServiceNow, but managing data in Cherwell is nowhere near the capability of ServiceNow.
How was the initial setup?
When an instance is spun up, it’s ready to use. In that case, setup is very simple, but no organization wants to keep the out-of-box-setup though. Why would you buy something so highly customizable and not customize it?
If you keep your customizations light, setup is not difficult for someone with a modicum of experience. If an organization goes all out and wants heavy customization, then setup can become extremely complex.
What about the implementation team?
I work for a vendor, and typically the level of experience of in-house administrators/developers is rather low. We tend to incorporate them into what we are doing so as to raise their experience level, which allows them to support any solutions we implement.
Costs for consultants/developers, as I’m sure some of you know, can be pretty high. It’s not because ServiceNow is hard to configure, it’s because it’s so big that developers with an intimate knowledge of how the system functions and knowledge of the nuances are in short supply.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
It is pricey, and for good reason. As far as licensing, I have one word: haggle. I have had clients pay full price for licenses and I have had clients who get lower prices for licenses or a certain amount of free licenses.
Also, for organizations that have busy seasons where additional licenses are needed for a few months, I have heard of those being comped so long as the number of licenses needed is within reason.
What other advice do I have?
You should go play with it and learn how it works. You can get free personal developer/demo instance spun up at developer.service-now.com.
When it comes to the time to get your requirements ready you will be miles ahead and save money rather than blindly coming up with requirements, having a solution implemented, and then finding out you want to change 10% - 30% of what you originally thought you wanted.
Out-of-box end-user portal (this is highly customizable, and I’ve seen some pretty slick interfaces):
Fulfiller home screen:
Some of the base applications and list view of records:
Just an example of a custom application, I commission a fantasy
football league, and I built myself an application that utilizes web services
to pull in external data to help me manage my league as well as provide
statistics to help me set my lineup every week:
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: The company that I work for is a partner, although one of the smaller ones, which is a weird relationship seeing as we are often in competition with them to land contracts for some of the larger clients.
ServiceNow Developer / Systems Administrator at a energy/utilities company with 1,001-5,000 employees
It really helped us streamline and automate some functions that were lost in our recent reduction of staff and restructuring, although implementation is a little overwhelming without a good partner.
Valuable Features
It gives us the power to customize any aspect of the solution. They've created a tool that creates itself and give you the keys to spin the tires.
Improvements to My Organization
Since implementing ServiceNow, we’ve been able to stop our personnel count from growing. When our company had to go through a restructuring and 10% reduction in workforce, we were able to use ServiceNow to pick up the slack and automate some of the functions that were lost.
Room for Improvement
Instead of adding more and more modules in every version, I wish they would work on streamlining the underlying functions/methods and update the Wiki with all the inputs, outputs, etc. so that new developers can more easily find their way around the product and create custom applications for their own company instead of paying ServiceNow to do it.
Also update all their training materials, make some guidebooks and videos, etc.
Use of Solution
We've been using it for almost three years.
Deployment Issues
Implementation is always a little rough, but once you have everything up and running the only thing you really have to worry about are the ways in which you modify things so there won’t be any conflicts during future version updates.
Customer Service and Technical Support
They are very quick in responding and troubleshooting. They're great at pinpointing the actual root cause of something, but often the solution is “…our developers are working on fixing this in future versions six-12 months from now."
Initial Setup
It was pretty intense, but luckily our implementation package included getting two of us trained and ITIL Foundation certified which really got us on the same page.
Implementation Team
We had ServiceNow’s in-house team for “Quick-Start Implementation”, but it was very basic, and the custom things we asked him to do from scratch were not engineered very thoroughly or using best coding practices.
So, I would make sure to have a formally-trained team, and the easiest way to find those are by going to a vendor like Fruition or Cloud Sherpas (now Accenture).
Pricing, Setup Cost and Licensing
When negotiating licensing, just remember that 'Process Users' are more than twice as expensive as 'CreateNow Users', so if you are comfortable building your own apps instead of using ServiceNows, you can save a lot of money with 'CreateNow Users' in your custom apps.
Other Advice
It's great, but there's always room for improvement. We are pretty good friends with our reps since their office is right down the street and we get invited to hangout with them quite often.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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October 2024
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IT Business Analyst at a insurance company with 201-500 employees
Interface mimics a web-base
Pros and Cons
- "Good stable and scalable solution."
- "Straightforward tool."
- "Complexities in the organization made the initial deployment complex."
What is our primary use case?
I am a customer of ServiceNow. We use the solution for operations and ITSM.
What needs improvement?
ServiceNow has a user interface that mimics a web-base and is easy on the eyes however, it is too fluid. Currently, we are unable to audit notes. ServiceNow should be more organized and structured so it enables us to classify notes.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using ServiceNow for two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
The solution has good stability.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
ServiceNow is scalable.
How was the initial setup?
Due to some of the complexities within our organization, the initial deployment was complex. The tool itself is straightforward.
What about the implementation team?
The deployment of ServiceNow was completed in-house.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
We compared ServiceNow with Remedy.
What other advice do I have?
I recommend ServiceNow to commercial or private companies. I would rate this product a 10 out of 10.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Director, IT Networking at a think tank with 1-10 employees
he interface is not user-friendly and it costs a lot of money to manage, but it's reliable
Pros and Cons
- "I like that it's always up and running."
- "The interface is not user-friendly."
What is our primary use case?
I have used this solution to create forms for employees to fill out.
The main use is for incident management.
They are configuring the asset management in CMDB, and they are installing at this time.
How has it helped my organization?
It has the ability to consolidate different areas of the service desk into one solution.
What is most valuable?
I like that it's always up and running.
What needs improvement?
I am not a fan of ServiceNow.
The menus and the interface need improvement. It feels like a shopping cart and like I am shopping on the internet. The graphics of the menu could be better.
The interface is not user-friendly.
To me, ServiceNow is a money pit. It takes a lot of money to manage it.
For how long have I used the solution?
With this company, I have been using ServiceNow for one year, and another two years before that in other companies.
I am using the latest version.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
ServiceNow is a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
It's a scalable solution. We have not had any issues with the scalability of this solution.
We have 5,000 users in our organization who use it.
This solution is used quite a bit and the company plans to increase its usage.
How are customer service and technical support?
I have not contacted technical support.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
This solution was already in place, but in a different organization, I used a solution called SysAid. I thought it was much easier to manage.
How was the initial setup?
This was already in place when I arrived, but they are installing the CMDB and we need the help of a partner.
It seems to be very complex.
We have one person who is dedicated to the maintenance of this solution. He is a Service Desk Supervisor.
What about the implementation team?
My experience with the integrator has been positive.
What other advice do I have?
My advice to others is to be prepared to spend money.
While this product works, I feel that the UI is terrible, it's horrendous.
I would rate ServiceNow a four out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Senior Management Consultant at a consultancy with 11-50 employees
Easy to integrate with other legacy systems and is constantly improving as a company
Pros and Cons
- "It's easy to integrate. For instance, yesterday we closed the integration with SAP for the IP business management module to manage the forecast of projects. We created an interface between ServiceNow and SAP to control projects for accounting and on the forecast of the project. It was really easy. We don't have any problems with ServiceNow at the moment. As a company, they are improving constantly."
- "All the screens are similar. It's the same platform for everything and you need to familiarize yourself with it. In the past, you used to have one screen per application. Now, you have everything integrated into one. Everybody will manage the same screen and they need to navigate into the same screen as the Internet Explorer with a toolbar with the categories and look for the things you want to see or the models you want to use."
What is our primary use case?
IT Service Management
How has it helped my organization?
Agile framework is in place
What is most valuable?
It is very easy to integrate with other legacy systems. It's really easy to replace obligations. Each employee can develop their own workflow.
With ServiceNow, you can create your own APIs. It's very easy. This was something that I didn't expect from the tool. It's better than I expected.
It's easy to integrate. For instance, yesterday we closed the integration with SAP for the IP business management module to manage the forecast of projects. We created an interface between ServiceNow and SAP to control projects for accounting and on the forecast of the project. It was really easy. We don't have any problems with ServiceNow at the moment. As a company, they are improving constantly.
What needs improvement?
All the screens are similar. It's the same platform for everything and you need to familiarize yourself with it. In the past, you used to have one screen per application. Now, you have everything integrated into one. Everybody can manage the same screen and they need to navigate into the same screen as the Internet Explorer with a toolbar with the categories and look for the things you want to see or the models you want to use.
This is something that is a little different from a traditional way of work in Argentina when you have different applications, and now, in this case, you have it all in one. It's on the same screen with all the models in a toolbar which does impact me.
It's a new way of seeing things. In the past, you used to have a lot of publications. Now, in this case, you have the ability to have all in one. It's something new for a lot of people, and it's a change. That means we need to adapt to this change. For some people, it will not be easy.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using ServiceNow for a year.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It is very stable.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
SN has several releases by year. Each release has innovate features, and suitable components for solving previous issues detected or needs from a particular company that can be used for all...
They already have a plan for innovations that are adopting into the application constantly . It's really scalable is mandatory to change the way or work for the company....The custumer must transform their way of work....they must change it...they need to convert firt their people to adopt Agile framework...SAFe....IT4IT etc...., not only for tool perspective if not becasuse they need to convert and transform to a digital company. (ART's...Tribes, matrix structures...etc)
I am a consultant with a focus on guiding my clients through those transformation processes. I advise clients on how to use the product in the best way for them. In Argentina, I worked with medium-sized businesses.
How are customer service and technical support?
There is first level support that is supposed to be managed by yourself. It is very easy. With the second level support, in some cases we need to talk directly with ServiceNow. They managed the online chat very easily, along with the ticket, the book, the chat, and so on. I would rate their support a nine out of ten.
How was the initial setup?
The initial setup was easy. You can deploy all models together or model by model. You have different ways to work. You need to understand your customer's situations. The data is the most important part.
If you have a problem obtaining the data, the application will not function properly because you will not have all the functionalities at the right level.
The time it takes to deploy depends on the resources and the time you allocate to it, but if you put all the people, it can be done in seven months.
What other advice do I have?
Before you move forward with this kind of implementation, you need to make a cultural change in the organization to understand that the way you used to work is no longer a valid way to work and you need to work in an integrated way. If you do not adapt your mindset and make a real adoption of new and integrated methods, I would not recommend moving forward with the implementation of these kinds of solutions because it's totally integrated.
In the next release, I would like to see more Spanish options available.
I would rate ServiceNow a ten out of ten. I remember when was SAP created, it was the number one of the ERPs. ServiceNow will become the new SAP. The evolution of this solution will be constant, will grow continuously, and will be a product that every company would want to have.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Private Cloud
Disclosure: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer: Partner
IT Service Manager at a financial services firm with 1,001-5,000 employees
Cloud-based management platform with helpful sorting and grouping functions
Pros and Cons
- "I have found that sorting and grouping functions are particularly useful."
- "Creating service catalog forms could be made easier."
What is our primary use case?
I use ServiceNow for incident management, problem management, change management, and request management.
What is most valuable?
I have found that sorting and grouping functions are particularly useful.
What needs improvement?
I find some features are difficult to use. For example, the creation of service catalog forms. Creating service catalog forms could be made easier.
In the next release, I would like to see some of the features and processes made to be simpler to use. For example, creating the service catalog forms, doing the CMDB, and integration with other systems have to be made easier to use.
For how long have I used the solution?
I have been using this solution for almost two years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
It's a stable product.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
This solution is scalable.
In our company, we have approximately 1,000 users. For me, I use it every day.
How are customer service and technical support?
I rarely engage with technical support. I had a good experience with the one or two tickets that were submitted. They were able to resolve the issues and it was a positive experience.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
Previously, I was using Jira.
Jira is meant for small enterprises and it is much cheaper than ServiceNow.
ServiceNow is meant for a much larger user base.
How was the initial setup?
I was not a part of the initial setup. By the time I arrived, it had already been set up by someone else.
We have five to eight people with various tasks to maintain this solution.
What about the implementation team?
I believe that they had an integrator to help them set up. That was in 2018. before I joined the company.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The licenses are expensive.
They pay a license fee per user. Jira is much cheaper than ServiceNow.
What other advice do I have?
If I was in a small company with 500 users or less, I would use Jira. If I am in a company with 500 or more users then I would use ServiceNow.
For anyone who wants to start using ServiceNow, they need to ensure that they have the funds to finance it. The licenses are not cheap and they need to have a consultant that can help them to customize the functions or the features they need.
I would rate this solution an eight out of ten.
Which deployment model are you using for this solution?
Public Cloud
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
ServiceNow Architect & Tech Manager at TRH
Simplicity of Change Manager and easy implementation are reasons to use it
Pros and Cons
- "Simplicity of Change Manager."
What is most valuable?
- Simplicity of Change Manager
- Product based on user experience
- Nuclear integration
How has it helped my organization?
The ease of implementing the operational processes gives my clients the ability to streamline their day-to-day operations quickly, and allows huge visibility for managers and decision makers.
What needs improvement?
All areas.
For how long have I used the solution?
Five years.
What do I think about the stability of the solution?
No.
What do I think about the scalability of the solution?
No.
How are customer service and technical support?
A nine out of 10.
Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch?
I'm an implementer. I work with several solutions.
How was the initial setup?
Very easy and simple to implement; a third of the time of other solutions.
What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing?
The first impact for the customer is that it is expensive, but do not forget that it is a solution that includes infrastructure; a single cost, easy to justify.
Which other solutions did I evaluate?
With ServiceNow, it is difficult to recommend another solution. Only the price might be a reason to suggest other solutions. Ivanti could be a good solution.
What other advice do I have?
It is the best solution in the market.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
Support Specialist at a insurance company with 501-1,000 employees
It helped us better our processes. It forced us into adopting best practices.
Valuable Features
I think realistically, it helped us better our processes. It forced us into adopting best practices. We were in a bit of a tech island, and so we kind of do our own thing. To get everyone in the same system, behaving the same way, looking at work the same way, it helped bring everyone on the same page and to adopt better ITIL practices.
Room for Improvement
We're a few generations back, we're on Eureka. We've had some vendors initially help us out. We've been through about four different vendors over the three and a half years. Some of that code has been problematic for us. We're looking to get to the Geneva release. A lot of this social type computing is really interesting to us.
I'm going to a Hackathon today, and I'm looking at a "Like" feature for managers. Often in IT, we're not front and center of projects, we don't get the spotlight. When we do things that keep the system up and running for the users, no one sees that. We want to say, "Well we're doing the work in the system." Our managers can go look at that, like it, high five, that kind of thing. We're looking at that kind of Facebook style, or social media style, view into their work and actually interesting to deep diving into the data and showing what our stats are like.
Use of Solution
We just did our three year renewal in January so about three and a half years from implementation to production.
Stability Issues
We've never had it go down or connect. Most times people say ServiceNow is down, it's because our network isn't available, so it's typically not us. You can flip the WiFi on your phone and say, "Okay, that's not ServiceNow." It's been really good.
Scalability Issues
We've been pretty consistent from day one. We've used more and more modules, and as people are getting more comfortable with the platform, we're trying to tie more functionality into it, but it's been reasonable for what we're doing.
Customer Service and Technical Support
It's pretty good. I can say that for some things, obviously you can't know everything and we can't find everything, but they've been doing better and better with that. Usually, when I do ask a question, they're pretty good at saying, "Okay, well here's where to go," or, "Okay, that's legitimate. Here's how to solve it." It's usually within a week or two that our issues can be resolved. If they're not critical, it's reasonable for us.
Initial Setup
There's a lot there, it's like Excel. You can go in any which direction and you got two different ways to do it or multiple ways of doing things. It was a steep learning curve for us. We went through a number of vendors until we were able to fish on our own. Now we can go to specific people and then get those targeted information. It's been really good for us to have the user groups, local user groups, the snugs, and pick the brains of other companies who are having the same challenges or working on the same projects we are. Then we can collaborate a little bit and make sure that we're doing what makes sense. It's not just us in our own little sandbox.
Other Advice
Definitely understand a bit about ITIL best practice and what that is. We had a gentleman come in about three months before ServiceNow was brought in. He actually ran a mock help desk scenario with business asking things and with the knowledge base being put in typical back end of the level two support. We played the game several times, reorienting where all the knowledge is, where their work was done, and all of a sudden, I had a bird's eye view of how work should be done. As we were implementing ServiceNow, all the decisions and all the modules we put in place laid out to support that foundation that we'd seen. Whereas our initial approach was let's just put in there blank for like all the systems that we have. We wouldn't have leveraged a lot the best practices and things that we'd seen in the game that would've really helped us out. We would've had to rebuild it after the fact. Really understanding, see where you want to be and then build the tool up from there.
Disclosure: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
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Hi Chris, For support, have your used our Community - community.servicenow.com?