We are happy to be among the first who are knowledgeable about the new release and we found some great features and improvements in the Paris release.
Early Availability is a ServiceNow early release program that allows qualified, existing customers and select partners to upgrade to a ServiceNow new release before Market Launch, when it then becomes generally available.
We consider the Early Availability a good chance to learn about the new features and enhancements, and to review and test them to always stay up to date and to be able to share them with the customers.
In this article we are sharing with you our preferred top 5 new applications available in the Paris release we think you should know about:
1. Process Automation Designer
Starting with the first, Process Automation Designer is a new application that enables the process owners to create a single, unified process. You can also use Process Automation Designer to provide end users with a simplified, task-oriented view of your process.
With Process Automation Designer you can:
#1 Connect multiple flows and actions into an end-to-end business workflow.
#2 Reuse existing Flow Designer flows, subflows, or actions to automate process activities.
#3 Organize process activities in a digitized task board interface.
#4 Guide end users to complete a process in a task-oriented interface, such as a playbook.
To get the Process Automation Designer in your platform you must have a Now Platform App Engine subscription.
To create a Process Automation, you will have to navigate to Process Automation > Process Automation Designer and click New.
After you define the Process it will run when all the trigger conditions are met. As a result, the system creates a Process Execution record and renders any previously configured user-facing views of your process.
2. Natural Language Query
Natural Language Query is a new application in the Now platform that promise to bring an easier way for the users to find the answers to all their questions. It enables you to quickly get answers from data in your instance by entering plain-language questions into the user interface.
Natural Language Query is a simple powerful application that could bring a lot of benefits to a company. The features that this application have are the following:
Create custom synonyms for keywords and semantic shortcuts with conditional definitions to increase positive query results for NLQ users. The synonyms and conditions you create are key components that help the system respond accurately to your records-related questions.
Get answers to your records-related queries by entering plain-language questions directly into the Analytics Q&A user interface. You can ask questions such as “How many open cases are assigned to me?” to get an immediate answer
3. ServiceNow Upgrade Center application
ServiceNow Upgrade Center is a new application that is active by default in the Paris release and can be used to plan and manage your upgrades.
The application comes with some useful features:
Upgrade Preview
Allows you to explore and preview upgrades to different ServiceNow release versions and see how your instance might be impacted with your current configurations. The Upgrade Preview utility helps you to plan, schedule, and prepare for an upgrade.
Preview skipped list prediction
This feature allows you to reduce post-upgrade review time by previewing the records that have been customized and are different from the upgrade version being previewed and might get skipped due to your customizations in the instance.
Upgrade Monitor module
Here you can view the upgrade summary and the list of records causing conflicts in your instance once the upgrade is complete.
Upgrade History module
The module tracks every upgrade made to an instance. You can also view the complete report of an old upgrade or a recently completed upgrade version using this module.
Administration
This module contains properties for managing Upgrade Center.
4. Hardware Asset Management
This is a new application in which you will need a license to activate it in your Now platform, but it comes with some powerful capabilities for workflows and automations to maintain your assets.
Hardware Asset Management comes with the following features which we think will improve quite a lot the way your company manages their hardware assets:
Keep your asset data accurate by automating the update of your asset records throughout the asset’s life cycle. Automated workflows and asset tasks help you to keep accurate records of your assets and reduce manual updates to assets and their associated CIs. Hardware Asset dashboard
Get a comprehensive view of your hardware assets through the entire asset life cycle. You can get insights into your asset inventory, disposal status of assets, approaching timelines for end of life stages, and pending purchase orders. Hardware model normalization
Get visibility and control of your hardware models and assets throughout your IT environment. You can use the hardware library and normalization rules to gauge your hardware assets and plan for a refresh when an asset approaches its end of life. You can also normalize details, such as the manufacturer, product, model, and device type of your hardware and consumable models. Auditing your asset inventory
Conduct scheduled or unplanned audits of your stockrooms and other locations such as offices or datacenters. You can use the ServiceNow® Agent mobile app to scan hardware assets for the audit. You can also view detailed audit results to see the assets that are expected at the location and the assets that are found. Quick start tests for Hardware Asset Management
After upgrades and deployments of new applications or integrations, run quick start tests to verify that Hardware Asset Management still works. If you customized Hardware Asset Management, copy the quick start tests, and configure them for your customizations.
5. Workforce Optimization for ITSM
ServiceNow Workforce Optimization for ITSM is a new application in the Paris release, that can be used to improve the quality and efficiency of service teams and enhance team satisfaction.
It allows you to assess the needed skills for your organization and to use Predictive Intelligence to identify skill gaps and recommend coaching and training needs for your team.
This application is part of the new ITSM Enterprise offering and it comes with the following features:
Customizing the Workforce Optimization landing page
You can customize your home page to monitor metrics and trends that matter most to you and you can use the User Interface (UI) Builder to add data visualization components to display widgets and reports that you want to track and monitor.
Scheduling
This feature allows to manage the scheduling for your organization from a central location.
The managers can plan and manage shifts, add breaks, preview schedules, and time-off requests for the team.
The agents can manage their own schedules by swapping shifts with their colleagues or create time-off requests.
Teams
Teams can be used to track and analyze performance trends for the teams from a single location. You can monitor the trends for each agent within your team and compare your agents or team members with one another. With Teams, you can identify skill gaps so that you can recommend which skills are needed to coach your agents.
Predictive intelligence for coaching and training
Gain visibility into how your teams are performing in real time. You can use skill recommendations and continual coaching cycles to enhance your agents’ skills.
Coaching
Use the Coaching application to do the following:
Identify coaching opportunities from critical points in the process that need improvement.
Automatically generate assessments to measure the quality of completed tasks.
Use surveys to apply consistent, measurable scores that highlight exceptional moments of service or areas that need attention.
Channel Management
Use channels to route work to specific queues. You can review the real-time performance of your team members as they actively work on tasks across channels.
Roles added to Workforce Optimization for ITSM
Use the new roles added to Workforce Optimization for ITSM to monitor your teams’ performance, manage queues, schedule, coach, and train your agents.
Domain Separation
Separate data, processes, and tasks into logical groupings in Workforce Optimization for ITSM with domain separation. You can then control aspects in each domain, including which users can see and access the data.
