Organizations of different scales that have invested in ServiceNow want to use their ITSM platform to handle TEM and increase operational effectiveness. ServiceNow offers a platform called ITSM (IT Service Management) that large enterprise organizations employ within their IT environment to manage and enhance IT’s service delivery. When set up properly, ServiceNow’s ITSM platform will gather all the data on enterprise IT assets for business units to use and make smarter business decisions.
What we’ve found is that our customers do a great job of inputting their data to ServiceNow but lack the time or expertise to analyze and optimize their telecom expenses. This article will help your organization better understand the ISTM module ServiceNow.Â
What is ITSM within ServiceNow?
ITSM is short for Information Technology Service Management, and in ServiceNow, it means a collection of practices, processes, and tools that are used to create, provide, manage, and enhance IT services that meet the requirements of an organization and its customers. ServiceNow’s ITSM solution offers a complete platform for handling IT services and support operations in an efficient and productive way.
Here are some key components and features of ITSM within ServiceNow:
1. Incident Management: ServiceNow ITSM includes robust incident management capabilities for logging, categorizing, prioritizing, and resolving IT issues and service disruptions efficiently. It provides workflows for incident triage, assignment, escalation, and resolution, ensuring timely response and resolution of IT incidents.
2. Service Request Management: ServiceNow ITSM enables organizations to standardize and automate the fulfillment of service requests from users and customers. It offers a self-service portal where users can submit service requests, track their status, and access knowledge articles and FAQs to resolve common issues independently.
3. Change Management: ServiceNow ITSM facilitates the management of IT changes and releases by providing workflows for requesting, assessing, approving, implementing, and reviewing changes to IT infrastructure and services. It helps organizations minimize the risk of disruptions and outages caused by unauthorized or poorly managed changes.
4. Problem Management: ServiceNow ITSM includes problem management capabilities for identifying, investigating, and resolving the root causes of recurring IT issues and incidents. It enables organizations to implement proactive measures to prevent future problems and improve the overall stability of IT services
5. Configuration Management: ServiceNow ITSM includes a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that serves as a centralized repository for storing and managing configuration items (CIs) related to IT infrastructure, applications, and services. It provides visibility into the relationships and dependencies between CIs, enabling effective impact analysis and change planning.
6. Knowledge Management: ServiceNow ITSM includes knowledge management capabilities for creating, organizing, and sharing knowledge articles, FAQs, and best practices to help users and support teams resolve IT issues more efficiently. It promotes self-service and empowers users to find answers to their questions independently.
7. Service Level Management: ServiceNow ITSM enables organizations to define, monitor, and manage service level agreements (SLAs) and operational level agreements (OLAs) to ensure that IT services meet agreed-upon performance and availability targets. It provides dashboards and reports for tracking SLA compliance and performance metrics.
8. Reporting and Analytics: ServiceNow ITSM includes reporting and analytics tools for generating insights into IT service performance, operational efficiency, and user satisfaction. It offers pre-built reports, dashboards, and KPIs to monitor key metrics and trends, enabling informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
Overall, ServiceNow ITSM provides a comprehensive platform for organizations to streamline IT service delivery, improve service quality, and enhance the overall user experience. It helps align IT services with business objectives, optimize IT operations, and drive digital transformation initiatives effectively.
Telecom Analysis in ServiceNow
In ServiceNow, the analysis of telecom bills typically involves a structured process to understand, categorize, and evaluate the various components of telecommunications expenses incurred by an organization. Here’s an overview of how this process might be carried out:
1. Data Collection: Telecom bills from different providers and carriers are collected and consolidated within ServiceNow. This might involve importing bills electronically or manually entering data into the system.
2. Data Parsing and Normalization: Telecom bills often contain a plethora of information in various formats. ServiceNow may use parsing algorithms or manual data entry to extract relevant details such as usage charges, service fees, taxes, and surcharges. Normalization ensures that data is formatted consistently for accurate analysis.
3. Categorization: The extracted data is categorized based on different parameters such as service type (e.g., mobile, landline, internet), cost centers, departments, or geographic locations. This categorization helps in allocating expenses accurately and identifying cost trends across different areas of the organization.
4. Validation and Reconciliation: Once categorized, the telecom expenses are validated against predefined benchmarks or budget allocations. Discrepancies or outliers are investigated to ensure accuracy and integrity of the data. Reconciliation may involve cross-checking billing details with service contracts and usage records.
5. Cost Allocation: Telecom expenses are allocated to respective cost centers, departments, or projects based on predefined allocation rules. This step ensures that each part of the organization bears its fair share of the telecom costs.
6. Analysis and Reporting: ServiceNow provides tools for analyzing telecom expenses through dashboards, reports, and analytics modules. Users can visualize spending patterns, identify cost-saving opportunities, and track key performance indicators (KPIs) such as cost per user, cost per service, or cost per location.
7. Optimization and Action: Based on the analysis, organizations can identify areas where telecom expenses can be optimized or reduced. This might involve renegotiating contracts with service providers, consolidating services, implementing usage policies, or adopting new technologies for cost efficiency.
8. Compliance and Audit: ServiceNow helps in ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and internal policies related to telecom expenses. Audit trails and documentation are maintained to track changes, approvals, and actions taken to manage telecom costs effectively. There have been service providers and software solutions for Telecom Expense Management or Technology Expense Management longer than ServiceNow has been popular. Many of them can now use the information in ServiceNow to create a simple dashboard experience and highly skilled teams that can assist your team in managing your technology service providers. Below is a screen shot of a top ServiceNow integration landing page providing insight into the TEM activity of a client:
What is the ServiceNow TAM Module?
ServiceNow simplifies the whole process of telecom expense management by offering a single platform for data gathering, analysis, and decision-making, resulting in cost reductions, efficiency enhancements, and better oversight of telecom expenses. ServiceNow Technology Asset Management (TAM) is a part of the ServiceNow platform that helps organizations to manage their technology assets effectively throughout their lifecycle. It provides a central source for tracking, managing, and optimizing IT assets, such as hardware, software, and related components. Here are some main features and functionalities of ServiceNow TAM:
1. Asset Inventory: ServiceNow TAM allows organizations to maintain a comprehensive inventory of all IT assets, including computers, servers, networking devices, software licenses, peripherals, and mobile devices. It provides a centralized repository where asset details such as make, model, serial number, location, and ownership can be stored and accessed.
2. Asset Lifecycle Management: ServiceNow TAM supports the entire lifecycle of IT assets, from procurement and deployment to retirement and disposal. It enables organizations to track asset status, ownership, warranty information, and maintenance schedules throughout their lifecycle, ensuring compliance with asset management policies and regulatory requirements.
3. Asset Procurement and Provisioning: ServiceNow TAM streamlines the procurement and provisioning of IT assets by automating workflows and approvals. It provides tools for requesting new assets, evaluating procurement requests, generating purchase orders, and tracking asset delivery and installation. This helps organizations optimize asset acquisition processes and control costs.
4. Software Asset Management (SAM): ServiceNow TAM includes capabilities for managing software assets and licenses. It helps organizations track software installations, licenses purchased, license usage, and license compliance. ServiceNow SAM also provides tools for software license optimization, ensuring that organizations maximize the value of their software investments while minimizing compliance risks.
5. Asset Tracking and Discovery: ServiceNow TAM includes tools for discovering and tracking IT assets across the organization’s infrastructure. It supports automated discovery techniques such as network scanning and agent-based inventory collection to identify and inventory assets in real-time. This helps organizations maintain accurate and up-to-date asset inventories, even in dynamic IT environments.
6. Asset Risk and Compliance Management: ServiceNow TAM helps organizations mitigate risks related to IT assets by identifying security vulnerabilities, license compliance issues, and potential cost exposures. It provides tools for assessing asset risks, implementing remediation actions, and ensuring compliance with regulatory requirements and industry standards.
7. Reporting and Analytics: ServiceNow TAM offers reporting and analytics capabilities to provide insight into IT asset inventory, usage, costs, and compliance. It includes pre-built reports and dashboards for tracking key performance indicators (KPIs) related to asset management, enabling informed decision-making and continuous improvement.
Overall, ServiceNow TAM enables organizations to streamline IT asset management processes, reduce costs, mitigate risks, and optimize the value of their technology investments. It integrates seamlessly with other modules within the ServiceNow platform, such as IT Service Management (ITSM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB), to provide a unified approach to managing IT services and assets.
ServiceNow integration and TEM Managed Services
As mentioned, companies with any level of investment in ServiceNow want to use their current ITSM platform to manage TEM and improve operational performance. The difficulty is finding a way to connect internal FTEs, skilled SMEs, and carrier invoice processing methods.
E78 helps clients get the best out of their ServiceNow investment by offering a natively integrated solution that connects with hundreds of telecom providers and allows for automatic invoice processing based on your business rules. After processing your invoices, we conduct audits and optimizations to reduce your telecom carrier expenses significantly. A user-friendly UI and automated workflows built natively in ServiceNow eliminates the manual work of approving your voice & network services, contracts, and vendors. The E78 offers a managed services BPO that includes:
- Historical Audit & Optimization
- Inventory Build
- Invoice & Missing Invoice Receipt, Processing and Validation
- Audit & Carrier Dispute Management
- Contract Management
- Inventory Management
- AP File creation and Accrual File creation
- Vendor Pay Management
- Allocations and chargebacks
- Custom Reporting
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TEM & ServiceNow Summary
ServiceNow is a useful cloud-based software platform that can assist enterprise IT organizations with managing assets and digital workflows. To use ServiceNow for Telecom Expense Management and Asset Management, a team needs to have the skills to improve and support the platform. Moreover, the team needs to comprehend the technology and/or work closely with IT management to obtain business benefits from the platform. IT leaders should be aware of the available professional services and integrations with ServiceNow that can assist IT leaders in maximizing their return on investment into ServiceNow and managing a genuine TEM practice. There are affordable alternatives with a proven ROI for TEM in the market. Reach out to the team at E78 Partners for more information on TEM & ServiceNow choices and how to choose the best-suited TEM provider for your business.
