IT Service Management

The Latest

01 March 2021: ServiceNow released the latest quarterly edition of its platform. 

Why it’s Important

ServiceNow provided the latest quarterly release in March 2021. In this version, called ‘Quebec’, ServiceNow has revised its support model and incorporated major changes to enable the effective upgrades from either New York, Orlando or Paris versions.

A streamlined support structure will help CIO and ITSM team on a ‘learn, prepare and upgrade’ model. 

1. Learn: Identify your upgrade path and consider the release highlights.
2. Prepare: Choose the tools to perform a risk and value assessment of the upgrade. Use the upgrade value calculator, the playbook to maintain platform health and a risk assessment of platform customisations.
3. Upgrade: Maximise the upgrade value by reviewing over 78 release highlights across core functionality, ITSM workflows, AI, asset management, security, risk and cost, customer and field service workflows, employee workflows ,safe workspace, and workspace service delivery

One of the big winners is the telecommunication sector, with enhancements to the product cataloguing, order management and open API’s to assist with alarm management. A new processing engine has been created to automate alerts and incidents.

Who’s impacted

• CIO
• ITSM functional Leads 
• DevOps leads
• Security Leads

What’s Next?

ServiceNow clients should set time to review the release notes for Quebec and consider the ‘learn, prepare and upgrade’ literature to determine whether they are ready for the upgrade. If so, plan and execute once the risks and value are clear.

Related IBRS Advisory

1. New generation IT service management tools Part 1
2. New generation IT service management tools Part 2: Multi-Cloud management
3. New generation IT service management tools Part 3: Multi-Cloud backup and recovery

Conclusion: Many vendors, consultants and managed service providers are pushing ‘security information and event management’ (SIEM) as a panacea to security failings. The intent is correct. Having visibility of what is or has happened in the infrastructure is essential to detecting and responding to intrusions.

What often gets glossed over is that SIEM is a tool, not a complete solution in itself. Deployment requires deep engagement with the IT operations team and a clear vision of what is expected from the SIEM. The vision will be driven by how SIEM will be used, what outcomes would be expected and how its use would evolve over time.

With careful planning prior to deployment, some, if not most, of these issues can be addressed.

Conclusion

The COVID-19 pandemic has, in many cases, forced the workforce environment to shrink to the walls of worker’s houses for at least nine months. While some services such as shopping, online learning and telemedicine proved to be useful when made available remotely, many other services were not suitable to run effectively outside the traditional work environment (e. g. those with inadequate network capacity). Organisations should study the feasibility and cost-effectiveness of deploying additional remote services that are critical to improve business performance, increase service efficiency and reduce the cost of doing business.