Today’s dynamic business environment requires IT departments to be nimble, collaborative, and constantly improving processes. In addition to standard monitoring tools, many IT teams are turning to integrated software systems for streamlining operations and boosting efficiency. This article details how Duke University uses the Duke Service Now IT management system to manage their Information Technology department and services. These solutions have enabled them to streamline processes, capture key performance indicators, automate manual tasks, and more. If you are interested in exploring alternative ways of operating your IT department – check out this article on how Duke uses ServiceNow for IT management!
What is Duke Service Now?
Duke Service Now is a cloud-based IT management and business process automation platform. The solution offers ITIL-inspired functionality to track and report on IT incidents, as well as manage change, network, and software deployment processes. Users can create custom workflows for repetitive tasks, integrate with third-party applications, and manage their teams with built-in collaboration tools and role-based access control.
IT Help Desk Automation with Duke Service Now
One of the most common service requests in any organization are those where a user is unable to access a system because of an issue with their login credentials. Because organization-wide password resets are a major source of frustration for users, as well as a source of risk due to the opportunity for malicious actors to exploit vulnerabilities in the reset system, help desk staff need to be able to reset login credentials quickly and efficiently. ServiceNow’s built-in reset functionality allows you to create service requests that allow resetting passwords and other credentials, as well as a variety of other tasks. It also allows security staff to track who has requested a reset, who has approved it, and who has completed it.
Change Management Automation
A critical component of any successful IT organization is change management. Change management ensures that neither the organization nor its personnel are adversely affected by uncoordinated or unexpected changes. One area where change management can be especially helpful is with service requests associated with software updates. While new software might be necessary, it can cause disruptions while IT staff apply it to different systems. ServiceNow allows you to define change requests that can be tracked throughout the lifecycle, and tied to predefined SLAs. This allows you to manage expectations, and better predict when issues will occur.
Network Management Automation with ServiceNow Duke
Managing your network is another critical function for IT departments. However, it is also a challenging, and often frustrating, process. This is especially the case for organizations with distributed IT teams. Where one team is responsible for network uptime, and another manages network security and access control. For distributed organizations, ServiceNow offers a centralized network management solution. It allows IT teams to collaborate on changing network configurations, and easily track changes and detect anomalies in network traffic. Network managers can also use ServiceNow to request changes in network configurations, and track the lifecycles of those changes.
Software Deployment Automation with Duke Service Now
Most IT organizations use some form of software deployment. Whether it’s a simple, manual process that involves copying files to a server, or a complex, fully-automated solution that includes cloud-based code repositories and configuration management tools. For most organizations, deployment automation is a critical piece of their architecture. It allows them to quickly and efficiently deploy new software to production. While maintaining a high degree of control over the process. ServiceNow has a built-in software deployment tool that allows you to define the process for deploying new software to your servers. This can include everything from version control for the code, to a server configuration management solution.
Conclusion
Change is inevitable in the business world, and it is especially true in the world of IT. That’s why it’s important to embrace change, and find ways to use it to improve operations. With the help of ServiceNow, organizations can better manage their IT departments, and make the most of their teams’ expertise. This change can be anything from streamlining a single process, to completely restructuring an IT department’s organization. It’s important to note that none of these changes happens overnight. It takes time to implement change, and even more time to see the results. But with the right planning, and a bit of patience, these changes can make a huge impact on your organization.
