Moving Towards Zero Touch IT with BetterCloud and ServiceNow

Over the past 7 years, I have had the opportunity to speak with various customers and IT professionals about the growing need for automation and overall improvements to  their processes. This age-old IT dilemma has been building up over the years, similar to a volcano getting ready to erupt. It has also led to a unified industry consensus around zero touch IT, enabling IT teams to increase their efficiency and enhance the employee experience.

When you throw the proliferation of SaaS adoption into the mix, it’s abundantly clear that IT’s ability to optimize critical business processes and spend more of its time on strategic initiatives is contingent on the level of automation it can implement. It’s difficult to imagine how even the best IT teams could focus on mission-critical work while simultaneously resolving a huge backlog of helpdesk tickets. 

By now, you are probably aware of how BetterCloud helps organizations achieve zero touch IT when it comes to user lifecycle management and data protection. Today, I want to touch on SaaS self service requests. These requests can be a variety of tasks, including password resets, adding to groups, transferring of data, requesting access to a SaaS app, and much more. In today’s example, we’ll review SaaS app requests and what that typically entails for IT.

The Challenge

In the diagram below, you’ll notice that reviewing and granting app access tends to be a very manual process that touches multiple systems and people before the employee gains access to what they need.

These requests typically always touch a ticketing solution. In today’s example, we’ll focus on what this can look like when ServiceNow captures and routes requests for approval. 

While the example above is somewhat simple with roughly 5 steps, the cycle time between each step can vary from a matter of mere minutes to days or even weeks. Not only is the constant context-shifting and growing hold times impacting the amount of time IT can focus on strategic work, but the requestor’s productivity is taking a direct hit due to the delay in getting access to their app.

The Solution

The reality is that SaaS adoption is constantly on the uptick and this problem will continue to grow. What can be done to help IT remove these manual tedious tasks? How can organizations ensure increase employee productivity gains without playing the waiting game? 

This is where zero touch IT enters the scene for SaaS self service requests. A perfect way to accomplish this is by tying your ITSM solution such as ServiceNow directly into BetterCloud’s SaaS Management Platform.

Rather than having to wait on the passing of the baton that can take days if not weeks, employees can submit a ticket in ServiceNow (or other ITSMs). BetterCloud will then hear that request and kick off the appropriate chain to get that employee access sooner rather than later. All of this happens without IT having to lift a finger!

Since we are having fun, let’s take this a step further.

Usually, the “simple” task of putting in the request is the biggest barrier preventing employees from getting what they need. 

Picture an employee not having to leave their collaboration application such as Slack. A lot of solutions like Slack integrate directly into ITSM solutions. As a matter of fact, Slack has a direct integration into ServiceNow.

The diagram above represents how an employee can seamlessly kick off their request which kicks off a sequential chain reaction from Slack to ServiceNow to BetterCloud.

Ultimately, this kind of zero touch IT example with BetterCloud allows IT to increase their efficiency, ensure compliance is being met due to the auditable nature of BetterCloud’s platform, and get employees what they need faster so they can increase their productivity.

Imagine the time savings for IT when they are able to shift from keeping the lights on to focusing on key strategic initiatives for the organization!

For a guided walkthrough of the value of integrating ServiceNow with BetterCloud and what it looks like in the BetterCloud UI, check out the video below:

What’s Next?

Want to learn more about how BetterCloud can help your IT organization increase efficiency and deliver a best-in-class employee experience? Request a Demo.

To view how to configure BetterCloud's integration with ServiceNow, click here.