From Berlin in July 2012 to Istanbul in January 2017 and Paris later in 2020, ServiceNow’s software updates have taken customers on a whirlwind tour of improvements. But Orlando represents a veritable leap forward in capabilities for ServiceNow customers.

ServiceNow upgrades always build on their previous versions, and Orlando is no different. But with hundreds of new features included in this release, there’s a bigger gap than usual between Orlando and previous ServiceNow releases. Let’s take a close look at three high-level areas of the Orlando update that will make a huge difference in your ServiceNow experience: NOW Intelligence, Cloud Insights, and Mobile Analytics.

NOW Intelligence

NOW Intelligence is a key reason the Orlando release is such a step up. NOW Intelligence is a suite of functionality designed to present information, make predictions, and automate repetitive tasks so that your users can prioritize higher-level work. It works on two levels: proactively, through the IT Operations Management (ITOM) suite, and virtually, through the Customer Service Management (CSM) suite with virtual agent intelligence. This platform feature helps users work smarter and make better business decisions so they can spend their time on things that will impact the business in a positive way.

A good example of this would be for people familiar with the virtual agent in their portals. If you were to use an enhanced natural language model to improve that virtual agent conversation, NOW Intelligence would show you where you might help your end users identify and resolve their issues, perhaps by removing or deflecting incidents.

Cloud Insights

There has been a lot of development in cloud provisioning and insight and monitoring lately, specifically from ServiceNow. Orlando’s cloud insights feature will help ServiceNow customers quickly extract value, leveraging spend optimization so that they understand where their cloud resources are being utilized. As the name implies, it’s all about getting insight into your cloud landscape.

For example, users could look at business hours and see which cloud resources are running outside of these business hours. With that reported information, users would be able to remove that wasted cloud cost. Users could also build in automation to reduce cloud resources when they’re not needed.

Mobile Analytics

In Orlando, mobile analytics is a new functionality that gives businesses unprecedented insights into their mobile apps. The mobile analytics platform provides trend information that businesses can use to understand how many users are active in each of their mobile applications, which locations users are connecting from, and how much time they’re spending in each part of the app. This insight gives businesses a clear look at whether they’re addressing their customers’ needs appropriately and whether there are possible efficiency gains in the application.

The mobile analytics feature is all about analyzing user behavior and adjusting the app to serve users’ needs. For example, the heat map functionality visually shows businesses which parts of the app are receiving the most interaction. Taking it a step further, administrators can review a step-by-step video of user sessions to understand exactly how they moved through the app. Historically, application developers have seen that the way they design an app is not necessarily the way consumers interact with it. When ServiceNow customers use and act on mobile analytics, they can gain more value from their mobile app.

How to Get the Most out of Orlando

So, how can you take full advantage of Orlando’s NOW Intelligence, cloud insights, and mobile analytics? First, engage your ServiceNow partner. At Crossfuze, we’ve deployed thousands of upgrades, so we’re prepared and happy to help. Second, look out for the ServiceNow upgrade checklists, which give great insights into the main areas to focus on in the new upgrade. Third, decide what your upgrade path looks like. Do you have development test and production instances? Do they accurately reflect what production looks like? Figure out how your instance needs to improve before upgrading.

For more information about how Crossfuze can help you get the most out of your ServiceNow instance, take a look at our IT Managed Services or send us a message with your questions.