效率工具
The future of observability is cloud-native and unified
Building modern, cloud-native applications introduces new challenges to teams and organizations. As these systems grow and scale, struggles abound: inconsistent performance monitoring experiences across siloed tools, wasteful performance management practices with duplicated efforts, and mounting frustration from colleagues and customers.Surmounting these challenges requires multiple sources of data and truly unified observability. That's been Lightstep’s vision since I co-founded the company in 2015, and it’s what we’ve continued to work toward since joining ServiceNow. To that end, I’m excited to announce that LIKE.TG plans to acquire log management company Era Software.
The state of cloud-native loggingObservability is about understanding and modeling systems, communicating about expected and actual reliability, and improving the ability to deliver value to end users. I’m often asked about the role of logging in modern observability, a market that’s expected to reach $9.08 billion by 2025, according to IDC.1 It’s a good question.Logging is one of the most foundational activities for any software developer. Log data is needed, alongside tracing and metrics, to achieve cloud-native observability and respond to incidents.High-performing teams ship better software by shipping smaller changes more quickly, according to the 2022 Accelerate State of DevOps Report. This is only possible by making teams smaller and more independent. But that comes at the cost of coordination and limited visibility into the impact of changes.Cloud-native observability addresses this by unifying telemetry signals from applications and resources, allowing deep insights into system performance and behavior, even with a rapid rate of change.The push to cloud-native has increased log volumes by several orders of magnitude while simultaneously making them less useful on their own. As a result, cloud-native logging is siloed and expensive. It needs a reboot from the ground up.Empowering innovationLightstep has led the industry toward unified telemetry (combining logs, metrics, and traces) by co-creating the OpenTelemetry project in 2019. As part of LIKE.TG, we help customers seamlessly connect insights and actions across all the tools, people, and processes involved in delivering digital customer experiences — so they can innovate fast, with confidence.By innovating rapidly with precision and control, modern organizations can deliver better outcomes across all of their technology products and services to capitalize on the promise of digital transformation.The success of digital transformation is tied to unified observability, and log management is a key component of that. The Era Software acquisition allows us to pull log data into the new world of modern observability with LIKE.TG’s scale and breadth.
Delivering unified observabilityBringing Era Software's expertise and technology into the Lightstep portfolio with LIKE.TG’s backing gives us a valuable lever to make sure that what’s happening in cloud-native arenas is aligned with central governance, central security, and central incident response.Many people feel log management is set apart from everything else. Lightstep’s goal is to create the most complete, unified, primary observability platform. Holistic, end-to-end visibility is needed to turn real-time insights into action. We’re putting log management, tracing, and metrics under one roof for key observability use cases.With the addition of Era Software's log management expertise and capabilities, we’re delivering on our vision to provide a unified, seamless, effective observability solution on a single platform that’s designed to scale.Find out more about Lightstep observability.1 IDC TechBrief: IT Observability for Digital Infrastructure Operations, July 2022, Doc #US49358522
A Magic Quadrant™ Leader in Low-Code Application Platforms for third year
I’m thrilled to announce that, for the third consecutive year, LIKE.TG has been named a Leader in the Gartner Magic Quadrant Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms.1 We believe this recognition demonstrates our commitment to help customers build low-code enterprise workflow apps fast and deliver them safely and at scale on a single platform.Digital transformation is in full swing, and the market demands a more agile and productive way to build software. Traditional software development can’t keep pace with the demands on IT. LIKE.TG has reduced development barriers with low-code tooling and streamlined support on one natively integrated platform so organizations can respond to changing business needs faster.Democratizing application developmentGartner estimates that “by 2025, 70% of new applications developed by enterprises will use low-code or no-code technologies, up from less than 25% in 2020.”2LIKE.TG® App Engine democratizes application development across the enterprise with out-of-the-box experiences, components, and rich templates to quickly unlock developer capacity. Its unique design provides end-to-end visibility to properly govern the full development lifecycle to help ensure app quality and data security.Developers can connect LIKE.TG apps to any modern or legacy system across the enterprise with Automation Engine. The product allows organizations to connect siloed systems, processes, and people from one platform to accelerate their hyperautomation and low-code efforts.
A focus on governanceWe’re at the intersection of technology, people, artificial intelligence (AI), automation, and workflow. The lines between IT and lines of business are becoming increasingly blurred, with a growing amount of technology products and services being built by those who are not technology professionals.Seamless collaboration between business and IT requires a balance of agility and oversight. Gartner predicts that “by 2023, the number of active citizen developers at large enterprises will be at least four times the number of professional developers.”3Proper governance is required as low-code apps built by lines of business proliferate throughout the enterprise. It’s the only way to ensure service-level management and accountability for low-code apps while preventing application sprawl. That’s why we help businesses scale low-code with security and governance baked into the platform.Having one data model and one architecture on a unified platform helps enable customers to govern low-code application development through:
Nonintrusive guardrails and prebuilt templates for citizen developers
Access permissions
Built-in component quality and security
As a result, organizations can track all application development lifecycle events and developer activities from a single dashboard and easily enforce their enterprise standards across all apps. At the same time, business technologists can safely collaborate and create apps that meet their needs without worrying about disruption to the application development process due to this oversight.Customer choiceLIKE.TG is one of only two Leaders in the 2022 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms that also received Gartner® Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice distinction.4 Our focus on customer success is paramount.This comes from our continued investment in our community and ecosystem, our growth in geographic coverage to support our customers worldwide, and our focus on innovations, such as wider automation use cases from new partnerships and robotic process automation (RPA) capabilities.As low-code becomes increasingly vital to digital transformation, we’re poised to innovate and execute to deliver exceptional developer experiences that help shape the future of work.I want to extend a huge thank you to our customers, who trusted us and made this achievement possible. I can’t wait to see what you build with the Now Platform®.Read the full, complimentary Gartner Magic Quadrant report.1 Gartner, Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms, Paul Vincent, Oleksander Mativskyy, Mike West, Adrian Leow, Kimihiko Iijima, September 20222 Gartner, Harness the Disruptive Powers of Low-Code: A Gartner Trend Insight Report, Jason Wong, Kyle Davis, July 18, 20223 Gartner, How to Define and Guide Citizen Development Practices, Jason Wong, Saikat Ray, Wan Fui Chan, Adrian Leow, April 20, 20214 Gartner, Gartner Peer Insights ‘Voice of the Customer’: Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms, by peer contributors, March 31, 2022Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in our research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner's research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.GARTNER, Magic Quadrant, and Peer Insights are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
Automation and low-code: Setting the stage for ongoing innovation
Digital transformation is a term you hear a lot these days, but it’s not always clear what a business means by it. For companies using the Now Platform to reinvent how they work, it has a pretty clear and compelling meaning.LIKE.TG customers are using the Now Platform to expand their automation initiatives beyond department-specific, isolated tasks to include processes that cross organizational boundaries. After all, the typical business process doesn’t stay within a single department. It affects other areas of the enterprise, feeds other workflows, and involves multiple systems.Let’s take a look at some of the ways customers are integrating those islands of automation for greater efficiency and smoother workflows.Prioritizing automationSmart, qualified, and capable people are always in demand. One of the challenges for business leaders is how to create a rich and rewarding work environment that makes the best use of talent so that the business realizes the most value from employee skills.Today’s workforce is often overwhelmed with routine and repetitive tasks that eat up a lot of the workday—leaving little time for creative problem-solving and innovative thinking. Automation tools can help teams and individuals accomplish more, fast by orchestrating people, processes, and systems across all areas of the business.LIKE.TG can bridge the incompatibilities between legacy systems and automate the manual and repetitive user actions that keep business processes running. With robotic process automation, for example, software robots can perform a repetitive sequence of actions across multiple apps on a Windows desktop and copy data from one system to another.Technologies like these give the human workforce more time to serve customers, find new solutions to age-old problems, and develop new products that help a business stand out.
Empowering business with low-codeIn every business, you’ll find people who are experts in how a process works and how their department functions. They know where the bottlenecks and inefficiencies are, and they have great ideas for how things could work better. But they don’t always have the technical skills to turn that expertise into a more efficient digital solution.The burden of creating a new app or workflow falls to the IT team, which already has a long to-do list. As a result, the pace of innovation slows, leaving a business less efficient and less competitive.With low-code application development tools, more people can turn their expertise into solutions on their own, without adding to IT’s workload.Enforcing governance, encouraging transformationIt’s great to unlock creativity and equip more people in the enterprise to develop their own apps. But businesses also have a vested interest in maintaining standards, enforcing security, and staying in compliance. To be effective, low-code development and automation tools need guardrails and controls to help workers channel that creativity and innovation in a disciplined way.Increasing innovation and creativity doesn’t have to mean increasing risk. With LIKE.TG, you can centralize governance policies and deploy them across the entire enterprise, powered by a robust low-code and automation platform.You get the best of both worlds: the freedom to open innovation opportunities to more people within the business and the ability to safeguard enterprise standards and compliance.Find out more about how companies are creating a foundation for greater innovation and competitiveness in our Book of Knowledge: Hyperautomation and Low-Code.
LIKE.TG a 2022 Gartner® Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms
I’m excited and humbled to announce that LIKE.TG has been recognized as a 2022 Gartner® Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice in Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms.We attribute this distinction to our customers, who’ve been on this journey with us. Their valuable input molds our strategy and products.What customers like about LIKE.TG low-codeHere are some excerpts from customers who contributed to the acknowledgment:“We have built over 20 custom applications on the LIKE.TG platform, and have a deep appreciation for the transformative power of this platform in our organization. Our team is able to rapidly prototype, build and deploy apps in days and weeks rather than months.” Product owner in the provider industry"LIKE.TG provides awesome capabilities for rapid development and deployment of application solutions from simple use cases through highly complex integrated applications. We've realized a great deal of value in building applications on LIKE.TG that traditionally would have required full-stack development in order to provide the breadth of capabilities inherent to the platform—modern APIs, data structures, identity management, access control, front-end portals, etc." Principal application architect in the provider industry"LIKE.TG helped us streamline several business processes and enabled sharing of relevant data between departments and functions that previously used different tools tracking and working with the same data.” IT automation architect in the retail industry“Easy to configure, customize and maintain. Continuous platform innovation helps enterprises adopt to latest and greatest in the market.” Senior manager in the IT services industry"Great innovative tool that is continuously enhanced with each release. The application allows for a lean workforce to support it through its many automation capabilities." System administratorEmpowering fast app developmentAll organizations in all industries are embracing digital transformation to keep up with the pace of business. Automating manual tasks to streamline the flow of work frees employees to innovate and do what they do best. Low-code app development platforms are an important part of that.The Gartner Peer Insights Customers’ Choice is a recognition of vendors in this market by anonymous, verified end-user professionals. It takes into account both the number of reviews and the overall user ratings. To ensure fair evaluation, Gartner maintains rigorous criteria for including vendors with a high customer satisfaction rate.Thank you to all our customers who submitted reviews. We believe these build on our G2 recognition as a Leader in low-code and no-code development platforms. We look forward to building on the experiences that earned us these distinctions.Read more Gartner peer reviews for ServiceNow. Check out the hyperautomation and low-code channel at Knowledge for more information about LIKE.TG solutions in this area. Registration is free once you select your region.GARTNER, PEER INSIGHTS (word and logo) and the GARTNER PEER INSIGHTS CUSTOMERS’ CHOICE badge are registered trademarks and service marks of Gartner Inc., and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and/or internationally and has been used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences, and should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
LIKE.TG Devvies showcases innovative apps built on the Now Platform
In my nearly 12 years at LIKE.TG, I never cease to be amazed by the inventive spirit of our customers and partners. We innovate in response to their needs, but I get excited when they take things into their own hands and build transformative apps on the Now Platform.For the first time in 10 years, we get to highlight those incredible apps with The Devvies App of the Year contest. This is where our customers and partners sit in the driver’s seat, using the Now Platform to create innovative apps that improve the quality of their organizations, transform user experiences, and even save lives.To be considered for an award, apps could be built by professional or citizen developers, solo or as a team. The apps had to be complete and in use by an organization. This year we received 109 app entries from 182 contest participants. Of those, 80% were created by professional developers and 20% by citizen developers. Apps were judged on five criteria:
Business impact: time or money saved, customer/employee testimonials
Scale: number of end users
Richness: LIKE.TG capabilities, features, and tools used
Innovation: how the app uses LIKE.TG to drive outcomes
Citizen development: how much involvement a citizen developer had on the app (for the citizen development category only)
Citizen Development App of the YearLet’s meet the finalists for the Citizen Development App of the Year:
General Mills transformed an email-based process into a workflow-based process. Its app generates a form that captures key request details, triggers an email for major events, and has a range of menu options for each request type. The result: 9 million minutes (150,000 hours) saved in one year.
HCLTech built an app that automates and streamlines IT support across IT Service Management processes. It leads to fast handling of customer escalations through user requests, agent-initiated actions, and background scripts, sending customer satisfaction scores skyrocketing from 37% to 94%.
Thriving Solutions used Flow Designer and App Engine Studio to develop a low-code app that manages student after-school care transportation. The app empowers services and businesses to start their own after-school transportation services—adding value throughout the entire community.
Universitat de Girona designed an app to streamline school improvement plans. It enables real-time sharing, tracking, and reporting with a centralized document repository. Automating manual processes saves time for 480 end users.
The Citizen Development App of the Year Award goes to Universitat de Girona. The app fulfills a critical need for the university, with a comprehensive range of features. Documents are stored, versions are controlled, policies and procedures are followed, and observations are tracked.
“This is a great example of a someone having the passion to digitize their work and continue to build and improve over a period of five years,” a judge notes. “This could easily be in the pro-developer app category.”App of the YearHere are the finalists for the App of the Year:
The Automize app allows customers to gather feedback directly from the Service Portal. It features user-friendly notifications and dashboards and a widget with three simple buttons. More than 1.5 million end users have used the app to provide feedback.
Hitachi Vantara’s app centralizes leave management systems for easy reporting, tracking, approvals, and maintenance of leave of absence balances. More than 91,000 requests from 5,000 end users have been sent through the Now Mobile app in just 17 months, resulting in savings of $6,000 per month.
Ignyte Group created an app that streamlines rail operations for one of the largest public transit control centers in North America. Digitized forms, centralized information, and real-time metrics have improved productivity and allowed for fast, accurate decision-making. The result: 98% certification of successful shift changes.
Nine developed an app to simplify the typically tedious process of incident management. It brings the right stakeholders together at the right time in one Slack channel. Nearly 600 incidents have been coordinated via the app with approximately 14,000 staff members.
Servos built an app that allows users to report missing people and request critical help in emergencies such as hurricanes and other natural disasters. More than 12,000 people have used Servos to help save lives and provide emergency response teams with exact location information.
Skybox Communications’ app streamlines workflows by automating processes for contact center agents and creates personalized customer interactions. It increased productivity for more than 3,500 end users.
University of Toronto Mississauga’s app has changed the nature of remote service for students and staff at the university. Students receive a response to their questions in one to three days versus the prior timeline of 14 days minimum. Fast responses and limited follow-up have resulted in nearly $775,000 in savings in one year.
The App of the Year Award goes to University of Toronto Mississauga, whose app offers students six levels of remote service and streamlines the workflows of more than 60 staff members.
“As a manager, ticket requests, customizable dashboards, and reports have changed the game,” says a manager of student recruitment communications at the university. “At a glance, I can help with other tickets, and we’re measuring performance like never before.”“It’s great to see how a ‘self-serving’ model has been implemented that saves staff—people on the phone to take down requests or read emails sent by students,” says a contest judge. “I also like the reports and dashboard created for analysis.”Congratulations to the winners and finalists! The impact is inspiring. I look forward to seeing what our customers and partners come up with next.Get a free developer instance and start building.
Process optimization: Mining for process efficiency
These are uncertain times. When leaders are uneasy about the future, they start to look at ways to drive efficiency and cut costs to prepare for what might lurk around the corner.Most organizations know they can optimize processes, but they struggle to pinpoint where and how. LIKE.TG customers are doing this by creating low-code apps using our App Engine solution. But launching a product, technology, or app without monitoring its effectiveness or adjusting for performance as the environment evolves is a recipe for suboptimal performance. Process Optimization for App Engine can help.
What is Process Optimization for App Engine?A real-time digital process X-ray, Process Optimization for App Engine shows how digital processes automated with App Engine are running so users can quickly identify areas ripe for improvement. After you’ve built a digital workflow with App Engine, you can perform real-time discovery of how that process is working using visual process maps that are 100% data-driven and factual.You’ll be able to quickly find answers to questions such as:
Where is unnecessary rework happening when users interact with the app?
Which teams involved with the app workflow are performing slower than the rest and why?
Where do process bottlenecks exist?
Does the process follow initial workflow expectations?
Which channels, vendors, and/or locations can be improved?
Can a root cause analysis help eliminate slow-performing steps?
Helping process owners and citizen developersIf you’re a process owner who’s accountable for designing effective and efficient processes to deliver quality outcomes, you can now extend data-driven process improvement to low-code apps built with App Engine. Friction points and efficiencies are highlighted for further automation and improvement with in-platform process mining.For example, employees interacting with a purchase approval app might find the process gets stuck at the second line of approval. They typically email or call the approver outside the app to expedite the purchase. With Process Optimization for App Engine, process owners can quickly identify where approvals get stuck and why. Is that second approval even necessary, or can it be eliminated?If you’re a citizen developer who designed and built a low-code app with App Engine, you can mine that app to see exactly how it performs in real-life conditions. Does actual user behavior match the initial process design flow?For example, you may have designed an app before the pandemic, when most users were in the office. Now, with most employees working from home, their interactions with the app may no longer be suited to their environment and may be inefficient. As improvements are made, the intended design becomes stronger, and efficiency is optimized.Closed-loop continuous improvement on one platformThe American Society for Quality (ASQ) defines continuous improvement as “the ongoing improvement of products, services, or processes through incremental and breakthrough improvements.” With Process Optimization for App Engine, process owners and citizen developers can continuously optimize their custom workflows on a single platform for hyperautomation.Process anomalies and bottlenecks within custom workflows can be detected and analyzed to find the root cause, allowing them to be eliminated through continued digitization with App Engine. This is not a one-and-done flow, though. With continued monitoring for incremental automation improvements, the custom app will become more efficient and optimized.Automation ideas can then be sent to Automation Center to track and rank each improvement candidate based on time and cost savings for greatest impact.
Since all of this is natively built on the Now Platform, efficiency gains can be identified in minutes. The continuous improvement loop drives more efficiency with each turn.Find out more about how LIKE.TG hyperautomation and low-code help work flow freely and efficiently—and processes run optimally.
LIKE.TG recognized as a Leader in low-code innovation
I’m excited to announce that LIKE.TG has been named a Leader in The Forrester Wave™: Low-Code Development Platforms for Professional Developers, Q2 2023. We believe this validates our leadership in low-code innovation.According to the report, “LIKE.TG continues to build on its IT credibility with focused, useful low-code innovations to address the technical and governance challenges of scaled, decentralized development and widespread automation. This vision is superior, bolstered by its roadmap, and rooted in the firm’s sound IT service management.”To us, the 2023 Forrester Wave also highlights our commitment to excellence in governance. Allowing separate business units to develop and launch custom apps will scale low-code innovation, but it must be properly governed every step of the way. Our tools make it easy to safely scale, manage, and safeguard app development.LIKE.TG scored a 5 out of 5 in nine criteria. Our out-of-the-box features for governance and portfolio management are “first-rate, providing a controlled end-to-end view of the whole app portfolio,” the report notes.Embracing generative AIThe report acknowledges that “generative AI has thrown a monkey wrench of opportunity and uncertainty into the low-code market.”LIKE.TG® App Engine is built on the Now Platform®, giving developers access to AI-powered capabilities, such as search, analytics, and predictive intelligence.Developers at all skill levels can access sophisticated tools in a secure environment, allowing them to layer in contextual recommendations and AI search to create exceptional user experiences.LIKE.TG continues to invest in AI to help accelerate app development, lower barriers for no-coders, and simplify deployment. These investments also help augment the user experience.A leading reputation among developersApp Engine has earned a reputation among the developer community as an easy-to-use solution to build fully functional apps, fast. Our customers have used App Engine to create solutions ranging from customer engagement portals and internet of things (IoT) apps to data tracking and case management.Positive user feedback centers on the product’s customization capabilities, security, and intuitive administrative experience. The collaboration tools and automated workflow capabilities allow for enhanced teamwork and scale. Making apps from scratch is possible, including engaging user interfaces, API integrations, and guided tours.As we continue to expand our market presence, this positive feedback and enthusiasm from customers reinforces our path to becoming the enterprise standard for low-code platforms. Customers back our vision and roadmap. We believe evaluations such as the Forrester Wave validate that customers are with us for the long haul.App Engine demonstrates LIKE.TG’s ongoing commitment to support companies in their journey to create high-quality applications, without the burden of complex, lengthy development cycles. It successfully unifies developers at all levels by removing the barriers typically embedded in legacy approaches to development.Gone are siloed development teams, expensive manual coding, and launch delays. App Engine streamlines effort for developers—and saves them time—so they can think about their work strategically and cross-functionally.Additionally, App Engine highlights LIKE.TG’s dedication to supporting the growing population of citizen developers. We understand the business benefits of low-code. It allows users to aid the business through rapid app creation. And intuitive app development can lead to quality experiences for customers, new revenue streams, and streamlined processes.Looking to the futureAs we look to the future, our low-code platform roadmap will allow us to continue to grow and capture even more market opportunities and support more organizations as they innovate for their own customers and end users. We’re deeply committed to seeing our customers and partners realize the full benefits of automation, AI, digital transformation, and low-code for their organizations.Our mission for low-code goes far beyond ease of use. It’s about empowering developers at all levels to adapt, iterate, and bring to life apps that can change the nature of their business. This is true digital transformation.Read the full Forrester Wave™ report.
Users have spoken: LIKE.TG leads in low-code, no-code development
I’m thrilled to announce that LIKE.TG is the Leader in low-code and enterprise no-code development platforms, according to the G2 peer-to-peer review site. Through individual reviews, the global community of software users has ranked LIKE.TG App Engine as:
No. 1 in Low-Code Development Platforms
No. 1 in Enterprise Low-Code Development Platforms
No. 1 in Enterprise No-Code Development Platforms
This distinction validates the momentum of App Engine, which was named a G2 Leader in 2022 and a Gartner Magic Quadrant Leader in Low-Code Application Platforms.Delighting usersWith more than 300 authentic reviews and an average of 4.5 out of 5 stars, App Engine is top-rated for its ease of use, customization capabilities, automated workflows, data security, and straightforward administration.“It helps my company to build low-code and fully functional apps quickly and very reliably,” explains Sandra S., a senior marketing executive.Software Engineer Sumit P. agrees. “I built a brand-new application, ‘Kudos,’ using App Engine within hours and presented it to our leadership team,” he says. “The App Engine Studio is so easy to use with almost no code.”That ease is extremely important to System Engineer Moustafa A. “LIKE.TG App Engine allowed me to create multiple applications related to my field with literally no code experience,” he says. “Also, it has a lot of collaborative tools, which are very useful for teams.”“It allows you to build anything, from a simple self-service request all the way to a full-blown manufacturing suite,” says Guus H., a senior consultant.
Enabling every creatorThe low-code and no-code tooling and processes within App Engine enable citizen developers and seasoned full-stack developers alike to build consumer-grade applications. Without the complexity and long development cycles associated with traditional development methods, digital transformation becomes possible.Both mission-critical and non-mission-critical tasks can be automated quickly and scaled across the enterprise with a low-code platform. By designing with best-practice guidance and templates—all within a holistic low-code development experience—all creators can adapt to constant change and bring innovation to the business.Scaling innovation today requires more creators, less code, and simpler technology. With App Engine, professional developers, line-of-business technologists (citizen developers), and low-code developers work individually or in collaborative teams, all on the same platform. All developers enjoy seamless workflow, integrations, and analytics.Citizen developers can build apps quickly with guided templates in a simple, intuitive, low-code environment. Pro developers are then freed to focus on building high-impact components. The result is fast time to market and apps that scale without sprawl. By boosting coding productivity for everyone, innovation happens in parallel with backlog reduction.“App Engine simplifies the process of creating applications so that more builders may create them,” explains Business Analyst Nimisha O.“You may use the speed and power of a low-code platform like LIKE.TG App Engine to address the unique demands of your business,” she adds. “Everything revolves around integrated user experiences across many channels, from straightforward spreadsheet replacement to the modernization of your core applications, from tactical workflows to companywide, long-running process integration.”Delivering efficiencyApp Engine helps turn business processes into powerful digital workflows that connect systems, apps, and data. It also connects people. Collaboration leads to better problem-solving, shared purpose, and innovative ideas to make the world better.“LIKE.TG is a one-stop solution for all your IT services problems,” says Senior Software Engineer Ayush V. “The most important aspect is a no-code-to-low-code approach, which ensures even a person who is not much into coding can create great applications.”As Olorunfemi O., a LIKE.TG developer, sums, App Engine is “an amazing low-code platform that can accelerate business digital transformation.”Thank you, vocal and loyal customers and partners! We’re honored to be named the Leader in this market and look forward to continuing this journey with you.Find out more about LIKE.TG low-code and no-code development from those who use it every day.
How 3 women are shaking up the developer community
Three women from different backgrounds, inclinations, and industries have two things in common:
They’re all self-taught developers on the Now Platform®.
They didn’t set out to become developers.
Let’s explore how they’re shaking up the developer community.Driven by determinationTalented in both art and logic, Maria Gabriela Ochoa Perez Waechter wanted to become a graphic designer or illustrator. But when injuries and expenses resulting from a car accident prevented her from finishing college, she began working instead. Before long, she found herself at a company that makes point-of-sale systems for golf courses—her introduction to IT.She got her foot in the door of another tech company by telling her interviewer how she used a YouTube video to fix her car when it broke down. In 2017, her boss mentioned he needed to find and hire a LIKE.TG administrator. “Nah, don’t worry about it,” Waechter told him. “I can figure it out.”Three months later, Waechter was a Certified System Administrator. But she didn’t stop there. She committed more time and effort to becoming a LIKE.TG Administrator.Today, she’s a senior LIKE.TG developer at a security firm. “LIKE.TG changed my life,” she says. “I learned about Agile development. I learned about ITIL and KCS. I learned about all these business processes and so much more, thanks to my exposure to LIKE.TG,” she adds.“Suddenly, there was so much more to learn, and it was OK for me to learn a little bit here and there because I could immediately apply these skills to what I was doing at work. I was able to hone what I previously thought of as ‘inability to concentrate’ [undiagnosed ADHD] into fantastic research and learning skills.”
Citizen development governance: 3 steps to success
Now that digital innovation and efficiency are business requisites, the demand for great apps continues to grow. The work of software developers has become vital to all aspects of business, yet the shortage of developers is snowballing. Global market intelligence firm IDC forecasts a shortfall of 4 million developers by 2025.1 Many companies are embracing citizen development to bridge the gap.As a vital part of any hyperautomation effort, citizen development helps shrink IT backlogs, accelerate digital innovation, and reduce the app gap. It also helps ease pressure on professional developers, freeing them to work on more satisfying projects. Investing in innovation capacity can move organizations further and faster than automating workflows and processes alone. Establishing citizen development governance is the foundation for success.A clear, actionable roadmapLaunching a citizen development program allows organizations to quickly expand their development capacity for new business apps without conventional overhead. Without accountability and guardrails, however, scaling app creation and delivery outside of IT can lead to app sprawl and shadow IT. Allowing separate business units to develop and launch custom apps without enterprise standards can also result in data silos, overlapping functionality, operational inefficiencies, and increased risk.To avoid snags like these, it’s important to take time to develop an effective governance model. Essentially, a governance model is a framework that defines what program decisions are made, how, and by whom.This framework provides a clear, actionable roadmap. Ownership and roles are clearly defined, and decision-making authority is assigned—before any issues arise. Proper governance and guardrails also help citizen developers innovate quickly and safely within company standards.Additionally, good governance helps avoid wasted effort, prioritize projects, deliver fast outcomes, and minimize technical and business risks. Here are three steps to establish strong governance for your citizen development program.1. Create your governance planBefore you call up your first cohort of citizen developers, draft your governance plan. Assign a leader to be accountable for the initial definition of the program scope and goals, the project plan, and the implementation team. You’ll also want to capture any existing technology or governance requirements and note any aspects of your organization’s culture that may influence decision-making.Then, define a vision statement for your program, and create a strategy to show how you’ll achieve it. Once these are complete, you can use them to prepare a compelling business case for your leadership team and stakeholders to gain their support.
2. Set your guardrailsGuardrails support your governance structure by enforcing policies and standards to maintain the usability, security, and compliance required for enterprise apps.Take advantage of a modern, low-code development platform with integrated guardrails to ensure your citizen developers align with best practices. By using and adding to the established policies and standards built into the platform, your administrators and application development teams can gain visibility into and oversight of the low-code applications being developed and deployed in your organization.3. Prepare the experienceProviding a safe and satisfying experience for your citizen developers is crucial. A unified low-code platform includes engaging collaboration tools to submit app ideas, invite others to build together, and hand apps off to IT for tests and deployments—all in a streamlined environment.App development capabilities on a low-code platform allow anyone to use prebuilt templates or drag-and-drop functionality and convenient building blocks to make many of the initial technical choices for configuring apps. Role-based access control lets citizen developers work confidently without risk to other developers, data, or the platform.With the right low-code application platform, you can quickly scale, manage, and safeguard citizen development across your enterprise. A strong governance plan is critical to help keep your organization on track to deliver great apps fast.Get more tips to effectively plan your citizen development program.1 IDC, Quantifying the Worldwide Shortage of Full-Time Developers, Doc # US48223621, September 2021
Know Your Desired Outcomes - IoT and Consumables in 2019 and Beyond
https://i0.wp.com/servicematters.servicenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/Chris-Pope.jpg?ssl=1Unless you’ve been living under a disconnected rock, you’ll know that the Internet of Things (IoT) has developed to become a new substrate layer of web-driven intelligence that is helping to connect our world. Fueled by data from sensors, cameras and all manner of gyroscopes and accelerometers, IoT gives us a new power to monitor, track, analyze and act upon the data being created in the world around us.But you already knew that part. As we head into 2019, the issue at hand for us now is what happens next in the Internet of Things. We need to focus on how we build the infrastructure that serves the IoT and how we create the higher-level technology fabric that feeds off it.A crucial factor for organizations looking to channel IoT is the need to create new business models. New operational frameworks must be customized to the needs and requirements of the machines and people populating the IoT ecosystem.We have reached a few watershed moments with IoT already. We know that the initial years saw too many products developed with inadequate—or non-existent―security provisioning. The security debate will always be there, but services have now come to the fore in terms of how we lock down data in the IoT.People—users and sometimes also wearers of technology―will now be central to the debate going forward. The fact that people will be carrying wearables so much more means we will know a lot more about the status of every individual in every situation.A more ‘consumable’ futureLet’s think of possible future scenarios. For example, there may never be a standard health insurance policy needed anymore, because insurers will know more about people from the get-go. Users will really just pay for what they consume, leading us to a more ‘consumable’ future.But none of these advancements are possible unless we have access to a system of action that allows us to leverage the information coming out of the IoT in the first place. To put it another way, all the IoT ‘things’ are useless unless you can drive action from the information and alerts that they generate.As we look to use this new system of action, we can point it towards the specific components of IoT that we are actually interested in. If you think about all the devices and data out there as the IoT universe, then there’s a tighter orbit around your own organization’s personal IoT universe. These are the ‘things’ and the data that matter to you. Once you focus in on these elements, you can map your desired business outcomes against the IoT through an intelligently architected approach.Defining desired outcomesThe term ‘desired outcomes’ might sound a little strange, but it’s easy to put them into context.From a health-tracking wearables standpoint, a user would typically have a variety of desired outcomes including, for example, a target heart rate, blood pressure, weight and so on. Any diversion from desired outcomes might cause the user to change their exercise regime, alter their diet and perhaps ultimately visit the doctor.Cars are another good example—desired outcomes for car use would include fuel consumption per gallon, performance and the need for week-to-week maintenance.We can go further with automobiles because they have become smart enough to track whether we are a safe driver based upon our behavior on the road. In the EU for example, if a driver shares their streamed dash cam data with an insurance company which recognizes that driver’s safety, then the driver may be rewarded with a lower insurance premium.https://i1.wp.com/servicematters.servicenow.com/wp-content/uploads/2018/12/iStock-861086798-min.jpg?ssl=1From outcomes to systems of actionIn this last example, the scope of our desired outcomes has widened, but we will fail to benefit from them unless a system of action is put into place, in this case to provide the service of a lower premium. Without the system of action, the driver drives safely, the dash cam records it and sends the data onward, the insurance company gets to identify safe drivers and perhaps also accident blackspots, but the safe driver gets no reward.I think this ‘ability to act now’ element of how we interact with IoT data was brilliantly expressed by Chris Mazzei, in his role as EY Global Innovation Technologies Leader Global Chief Analytics Officer. He said “There is an acceptance that AI will change everything in 10 years’ time, but little appreciation of how it could, and should, impact businesses right now.”Business model shake-upSo, as we move forward into 2019, and more and more devices become connected, we are seeing the same challenges that have been experienced across enterprise IT now appearing in the world of IoT, especially Industrial IoT.This reality is especially prevalent if we look at how we want to manage the functionality of IoT devices. We need to be able to understand how devices are performing relative to each other while also providing the requisite level of security for each device. This isn’t about just managing the break-fix elements of the IoT―it is about analyzing the data to optimize business processes and drive new business models.There are huge data lakes created by IoT and we know that. As businesses become truly digital, they will discover that they know more clearly what they want to get from the universe of data that is being created, enabling them to more intelligently ask the right questions in the first place.They will know what the desired outcomes are and thus what questions to ask to drive their system of action into decision-making, paving the way for a truly ‘consumable’ IoT from end to end.
5 trends driving the future of low-code
The rapid advancement of AI is reshaping industries, prompting businesses to adapt their workforces for the future. Reskilling employees has become a priority as companies face a shortage of skilled workers and potential disruption from automation.Adopting reskilling and low-code technologies can help businesses create purpose-rich careers for their employees, embrace digital transformation, and prepare their workforces for the challenges and opportunities of the AI era.Here are five key trends driving the future of low-code:1. Reskilling in the AI eraThe widespread integration of AI is reshaping workforce requirements across industries. Routine and repetitive tasks are being automated by AI-driven systems, leading to concerns about job displacement in traditional roles.Organizations are experiencing these challenges firsthand. Dropbox laid off 500 employees due to the impact of AI, prompting CEO Drew Houston to emphasize the need for talent realignment toward AI and early-stage product development. IBM echoed this trend, revealing plans to replace thousands of jobs with AI within five years.While experts agree that AI will eliminate some jobs, it will also create new opportunities. The nature of some jobs will change, and individuals will need to develop new skills to stay relevant in the job market. By reskilling workers and placing them in high-value roles, organizations can close the talent gap and position themselves for success.2. Future-proofing organizations with reskillingReskilling not only equips employees with updated skills, but it can also help cultivate continuous growth. When organizations actively invest in reskilling, they signal their commitment to developing employees, increasing retention, and attracting top talent.Neglecting investment in reskilling can have significant financial implications for businesses. According to IDC, 90% of organizations will face IT skills shortages by 2025, at a cost of $6.5 trillion globally due to delayed product releases, decreased customer satisfaction, and loss of business.Beyond recruitment and training, the time it takes for employees to ramp up and be fully productive is a significant cost factor. To help with this challenge, successful organizations prioritize investing in existing employees and company familiarity for cost-effective skills development.3. New citizen development strategiesFour out of five U.S. companies have adopted low-code platforms for application development, according to market research firm Fact.MR. Low-code platforms have emerged as transformative tools, accelerating application development by up to 90% and empowering a new kind of knowledge worker: citizen developers, according to McKinsey.Citizen developers are technology enthusiasts who, despite lacking formal IT training, have developed low-code solutions to address bigger challenges, says Gregg Aldana, global senior director of creator workflows at ServiceNow.4. Increased workforce collaborationThe impact of low-code development extends beyond the platform, across an organization. It’s now possible for anyone to participate in and contribute to developing solutions. Organizations are embracing this collaborative approach through “fusion teams” that unite business executives and IT professionals.This method combines the expertise of those who understand the operational needs and demands of the business units with the technological insights and controls maintained by IT professionals.A fusion team operates as a bridge, fostering lateral collaboration over a conventional top-down structure. By combining diverse perspectives, the team encourages knowledge sharing and broad employee engagement, both of which drive adaptability and agility.5. Reskilling with low-code platformsThrough its visual and collaborative nature and wide accessibility, low-code development enables anyone across an organization to engage in building apps with minimal technical expertise.Sandbox environments offer a controlled space for citizen developers to experiment and ideate proof-of-concept apps without affecting existing systems. If business owners are satisfied with proofs of concept, IT can put a small-scale pilot into production. This unlocks creative ways to drive reskilling with a strategic low-code approach.By adopting AI-powered low-code platforms and citizen development strategies, enterprises can foster a future-ready workforce, empowering employees to take on new challenges and focus on tasks that require their cognitive skills.Find out more in our ebook: Build and automate with low-code.
Workflow Quarterly: Data to Power Better Decisions
Billy Bean called it the Oakland A’s “lifeblood.” Time Berners-Lee, founder of the World Wide Web, called it “a precious thing.”Data is the key to turning an idea into a plan. For a business leader, data is the evidence that builds one’s credibility and enables stronger decision-making. Yet, too often, executives take action on gut instinct and experience. While those are two powerful tools, will they be enough to answer tough questions from your employees, CEO or board?That’s why LIKE.TG has launched Workflow Quarterly , a publication dedicated to providing business executives with research-led investigations into the use and impact of workflow digitization. Each quarter, we will publish insights from top journalists and thought leaders to empower smarter, evidence-based decisions on how to invest in technology and what to expect from those commitments.In the Spring issue, Tom Davenport , the world’s most often cited researcher in the business information systems field, reports on the value of digital workflows, based on 23 interviews with IT executives and two independent surveys conducted by Lawless Research. One survey asked 6477 full-time employees who work with some sort of technology each day about how process automation has affected their work life and goals. Respondents live in Australia, Canada, France, Germany, Hong Kong, India, Japan, Mexico, Netherlands, Singapore, the U.K. and U.S. A second survey of 812 U.S.-based IT executives offered another perspective of the same trends.Together, this powerful set of data provides some valuable insights. For instance:· Company: The companies with more widespread work process automation were 2.7 times more likely than those from other companies to report revenues higher than competitors 80% of employees in highly-automated companies say work process automation boosts productivity vs 59% in highly-manual companies.· Customer: 72% of employees polled in highly-automated companies said digital workflows increase the satisfaction of their customers 76% said it improves the organization’s competitiveness.· Employee: 82% of employees polled in highly-automated companies say work process automation simplifies their work processes vs 64% in highly-manual firms 74% of employees in the more automated companies said work process automation improves job satisfaction vs 53% in highly-manual companies 72% said it increases time for creativity vs 54%.Watch Tom Davenport talk about his report here . And, for more insights in your inbox, consider signing up for our Workflow newsletter.
Why generative AI will take developer productivity to new heights
The age of opportunity is here for IT teams. The emergence of new tools and technologies is enabling businesses to reach higher levels of innovation and efficiency. This, in turn, is empowering development teams to drive increased business value and competitive differentiation.However, significant challenges remain: a shortage of skilled developers, pressure to reduce development costs, and an increased need to be agile. These disruptions slow digital execution and prevent developer productivity.GenAI is transforming developmentNot all disruptions are bad. One emerging force that’s having a distinctly positive effect on development teams is generative AI (GenAI). This burgeoning technology has rapidly become one of the most exciting and transformative in our lifetimes.
When applied under the lens of low-code and the application development lifecycle—from ideation and creation to testing and deployment—GenAI has the potential to become a revolutionary tool.In fact, Gartner® predicts that by 2025, 80% of app development will make use of GenAI code generation with developers acting as validators and orchestrators of back-end and front-end components and integrations.1GenAI is poised to fill a significant gap in the supply-demand mismatch for more applications. IDC projects that 750 million cloud-native applications will be created globally by 2025 as businesses work toward building these sustainable digital value engines.2 Yet finding developers to fill open roles remains a challenge, according to App Developer Magazine.The need for more digital capabilities and solutions at the enterprise level is clearly outpacing developer availability, making GenAI’s arrival extremely timely. By helping drastically reduce workflow time and accelerate the coding process, GenAI can elevate developers’ productivity and efficiency.In some cases, applications can be built in a matter of hours by simply describing your desired application actions with natural language. Now that’s revolutionary.GenAI benefits both developers and non-developersGenAI empowers developers with a redefined approach to low-code development. It also helps non-developers, including platform owners, admins, and those writing scripts and configuring out-of-the box products. Specifically, it helps:
Developers write business rules and logic validation scripts, as well as create flows and build schemas
Platform owners/admins write platform automation scripts and make system change/update scripts and permissions
Process analysts create flows and business processes, while also writing temporary placeholders for business stakeholders to more easily understand complicated code
One of the earliest applications of GenAI is its code generation capability, which helps teams convert text written in plain, natural language into intelligent code suggestions, or even into finished code. Flow generation can also propose code and scripting examples while improving flow by presenting alternative choices.
LIKE.TG is a Magic Quadrant Leader for Low-Code for the fourth year
I’m delighted to announce that, for the fourth consecutive year, LIKE.TG has been recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner® Magic Quadrant™ for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms. We believe this recognition reflects our continued commitment to helping our customers eliminate the skills gap for app creation with low-code tooling.Recognizing that different industries have unique challenges and requirements, we’ve made significant investments in developing industry-specific solutions. From financial services and public sector to manufacturing, telecommunications, media, technology, healthcare, and life sciences, we offer tailored solutions to address the specific needs of each sector.Our long-term investment in generative AI (GenAI) has been purposeful in furthering our low-code mission to help developers of all skill levels do more with less—quicker. Meanwhile, our focus and differentiation in native low-code governance helps ensure developers can safely build, deploy, and manage applications without risk to their company’s infrastructure.These innovations continue to power digital transformation and help organizations of all kinds respond quickly to evolving business needs.Faster development with GenAIWe’ve grown the LIKE.TG® portfolio with the singular purpose of providing one of the only intelligent platforms for end-to-end digital transformation, and GenAI has been a key part it. Over the past seven years, we’ve invested in AI organically and via acquisitions to accelerate our efforts to bring AI outcomes to customers across a broad set of products, including creator workflows.Now Assist for Creator is a game-changing solution for Now Platform® users. It offers GenAI capabilities to reduce app development time and improve overall coding experiences. By using text-to-code, comment-to-code, and code completion features, developers can save critical development time, eliminate manual typing errors, and complete their app development projects faster than ever before.The powerful combination of low-code and GenAI can significantly reduce the time from idea generation to product launch, using the low-code platform as the foundation.Low-code governance baked inGovernance standards have long played a crucial role in managing the spread of applications throughout an enterprise. The rapid adoption of GenAI has only catalyzed the importance of governance. Gartner predicts that “by 2026, more than 80% of enterprises will have used GenAI application programming interfaces (APIs) or models, and/or deployed GenAI-enabled applications in production environments, up from less than 5% in 2023.”1To manage the spread of low-code apps developed by business units and accelerated by GenAI throughout the enterprise, appropriate governance measures are imperative. It's the only method to ensure service-level management and responsibility for low-code apps while curbing application sprawl. That’s why LIKE.TG is dedicated to scaling low-code with native governance in our low-code tooling.App Engine Management Center provides end-to-end visibility, enabling comprehensive governance of the entire development process to safeguard app quality and data. Organizations can monitor the complete application development lifecycle and developer activities from one dashboard. This allows for the enforcement of businesswide standards across all apps.At the same time, business technologists can freely collaborate and build apps that meet their requirements using preconfigured templates. This enables them to meaningfully contribute to the business and save time and resources.A Customers’ ChoiceLIKE.TG is the only vendor recognized as a Leader in the 2023 Gartner Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms that is also peer-recognized with the Gartner Peer Insights™ Customers’ Choice distinction. We believe our commitment to customer success is the driving force behind these acknowledgments.As low-code becomes essential to digital transformation, we believe LIKE.TG is well positioned to innovate and execute. Our mission is to make the world work better for everyone. Delivering outstanding developer experiences will help shape the future of work around the world.I want to extend a huge thank-you to our customers, who continue to trust us and who we believe made these recognitions possible. I can’t wait to see what you build next with the Now Platform.Read the full, complimentary Gartner Magic Quadrant report.1 Gartner press release, "Gartner Says More Than 80% of Enterprises Will Have Used Generative AI APIs or Deployed Generative AI-Enabled Applications by 2026," Oct. 11, 2023. https://www.gartner.com/en/newsroom/press-releases/2023-10-11-gartner-says-more-than-80-percent-of-enterprises-will-have-used-generative-ai-apis-or-deployed-generative-ai-enabled-applications-by-2026Gartner, Magic Quadrant for Enterprise Low-Code Application Platforms, Oleksandr Matvitskyy, Kimihiko Iijima, Mike West, Kyle Davis, Akash Jain, Paul Vincent, Oct. 17, 2023.GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally. MAGIC QUADRANT and PEER INSIGHTS are registered trademarks of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates and are used herein with permission. All rights reserved. Gartner Peer Insights content consists of the opinions of individual end users based on their own experiences with the vendors listed on the platform, should not be construed as statements of fact, nor do they represent the views of Gartner or its affiliates. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in this content nor makes any warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this content, about its accuracy or completeness, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose. Gartner does not endorse any vendor, product, or service depicted in its research publications, and does not advise technology users to select only those vendors with the highest ratings or other designation. Gartner research publications consist of the opinions of Gartner’s research organization and should not be construed as statements of fact. Gartner disclaims all warranties, expressed or implied, with respect to this research, including any warranties of merchantability or fitness for a particular purpose.
Why governance is a must for GenAI and low-code development
As generative AI (GenAI) matures and extends across more facets of the modern enterprise, governance will increasingly become a key focal point for chief information officers and IT leaders.Low-code and no-code application development, one of GenAI’s earliest and most successful use cases, will lower the barriers to application development, opening the entire process to a whole new group of people.In fact, according to HFS Research, low-code development can accelerate app delivery by 85%.This increased accessibility and speed of GenAI and low-code development will exacerbate the already prevalent pitfalls of poor governance.It’s critical that admins and IT departments establish proper governance strategies and guardrails before unleashing GenAI’s transformative capabilities.
Risks of poor or unmanaged governanceLack of proper governance across the app development lifecycle can lead to several challenges, including app sprawl, wasted resources, orphaned applications, and increased data risk.For example, with the rapid proliferation of apps, an employee switching teams or exiting the company could leave apps unfinished or unprotected, putting data at risk for mismanagement, deletion, or corruption.Although these dangers already existed across low-code development, GenAI enables all teams to build apps even faster. This rapid pace compounds these risks further unless proper governance is established.IT collaboration and managing pipelinesGovernance gives IT full visibility into the end-to-end app development lifecycle. This helps organizations manage pipelines more effectively and maintain control over the apps they’re building and deploying.With end-to-end visibility into the app development lifecycle, organizations can assign developers low-code use cases based on their skill level. This can boost efficiency and productivity.Gartner® predicts that “by 2028, 75% of enterprise software engineers will use AI coding assistants, up from less than 10% in early 2023.”1Proper governance also contributes to an overall more intuitive development environment. Effective guardrails help guide low-coders and no-coders through app builds for quick results.
Democratized app developmentWith GenAI, experienced developers, citizen developers, business admins, and process analysts all possess the ability to rapidly design, build, and launch new applications.This democratization helps establish more effective partnerships and collaboration between IT admins/software delivery managers and those building apps or implementing new software. This in turn sets clear and consistent expectations across the business.Well-governed collaboration tools enable developers to invite others to share success and co-create their apps. This can boost productivity and help ensure the highest standards are consistently met.By preparing a robust governance strategy—which clearly communicates decision-making needs and policies, engages key stakeholders, and sets vital metrics to measure effectiveness—IT leaders can add tremendous value to their low-code practice.Maintaining standards and complianceAs GenAI evolves and continues to accelerate the app development lifecycle, the importance of proper governance will increase exponentially. To effectively incorporate more GenAI use cases into their low-code and no-code processes, organizations must be able to easily manage governance from a single, centralized location.Doing so can help organizations incorporate guardrails throughout the entire app development process. This enables IT leaders and their teams to maintain standards and compliance while simultaneously reducing the unwanted fallout of poor governance, such as app sprawl and increased data risk.Simply put, the easier it becomes to build apps using GenAI, the more crucial and central governance will become to IT’s remit.Find out how LIKE.TG helps empower low-code app development with GenAI.1 Gartner, Top Strategic Technology Trends 2024, 2023GARTNER is a registered trademark and service mark of Gartner, Inc. and/or its affiliates in the U.S. and internationally and is used herein with permission. All rights reserved.
3 reasons to embrace low-code
Organizations face myriad challenges in IT, from managing ever-growing backlogs to maintaining competitiveness. In the face of such challenges, LIKE.TG App Engine emerges as a beacon of innovation for organizations of all kinds.By harnessing the power of low-code development, App Engine can streamline processes and accelerate solutions with less complexity, cost, and risk—all on one platform. Let’s explore three ways App Engine rewrites the rules for software development, opening doors for citizen developers and professional developers alike.1. Simplified development for allIn the past, application development often meant starting from scratch, coding everything from integrations to user interface elements. With App Engine, what was once a skill confined to a small group of technical individuals is accessible to anyone across the organization, regardless of skill level.While App Engine opens the doors to more creators, it has guardrails to ensure anyone building apps sticks to the standards set by your core IT team.Professional developers win too. Low-code doesn’t eliminate the need for them—it expedites tedious and redundant processes, freeing highly skilled developers to focus on strategic initiatives. Watch our Utah platform features developers and admins care about webinar to learn more.2. Accelerated time to valueBecause time is a precious commodity, App Engine includes a user-friendly interface and prebuilt components that enable both seasoned and citizen developers to rapidly build, deploy, and optimize applications.Without the need for custom coding, low-code development can lead to cost savings in training, infrastructure, and resources. In Unleash the power of your developers, LIKE.TG Senior Developer Advocate Chuck Tomasi shares how App Engine can help organizations overcome resource challenges.3. Scalability and governanceApp Engine allows you to easily scale low-code development through modular components and reusable templates. At the same time, built-in governance tools give admins the power to easily govern the development lifecycle end to end. Users can submit ideas, invite others to build together, hand off apps, and monitor and proactively improve apps—all in one workspace.With applications being scaled across the organization, how can you turn application development into a team sport while avoiding the dangers of shadow IT and sprawl? Discover more about ensuring proper governance in Low-code best practices.
Getting smart at being smarter
Global access to data is exploding. At the same time, our ability to categorise, classify and analyse this data is also expanding.As this new world of data unfolds, LIKE.TG is there to enable businesses to create new data models and their supporting data analytics functions to directly and positively impact growth, profit and expansion.But let’s go back to first principles for a moment. We know that Artificial Intelligence (AI) and Machine Learning (ML) – when correctly applied – can improve the way organisations work and operate… but do organisations know where to start as they look to create these new data models?We – and by ‘we’ I mean you as the customers, us at LIKE.TG, as well as our partners, everybody basically – need to ask where to categorise and compartmentalise processes and functions to build new digital workflows.We need to examine which aspects of the business should be most directly ‘exposed’ to AI. We also need to know what is and isn’t possible in the short, medium and long term.In other words, we need to get smart about being smarter if we’re going to bring a new era of business forward.So what does smart really mean in modern business terms? I think it is time to look at AI and digital workflows through the lens of SMART (Specific, Measurable, Attainable, Relevant, Time-bound) objectives.SpecificityWhen we use the word ‘specific’ and demand a greater level of product or service specificity, we mean it in the most granular sense possible.We can’t just say we need more paperclips, more salespeople, more office air conditioning or more field sales automobiles. We need to ask what kind of paperclip shape we need, what colour, what build strength and perhaps even what level of ‘clippyness’ every clip needs to exhibit.When you are thinking about delivering AI and ML in the business you have to be really focused on what you are trying to achieve — and by that I mean you need to be able to tie down specific use cases for each and every paperclip.MeasurabilityGetting smart with new digital workflows also requires measurability. If you can’t measure it and put it in your business plan and balance sheet (a process, a service, a workflow element, anything at all) then you need to step back and ask whether you should you really be doing it.The reality is that data is often captured and not ever used. It simply falls unmeasured and unloved into the data lake. The real cost of this is the ‘noise’ that is created throughout the business because a) wasted data goes crashing into the lake and then b) the splashing that occurs afterwards when users do actually realise that they have to start diving into the lake to look for the data that they might actually need in order to make work experiences better.Attainability and relevancyIf an AI initiative is not attainable or achievable, then why has it formed a part of your current business strategy in the first place? Nowadays we can forecast how far AI will realistically be able to change any given business in real practical terms.Similarly, if an AI business initiative is not relevant to the business and not able to exist within the context of the organisation’s current and immediate goals, then it forms no sensible part of any smart business plan.TimelinessLastly, we come to timeliness. In the not so distant past, business cycles and the general approach to commercial objectives were typically annual. In this post-millennial age, firms are measuring themselves in much smaller strategic increments.Key Performance Indicators (KPIs) and business targets used to change year-on-year. Today, they might be calibrated to change monthly, weekly or perhaps even on the basis of individual (tickets) activities relating to individual jobs.
Your next stepsOur goal at LIKE.TG is to get to a point where every part of every business should be able to use smart digital workflows to drive greater productivity, greater quality of all services and greater experiences for all employees.We know that an increasing proportion of organisations is already examining where they can bring AI to bear and create new value in their business. We also know that many are already on that road and creating new applications and new experiences.Factors that matter most now include service quality, cost reduction, speedy delivery and the need for geographical availability for all new products and services. These are all the defining trends that should be shaping the way we develop new digital workflows that leverage AI and ML.What we are doing at LIKE.TG is helping identify areas for improvement not just before they start to lose profits and market share but more significantly, before they start to actually lose contracts. There’s a new culture for predictive business strategy that we are underpinning and making possible.Smart is smarter if it is more productive and creating greater experiences for everybody inside and outside your organisation. It’s where the smart money is, believe me.
Taking a more human approach to AI
Artificial Intelligence (AI) is all about machines, obviously. Except it’s not. In truth, discussions surrounding AI may often centre around how competent, intuitive and contextually aware the machine brains we are building have become.But really, AI is all about us – the humans – and how it can make our lives better.There was time, perhaps even inside the current decade, when AI tools and functions were still associated with the fanciful ‘talking computers’ that featured in many 1980s movies. It wasn’t that long ago that we still considered AI as something of a ‘toy’ and its application in mission-critical enterprise applications was still somewhat laughable.Of course now we take talking computers completely seriously. So much so that we’re equally focused on the proficiency of computer speech recognition.Application of AI applicationsBut as far as we have come, we still need to look at the real world use cases of AI and ask how it can help us make our lives better. If we’re not applying AI to our human work experiences to examine and analyse where it can make those experiences greater, then what are we doing here in the first place?The truth is, many enterprises large and small have been struggling with finding the appropriate use cases for new and emerging AI technologies. Companies need to find the workflows inside their business models that can benefit from AI. Only then can they start to architect towards turning those operational throughputs into truly digital workflows.So how do we define AI-enabled digital workflow Nirvana and how do we get there?Typically, the process starts with a technology audit and a process of assessment, quantification and qualification running throughout the IT stack in question. Individual business units will need to step back and identify their work problems and challenges as they look for the elements of their workflows that can be digitised.Everybody across every line of business function will be involved we need to crowdsource and collaborate to identify strategic areas of business operations that still exist as predominantly manual, accurately measurable and fundamentally repetitive.These are the parts of business that represent liquid gold, i.e. once we tap the seam, we can channel these functions into AI-driven services that subsequently run as digital workflows. Individuals are liberated from drudgery, productivity is increased and employees have a greater experience — a new virtuous circle is established.Practical examplesThink about a typical LIKE.TG office. When people leave the company we need to manage who has a key fob for access to the car park. This is a perfect example of the type of job that has typically been performed manually through the use of a spreadsheet. This is time consuming, error-prone and obviously creates security issues.But it’s also (I hope obviously) a perfect example of the type of task we can evolve to become a digital workflow driven by intelligence stemming from AI. I.e. our analytics engine should know that an employee is leaving the firm and so reports, alerts, emails and perhaps even mobile device management to cancel the key fob can all happen automatically.If we can make all those things smarter and more intuitive, then we can build better experiences faster.Uber hasn’t actually done anything fundamental to change the way taxis work or drive. It has changed the digital workflow that governs the ability to book and pay for the service. The list of services-centric examples in this space is growing every day.Automating a bad process doesn’t make it goodWe’re often bad in technology industry when it comes to decommissioning things. Think about how many business processes probably exist today that firms need to eradicate and get rid of.There’s no point in applying AI to these aspects of the business. As we know, automating a bad process doesn’t make it a good process it just makes it an automated bad process. So this re-engineering is actually an opportunity to clean out your cupboard and stop doing the things that you no longer need to do.An example that came out of a LIKE.TG hackathon is a tool to help with filing of patents. One of our hackathon teams used AI and ML to trawl the web for all registered patents using word recognition. They wanted to identify connected words to see if a new invention already existed in some form already.This would have been costly manual work, that may have been handed over to a specialist (in this case, a patent lawyer), but now we can digitise these aspects of the business.The human factor baselineWe as humans now need to engineer the existence of AI into our own mindsets and consider how it can help us work differently. This includes knowing what things we don’t need to worry about anymore. For example, we don’t take a map out with us these days, because we use a smartphone – so what else can we stop doing?As we move down the more humanised road to AI, we will find that AI itself gets smarter as it learns our behavioural patterns, penchants and preferences. We must still be able to apply an element of human judgement where and when we want to, but that’s already part of the current development process as we learn to apply AI in balance when and where it makes sense.The future of AI is smarter and it is also more human. The end result is more digital at the core, but more human on the surface. If that still sounds like a paradox, then it shouldn’t. We’re at a crucial point of fusion between people and machines and it’s going to be a great experience.
The Devvies highlight incredible innovations and out-of-the-box thinking
I’m consistently blown away by the creativity I see from LIKE.TG customers and partners using the Now Platform to build their own applications. Each year, their ingenuity astounds me.We created The Devvies App of the Year contest to highlight the incredible innovations that demonstrate out-of-the-box thinking and app development prowess to help organizations save time and costs.A panel of judges narrowed down the 297 submitted apps in this year’s contest to 10 finalists based on four criteria:
Business impact: time and/or money saved, customer satisfaction
Innovation: unique approach to reaching a business objective
Scale: number of users
Richness: variety of developer features and capabilities used
All finalists were asked to create pitch videos showcasing their innovative apps. Judges reviewed the videos and questioned teams about each app’s features and impact to determine the App of the Year. Finalists' videos were also shared with the LIKE.TG community to vote on their favorite for the People’s Choice Award.With that, let’s meet this year’s finalists.CATIBuilt by Ignyte Group, CATI replaces FEMA’s outdated computer-assisted telephone interviewing (CATI) survey application with streamlined data collection and report generation for improved focus on assisting disaster survivors. The app has reduced call times by 50% and enabled 20 interviewers to complete more than 800 surveys monthly.ClaimsThe Claims app, built by only two developers at Arctive AG, provides a single source of truth for insurance claims. By automating manual claims processes and enabling cross-company collaboration, the app delivers full transparency, flexibility, reduced lead times, and comprehensive reporting in one low-maintenance solution.Finance TaxationFinance Taxation by Howard County Government simplifies and accelerates the tax filing process via a single platform for improved productivity. Directly integrated with financial systems, the app provides tax teams with real-time validation to help ensure accurate application submissions. In the 2023 tax season, it efficiently handled more than 2,500 records.Marketing CentralLaw firm DLA Piper created Marketing Central to unite design, communications, content, social, and other teams under the marketing umbrella to effectively serve more than 800 partners. The app, developed by non-IT staff, has helped track, measure, and complete 300 subtasks/activities and 2,000 internal requests since mid-July.Production SupportProduction Support, developed mostly in-house by Veterans United Home Loans, streamlines loan processing by allowing users to search for answers to their questions across workgroups. The company has successfully managed a jump from 95,000 to 234,000 requests in one year with no increase in staff size. The app has reduced loan closing times, enhanced service delivery, and improved veteran satisfaction.Relocation ClaimsTo ease the headache of items getting lost or damaged during employee relocation, Relocation Claims by Arctive provides an automated claims solution for reporting. Supporting more than 1,000 users, the app streamlines claim submission and provides valuable reports on relocation vendor performance.SPAYG CoreSmart pay as you go (SPAYG) Core, built by Arctive AG, is a prepaid electricity solution that automatically monitors accounts, sends text messages regarding insufficient funds, and can turn off electricity for unpaid customers. Serving more than 250,000 homes, the app has reduced manual effort and complaints by 90%, maximizing employee efficiency for the electric company.Suite of Apps, Move4UPlat4Mation developed Suite of Apps, a collection of apps to automate international relocations of diplomats for the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs. Supporting a network of 4,500 national ambassadors, the apps streamlined the relocation process for 341 requests in the first month, enhancing IT staff efficiency and transparency, and significantly reducing operational costs.TenonThe Tenon app by Tenon enables enterprise marketing teams to plan and carry out their marketing initiatives at scale, connecting departments. The app supports more than 3,000 users and integrates with customer relationship management and marketing automation systems to enable campaign planning, execution, and measurement.Tracy Social AITracy Social AI by Yansa Labs uses generative AI to automate generating, scheduling, and posting brand communications to both external and internal social media channels. The app has significantly reduced time spent on social media management by helping organizations stay relevant, communicate effectively, and maximize productivity with little human intervention.App of the Year: Production Support
Veterans United Home Loans’ Production Support has revolutionized the loan processing experience for veterans. Before the company implemented a customized LIKE.TG portal, employees faced challenges with misdirected emails and inefficient communications.The new app features a comprehensive knowledge base, ticketing system, and catalog items, facilitating easy access to essential information and reducing back-and-forth queries.With more than 90 record producers and 20-plus custom workspaces, Production Support efficiently routes requests and evenly distributes tasks among 4,500 employees. This year, the app is on track to process nearly 250,000 requests, supported by nearly 20 knowledge bases and more than 3,000 knowledge articles.“I love the story this tells,” one judge remarked. “It just makes you feel good.” Another judge added, “Production Support and the team really get what LIKE.TG can do, and they’re using it to run their business. It’s exciting and truly a step above.”The team has chosen to donate its US$5,000 winnings to Veterans United Foundation, a charity that partners with military-related organizations and supports families in need.People’s Choice Award: Suite of Apps
Securing 48% of the 446 LIKE.TG community votes, Suite of Apps showcased its widespread appeal and unique application of our platform tools.It's a “unique solution utilizing most platform developer tools and functionality while providing experiences to employees, agents and vendors,” a judge said.Initially developed to support hundreds of diplomats' relocations annually, this collection of apps integrates HR decisions, transportation, and claim settlements into a cohesive platform. Previously, these processes were handled individually and manually through emails, phone calls, and basic office applications, which disconnected customers, IT, and vendors.Now centralized in the Move4U Portal, Suite of Apps provides a single-pane-of-glass view, helping to ensure 24/7 global access with automated reminders, tasks, and complete status transparency for employees, agents, and vendors.Congratulations to the winners and finalists! Let’s continue finding new ways to make the world work better for everyone. I look forward to seeing what our customers and partners have in store.Get a free developer instance and start building.
The Future of Work Is Human — Only Better
From The Terminator to Ex Machina, Hollywood has a long history of portraying robots and artificial intelligence as an evil cohort with little regard for human life. But what is more alarming than a robot trying to eliminate the human race? How about one trying to take your job?In many places, the future of work is visually represented by robots, and we’re bombarded by headlines claiming it’s only a matter of time before robots take away our livelihoods. Can you imagine robots as your new office workers? Hosting conference calls, grabbing coffee and working on projects with machines programmed to do your job?Is this really the future of work? We don’t think so.
For people in the workforce, automation is the anxiety-inducing buzzword of our time. And robots are the go-to trope for this anxiety. A Pew Research Center survey found that 72% of Americans are worried about a future in which intelligent machines do much of the work currently done by humans.So, what’s the reality? While research suggests that automation will impact some roles and industries more than others, it doesn’t support a scary vision of the workplace in which real jobs, with real people, no longer exist. Deloitte’s Global Human Capital Trends survey, for example, predicts tremendous future demand for uniquely human abilities like complex problem-solving, cognition and social skills.At LIKE.TG, we believe in making work, work better for people. Technology-driven automation and innovation is about evolving how everyone works, improving the way work gets done. We think that’s a change for the better.And the robot workforce of the future? Get real. Let’s flip that dystopian view of automation on its head. Check out how absurd this vision seems when 40 robots went to work recently in San Francisco.
Why ITOM, ITSM, and AIOps belong together
To paraphrase Winston Churchill, if you don’t learn from history, you’re doomed to repeat it. That may sound a bit apocalyptic, but here’s the point: To make well-informed, well-judged decisions, you need historical context. That’s why we get better at doing things over time. Expertise doesn’t just instantly happen—it’s a combination of intelligence and experience.What’s this got to do with IT Operations Management (ITOM) and IT Service Management (ITSM)? It’s one of the main reasons they belong together. ITSM provides historical operational context for IT operations. It’s a rich treasure trove of information that you can mine and analyze to fix service issues faster and more accurately—learning from previous successes and avoiding past mistakes.Here’s a simple example—changes. Changes are one of the most common reasons for service issues, and recent changes are probably one of the first things you look at when you’re trying to diagnose an outage. And, of course, changes straddle ITOM and ITSM. Discovery in ITOM gives you visibility of actual changes, while change management in ITSM shows you the associated change process.Put the two together and now you know who, what, where, when, and why. That’s crucial information when you’re trying to restore a mission-critical service. And, it’s why we’ve integrated change information directly into LIKE.TG Event Management.If you know which configuration items (CIs) are affected by an outage, it’s easy to retrieve recent changes to the same CIs, provided you have ITOM and ITSM on the same platform. But think about those true “eureka!” moments when you remember a similar incident that happened somewhere else in your IT environment. Now you’ve got a potential shortcut to fixing the current issue, complete with root cause and remediation steps.Unfortunately, making these associations isn’t just a simple database query on specific CIs. It takes significant brainpower and a phenomenal memory.The case for AIOpsThat’s the problem. With digitalization and the cloud, IT environments are becoming too vast, dynamic, and complex for any one person to have that level of knowledge. There’s no way to keep up with the sheer amount of historical operational information—let alone correlate it in real time when your e-commerce portal is down and everyone is screaming. Sure, historical ITSM data may hold the answer, but that’s no use if you spend days looking for the proverbial needle in a haystack.Which brings me to AIOps. AIOps isn’t just about applying machine learning to monitoring data, although that’s incredibly important. It’s also about delivering continuous operational insights—analyzing ITSM data to provide targeted, actionable information when and where you need it.Imagine if you could get a real-time list of similar incidents and problems whenever you have a service issue, along with relevant knowledge base articles and other information. What would that mean for your mean time to resolution (MTTR) and for your business?Augmenting, not replacing, human experienceThat’s exactly what AIOps can deliver, and it’s what we’re already building into ServiceNow.Here’s the best part: AIOps isn’t about replacing human intelligence and experience. It’s about augmenting it—working hand-in-hand with you to resolve service issues. AIOps (and machine learning in general) is great at analyzing vast amounts of data to pinpoint correlations, whether that’s identifying potentially similar incidents or correlating alerts. And it does it in real time.Humans, on the other hand, are great at critical assessment and decision-making involving small data sets—for example, deciding whether a similar incident or specific knowledge base article highlighted by AIOps is actually relevant. It’s a match made in heaven, with machines and humans each doing what they do best.The result? Improved service quality, less service downtime, vastly increased operational efficiency, and, ultimately, sustainable business advantage. That’s the reason why ITOM, ITSM, and AIOps belong together.
How automation brings your business ambitions to life
Technology is helping enterprises simplify process and supercharge the everyday
Our self-serve consumer lives have taught us to expect more from the day-to-day employee experience
Enterprise IT needs to meet the growing demand for automation technologies that connect and empower employees — wherever they are
Automation enables businesses to be ready for change — to build a more sustainable, competitive edge
A good employee experience (EX) is built on efficient ways of working, freeing employees from repetitive tasks to create a more rewarding workday – one that is spent on interesting, high-value projects.But for business leaders looking to deliver the experiences that employees now demand, where should they start?The short answer: good EX thrives on well-designed automation.Powering employee engagement and productivity through a consumer mindset toAs technology continues to merge our personal and professional worlds, businesses are beginning to see significant productivity returns from investments in ‘consumer-ised’ employee experiences.And IT is ideally placed to help the business make the most of this transformation.Where IT once sought to fortify firewalls and serve up computer repairs, IT leaders are now taking their place as strategic business partners – aligning technology with business objectives, such as:
Increasing business process efficiency
Boosting business productivity
Unlocking greater innovation and sustainable growth
With smarter automation and self-service tools, a business can drive employee engagement and empower the workforce to help to make those ambitions a reality.Ask the right questions – and get automatingWe encourage our customers to ask some basic questions about the way their business works before committing to automation:1.) Where do employees run into problems in your processes?Process is rarely perfect. There are often gaps, redundancies and unnecessary complexities preventing a truly efficient, end-to-end journey. Identifying the specific friction-causing moments is an essential first step to streamlining ways of working.2.) How can you simplify processes and make systems more agile?We If the aim is to remove the productivity-killing complexity and repetition in cross-functional processes, answering this question enables you to explore whether it’s possible to manage (and resolve) these issues through automation.Anticipate and embrace change with automationNaturally, enterprises evolve over time, thanks to advances in technology, worker expectations, and other business and cultural factors. Keeping up with change as it comes is great. But expecting change and being able to turn it to your advantage quickly is what will give you a true edge over the competition.Automation, implemented in the right way, will help your business to build smarter, more efficient ways of working right now — and drive continuous improvements in the future.Always keep one key thing in mind: the employee experience. The more flexibility you give employees, the happier and more productive they’ll be.Visit our automation page to learn more about how the right technology can help to transform the way employees work – and add value to your business.
LIKE.TG to acquire Attivio’s cognitive search platform
At LIKE.TG, we believe everyday tasks at work should be as simple, easy and intuitive as they are in our personal lives. Yet one useful work task, enterprise search, has lagged well behind the consumer world.To deliver consumer-grade search at work, LIKE.TG has signed an agreement to acquire the cognitive search capabilities of Attivio, an AI-powered answers and insights platform company based in Boston, MA. As part of the transaction, select Attivio RD talent will also join LIKE.TG’s engineering team.With the addition of Attivio’s search engine, LIKE.TG will move beyond keyword-based search to deliver out-of-the-box, conversational AI and search experiences at scale to customers. Attivio’s market-leading, AI-powered search capabilities will help LIKE.TG better understand the meaning behind natural language searches on the Now Platform to deliver relevant, personalized results that users can act on right from the search results window.By integrating Attivio into the Now Platform, we plan to enhance search natively across our IT, Customer and Employee workflows through the LIKE.TG Service Portal, Now Mobile app and Virtual Agent chatbot solution.LIKE.TG’s Now Platform includes additional powerful AI and machine learning capabilities that let you deliver intuitive experiences so you can work in ways that work best for you. Attivio builds on our previous AI acquisitions, including transactions with Parlo, FriendlyData and Qlue.From Search to Solve: Take action with AI-powered searchBy integrating Attivio’s functionality into future releases of the Now Platform, we plan to extend the capabilities of today’s consumer search engines so that users can take action from the search results window. Through an answer box feature, LIKE.TG users will be able to ask a question and get an answer on the Now Platform that will filter out irrelevant details and return the most relevant information. No longer will users need to click into URLs or search multiple long documents to find what they need.
Mock-up of planned Now Mobile search capabilitiesImagine your work laptop is stolen. Today, you might have to call or email IT from your mobile device. If your organization has a mobile intranet, you might search, “laptop stolen.” You are most likely presented with a list of links to your company’s policy and IT documents that may or may not help you replace your device, and that experience may or may not be mobile-optimized. With the addition of Attivio’s functionality, employees will be able to get help right from the Now Mobile app. The Now Platform will be able to understand the intent behind your request, pull up your laptop’s details and give you the option to replace your device – all in the answer box.
Mock-up of planned LIKE.TG Service Portal search capabilitiesLet’s say you’re looking for your PTO balance. You search for “PTO balance” and get a link to the employee policy handbook, which is not very helpful. With Attivio, if you integrate LIKE.TG to your company’s Human Capital Management system, such as SAP® SuccessFactors®, you will be able to directly access such systems to show your available vacation time and give you the option to ask HR a question.
Mock-up of planned Agent Workspace search capabilitiesIn another scenario, a customer support agent opens a client support issue that includes the phrase, “router broken.” The agent might receive a list of all the recent cases containing the word “router,” starting with the most recent case. With Attivio, LIKE.TG will be able to show agents a list of similar tickets where a similar problem was resolved and recommend the most relevant case with steps to fix the customer’s issue.Make work life like personal lifeMaking our work lives as simple and easy as our personal lives is the next wave of innovation at work. We are rapidly moving away from manual processes, such as filling in forms and data fields, towards unstructured interactions with machines, such as free‑form text, voice and gestures. Attivio supports this vision as a proven leader in cognitive search with capabilities many Fortune 500 companies are using today to deliver great experiences and unlock productivity.LIKE.TG expects to complete the acquisition by the end of Q4 2019.Forward‑Looking StatementsThis blog contains forward‑looking statements about the expectations, beliefs, plans, intentions and strategies relating to LIKE.TG’s transaction with Attivio. Such forward‑looking statements include statements regarding future product capabilities and expected benefits to ServiceNow. These statements reflect the current beliefs of LIKE.TG and are based on current information available to the LIKE.TG as of the date hereof. LIKE.TG does not assume any obligation to update the forward‑looking statements provided to reflect events that occur or circumstances that exist after the date on which they were made. The forward‑looking statements in this blog are subject to various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual outcomes and results to differ materially and adversely from those expressed in such forward‑looking statements. These risks and uncertainties include, without limitation, the inability to assimilate or integrate Attivio’s technology into our platform; the inability to retain key employees of Attivio after the transaction closes; unanticipated expenses related to Attivio’s acquired technology; disruption to our business and diversion of management attention and other resources; and potential unknown liabilities associated with Attivio’s business.SAP® SuccessFactors® is the trademark(s) or registered trademark(s) of SAP SE in Germany and in several other countries.
Keep pace with the digital speed of your business with AIOps
Remember when the “cloud” was just a buzzword? 10 years ago, many people thought that cloud technology was overhyped. Now, the cloud is a given.There’s a similar discussion about AIOps today. Once again, some people are skeptical. However, I predict that AIOps is destined to follow the cloud, with widespread adoption across industries. Organizations will quickly learn that they can’t remain competitive without AIOps. Just like the cloud, AIOps is going to rewire IT.Just to make sure were on the same page, let’s define AIOps. AIOps stands for Artificial Intelligence for IT Operations, and it optimizes IT operations functions using machine learning and big data. That’s the opposite of how many IT operations departments work today, struggling with manual processes and heavily siloed tools that don’t share data.
Why is AIOps so important? Enabled by the cloud, businesses are digitizing at unprecedented speed. The pace and scale of change is staggering. And IT operations just can’t keep up. There’s just too much complexity and too much to manage. With SaaS apps and cloud services, business units are bypassing IT altogether—and this has been going on for years. AIOps changes this dynamic, ensuring that IT operations can run at digital speed and lead from the front.With AIOps, your IT operations team doesn’t have to dig through thousands of events from siloed monitoring tools, spending hours correlating disconnected data to identify impacted services and the root cause of failures. Instead, they immediately see a small number of actionable alerts and impacted services on a single console. They also see appropriate historical and real-time context, including relevant incidents, problems and changes for affected CIs, providing valuable shortcuts to issue diagnosis and resolution. They can also see how similar issues were remediated in the past and can even remediate issues automatically. Taken together, these AIOps capabilities significantly lower MTTR, reduce the number of major incidents, and increase operational efficiency.
AIOps is ready for prime time. While the transformative promise of AI hasn’t materialized yet in many parts of the business, AIOps is different. It doesn’t need a staff of data scientists or AI translators. It doesn’t need a major reorganization like many other large-scale AI initiatives. In fact, AIOps is the perfect pilot for other organizational AI initiatives, building sponsorship beyond IT as it transforms IT operations—which in turn transforms the business.Recently, Tomer Mekhty, LIKE.TG’s VP of IT, talked about this point: “In IT operations, we’ve been using AIOps for some time to solve business problems. We’ve found that we don’t need to hire new data scientists to drive AIOps. Instead, we can rely on our existing data analysts and machine learning skill sets.”Make no mistake: LIKE.TG has seen great results with AIOps. For example, we used to have a huge number of VPN outages. Given our remote workforce around the world, this caused major employee frustration. Once we implemented AIOps, we reduced our VPN outages by 900 hours a year and reclaimed 1,000 hours in employee productivity—reducing lost time from 1,400 hours to just 400 hours.So, what is the most important success factor when adopting AIOps? Tomer says it’s a change in mindset. He explains, “What we’ve found is that AIOps needs a cultural change. It’s really about organizational change management. You need to establish a data-driven culture where most decisions are based on data, not experience. And, leaders need to start asking the right questions to drive efficiency. You also need to develop your existing talent or replace skillsets manage the scale and demand.”So, what are you waiting for? AIOps offers you a proven, pragmatic path to improved service quality, reduced service downtime, and vastly increased operational efficiency. Ultimately, that translates into sustainable business advantage as you run IT at digital speed.