Need to track IT kit? Business continuity? Legal? ServiceNow has a package of satellite apps for you... now

ServiceNow, the workflow company home to humble-bragging CEO Bill McDermott, on Wednesday launched a package of tools to help organizations scratch an itch incumbent management software suites may not be able to reach. For example, in IT asset management, ServiceNow promises its latest software can track the financial, …

[Mike 137]

With one proviso

"ServiceNow promises its latest software can track the financial, contractual, and inventory records of company hardware to improve purchase and disposal decisions."

Great idea, provided that the kit is entered into the tracking system in the first place. Over a couple of decades, I don't think I've ever seen a complete asset inventory in any organisation. Equifax is a good example.

From the U.S. House of Representatives Committee on Oversight and Government Reform report on the 2017 Equifax data breach:

"[Chief Security Officer Susan] Mauldin testified:

Q. Did Equifax have an inventory of this type of software? Would it have been part of Equifax’s software inventory?

A. [I] think that there were various inventory lists around, and I know that in Security, we had our own list . . . . we had a list that we worked on. I’m not sure what IT had.

Q. Did you have different lists?

A. I think that there were multiple lists around that people worked from"

No tracking system can take control under such conditions.

[Anonymous Coward]

Re: With one proviso

This is all true as far as it goes; it's not helped by the service-now software being clunky junk.

It's also not helped by many inventory/elevation softwares being designed-for (if not spec'd by) big wheel executive types, instead of the operators who will actually be using them regularly.

Sometimes the fatal flaw is trying to make the inventory/elevation system do too much; e.g. it might be a fine inventory tool and helpful in rackspace planning, but some bright lad decided to also bolt on a remote access/control module for the kit in the inventory database ... which no one asked for or wanted because perfectly good tools already existed for that. But now there are more fields to manage in the inventory database, and some group which didn't know any better were told to start using it, and now you either have to maintain data in different places, or know which tool to use depending on which set of gear you're after, and so on.

Basically creeping features. And not well implemented (slow, unreliable) on top of that.

Who knows, maybe service now's version of that kind of thing is wonderful.

[GinBear]

Re: With one proviso

Clunky junk?

Unreliable?

Sounds like comments from;

a. A competitor or,

b. A customer with a bad implementation

I’ve worked with the product for many years and just don’t see it as either of the things you’ve said

[Pascal Monett]

The no-code approach

I cannot imagine building a database of any complexity without coding. If you have a no-code design environment, then you will have to have modules and you will be constrained by what the modules allow. The modules will only allow for what has been coded in them by actual developers and the no-code approach means you can't modify them in any way.

So the only "applications" you can make are the ones that correspond to the modules' abilities. If what you need lies outside that scope, you can't build it.

There may well be some types of application that benefit from this approach, but I can't see people building everything they need simply with a drag-and-drop environment.

[ecofeco]

Re: The no-code approach

Ever heard of Filemaker? Template or drop down/drag-n-drop or code or any combination.

Quick start with full customization as the business grows that can be done in-house.

[Doctor Syntax]

Re: The no-code approach

There's always another one of these coming along. I suppose it's vendors always imagine it will be the last one even if they don't realise it's not the first.

[Doctor Syntax]

I'm sure all the things they list were well covered years ago, a long time before I retired. What's new? On an app?

Checks article again.

Ah, I see. With added AI. How did we manage in the old days without AI?