ServiceNow App Engine: What can you do with it?

iIn today’s highly competitive and complex world, the best results come to organizations that can innovate quickly and efficiently. However, it’s not easy to continuously drive innovation especially considering challenges such as budget reductions, revenue and profit impact, talent shortages and the proliferation of legacy systems that make it cost prohibitive to update.

These challenges make it even more critical for organizations to streamline business processes and automate manual workflow to eliminate complexity, accelerate results and offer a single system of engagement for employees and/or customers. ServiceNow offers exactly that: one platform to simplify complex workflows and accelerate results.

Conceived as a cloud-native solution, ServiceNow boasts a unified data model and an adaptable framework that makes data exchange possible across applications and systems already in place. The Now Platform provides extensive workflow automation, enhancing business processes across HR, IT, Customer Service Finance, Facilities, Risk and Security and so much more. Prepackaged digital workflows expedite service delivery and reallocate team resources towards more valuable tasks, empowering innovation across the organization. You can also extend existing digital workflows in ServiceNow or develop new ones, using native development and integration tools. The resulting flexibility lets you create the experience you’re looking for or to respond effectively to disruptive events.

According to Gartner’s Low Code Application Platform report, ServiceNow ranks with top leaders among competitors including Microsoft PowerApps, Salesforce, Pegasystems and more. Some of the benefits of ServiceNow’s Low Code Application Platform includes its ease of deployment, administration and maintenance capabilities, flexibility, the completeness of the product as well as cost and value received on the platform.

What is ServiceNow App Engine?

ServiceNow App Engine is a core part of the platform that offers enterprise low-code application development to provide organizations with the ability to innovate quickly with the speed and agility they need to solve business challenges.

This powerful product allows users to quickly digitize and automate workflow to solve business challenges. App Engine offers out-of-the-box capabilities that remove the complexity of application development, allowing creators to build powerful applications fast, with built-in collaboration tools.

So, how does ServiceNow App Engine work and what can you do with it? Let’s explore App Engine and share four ways other organizations have leveraged ServiceNow App Engine to drive greater results across all lines of business.App Engine offers the following features:

• App Engine Studio
• App Engine Management Center
• Flow Designer
• Process Automation Designer
• Application Development
• Virtual Agent

Because App Engine can easily be integrated with other solutions on ServiceNow, developers can also leverage existing capabilities and products on the platform to build custom applications.

What is ServiceNow App Engine Studio?

ServiceNow App Engine Studio allows developers and business users to create custom applications and workflows. App Engine Studio is designed to simplify and accelerate the development process by providing a graphical interface for designing, building, and testing applications.

With App Engine Studio, users can create custom applications, configure data models, automate processes and more. ServiceNow also offers a range of pre-built integrations with other systems and services, including cloud services, databases, and third-party applications.

In summary, ServiceNow App Engine Studio allows users to build and customize their own applications within the ServiceNow platform using a low-code approach, making it easier to create complex workflows and automate business processes.

Who benefits from ServiceNow App Engine?

A valuable tool for organizations across various sizes and industries, ServiceNow App Engine offers significant advantages to a wide range of stakeholders.

• IT teams: Develop custom applications to streamline processes, automate workflows, and integrate with existing systems.
• Non-technical users (citizen developers): Utilize low-code tools to build and customize apps, enabling faster innovation and problem-solving.
• Business stakeholders: Foster cross-functional teamwork and empower employees to focus on strategic tasks with a unified platform across all lines of business
• End-users: Benefit from custom applications that streamline processes, automate tasks, and offer personalized services.

By leveraging ServiceNow App Engine, organizations can optimize operations, enhance collaboration, and drive innovation, staying agile and responsive in a dynamic business landscape.

How have organizations used ServiceNow App Engine?

Companies across all industries and lines of business have leveraged App Engine to deliver powerful solutions and develop applications at greater speed and agility. Here are four examples of how organizations have leveraged App Engine to realize incredible results.

Example: Developing emergency response applications

When the City of San Antonio needed to react quickly to the COVID-19 pandemic to communicate and determine the work status of employees, they were initially forced to rely on manual spreadsheets and phone calls. Not only was this inefficient, but it was also unreliable.

To solve this problem, Cask leveraged ServiceNow App Engine to automate and streamline an intuitive Emergency Outreach and Emergency Self Report application in just two days. This solution automatically notified employees of safety measures and allowed them to report their health status. Since initial development, the City of San Antonio has rapidly scaled the solution out more than 15,000 employees.

Example: Streamlining meal delivery to at-risk citizens

After first implementing a COVID-19 testing application, the City of LA turned to Cask and ServiceNow App Engine again for help with another emergency response program. Seniors throughout the city were experiencing higher rates of food insecurity in the face of stay-at-home orders and the City of LA needed to develop an application to provide greater support to seniors in need.

Leveraging the ServiceNow Emergency Response Application (ERA), Cask collaborated with the City of LA to develop an application that offered widespread support. Cask created additional functionality on top of this overall framework to include dietary restrictions, food allergies, restaurant/kitchen matching, and delivery locations, ensuring every citizen received the support they needed.

Example: Efficiently managing resources, covering the spread of wildfires

Before working with Cask, the National Interagency Fire Center (NIFC) struggled to track all of the complicated data involved in wildfire management through their legacy system. In fact, tracking all of the data, including where a fire started, its size, and the people and equipment assigned to manage it, was not possible through a single system.

In order to solve this, Cask leveraged ServiceNow App Engine to replaced their legacy application with a modern custom application in ServiceNow to manage wildfires and hazards across the United States, Canada and Mexico. IROC (Interagency Resource Ordering Capability) now seamlessly manages all of the federal agencies involved in managing wildfires on public land, organizing the people, tools, and training from a single, unified experience. IROC supports ordering, tracking, and managing resources in real time, allowing full visibility into all aircraft, equipment, crews, and supplies through a consumer-grade user experience.

After building this solution from the ground up, Cask integrated with more than 15 other major applications, allowing fire service managers across agency and state boundaries full visibility into all resources. Not only did Cask use App Engine to simplify the once-complicated process and expensive legacy application, but it also enabled greater collaboration than ever before. IROC is an unprecedented example of what can happen when government agencies work together to create a highly innovative solution.

Example: Restoring the supply chain for US farmers and ranchers

In the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, the agricultural industry experienced an unprecedented interruption to the supply chain. In turn, farmers and ranchers turned to the government for help, as they were unable to sell much of their food crops. After the CARES Bill was passed, a federal agency found itself needing to provide support to over 100,000 industry members. However, the application and review process was inefficient. The team needed to create a new application to streamline the process.

To solve this problem, Cask leveraged ServiceNow App Engine to create a custom application review process that allowed program managers to sample applications and send them to reviewers nationwide, as well as set up reporting and dashboards to track reporting by county. This app has dramatically simplified the application, review, and onboarding process for the assistance program and will continue to do so in the future.

Overcoming common challenges with ServiceNow App Engine

In a world where businesses face numerous challenges like rising costs, talent shortages, legacy systems, and the increasing need to develop applications quickly, ServiceNow App Engine provides a comprehensive solution. By enabling rapid application development and automation, ServiceNow empowers organizations to overcome these obstacles and streamline their business processes. In this section, we will discuss how ServiceNow App Engine addresses common challenges through its low-code application platform.

1. Low-code development and citizen developers

ServiceNow App Engine offers a low-code application platform that enables even non-technical users, often referred to as "citizen developers," to build custom apps quickly and efficiently. Through the use of prebuilt templates, App Engine Studio, and drag-and-drop functionality, App Engine simplifies the application development process and enables organizations to innovate at a faster pace.

2. Workflow automation

By leveraging Process Automation Designer and Flow Designer modules, ServiceNow App Engine allows organizations to create digital workflows that automate complex tasks, streamline processes, and improve overall efficiency. Automation is a key feature of the platform, enabling end users and admins to customize workflows for various use cases, such as ITSM, service catalog management, and notifications.

3. Integration and customization

ServiceNow’s Integration Hub enables App Engine users to integrate their custom apps with existing systems and third-party providers. Through the use of spokes and APIs, organizations can connect their applications to external services, enhancing overall efficiency and user experience. Furthermore, ServiceNow App Engine allows users to configure permissions and create custom applications tailored to their unique business processes.

4. Mobile app development

ServiceNow App Engine also offers tools for building mobile apps that cater to the needs of end users. With features like responsive design, mobile notifications, and a user-friendly interface, App Engine simplifies the process of creating and deploying mobile apps that streamline and optimize various business processes.

5. Scalability and debugging

ServiceNow App Engine provides organizations with the tools and support needed to scale applications as their needs evolve. The platform's low-code development environment includes built-in debugging capabilities that help maintain and improve application performance. Additionally, ServiceNow's digital transformation initiatives, including creator workflows and plugins, enable businesses to adapt and grow in an ever-changing landscape.

By addressing these common challenges, ServiceNow App Engine empowers organizations to innovate quickly, automate their workflows, and leverage the full potential of the Now Platform. This ultimately leads to increased efficiencies, reduced costs, and a more agile and responsive business environment.

6. App Engine Management Center

Once you build an app in ServiceNow, it is incredibly important to be able to manage the entire lifecycle including monitoring application performance, identifying and resolving issues, and optimizing application workflows and processes.

ServiceNow’s App Engine Management Center provides a set of tools and capabilities for managing applications built on the ServiceNow platform. The suite includes features for monitoring application performance, identifying and resolving issues, and optimizing application workflows and processes.

It also includes Application Portfolio Management, which provides insights into the health and performance of applications across the organization as well as Application Performance Management, which enables real-time monitoring of application performance and provides insights into issues that may be impacting application performance.

Additionally, the App Engine Management Center includes Application Dependency Mapping, which enables users to visualize the dependencies between applications and identify potential issues. It also includes Service Level Management, which enables users to set and manage service level agreements (SLAs) for applications and ensure compliance with organizational standards.

You may have unused App Engine licenses

Many ServiceNow customers don’t realize they have access to App Engine. Does your ServiceNow license include App Engine? These unused or unpurchased licenses offer untapped potential for transforming your creator workflows and solving critical business problems with new, custom applications. By putting your available App Engine licenses to work, you can not only digitize processes but also create a more innovative, agile, and responsive organization that increases your ROI of ServiceNow.