Everyone knows that ServiceNow is a powerful platform, but many who are just starting out don't know just how powerful it is. A thought-provoking question gathered our curiosity, so we did some research on what ServiceNow users and developers were shocked to find out. Quite frankly, we were surprised at a few of them, too.

Everyone knows that ServiceNow is a powerful platform, but many who are just starting out don't know just how powerful it is. A thought-provoking question gathered our curiosity, so we did some research on what ServiceNow users and developers were shocked to find out. Quite frankly, we were surprised at a few of them, too.

ServiceNow's History

ServiceNow was initially developed as Glidesoft in 2003 by Fred Luddy, former CTO at Peregrine Systems. Luddy had gotten his start in coding at Amdahl Corporation in 1976 as a software developer. 

Glidesoft's Service-now.com product was a unique offering, specializing in ITIL-based IT Service Management (ITSM). It was revolutionary in the fact that it was the first On Demand Web 2.0 solution (AJAX and SOAP enabled) that required only a browser and an internet connection.

The IT industry deserves a tool that just works. We're going to give it to them."    

- Fred Luddy, 2004, in reference to creating Glide

Glidesoft changed their name to Service-Now.com in 2006, and then later to ServiceNow in 2011. Frank Slootman joined the team in April of 2011 as the role of CEO, while Fred Luddy stepped down to the role of CPO.

ServiceNow Developer Tools

Some users mention that there are tools they wished existed to make their lives easier, only to find out a few weeks (or months) later that they'd already existed, but the name wasn't as intuitive as you'd imagine. "The software licenses inside the system have different names than the pricing paperwork has. It can be very confusing to navigate and purchase the right tool," a Developer says.

Redditor SNGuys created a thread on the ServiceNow subreddit and asked fellow SN Devs to explain what issues they'd experienced with the platform that could've been easily resolved if they'd just known their options. This piqued our interest and caused us to do some research on the topic.

"The Xplore developer tools. It is an infinitely better version of the 'background scripts' screen, with nearly REPL like functionality, which is immensely helpful, especially if you are unfamiliar with the API," Writes user Croc1178, in reply to SNGuys' question.

Another common complaint was that there are too many pitfalls for approvals sent through the mailto option -- such as a user having webmail versus Outlook. Tim Woodruff of SN Pro Tips has come up with a resolution, providing a code to work around this issue and create a simple link for approvals. The details are in this post: A Better, One-Click Approval.

"Most of the custom code related to Dom objects and other script manipulations, like our Checkout page, broke when we upgraded from Eureka to Geneva. We now have to go through each item individually and test things out. One lesson learned is that you should never customize code heavily. We are in the process of removing a lot of customization so that we don't have to go through the same thing again with future upgrades ." Says Reddit user Silent_Boy.

The last one we want to emphasize that we thought was super cool:

"Code snippet shortcuts! Try typing vargr in any script editor field and then hit tab. This will auto-populate the typical code you need for a GlideRecord query. You can modify these code snippets and add your own by navigating to System Definition > Syntax Editor Macros." Reports SNGuys. Thanks, everyone, for your valuable insight!

Initially, when I first heard about ServiceNow, I thought it was a service desk kind of thing. Requests and responses, ticket logging, helpdesk logging -- what surprised me was how versatile it is, and how many aspects of business it can help with."

- ServiceNow Project Manager

ServiceNow Community

Still not sure about a certain functionality or struggling to get a project done? The ServiceNow community is very diverse and helpful. There are several options for you to increase your knowledge base. Our recommendations:

• Check out local SNUGs in your area
• Log into the ServiceNow Community Board
• Join in on the fun at Knowledge17 in Orlando, FL
• Discuss ServiceNow on the ServiceNow subreddit
• If Slack is more your thing, here's the link to the ServiceNow Slack channel!

Do you have any tips or suggestions for those who are either just starting ServiceNow, or trying to improve their experience? Share in the comments below!