How many executives were prescient enough to have a global pandemic in their business continuity plans prior to 2020? With the benefit of hindsight, the maxim “you have to be prepared for anything” has never felt more urgent – or accurate.
Business and IT leaders now understand the value of managing risk, resilience, and business continuity in a way they never have. For many, that wisdom has come at a steep price.
- The COVID-19 pandemic demonstrated the value of an agile, remote-ready workforce.
- The Solarwinds breach made it clear even highly-trusted vendors can be vulnerable.
- The Suez Canal blockage highlighted the interconnected nature of global supply chains.
- The Colonial Pipeline ransomware attack exposed unseen risks in logistics & utilities.
The leadership at ServiceNow addressed these challenges head-on at this year’s Knowledge virtual conference. The fact that it is still a virtual event was testimony to the lasting changes and disruption in tech and business over the past year. It’s also a sign that many businesses, including ServiceNow, have adapted and risen to the challenge.
Several sessions dealt directly with the topics of risk management, building resiliency, and planning for business continuity during Knowledge 2021.
It was the major theme of the “IT Workflows Keynote: Manage risk, security and cost.” Jeff Hausman, VP & General Manager, ITOM, Security & CMDB/Service Graph and Vasant Balasubramanian, VP & GM, Risk BU, discussed how a risk-based approach not only protects your organization from the unexpected, it also creates efficiencies that reduce costs during those rare periods when things go as planned.
In the session “How we built risk resilience into all we do at ServiceNow” the Platform of Platforms makes their own organization a case study in how to implement a risk-based approach across the enterprise. The session included many clear examples and tips for how to build a risk resiliency program.
Of course, in some industries like finance, being prepared isn’t just important – it’s required and regulated. The session “DevOps: How we’re accelerating innovation and simplifying compliance at Nomura” talked through how in highly regulated industries, the need to move fast and innovate can come into conflict with compliance and governance requirements. This is another area where automation can help accelerate transformation, while minimizing risk.
Are You Prepared for an Uncertain Future?
Many leaders are now making investments in their business systems to avoid future disruptions – and that means developing a rock-solid platform to support HRSD, CSM, ITOM and more. It means deploying machine learning and automation to handle the ordinary every day, so your teams can be free to manage extraordinary circumstances when they occur.
If you’d like to speak with one of our A-Team experts on how your organization can better leverage ServiceNow to build greater resilience, get in touch. We’d love to start a conversation.
