Exclusive Excerpt: The Ultimate Glossary for Source-to-Pay

ServiceNow has led the industry with its continuous focus on technological innovation, so it’s no surprise that AI has become a key feature in its latest updates. As the platform continues to evolve, so too does the language we use to navigate it.

With this boom of new advancements in technology, we felt it was the perfect moment to create a resource that highlights some of the latest features and terms we’ve been exploring in recent years.

But if AI strategies are on your 2025 roadmap, you first need to make sure you have the fundamentals right (like any language model, it is only as good as the data it pulls from).

So, here at CoreX we have carefully crafted the Official 2024 ServiceNow Glossary, featuring key updates in Finance, Supply Chain, and Source-to-Pay (S2P) terminology, alongside a refresher on foundational business and ServiceNow platform terms you may already know but could use a quick reminder on.

The Categories Include: 

• ServiceNow Product Suite Details 
• Sourcing and Financial Operations Terms
• Business Value Metrics (that your BU might ask about)
•  Operations and Procurement Nitty Gritty 
• A Few More ServiceNow Terms for Ecosystem Newbies 

This glossary is designed to be more than just a collection of terms, this eBook is your launchpad for mastering ServiceNow and transforming finance and supply chain from routine work to the strategic powerhouse driving your business forward. 

With that in mind, this week we’re sharing some critical ServiceNow 101 fundamentals to make sure you have the right basis for your transformation journey.

So, let’s dive in for a special sneak peek! We’ve gathered definitions, potential business problems, alongside solutions with practical ServiceNow use cases.

Here are just a few key terms to get you started:

1. Configuration Management Database (CMBD)
   • A Configuration Management Database (CMBD) is a data repository that stores and manages information about all components of an IT system, including hardware, software, network devices, and other IT assets, for improved configuration management.
   • Without a CMDB, your company lacks a centralized information source about IT infrastructure. This can lead to asset management, incident management, change management, and service delivery challenges. Outdated or inaccurate information can contribute to inefficiencies, disruptions, and increased costs.
   • With ServiceNow’s robust CMBD platform, your organization can have a single source of IT asset information. This will allow for better decision-making, improved service delivery, reduced risk, and accurate and up-to-date information. Corporations can optimize asset utilization, streamline incident response, ensure compliance, and manage change more effectively utilizing ServiceNow’s CMBD platform.

2. Discovery
   • Discovery is the process of identifying and collecting information about IT assets within an organization’s infrastructure, which can include hardware, software, network devices, and other IT components.
   • Without a systematic discovery process, you have limited visibility into your company’s IT environment, leading to inaccurate asset inventories, inefficiencies in asset management, and potential security vulnerabilities. A lack of comprehensive information can also hinder incident response and problem-resolution efforts.
   • ServiceNow has a Discovery solution using an automated process that continuously scans and identifies all the components within your IT infrastructure. It plays a crucial role in maintaining an accurate and up-to-date CMDB. ServiceNow’s Discovery provides a foundation for effective IT management. Companies can utilize Discovery to gain visibility into their IT environments, improve asset management and optimization, accelerate incident response and problem resolution, support IT service delivery and optimization, realize fast time-to-value, integrate data with connectors to build an up-to-date CMDB with automated workflows, and more.

3. IT Operations Management (ITOM)
   • IT operations management, or ITOM, is designed to ensure efficient and cost-effective operation of IT services, managing provisioning, capacity, performance, and availability of IT infrastructure and resources.
   • Organizations that have yet to implement an effective ITOM approach risk avoiding unplanned downtime, slow performance, security breaches, high operational costs, and a lack of visibility.
   • Of course, ITOM is more than just a technology strategy but an approach to improve service quality, predicts issues, minimizes user impact, enhances incident response and problem resolution, optimizes performance, and automates workflows across teams. Many firms look to technology layers like the ITOM module in ServiceNow to streamline their program adoption and capitalize on ecosystem-wide best practices.

4. Integration Hub:
   • An Integration (or Information) Hub is a centralized platform that facilitates the connection and interaction between software applications and systems. It effectively acts as middleware and allows data and processes to flow smoothly between various platforms.
   • Without cohesive integration strategy businesses rely on custom, point-to-point integrations, which can be time-consuming to develop, maintain, and scale. Your company may struggle with data inconsistencies, errors, and delays, making managing multiple integrations complex and inefficient.
   • ServiceNow’s Integration Hub streamlines the integration process by providing a standardized approach to connecting applications and offering pre-built connectors, APIS, and automation capabilities, thus reducing development time and effort. Using Integration Hub to achieve centralized integration management leads to improved data consistency and quality, enhanced operational efficiency, faster time-to-market, and better decision-making.

5. Knowledge Management
   • Knowledge Management is the systematic process of identifying, capturing, organizing, storing, contributing, and applying knowledge and expertise (in the form of articles, documents, FAQ’s, video libraries, etc.) to improve performance and decision-making for an organization through effective information sharing.
   • When in need of productive Knowledge Management, businesses struggle to retain institutional knowledge, share best practices, and solve problems efficiently. This can increase costs, reduce employee productivity, and hinder innovation and adaptation.
   • Knowledge Management systems, like that of ServiceNow, capture and leverage intellectual capital, give easy access to relevant information, accelerate problem resolution and incident closure, improve employee productivity and satisfaction, and reduce costs associated with knowledge loss. Knowledge can also be applied to onboarding, identifying skill gaps, data security, and maintaining enterprise knowledge.

This 60+ page glossary dives deep into ServiceNow! Whether you're starting or continuing your platform transformation, it’s designed to be your go-to resource for ServiceNow’s Finance and Supply Chain suite. Since its release at Knowledge 2023, over 200 customers are already on board. But don't worry - there’s still time to explore the powerful features of Finance, Supply Chain, and Accounts Payable. Leading enterprises are expanding their platforms to leverage the new power of FSC workflows, and you can too. 

Download the official 2024 Source-to-Pay Glossary now and start transforming your business with the latest platform insights and terminology. Whether you're just getting started or looking to deepen your expertise, this eBook is your essential resource to drive real progress.