CERN extends use of the Now Platform for processing business
services
CERN scientists decipher the composition of matter
Accelerators that collide particles together at nearly the
speed of light enable scientists from the European Organisation for
Nuclear Research (CERN) to conduct vital global research into the
composition of matter. The knowledge gained from these experiments
impacts the human understanding of science and benefits wider society.
At any given time, 12,000 scientists from 500 universities in 100
countries are contributing to CERN-driven projects.
To enable employees and scientists to conduct their research
efficiently, CERN provides a wide range of support services. Service
Management Leader Reinoud Martens and his team are responsible for
CERN’s tertiary infrastructure—otherwise known as business
services—which encompasses roads, buildings, car parks, and green
areas, as well as services such as finance, HR, mobility, hotels, and
the fire brigade. CERN’s IT infrastructure—including laboratories,
particle accelerators, installations, and research facilities—is
managed separately.
CERN seeks to create a more efficient, less complex service
provision model
Reinoud discovered that the internal service provision and
support at CERN was, for historical reasons, not efficiently
organised. CERN’s business and IT services teams could no longer rely
on multiple support groups that previously operated as independent
silos. This led to confusion and inefficiencies in managing, tracking,
and resolving issues. Reinoud’s IT experience led him to wonder if he
could apply the ITIL system to other forms of internal service provision.
ServiceNow helps CERN streamline access to business services for
employees and scientists around the world
To make business services more readily accessible to CERN
stakeholders around the world, Reinoud partnered with CERN’s IT
department to centralise them onto an ITIL platform, alongside the
organisation’s IT services. To facilitate the integration, CERN
deployed ServiceNow® IT Service Management. As part of the
consolidation project, Reinoud’s team compiled a first-ever catalogue
of CERN’s business services, from the provision of door mats and
toilet paper to requests for repairs or renting a car.
Next, CERN used ServiceNow to split each business service into a
defined series of steps. For example, if an employee raised a request
in the portal for a bus to transport a group of scientists, a subtask
menu would provide the requestor with information at every stage of
the job, such as: request submitted, request approved, bus reserved,
bus departed, bus returned to the garage, internal invoice created,
invoice approved, and invoice paid.
If the bus was late, the requestor could locate the bus driver’s
phone number in the system to find out what the problem was or could
request help from an external contractor if no in-house buses were
available. In that event, a ticket would be sent to the external
service provider via ServiceNow with a quote, confirmation, schedule,
and invoice delivered through the integrated workflow.
ServiceNow creates a more efficient service experience, gaining
adoption that results in a 10% increase in service requests
Part of Reinoud’s role was to educate internal service groups
and contractors about the new portal and drive their participation. He
gives an example: “Initially, our fire brigade was reluctant to use
ServiceNow and wanted to continue to inspect and control safety
equipment using their own legacy process,” he says. “However,
following an incident, they could see through the ServiceNow logbook
exactly what happened and who was involved in handling the incident.
That helped increase their acceptance of the system. Thanks to
ServiceNow, more stakeholders are embracing the service portal, and
requests are growing by 10% a year.”
