I am an ancient software developer who started out life in IT (well, DP if you really want to be historically accurate!) by programming with a #2 pencil and a pad of COBOL Coding Sheets. We never got to actually touch the computer back in those days; that was a job for Data Entry. There was a time when I could conjure up a chuckle or a fist fight by explaining to folks that all real programs start with the words IDENTIFICATION DIVISION, but these days it’s hard to find anyone left alive who even understands what that means. Back when the world was going to come to an end at 11:59:59 pm on December 31, 1999, you could make pretty good coin if you could convince someone that you knew enough about COBOL to convert a PIC XX to a PIC X(4). Unfortunately, the bottom dropped out of that deal when the clock struck midnight and we all had to go out and find something else to do with our lives.
Over the years, I have seen a lot of different approaches to software development, and even built a few software development platforms of my own on occasion, but I never really had the time or the resources to build the kind of platform that I have always envisioned. Then I stumbled upon ServiceNow and was delighted to learn that someone else had taken the time to do it for me!
Now, I’m not an ITIL guy, or even an ITSM guy; I’m just a guy who loves to build applications. I know ServiceNow it supposed to be a wonderful ITSM tool, and I’m sure that it is, but that’s not really what floats my boat. I love it because of the underlying software development platform upon which it is built, and the fact that you can use it to build any other application that you could possibly imagine. Whoever put this thing together literally reached into my head and pulled out all of the things that I have ever wanted a software development platform to do. As creepy as it is to know that someone has been rummaging around in your brain, I really appreciate all of the time and effort that they invested in making this a reality. I absolutely love the ServiceNow development platform.
I don’t work for ServiceNow and I don’t get paid by ServiceNow and I am certainly not authorized by ServiceNow to talk about their product. This is just something that I have come to appreciate, and even though I have absolutely no idea what I am doing, I just thought I would share my thoughts and experiences, mainly because I am having such a great time doing whatever it is that I want to do with such a minimal amount of effort.
One note of caution, though: I have never been to ServiceNow training, I rarely read the ServiceNow product documentation, and I am even less inclined to consult the ServiceNow experts. I am more of a gee-what-happens-if-I-pull-this-lever kind of learner, and most of the stuff you will find here was built by throwing some code up against the wall and seeing what might stick. There are a number of folks out there who actually know and understand what they are doing with this product, and I certainly do not claim to be one of those; however, I have been able to figure out a thing or two along the way, so I stick things out here on occasion when I find the time.
If you find something here of value, you are welcome to it. I make no claim to the fitness or value of anything here; if you run into any kind of trouble, just remember that you were warned.