Top 5 New features in Xanadu for Risk

It’s been a while since I’ve written about an upcoming release in ServiceNow, I think possibly as long ago as the Tokyo release where we were just starting to see some step change in the platforms AI capability, since then we’ve had many acquisitions, many releases and even more talk of AI! Now two years later I’m back to discuss my personal top 5 list across the IRM, BCM & TPRM applications in ServiceNow.

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1. Smart Assessment Engine

The new Smart Assessment Engine offers a refreshing user experience for creating assessments in ServiceNow. Previously, Surveys were part of the core product but had some limitations. The SAE addresses these issues, allowing customers to create attestations, risk identification questionnaires, and more. Respondents can now view in-context information while completing assessments, and the user interface has seen significant improvements. I anticipate wider adoption of this new engine in future ServiceNow releases.

2. Risk Response Workflow

The enhanced risk response workflow introduces greater granularity, such as specifying due dates for response tasks and enabling dynamic approvals based on the task type. One feature I particularly appreciate is the ability to add action items to a response task, allowing for better tracking of actions taken as part of the response.

3. Cybersecurity Executive Dashboard

The new executive dashboard provides CISOs with a comprehensive view of their organisation’s security posture. This dashboard offers real-time insights into vulnerability management, incident management, phishing simulation metrics, and more, all in one place.

4. Risk Intelligence Report Requests

In the Third-party Risk Management application, a standout feature is the ability for users to request risk intelligence reports on vendors. This extends existing risk intelligence data by enabling a risk intelligence provider to complete a report on the vendor being assessed, ensuring informed decision-making. For example, users can request a credit risk report for a vendor.

‍5. Automated Business Continuity Recovery Tasks

In Business Continuity Management, we’ve seen several enhancements, but one standout feature is the ability to set recovery tasks as automated. These tasks leverage the platform’s flow designer capabilities, offering endless possibilities with over 52 pre-built spokes to common platforms. An example here could be automatically restarting application servers, re-establishing database connections and then verifying application functionality works as expected.

Each of the team will be sharing their top features released in Xanadu, what are your favourites? Comment below!