A Successful ServiceNow Implementation in 10 Steps
ServiceNow is a widely popular platform for IT services management (ITSM), especially for companies undertaking digital transformations. The solution’s appeal to a great extent is its comprehensiveness, enabling businesses to use a single platform for their ITSM needs. But how do you know if it's the right solution for your business? And what are some of the steps involved in a successful implementation of ServiceNow? In this post, we will discuss 10 key points on what companies need to know before they make a decision and provide an overview of some top tips for implementing successfully.
A smooth ServiceNow implementation can help organizations shift resources and budget toward innovation, improving an organization’s ability to respond to industry shifts. But getting the most from ServiceNow requires you to think of the implementation process as more than simply “implementing a tool, but rather as launching a program to digitize, automate and optimize your back office to ultimately drive efficiencies throughout your entire organization,” says Donna Naomi Woodruff, enterprise service enablement leader at Cox Automotive.
Build a plan that considers the future
ServiceNow isn’t a one-size-fits-all solution but the platform does allow organizations to create some standardization around ITSM, rather than having to go at it alone. That said, it’s important to keep in mind that this process takes time and resources.
“The architecture of the platform allows companies to subscribe to a standard way of doing things, versus having to reinvent the wheel. This allows for streamlined implementation, while also giving you the flexibility and extensibility to adapt the platform to your unique company and the needs of your employees/customers,” says Woodruff.
ServiceNow's CIO Chris Bedi advises that establishing a solid implementation foundation is critical, "Get your ServiceNow foundation right. Invest in creating the right scalable foundation as you leverage ServiceNow for digital transformation across the enterprise."
Your implementation plan should be scalable because as your company grows and changes so will your organization's technology needs. Consider how you want your implementation completed, all at once or in stages? Whatever you choose, plan for both the future of your IT department and for the technology used across all departments e.g. customer support, HR, and security.
Follow best practices
When you start out, don't try and reinvent the wheel. ServiceNow is flexible but with flexibility comes complexity. To help facilitate smooth implementations, the ServiceNow community has focused effort on establishing best practices or parameters for companies to follow depending on their implementation needs.
Best practices are there for a reason. They're designed to help you avoid mistakes, overcome obstacles and avoid disrupting your business.
A more standardized approach to ServiceNow implementations has increased in the past four or five years, says Link Alander, vice-chancellor of college services and CIO at Lone Star College.
“The focus has really been around ‘best practices.’ Follow these and don’t try to reinvent the wheel each time because it allows you to get through the process easier,” says Alander.
Research and document the best practices your organization wants to follow in its implementation plan, both in support of external and internal-facing services. It's a good idea to continue tweaking existing business practices to find out how they'll benefit from the ServiceNow platform.
Consider new hires or contract workers
At Lone Star College, the IT department started looking at ITIL initiatives in 2004, but the “focus at that time was really just around trying to run IT better, especially around change management and problem management,” says Alander.
In 2009, the college outsourced its service desk, which is when Lone Star College first became familiar with ServiceNow. In 2011, as technology became increasingly important to how students and employees functioned on campus, the third-party services that Lone Star College had enlisted became less functional and they brought their service desk back in-house.
The college relies on third parties to implement new modules and functionalities, which average two to three each year. Internally, Lone Star has enterprise management staff located across HR, legal, analytics, web services and various offices on campus to handle the bulk of the work.
If you want your ServiceNow implementation to run smoothly and stay well-maintained, employ or relocate individuals who can solely focus on ITSM and ServiceNow initiatives. This is especially true if you are planning on ServiceNow as a long-term solution.
“Outsourcing the right proportion is acceptable as long as it’s being carefully led from within the organization. It’s more than a ticketing system – you can digitize anything. It’s truly an enterprise platform. As such, don’t hide it away under the service desk, technology operations centers, or some obscure group supporting a bunch of applications. It should be the strategic platform powering all your IT activity/applications,” says Woodruff.
Be transparent and train workers
Transparency can help promote a successful implementation of any software service. To encourage transparency, be explicit about the benefits and changes for workers.
“It is absolutely essential that companies communicate with employees across the organization of the change and how it will impact their work. IT teams must understand how the implementation will change their day-to-day work, and they must feel comfortable with the technology and empowered to work autonomously,” says ServiceNow’s Bedi.
When implementing ServiceNow, it’s necessary to consider training your staff and any relevant employees on the available ServiceNow tools and ITSM frameworks. “Your adoption rate will be much higher if you arm your employees with the assets and information they need to immediately take advantage of the platform,” says Woodruff.
You will also want to educate staff on popular ITSM frameworks that relate to ServiceNow, like ITIL 4. For example, at Lone Star College, every one of Alander’s staff members goes through the ITIL Foundation certification course and it’s offered to all new employees to anyone in IT.
While you might hear some “grumbling,” Alander says that once Lone Star College staff members “were immersed in it and saw the advantage,” it “didn’t take them long to embrace the change and to see the value [ServiceNow] brought us.”
Focused automation
ServiceNow is often cited for its ability to save on manual tasks via automation, thereby freeing up employees to do more complex work. This can also reduce the potential for human error in repetitive tasks that have a significant impact on daily business processes. But it’s important to be mindful of what you’re automating and to understand how that automation is supported by the business process in question, says Woodruff.
Focus your automated tasks on the ones that will have the most impact and are related to process inefficiencies or errors. Some work tasks are better suited for automation, so in order to determine which processes will deliver the best results, it’s important to identify which ones need less of a human touch.
Be ready to grow
One of the best ways to make sure your ServiceNow implementation is successful and worth the money you’ve spent, is to support it internally or by a service provider post-implementation. Keep an eye on future services that might benefit various departments or IT and continue evaluating processes to find inefficiencies or redundancies that can be fixed. Also, once your implementation shows measurable progress, be ready for a surge in demand for automation and services across your entire organization.
“Make sure you have a roadmap of capabilities to keep you marching forward and guide your expansion. Many stakeholders will soon see the value of getting work done in a digital or automated way, but that also creates a lot of demand, so be ready to invest in the platform’s growth. One of the many benefits of ServiceNow is its extensibility, so chances are you’ll start your work with ITSM, but as the benefits are reaped and you show strong ROI, you can start to spiderweb out the implementation to the entire enterprise,” says Woodruff.
If you'd like to discuss your upcoming ServiceNow implementation, upgrade, or module addition with an expert feel free to reach out. We love helping companies grow with ServiceNow.
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