October 20, 2017 at 09:06“Friday format”: 7 sure ways to ruin work with ServiceNow at the start
We often talk about the beneficial effects of ServiceNow on business.
According to the figures provided by the company itself, the platform increases operational productivity by 47%, reduces downtime due to unplanned incidents by 39% and accelerates their resolution by 21%.
But it’s time to admit - there is always a fly in the ointment, which is hidden in the consequences of errors at the implementation stage. For example, Shiva Thomas, a platform deployment specialist, says that mistreating just one element can add up to four times the cost.
Therefore, in this article, written in the format of "bad advice", we will consider what errors should be avoided during the implementation phase of ServiceNow.
/ Flickr / tableatny / CC
In fact, the ServiceNow implementation process needs a proper cost analysis and, most importantly, full planning. Companies must form the connections and dependencies between different IT and business processes. It is extremely important to connect all interested parties and end users to this in order to check certain capabilities of the system and see how its elements interact. Planning requires setting short-term and long-term goals, without which the business could be damaged.
Michel Regueiro from partner company ServiceNow callstwo approaches to the implementation process: the “big bang method” and phased implementation. The first describes a situation where an organization “with one click” switches from its old platform to ServiceNow. The phased approach describes a scenario in which an implementation is performed by a series of predefined steps.
The Big Bang carries a higher level of risk. The integrated nature of ServiceNow means that a failure in one part of the platform can cause side effects in another element. Therefore, the right decision will be to introduce at the level of individual business units in such a way as to bring the entire organizational structure to a harmonious way of functioning.
An important point: the personnel involved should be familiar with the navigation in ServiceNow and with the processes before implementation. People should also understand why certain changes are needed and what result they will bring.
/ The Flickr / pxhere / CC
ServiceNow users are hundreds of large companies . Not every of them has implemented the implementation stage as smoothly as the responsible persons would like. Experience, both positive and negative, has accumulated over the years and has been recorded in books such as “Mastering ServiceNow” by Martin Wood.
The opinions of people directly involved in the deployment of the platform in enterprises are even more valuable. The ServiceNow community is ready to share its experience, to talk about those mistakes at the initial stage, which later can cause losses.
Although the implementation of the platform in different enterprises is different, users who have already encountered problems will tell which departments they started integration with, how they recruited non-IT employees, etc.
Not every company is ready to disclose all the details of the “internal kitchen” but, fortunately, there are large corporations such as Fujitsu that easily talk about their experiences with ServiceNow.
Many experts on the implementation of the platform advise "do not go aside." ServiceNow as an ITSM tool is based on best practices and ITILv3, which means that the platform’s functionality is aimed at the most efficient work. But before you make any changes, you should understand how ServiceNow processes this or that process, set specific goals, and only then go on to find a solution.
It is important to have a solid operational structure for technical and strategic processes. Often this aspect is ignored. At the very beginning, it is necessary to determine the circle of managers in the organization, assign them areas of responsibility and based on this, allocate access rights. ServiceNow offers a fairly complete list of competencies for all levels of the structure - from the project manager to the platform owner - with a description of their responsibilities.
Tony Harris, Sales Director for Consulting at IV4, shared the issue of mismatching expectations from working with an external partner. He gave an example of unsuccessful implementations in organizations that believed that a consultant should implement from scratch and independently develop best practices. As a result, they got low-quality platform work.
The conclusion is simple - the consultant is necessary, but he should not work autonomously. He has expertise and experience on his side, but to achieve a high result, it is necessary to use the company's internal resources.
You should not start work with simple tasks, for example, incident management, and after them move on to more complex ones. Such a distribution of priorities can cause a lack of resources and shift deadlines. For example, incident management and change management are interconnected, and identifying the causes of new incidents will be difficult without creating a configuration management database that is responsible for this relationship.
It is known that one of the attempts to introduce ServiceNow in Sony failed precisely because of the incorrect allocation of priorities. From its bad experience, the company learned that a difficult stage should sometimes be set higher than a simple one.
/ Maxpixel / PD
Users are accustomed to working with modern interfaces and expect a similar experience from the ServiceNow client portal. As Reddit readers note , a service portal is one of ServiceNow’s best solutions, and it’s important to do everything so that users get used to it as quickly as possible.
Atlantic Puffin's director of strategic affairs at Steeve Jacquet proposes things to consider when designing a user experience:
In this regard, Steve advises adapting the platform to the user's expectations: how is it more convenient for them to interact with the product or consume services. He suggests optimizing search solutions in the knowledge base and help desk through instant messaging.
Shiva Thomas also notes that even at the implementation stage, care should be taken to ensure that users have everything for comfortable work.
PS Here are some more articles on this topic in our blog:
According to the figures provided by the company itself, the platform increases operational productivity by 47%, reduces downtime due to unplanned incidents by 39% and accelerates their resolution by 21%.
But it’s time to admit - there is always a fly in the ointment, which is hidden in the consequences of errors at the implementation stage. For example, Shiva Thomas, a platform deployment specialist, says that mistreating just one element can add up to four times the cost.
Therefore, in this article, written in the format of "bad advice", we will consider what errors should be avoided during the implementation phase of ServiceNow.
/ Flickr / tableatny / CC
1. Right off the bat - forget about training
In fact, the ServiceNow implementation process needs a proper cost analysis and, most importantly, full planning. Companies must form the connections and dependencies between different IT and business processes. It is extremely important to connect all interested parties and end users to this in order to check certain capabilities of the system and see how its elements interact. Planning requires setting short-term and long-term goals, without which the business could be damaged.
Michel Regueiro from partner company ServiceNow callstwo approaches to the implementation process: the “big bang method” and phased implementation. The first describes a situation where an organization “with one click” switches from its old platform to ServiceNow. The phased approach describes a scenario in which an implementation is performed by a series of predefined steps.
The Big Bang carries a higher level of risk. The integrated nature of ServiceNow means that a failure in one part of the platform can cause side effects in another element. Therefore, the right decision will be to introduce at the level of individual business units in such a way as to bring the entire organizational structure to a harmonious way of functioning.
An important point: the personnel involved should be familiar with the navigation in ServiceNow and with the processes before implementation. People should also understand why certain changes are needed and what result they will bring.
/ The Flickr / pxhere / CC
2. Do it yourself
ServiceNow users are hundreds of large companies . Not every of them has implemented the implementation stage as smoothly as the responsible persons would like. Experience, both positive and negative, has accumulated over the years and has been recorded in books such as “Mastering ServiceNow” by Martin Wood.
The opinions of people directly involved in the deployment of the platform in enterprises are even more valuable. The ServiceNow community is ready to share its experience, to talk about those mistakes at the initial stage, which later can cause losses.
Although the implementation of the platform in different enterprises is different, users who have already encountered problems will tell which departments they started integration with, how they recruited non-IT employees, etc.
Not every company is ready to disclose all the details of the “internal kitchen” but, fortunately, there are large corporations such as Fujitsu that easily talk about their experiences with ServiceNow.
3. Experiment
Many experts on the implementation of the platform advise "do not go aside." ServiceNow as an ITSM tool is based on best practices and ITILv3, which means that the platform’s functionality is aimed at the most efficient work. But before you make any changes, you should understand how ServiceNow processes this or that process, set specific goals, and only then go on to find a solution.
4. Let the management structure be built by itself
It is important to have a solid operational structure for technical and strategic processes. Often this aspect is ignored. At the very beginning, it is necessary to determine the circle of managers in the organization, assign them areas of responsibility and based on this, allocate access rights. ServiceNow offers a fairly complete list of competencies for all levels of the structure - from the project manager to the platform owner - with a description of their responsibilities.
5. Fully rely on a third-party consultant
Tony Harris, Sales Director for Consulting at IV4, shared the issue of mismatching expectations from working with an external partner. He gave an example of unsuccessful implementations in organizations that believed that a consultant should implement from scratch and independently develop best practices. As a result, they got low-quality platform work.
The conclusion is simple - the consultant is necessary, but he should not work autonomously. He has expertise and experience on his side, but to achieve a high result, it is necessary to use the company's internal resources.
6. Put all the hardest for later
You should not start work with simple tasks, for example, incident management, and after them move on to more complex ones. Such a distribution of priorities can cause a lack of resources and shift deadlines. For example, incident management and change management are interconnected, and identifying the causes of new incidents will be difficult without creating a configuration management database that is responsible for this relationship.
It is known that one of the attempts to introduce ServiceNow in Sony failed precisely because of the incorrect allocation of priorities. From its bad experience, the company learned that a difficult stage should sometimes be set higher than a simple one.
/ Maxpixel / PD
7. Do not try to make life easier for users.
Users are accustomed to working with modern interfaces and expect a similar experience from the ServiceNow client portal. As Reddit readers note , a service portal is one of ServiceNow’s best solutions, and it’s important to do everything so that users get used to it as quickly as possible.
Atlantic Puffin's director of strategic affairs at Steeve Jacquet proposes things to consider when designing a user experience:
- Utility - how the portal meets the needs of users.
- Usability - how easy the portal is to use.
- Expediency - meeting user expectations.
- Accessibility - how easy it is to find the content you need.
- Reliability - level of expertise, transparency of the data provided.
In this regard, Steve advises adapting the platform to the user's expectations: how is it more convenient for them to interact with the product or consume services. He suggests optimizing search solutions in the knowledge base and help desk through instant messaging.
Shiva Thomas also notes that even at the implementation stage, care should be taken to ensure that users have everything for comfortable work.
PS Here are some more articles on this topic in our blog: