Have you ever wondered why some ServiceNow customers face the daunting task of reimplementing their platforms? Often, this is because heavy customisations become difficult to manage over time.
At a recent conference in Brisbane, I encountered a company that had re-platformed twice. Their predicament highlighted the importance of governance in maintaining a high-performing ServiceNow platform.
By implementing robust governance practices, you can avoid similar issues and ensure your platform remains efficient and scalable. This article will explore how governance, alongside maintenance and skill considerations, can safeguard your ServiceNow investment.
The Pitfall of Heavy ServiceNow Customisations
Making too many changes can lead to various issues. These issues include higher costs for upkeep, trouble with upgrades, and a greater chance of the platform not working well. These problems often stem from a lack of governance, inadequate maintenance, and insufficient expertise. But how can you avoid these pitfalls?
Importance of ServiceNow Governance
Governance is the backbone of a sustainable ServiceNow platform. It involves establishing policies, roles, responsibilities, and procedures that guide the management and use of the platform. Effective governance ensures that all customisations and enhancements align with best practices and business objectives.
Key ServiceNow Governance Practices
Implement Governance Boards
Effective governance of a ServiceNow platform involves the creation of several key governance boards, each with specific responsibilities to ensure the platform's stability, scalability, and alignment with business goals. These boards are crucial for evaluating and overseeing various aspects of the platform’s development and operation.
ServiceNow Technical Board
Role: The Technical Board is responsible for evaluating the technical feasibility of proposed solutions and ensuring adherence to technical standards and best practices. This board scrutinises customisations and integrations to ensure they do not compromise the platform's integrity or performance.
Responsibilities:
Technical Assessments: Reviewing technical aspects of proposed customisations and solutions.
Standards Enforcement: Ensuring all developments comply with established technical standards.
Risk Management: Identifying and mitigating technical risks associated with customisations and integrations.
ServiceNow Demand Board
Role: The Demand Board focuses on assessing and prioritising business needs. This board makes sure that all improvements to the platform match the organisation's goals and benefit the business.
Responsibilities:
Business Needs Assessment: Evaluating new requests and determining their alignment with business goals.
Prioritisation: Ranking requests based on their importance and potential impact on the organisation.
Resource Allocation: Deciding how to allocate resources to various projects and enhancements.
ServiceNow Strategic Board
Role: The Strategic Board ensures that all platform activities align with the long-term goals of the organisation. This board is also responsible for approving funding for major projects and customisations.
Responsibilities:
Strategic Alignment: Ensuring all initiatives support the organisation’s long-term strategy.
Funding Approval: Evaluating and approving budget requests for significant projects.
Performance Monitoring: Tracking the performance of strategic initiatives to ensure they deliver the expected outcomes.
Define Roles and Responsibilities
Clearly defining roles and responsibilities within each governance board is essential for efficient and effective platform management. Below are some crucial roles and their descriptions, though the specific roles may vary based on organisational needs.
Technical Board Roles:
Technical Architect: Responsible for assessing the technical feasibility of proposed solutions and ensuring alignment with architectural standards.
Security Analyst: Focuses on identifying security risks and ensuring that all customisations comply with security policies.
Lead Developer: Supervises the development process, ensuring that the team follows best practices and maintains customisations.
Demand Board Roles:
Business Analyst: Works on gathering and analysing business requirements to ensure they align with the organisation’s goals.
Project Manager: Manages the prioritisation and allocation of resources for various projects.
Platform Manager: Oversees the overall management and strategic direction of the ServiceNow platform, evaluating feasibility, prioritising requests, and ensuring alignment with business objectives.
Strategic Board Roles:
Executive Sponsor: Provides strategic direction and ensures that the platform supports the organisation’s overarching goals.
Technical Architect: Ensures that technical solutions are in line with the organisation's long-term technology strategy.
Enterprise Architect: Aligns the platform’s architecture with the overall enterprise architecture, ensuring scalability and integration with other systems.
Platform Manager: Oversees the strategic development and management of the ServiceNow platform, ensuring that all enhancements and customisations support long-term business objectives.
Interaction Between ServiceNow Boards
Consider identifying the need for an HR Case Management system in the scenario. The Demand Board raises this request and forwards it to the Technical Board for an architectural assessment.
The Technical Board has chosen to use ServiceNow's HR Service Delivery (HRSD) module for the implementation. However, they will need to purchase additional subscription and licensing. We calculate and submit the associated costs to the Strategic Board for funding approval. Once the Demand Board approves it, they prioritise the work and form a project team to implement the solution.
During the project there are several requests for customisations. The Technical Board reviews and suggests simpler solutions to avoid unnecessary complexity in line with best practices. Upon completion, the Technical Board reviews the final implementation to ensure it aligns with the provided guidance.
Below you will see a sample of how boards can interact with each other and various other teams across your organisation.
Benefits of ServiceNow Governance Boards
Having specific decision-makers on each board ensures that they carefully review changes. The review includes consideration of technical feasibility, business value, and alignment with goals. This process helps to ensure that decisions are well-informed and strategic. This structured approach prevents the unchecked growth of customisations that can lead to instability and maintenance challenges.
An internal ServiceNow team can do several things without good leadership and trained staff. They can create custom tables, modify default scripts, and disregard security and licensing rules. This can result in a solution that is hard to upgrade, unstable, and insecure.
These practices can expose private information and increase the risk of data breaches. On average, companies lose around $4.45 million per incident due to data leaks (IBM Cost of Data Breach Report 2023). Implementing robust governance practices can mitigate these risks and ensure a secure, scalable, and maintainable ServiceNow platform.
Conclusion
Avoiding heavy customisations and maintaining a high-performing ServiceNow platform requires robust governance, regular maintenance, and addressing skill gaps. Establishing governance boards—Technical, Demand, and Strategic—ensures thorough evaluation and alignment with business goals. Clearly defined roles and regular forums maintain platform health and security.
GlydePath Consulting, led by Jamie Douglas, provides expertise to optimise your ServiceNow environment. Contact us for consultations on maintenance, governance, and skill assessments.
Book your free consultation using my Calendly link