Taking a closer look at Change Management with ServiceNow
ServiceNow is a software platform that allows organisations to automate and streamline their IT and business operations. It is widely considered to be one of the best options for companies looking to implement effective change management in areas such as customer support, cybersecurity, and IT Service Management.
If you're wondering how ServiceNow IT service management (ITSM) change management can be used to help organisations implement and manage changes to their IT infrastructure, it’s helpful to have some clear examples in mind.
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Explaining the need for effective Change Management in IT
The main purpose of IT Change Management is to minimise the potential risks to an organisation's IT and business operations when carrying out changes to IT systems. In doing so, it allows them to make adopting new technologies and practices as smooth and incident-free as possible.
Looking for a concrete example? Imagine a team member working in a database team who wants to make some changes within an existing database. The purpose of an effective change management system is to allow organisations to make these changes in an organised and controlled way; thereby reducing the risk of any kind of disruption to vital systems and processes.
ServiceNow ITSM Change Management provides database teams with a number of features that allow for visibility and control over the changes being made. This systematic approach can help facilitate beneficial changes within an organisation with minimal disruption to its IT setup and services.
How does Change Management in ServiceNow work?
ServiceNow software makes it possible to put the change management process in motion. On top of this, it also provides a great deal of transparency by giving users constant information. For example, it must be made clear from the outset why changes are important for the organisation or department in question and how changes being made will impact different departments and stakeholders.
On a practical level, it's also important to know who is responsible for the change, how the implementation will take place, and what kind of preparation is required before changes can be carried out.
All of the above points can be monitored using the ServiceNow platform. This process represents the general workflow of ITSM change management, which can be summarised by the following steps:
- Initiation: The change request is initiated by a user or a team within the organisation.
- Assessment: The change request is subsequently assessed by the Change Manager to determine the impact and potential risk of the change that's being proposed.
- Approval: The change request is reviewed by the Change Advisory Board (CAB) and given the green light.
- Planning: The Change Manager goes about planning the change. He or she does so by identifying resources, defining timelines, and creating a comprehensive change plan.
- Testing: The change is then tested in a development environment to ensure that it is working as intended.
- Implementation: The next step is implementing the change within the production environment during a scheduled maintenance window.
- Review: Once the change has been implemented, it is then reviewed by the Change Manager and CAB to ensure that its implementation has been successful and that there are no unexpected issues.
- Closure: The final step is when the change request is closed and any necessary documentation is updated.
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Three Types of Changes within ServiceNow
The ServiceNow platform offers three kinds of changes. These include the following:
- Standard: This kind of change follows a set procedure or process and is often executed using defined templates for things like routine maintenance activities, such as installing security patches, upgrading software versions, or adding new hardware components. Given that these changes are pre-authorised, no Change Advisory Board approval is required.
- Normal: Normal changes are complex and require multiple levels of approval and assessment. They impact IT workflows and carry a moderate risk if not managed adequately. Hence, evaluation is crucial before execution. Examples include upgrading critical apps, changing system architecture, or adding functionality to a database.
- Emergency: This represents a kind of change that is needed to address an urgent situation or critical issue immediately. In high-risk cases such as a security breach or a service outage where time is of the essence, execution of the change is given priority over its authorisation. Change records are therefore created once an Emergency Change has already been implemented.
ServiceNow Change Management best practices
There are three best practices that organisations using ServiceNow as a means of improving their IT business operations should follow:
- Create a Unique Service Strategy
Before getting started with the ServiceNow application, it's important to have a well-defined service strategy in place. In practical terms, this means spending time reviewing the current state of the service process; and identifying any potential shortcomings in order to determine if it is in line with the needs of users and the company as a whole. New service processes and workflows should be created before deploying the ServiceNow application within the organisation.
- Align people and processes
Smooth implementation is key to the initial success of your ServiceNow platform. However, the sustainability of this system relies on how well people are aligned with the new processes.
Start out by defining a list of clear goals and making sure that company leadership is in line with what you're setting out to achieve. Once everyone is on the same page, you can go about explaining these objectives to the stakeholders to provide them with an understanding of the positive impact that ServiceNow will have on their day-to-day work.
- Ensure User Adoption
User adoption always starts during the implementation process when the test group is analysed. Here, feedback should be encouraged as it helps you to gain a better understanding of users' needs and to pinpoint potential areas for improvement.
Furthermore, the organisation should be aware of the complexity of the application and aim to make the most of the implementation process to identify gaps in user understanding. Here, you should focus on clearing up any doubts that users may have regarding how the system is used. This can be done by creating training content, user guides, and online resources that are specific to the roles and responsibilities of each individual user.
Finally, the organisation should go about creating a digital adoption strategy that not only provides employees with ongoing training and support but also ensures that they complete their tasks within the ServiceNow platform.
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How Apty can help you with ServiceNow Change Management Training
Change management initiatives face a number of obstacles that make them challenging to implement, which explains why over 70% of them ultimately fail.
Given its inherent complexity, organisations using ServiceNow should focus on creating simple processes with Apty's state-of-the-art guided workflows; empowering their workforce and guaranteeing successful change management.
On top of this, organisations should also seek to have effective process implementation and digital adoption strategies in place. This can be achieved by using Business Process Management and Digital Adoption Platform software.
A modern Digital Adoption Platform is an essential tool that is used to ensure successful ServiceNow implementation. It helps you to understand the usage pattern of your existing service application and allows you to design new processes for ServiceNow.
When ServiceNow is rolled out, you can use Apty to gain insights into how users are interacting with it, making it possible for you to identify issues that users may be having. And based on this, you can easily create training modules accordingly. This content may include walkthroughs, videos, PDFs, PowerPoints, and knowledge-based articles.
However, a world-class training program alone is not enough. To achieve comprehensive solutions, organisations need to establish process implementation and digital adoption strategies, which can be accomplished through the utilisation of Business Process Management and Digital Adoption Platform software. By employing a Digital Adoption Platform, you can gain insights into the usage patterns of your existing service application and effectively design new processes for ServiceNow.
With a DAP, businesses can establish set goals to track the status of the ServiceNow platform roll-out. If these goals aren't being met, they can contact their employees with the help of in-app messages to give them a hand in accomplishing their tasks.
ServiceNow Risk Assessment and Analytics
ServiceNow also provides an automated risk assessment and analytics tool. By uploading the change requirements and criteria, the tool performs a risk assessment and presents the results within the change application for easy access.
Furthermore, the application's Analytics feature provides a comprehensive overview of your change efforts. This allows you to have a much clearer overall picture of how things are going and therefore make informed decisions based on the progress made.
A Few Final Thoughts on ServiceNow Change Management
The ServiceNow application is a powerful tool with multiple capabilities that make it one of the most comprehensive ITSM applications available on the market today.
Given its complexity, organisations looking to use ServiceNow to manage changes to their IT infrastructure should make use of efficient training tools such as a Digital Adoption Platform to maximise their return on investment.
Want to learn more? Get in touch with us to discover how our Digital Adoption Platform can provide comprehensive training and support to your employees as they get started with ServiceNow software.
