Table of Contents

Preface

Part 1 – Pursuit of Value

1

Understanding the Value of ServiceNow

Managing for value4

What is value?4

Why is managing ServiceNow’s value important?4

Who is responsible for value?4

How do we define value?5

Types of value6

Service quality6

Defining a service scope6

Service quality metrics7

Planning for service quality8

Identifying opportunities in the current state8

Aligning the implementation scope with the opportunity9

Cost optimization9

Process efficiency10

Process efficiency metrics13

Asset optimization14

Customer experience17

Tools for customer experience 18

Scoping customer experience value – portals18

Scoping customer experience value – Virtual Agent18

Measuring customer experience 19

Innovation enablement19

Ideation 19

Project management 20

Summary21

2

Recognizing and Avoiding Value Traps

Replicating the current state24

The tool replacement approach24

Arguments in favor of replicating the current state24

Issues with replicating the current state25

Strategy 1 – Adopting the out-of-the-box process26

Strategy 2 – Developing an MVP process26

Ignoring the current state27

Focusing on the future27

Failing to learn from the past28

Strategy 1 – Process shadowing29

Tips for conducting process shadowing30

The time investment of process shadowing30

The expected benefits of process shadowing31

Strategy 2 – Data analysis31

Targeting data analysis31

Conducting exploratory analysis32

Integrating value and analysis32

The importance of intentional time allocation33

Chasing the long tail34

The appeal of aiming for 100% coverage34

The distribution of value34

Risks of completeness35

Strategy 1 – Top N selection35

The recommended approach for ranking36

Strategy 2 – Minimal implementation for long-tail items36

Not managing change37

The first cut – OCM37

Risks of reducing the OCM effort37

Optimizing value from OCM38

Responding to insufficient management of change38

Applying high-impact OCM activities39

Target state work instructions39

Transition support service40

The science experiment40

Projects extending ServiceNow40

Risks of the science experiment42

Recognizing a science experiment42

Handling a science experiment43

Summary43

3

Capturing Value from your Implementation

Lowering the process cycle time45

Causes of long cycle times46

Confusion in how and where to engage a process46

How to measure process cycle times and see your issues47

Delays in response to requests for service47

Inability to find the right expertise to fulfil the request47

Lost updates and poor transitions between service fulfillment parties48

How your ServiceNow transformation can reduce process cycle times49

How to prepare for an implementation with a focus on reducing the cycle time50

Optimizing asset utilization51

Causes of poor asset utilization52

How your ServiceNow transformation can improve asset utilization53

How to prepare for an implementation with a focus on optimizing asset utilization56

Automating toil60

Sources of toil60

Where ServiceNow can automate toil62

How to prepare for an implementation with a focus on automating toil64

Improving customer experience66

Where customer experience can improve66

Where ServiceNow can help improve customer experience68

How to prepare for an implementation to improve customer experience70

Summary71

4

Planning an Implementation Program for Success

Defining the scope of the project74

Important components of the project scope74

Adding details to the scope77

Planning the release and release activities79

Releasing often (minimizing impacts)79

Considering external dependencies80

Planning for data migration and validation81

Considering testing and training84

Structuring the implementation team86

Examining major project functions87

Examining team leads and their skill sets88

Can’t I just hire a consultant for all this?91

Governance92

Accelerating decision-making with a good governance model92

Reducing the overhead of governance94

Value management96

Summary97

Part 2 – The Checklist

5

Securing Your ServiceNow Instances

The case for investment in security101

What is at risk?102

Securing leadership support for security103

Planning for instance hardening104

Implementation security measures104

Planning for secure platform operations105

Improving instance security posture105

Instance Security Center105

Encryption107

How to approach encryption108

Encryption types108

Integration security110

Source and target system security110

Securing endpoints110

Authentication and service accounts in ServiceNow111

Role of the ServiceNow MID Server112

Summary113

6

Managing Multiple ServiceNow Instances

What are ServiceNow instances?115

Instance administration operations116

zBoot – a full reset of your instance117

System clone – copying the configuration and data from another instance119

Code promotion and data flow122

Designing your ServiceNow landscape124

Summary126

7

Designing Effective Processes at Scale

ServiceNow’s process automation capabilities and archetypes127

Technical components of the platform that deal with event intake or user input129

Technical components of the platform that manage workflows131

Technical components of the platform that deal with tasking and the execution of automated actions134

Technical components of the platform that deal with shared and foundational data135

Designing process automation by utilizing platform building blocks and data137

Creating repeatable and reusable patterns to ease implementation complexity140

Summary143

8

Platform Team Processes, Standards, and Techniques

Platform management and technical standards146

Setting standards to manage platform maintenance and risk146

Standards and tips to manage platform changes148

Operational processes and techniques of technical development155

Teams should manage the accuracy of their estimations and the consistency of their throughput155

Teams should use version control whenever possible and use it as a way of managing code review and quality control processes158

Summary160

Part 3 – From Success to Innovation

9

Effectively Operating ServiceNow

The differences between operations and project work164

Establishing a platform strategy 165

Who will be the platform’s customers?165

How will the platform fit within the broader technology landscape?167

Establishing a platform operating model 168

Platform operating model roles169

Who will manage the direction of the platform and how? 172

Who will manage the intake of platform demands and how?173

Who will manage how changes are implemented on the platform and how?174

Who will manage the funding of changes on the platform and how?176

Operating the platform 178

Executive sponsor and operating committee 178

Platform owner179

Business analyst/product owner181

Demand managers183

Platform architect183

Summary184

10

Artificial Intelligence in ServiceNow

Understanding AI and ML 186

What is AI? 186

The AI/ML capabilities of the ServiceNow platform190

Predictive intelligence 190

Practical example – automating an incident routing rule190

Classification framework193

Assessing the applicability of the classification framework 193

Getting started with the classification framework 194

Regression framework198

Metrics for regression198

Input data quality199

Improving data quality200

Similarity framework200

Assessing the similarity framework’s performance201

Clustering framework202

Creating a clustering solution202

Summary203

11

Designing Exceptional Experiences

Types of ServiceNow user interfaces 205

Jelly 206

Service Portal206

Next Experience206

Portals207

Types of portals207

The journey from department to enterprise portals207

Employee Center Pro208

Content taxonomy209

Custom app portals and portal customizations209

Application portals211

Workspaces 212

Determining which workspaces to use213

Optimizing experiences with user-facing AI214

AI Search214

AI Search configurability214

Conversational interfaces215

Incorporating Virtual Agent into your user experience215

Advantages of Virtual Agent as a user interface215

Disadvantages of conversational interfaces215

Recommendations for Virtual Agent216

ServiceNow NLU216

Summary217

Index

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