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SERVICENOW® IMPLEMENTATION

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TABLE OF CONTENTS

ITSM – An Introduction …………………….. 3

Plan of Action …………………….. 3

Development and Implementation …………………….. 5

Quality Assurance & Testing …………………….. 15

Deploying & Training …………………….. 16

Support & Maintenance …………………….. 18

About McLanSys ……………………… 19

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1.ITSM – An Introduction

WHAT IS ITSM? IT Service Management is a general term that describes a strategic approach for designing,

delivering, managing and improving the way information technology (IT) is used within an

organization. The goal of every IT Service Management framework is to ensure that the right

processes, people and technology are in place so that the organization can meet its business

goals.

There are many different ITSM products on the market—ServiceNow being the largest, by far.

ADVANTAGES OF AN ITSM PROCESS

• Reduce IT costs

• Improve quality of service

• Improve customer satisfaction

• Improve governance and to reduce risk

• Deliver greater innovation and business value

• Increase corporate competitive advantage through better IT enablement, or

• Offer improved flexibility or increased agility/speed of change for new IT services

2. PLAN OF ACTION

You have done enough research on the product to be confident it is right for your team and

you’re ready to jump into ServiceNow, now what?

EFFECTIVE TEAM

The next step—and quite possibly the most important—in your new implementation is finding

the right people for your new ServiceNow team.

Team should be a bundle of,

• Business Analyst and/or Project Manager

• Certified Implementation Specialist

• Quality Assurance Tester(s)

Why Do I Need a Business Analyst?

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You may consider to opt out of having a project manager or business analyst on your team. This

is fine if you have a very small organization of less than 10 individuals. However, if it involves a

more diverse team it would be best to have someone there to help keep everyone on track and

on schedule. You will need a BA/PM for a wide variety of tasks, such as scheduling,

management, procurement, and analysis. They would also be the liaison between the

stakeholders and the IT team, able to convert technological jargon to more commonplace

terms.

ServiceNow Developer Certifications

While not technically required to implement a ServiceNow iteration for your business, it is very

strongly recommended for the developer(s) that will be working with your implementation to

have at least one ServiceNow administrator certification. We at McLanSys recommend having

your developer(s) certified in ServiceNow Administration and ITIL, as well as having experience

as a Business Analyst.

PROJECT BLUEPRINT

Once you have your team in place you will need to create a plan of attack. Typically, this begins

with understanding the needs of your company as a whole and addressing the processes that

are lacking. Easier said than done. It is always recommended to start with the base functionality

as quickly as possible, wait a few months to get accustomed to the platform, and then add on

any revisions in small increments with frequent backups. Check with your users to ensure that

these revisions are agreeable, or where they see room for improvement. Don’t be afraid to

restore from backups whenever you run into a process that simply doesn’t work. Make a list of

processes that will not work with an Out of the Box (OOB) ServiceNow implementation. Why

will those processes not transfer? Remember that sometimes it is easier to relearn a process

versus changing everything to try and get it to work the way you’re used to. Make a list of the

processes that will work with an OOB ServiceNow implementation. These will be the first ones

that you should be able to start integrating.

PICK THE PRODUCT FOR YOUR BUSINESS

Before stepping foot into the development of your new ServiceNow implementation, you need

to be aware of which version will be most appropriate for you and your business. There are

different features and functionalities in each version. Here is a brief overview of each type to

get you thinking:

Service Management

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Enterprise-wide service management that utilizes the service model to many different use cases

both inside and outside of IT. It includes domains such as HR, facilities, field services, and more

to help manage all the service relationships that make up your enterprise.

IT Service Management

Offers a powerful platform for all ITIL processes for ITSM. ServiceNow ITSM helps you reduce

cost, lower risks, improve business agility, and boost IT innovation. Easy upgrades and

customizations allow organizations to focus on improving service experiences versus software

upkeep.

IT Operations Management

ServiceNow’s IT Operations Management includes CMDB, incident and Problem Management,

Change Management, and a robust Service Catalog. It is a very inclusive offering with flexible

features to suit your business’ requirements.

IT Business Management

Better manage demand, balance resources, manage agile and waterfall projects, perform

budget planning, and map costs to technical business services with ServiceNow’s IT Business

Management package. Align your IT department with the rest of your corporation with

Financial Management, Project and Portfolio Management and Application Portfolio

Management.

CORE CONFIGURATION

The core configuration can be configured in many different ways to address your organization’s

needs. You can use it to create, manage, and distribute applications for your business. You can

install any number of applications that are provided by ServiceNow, or even create your own

custom ones. These applications can be made available to specific users, roles, or companies.

The system can also be configured to send and receive emails as a way to track service

requests. The primary administrator role, admin, has access to all system features and

functionalities regardless of security constraints. Other administrators can be given rights to

administer only certain applications.

3.DEVELOPMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION

1. Software Asset Management (SAM)

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This new application is an end-to-end SAM product related to the IT Business Management

(ITBM), IT Operations Management (ITOM) and IT Asset Management (ITAM) modules. The goal

of SAM is to understand the software catalog to optimize software and ensure compliance to

reduce penalties during a vendor audit. SAM enables organizations to normalize software,

reclaim unused licenses, and detect trends in software usage to reduce waste from unused

software.

Organizations can leverage ServiceNow’s suite of applications such as ITOM Discovery, CMDB,

and Application Portfolio Management (APM) to locate, categorize, and rate software.

2. ServiceNow Express

The Express platform will be migrated to the core ServiceNow platform. Customers will no

longer be required to go through a conversion when they want to transition to the core

ServiceNow platform. In Jakarta, customers will have access to the entire ServiceNow suite and

store.

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Once Express users are on the core ServiceNow platform they will be able to take advantage of

all its features including HR, ITOM, ITBM, Performance Analytics and more.

3. Predictive Alerts

This exciting service uses machine learning, root cause analysis, and an algorithmic intelligence

engine that identifies potential issues and alerts IT Operations to act. Predictive Alerts consider

historical impact of past events to predict future events. A confidence rating accompanies each

prediction, so IT Operations can take appropriate action before the event becomes an incident.

The system does not stop its prediction cycle; it continually takes in changes to the

environment to provide real-time predictions.

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Additionally, ServiceNow has designed the Predictive Alerts to use a schema free API making it

easier to integrate. The end result is an automated and predictive tool that eliminates service

outages and is simple to install.

4. Trusted Security Circle

Trusted Security Circle enhances incident response, vulnerability response and threat

intelligence applications in IT Security Operations. This module provides a secured and scalable

location for information to be shared between customers, suppliers and peers, resulting in

more effective troubleshooting efforts

Organizations control the information to share.. Profiles are used to select criteria to submit

anonymous information to the secured circle. An organization can have multiple profiles across

different security circles. Furthermore, all information shared has one or more observables of

the customers and an indication in the customer’s environment of why the information was

shared.

5. Vendor Risk Management

The new Vendor Risk Management application manages stakeholder relations, cross functional

process and risk through the vendor lifecycle. Vendor Risk Management continuously

monitors, detects, assesses, mitigates and remediates risks in the vendor environment. This

allows vendor management to effectively align with the organization’s enterprise risk

management and vendor management security. Vendor scoring uses the GRC in real-time with

assessment and external third-party risk scores.

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Subsequently, managing risks within a single system accelerates decision-making as

organizations can asses and mitigate risks without the delays of system to system

communication.

6. Communities

Customers regularly go online to find solutions or discuss success or failure of products and/or

services. Prospective customers go online to research product services. To support this

communal activity ServiceNow is launching ServiceNow Communities. The release will be tightly

related to Knowledge Management and Customer Service Portal. The new Communities will

have the following features:

• Forums – Organizations will be able to manage user participation

• Topics – Curated areas of interests in forums

• Gamification – Giving points and credit to responding users

• Content types of:

o Questions

o Blogs

o Videos

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7. Field Service Management

A successful Field Service Management program requires a heavy investment in scheduling,

prioritization, and documentation. The new features of ServiceNow’s Field Service

Management application address these challenges by using the following features:

• Team Calendar – Allows the manager to see team members’ planned activities

• Dynamic Scheduling – Optimizes assignments within time windows, minimizes travel

time, allows multi-agent task assignments, task prioritization, and automated task re-

assignment

• Questionnaires – Collects information to assist technicians in following procedures or

performing tasks

Additionally, Questionnaires are designed for mobile devices which simplify data collection. The

new features in Field Service Management help to resolve issues faster by optimizing the

schedules of technicians and simplifying data collection.

8. Enterprise Onboarding and Transitions

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Enterprise Onboarding and Transitions is a much-anticipated application, which enables a new

hire to work from Day One. This application makes it easy to automate and streamline

onboarding and other lifecycle events. HR needs the ability to request and track activities which

are fulfilled by departments across the organization. This application supports any transitional

event for staffing including: onboarding, off boarding, leave of absence, requests and transfers

out of the box (OOTB). The OOTB functionality is easily adjusted to fit an organization’s HR

processes.

Enterprise Onboarding and Transitions bring all department’s activities together to ensure

everyone is working together to provide a great customer experience.

9. Performance Analytics

Performance Analytics has several new or updated features to provide better decision-making:

• Advanced Forecasting – Advanced forecasting allows the organization to make

decisions with predictive trending based on real-time, adaptive, machine learning

algorithms. Additionally, the organization can set personalized forecast lines to identify

trends.

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• Interactive Analysis – Get instant insight with dynamic visualization delivered on any list

or score. This enables the organization to move quickly on data available at a glance.

Data is real-time meaning it is ready to act upon.

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• Spreadsheet Imports – This new feature provides organizations with the ability to easily

import into ServiceNow to compare data from a variety of sources.

• Report Designing – The new Report Designer gives novice users the ability to build

meaningful reports. Report Designer guides the user through a stepwise process to

create a report. As the report is built, the user can manually modify the report if

needed.

10. Now Platform

ServiceNow has changed the name of their platform in Jakarta from the ‘ServiceNow’ platform

to the ‘Now’ platform. There are a couple of new applications which will help users and

administrators in the Now platform. The Guided Tour Designer is available throughout the

platform which allows the administrator to create guided tours in the embedded help. This will

help users understand application requirements. The Guided Tour Designer will speed the end-

user to productivity and reduce help desk calls.

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The Instance Security Dashboard will speed security remediation for your ServiceNow instance.

Administrators have a single view of their security operations audit. It provides a guided

experience to configure and secure an instance. The Instance Security Dashboard provides a

single view of their compliance status to provide awareness and maintain the organizations

application security standards.

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Now that you are inspired to build your own melting pot, we will be happy to assist you.

Contact us for assistance in either upgrading to Jakarta or implementing some of the features

introduced. We are excited to support your ServiceNow undertakings to gain success to your

organization, community and stakeholders.

4.QUALITY ASSURANCE & TESTING

MANUAL TESTING If you prefer to do things yourself, or lack the funds to invest in a quality testing automation

program, there’s always the option to provide manual testing for your ServiceNow

implementation. Manual testing is where you have an individual, or group of individuals,

manually testing software for defects. It requires the tester(s) to play the role of an end-user to

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verify that all functions operate as expected. The tester will often follow a written test plan that

guides them through sets of important behaviors, or test cases.

Test Cases

A test case is a set of conditions in which a tester will determine whether an application or one

of its features is working as intended. It may take many test cases to determine whether or not

a program is satisfactorily reviewed and given permission to be released.

Traceability Matrices

A traceability matrix is a document or spreadsheet used to assist in determining the

completeness of any two base-level reference documents by utilizing a many-to-many

relationship comparison. It may be used to check if a project’s requirements are being met, to

create a software requirements list, or project plan tasks. Typically, a traceability matrixis used

for high-level requirements as well as detailed requirements of the project.

5.DEPLOYMENT & TRAINING

GO-LIVE AND TRAINING Training your staff on the new platform is critical. Never assume that any member of your team

catches on right away and doesn’t need a how-to guide. It can be catastrophic and ultimately

lead to abandonment of the platform if it is too frustrating to the end user. Designate a

member of your team or a group of members to be your go-to trainers that will be available to

answer any questions a user may have regarding the platform. Train them intensively on

ServiceNow’s platform and give them the resources they will need to educate

others successfully.

PRODUCT TRAINING Platform training is education on how to use ServiceNow’s features, or platform. It is not tied to

a specific service or process. All users that will be utilizing the platform in some way—even if in

intermittent, small amounts—should have this training. The basics should cover:

»» Basic navigation

»» Reports

»» Application Navigator

»» Views

»» Bookmarks

FUNCTIONAL TRAINING

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As processes are changing, it is critical to ensure that the users are properly trained on the new

ones. This could include complicated integrations with other systems or services, such as

payroll or incident management. All the users affected should be trained on the new version(s)

of their processes. Ensure they are aware of what their responsibilities and expectations are

with the new system and revisit as needed. Don’t forget to identify where any new forms of

automation have been included to reduce strain.

END USER TRAINING While the end user’s experience should be intuitive and may not require training, providing

them with an overview or guide can provide additional support to those who may not be

comfortable with adopting a new process. Consider creating a step-by-step guide or

prerecorded video with instructions on how to navigate the user portal.

SURVEYS Surveys are a great tool to assess adoption and feedback of your new platform.

»» Consider the option to make them anonymous – you will get more honest feedback that way

»» Make them brief – less than 5 minutes is recommended

»» Keep them running throughout the entire implementation cycle and then incrementally

after launch (recommended 30, 60, 90 days, then every 6 months from there)

»» Follow up on survey responses!

Whether this be on a global newsletter or responding to an individual that has provided their

contact information, it is important to make sure employees know they’re being heard.

MARKETING Marketing should have a collaborative role in announcements and go-live messaging. They

should also include similar materials to continually market the new platform as well as its

improvements. Advertising the success rates of other departments, creating infographics from

the data that has been recorded in ServiceNow, promoting Lunch & Learns and webinars, and

creating informational articles should be the marketing department’s responsibility at least in

part. If you are wanting to be more festive, consider memorabilia such as lanyards, stress balls,

note pads, or water bottles to drive interest regarding the launch.

ITS DONE! Congratulations, you have successfully deployed a ServiceNow implementation! It’s time to

take a moment to sit back and relax before getting prepared for the next phase: maintenance

and support. Remember to continue soliciting feedback from all users on the

processes, performance, and features. Having a party to celebrate Go Live is not uncalled for. It

may even encourage users to try out the process more – themed, fun events can really ease

users into exploration of the ServiceNow platform.

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6.UPGRADES & MAINTENANCE

Upgrading is the act of moving to a release that is in a different family than your current

release. Upgrading or modifying your ServiceNow instance requires planning, testing, and

authentication. To make sure your upgrade goes along smoothly, you need to be sure to read

the release notes, create upgrade plans, and test your upgrade on a demo instance of your

iteration before upgrading your active instance.

Manage Instances

View information about your instances, schedule clones, activate plugins, and request resets in

the Manage Instances section. You are also able to request a VPN, a non-production instance

reset, view issues and alerts, and more.

Manage Upgrades

View, schedule, request, and cancel upgrades to your instance in the Manage Upgrades section

for up to three of your ServiceNow instances.

Get Help

Stuck somewhere on your instance? Reach out to one of ServiceNow’s talented customer

support agents to get answers. If your matter isn’t as pressing, you can also visit the

ServiceNow Community, where users not only socialize, but also help other ServiceNow Admins

in need.

Hot Fixes

Hot fixes support existing functionalities with a targeted and specific problem fix. They may or

may not include previous fixes for a given release, and often do not include new features or

functionalities.

ROLLBACKS AND BACKUPS While planning on performing an upgrade, keep in mind that ServiceNow does not provide a

universal rollback option. Rollbacks are available for upgrades within your existing family (i.e.,

Helinksi patch-to-patch or Istanbul patch-to-hot fix). The rollback window is 10 days by default;

you can customize this window by modifying the glide.rollback.expiration_ days property. To

request a rollback, contact ServiceNow Customer Support. Also, try to avoid restoring a

production instance from a backup when possible, as it can cause unnecessary downtime and

loss of data. When you have a problem that cannot be solved using other methods, consider

restoring a production instance from a backup a last resort. However, ServiceNow does provide

24/7 customer support for assistance with critical post upgrade issues. Please be aware that

ServiceNow does not perform on-demand backups. Instead, instances are automatically

backed up during slow business hours on set schedules that are defined by ServiceNow.

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FINALLY Implementing the ServiceNow platform into your organization may be time intensive, but is

most definitely doable with the right resources. It can be a very powerful platform with an

unending number of offerings when programmed correctly. If you have any further questions

regarding how to properly implement a ServiceNow instance, feel free to reach out to one of

our experts, free of charge. One of them will be happy to assist you in any way they can.

7.ABOUT MCLANSYS

ServiceNow Support

McLanSys Solutions is rightly positioned to help troubleshoot your product issues and get you

back up and running more quickly. Our dedicated Support Team leverages the experience of

our entire consulting organization, which averages more than 13 years of implementation

experience across multiple industries and product versions.

This Support Program allows our clients to benefit from McLanSys Solutions and our

experienced Support Team will provide direct product support to quickly resolve your issues.

Rate Guarantee: The First time in the Industry – The Lowest Price Challenge GUARANTEES

lowest prices on compared to anywhere in the world with customers being offered two times

the price difference if they find the same elsewhere at a lower rate.

The Right Team, The Right Talent

Our Consulting has been a trusted partner in helping business solve the challenges of

innovation through technology since 2006.

How it Works

ServiceNow is changing the enterprise by enabling virtually all components of business as a

service. A single platform for all processes within your organization drives consolidation,

automation, and innovation for a more efficient business model. offers a unique blend of

experience to the ServiceNow space, including affordable licensing, consulting, turn-key

solutions, mobile app development, and staffing.

Learn how our ServiceNow virtual admin services can augment your existing team to comprehensively support your ServiceNow instance. Want to get in touch immediately ?

Call USA (415) 449 1367 or email us at sales@mclansys.com for more information.