Your guide to UK ServiceNow partner consultancy
Have questions about ServiceNow partner consultancy? Have a look at our ultimate guide to help you on your journey.
- What is ServiceNow?
- Using ServiceNow for business transformation.
- What are the benefits of ServiceNow?
- What are the disadvantages of ServiceNow?
- Set up your ServiceNow for success
- What are the benefits of using a ServiceNow Partner?
- Our ServiceNow Expertise
- What is Velocity TransformNow?
- How are consultancy projects charged?
- Why choose to work with a UK ServiceNow consultancy?
- What is IT Service Management (ITSM)?
- What's included in the ServiceNow ITSM suite?
- What is IT Operations Management (ITOM)?
- What's included in the ServiceNow ITOM suite?
- What is Project Portfolio Management (PPM)?
- What's included in the ServiceNow PPM suite?
- ServiceNow transformation FAQs
Welcome to your ultimate guide to choosing a ServiceNow consultancy partner
In the era of digital transformation, having a solid, end-to-end foundation like ServiceNow can help set organisations up for short and long-term success, as well as ensure the sustainability of any programs they put in place and maximising value.
ServiceNow helps businesses unlock their potential across every facet of operations through powerful tools and a unified platform. Rather than individual point solutions, organisations have a holistic platform that can manage everything from customer service and HR to security, fulfilment, and beyond.
As a result, it’s a solution that moves beyond the realm of just digital transformation into business transformation. As workflows and process optimisation start to blend through the use of cloud-based tools, platforms like ServiceNow are the common denominator in building a highly successful service management organisation.
But for many, the question often is: “where do we start?”
As leading ServiceNow consultants, we have a depth and breadth of expertise in successfully delivering projects and solutions that transform how our clients use ServiceNow to optimise business operations. Here, you’ll find all the information you need to understand the road ahead, as well as how we can support you in your journey.
What is ServiceNow?
ServiceNow is a powerful, enterprise-grade cloud-based platform that empowers organisations to manage and customise their services faster and more efficiently to deliver better employee and customer experiences.
From digital workflows at scale to service delivery functions, operations management, process automation, and more, ServiceNow is the premier solution for any organisation not just looking to consolidate, but elevate everything they do.
It’s the platform on the market with the highest client satisfaction for managing the complex workflows of modern IT services, used by 54% of the global marketplace, but it’s so configurable that often, organisations simply don’t know where to start — or how to unlock the value it provides.
See how we can help you maximise your return on investment in ServiceNow
Using ServiceNow for Business Transformation
According to ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott, enterprises have “created a hornet’s nest of complexity.”
“The number one reason that digital transformation hasn’t delivered positive ROI to businesses is integration. And that’s why 85% of the businesses that have gone on transformation didn’t get a positive ROI, because nothing integrates.”
What’s changed, he says, is the inflection point where enterprises have to cut costs, leverage new technologies, and navigate a bevy of unknowns. They’re no longer upgrading older technologies and 1,000 point solutions. They’re investing in scalable, sustainable platforms that incorporate everything as one.
This shift away from siloed operations signals a greater change in how organisations plan (and will) operate in the future. The reality is that how we do business has changed considerably, but many technologies simply haven’t kept up.
Rather than the outdated architectures and cobbled-together point solutions that can’t keep up with the pace of today, ServiceNow brings it all together in a single, intelligent platform for the organisations of the future. Say goodbye to fractured customer and employee experiences, and low productivity, and start driving true innovation and transformation.
Of course, the first step is: setting it all up for success.
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Streamlined Workflows
As an enterprise-grade, cloud-based platform, ServiceNow makes it simple for organisations to reduce the complexity of processes with workflow automation, ultimately streamlining operations and improving efficiency.
Improved Service Delivery
Another reason why organisations love ServiceNow is its self-service portal that allows users to get help quickly. They can raise tickets, find answers to basic questions, get links to content repositories (e.g. forums, help guides, FAQs) and more.
Enhanced Collaboration
ServiceNow utilises a common data set model, enabling organisations to consolidate their activities into one source of truth. For example, if finance were to update payroll information across departments, that information would flow freely into other systems (where required) immediately, ensuring an up-to-date record.
Increased visibility and control
ServiceNow is both fully customisable and low-code, meaning that users with little or no experience designing modules and functions in ServiceNow can quickly put together processes.
Greater agility and scalability
This is perhaps one of the most pertinent aspects of ServiceNow — compared to its competition, it’s the most complete and expandable solution on the market. No other solution comes close to its scale, depth, or library of integrations.
Native Intelligence
Powered by AI, ServiceNow’s Now Platform empowers organisations to work smarter, make better decisions, and intelligently automate tasks to eliminate manual, error-prone work. The Now Platform is the intelligent foundation upon which all ServiceNow products run. It lets users automate and connect critical areas of work to move the organisation forward. It’s faster, smoother and much more efficient.
Hyper-configurable
ServiceNow’s greatest strength is also its greatest weakness. These capabilities can make it challenging to configure and customise, often requiring specialised skill sets and expertise to unlock its full potential. That said, it features low-code capabilities, enabling even novices to get started and create incredible processes. Often, the distinction between advantage and disadvantage is based on whether or not to hyper-configure (customise) the platform. Just because a customisation is possible doesn’t mean it would provide the best solution for the business, and this is where Velocity demonstrates its value – we guide you on the right level of customisation for your organisation to deliver maximum value whilst still working within a platform which is easy to maintain.
Cost
Depending on business requirements, ServiceNow can be an expensive solution. Licensing fees, implementation costs, ongoing maintenance expenses — all these variables can add up quickly. It’s important, therefore, to understand your use case first to ensure an optimised balance between cost and value.
Integration Challenges
Depending on how an organisation has set up its processes and systems, integration can be complex and time-consuming. Compatibility issues, data migration challenges, coding concerns — a variety of issues can pop up when connecting ServiceNow to other systems in the IT architecture. Data and process harmonisations are key to ensuring an integration delivers workflow benefits and is not just copying data between platforms.
Learning Curve
ServiceNow has a steep learning curve, especially for those who are unfamiliar with the platform and its technologies. Training and onboarding are usually required to help users navigate and utilise the platform properly.
Velocity are trained platform experts who can provide clients with guidance and support on subjects and technical aspects where internal training programs don’t meet the threshold for value realisation (primarily activities that are only delivered once during initial setup).
Set up your ServiceNow for success
- Set clear objectives and metrics
- Get stakeholders engaged
- Enlist people with the right skills and experience
- Identify what custom capabilities you need
- Ensure data quality and integrity
- Get practical training from experts
- Look to others for ongoing support and advice
- Continuously improve your platform
What are the benefits of using a ServiceNow Partner
When it comes to evaluating ServiceNow consultancies, you have to look beyond these standard variables and instead look at the short and long-term value each can bring to your organisation, either as an added function, a trusted partner for business transformation, or an incredible combination of both.
Here are just a few things a partner can provide:
Specific expertise and experience
Your internal team could have loads of talent, but depending on what you want to do with ServiceNow, you may require dedicated skillsets. Partners live and breathe ServiceNow and stay up-to-date with the latest developments, releases, fixes, trends, and industry best practices.
Extend and augment your existing team
Having an internal team is certainly important, but as you scale and look to unlock new avenues of growth, profitability, and effectiveness, you must balance the day-to-day requirements of your ServiceNow platform with future aspirations.
You have to think about the short and long-term effectiveness of your IT support team. Do you continue to build out your internal function to manage the platform, or do you enlist a consultancy to look after the day-to-day, while your experts focus on strategy and value-adding tasks?
Having a consultancy to support your efforts means a depth and breadth of expertise that’s difficult to achieve with an internal function. Not because the talent isn’t there, but rather the cost of hiring and retaining said talent, as well as talent to address the different functions of ServiceNow. A consultancy, on the other hand, will have a variety of experts versed in specific aspects of the platform, so you can essentially plug-and-play.
As an extension of your organisation, a consultancy will augment what you already do — you can readily push out tickets (like L2 requests) to them and have issues resolved quickly and efficiently, while your in-house teams and strategists can think about the big picture.
Reduce costs, increase success
ServiceNow expertise is one of the most sought-after (and therefore expensive) skills on the market. From small organisations to large enterprises, those qualified in ServiceNow effectively have a career for life.
So you can imagine how difficult it is to retain that kind of talent.
One of the major risks of investing in an internal team is that there’s no guarantee they’ll stay. Graduates that you train for the next few years and become integral to your day-to-day operations (as they’ve built, modified, and optimised your platform) might eventually leave, bringing a wealth of experience and understanding (of your systems) with them. What then?
Simultaneously, it’s a large investment to prioritise upfront. For smaller organisations, it might make more sense to enlist a ServiceNow consultancy. It’s all about the appropriateness of the strategy: does it make sense?
With a ServiceNow consultancy, you can effectively avoid these issues as the consultancy plugs the gaps. Whenever you need specific resources or capabilities, you can deploy their expertise to manage your ServiceNow platform, whether this is from conception or part-way through.
The costs are also significantly cheaper in the long run as you won’t have to train staff with specific skill sets or keep up-to-date with new integrations. Instead, you can redeploy your in-house resources to focus on more strategic efforts that improve employee or customer experiences, for example.
Get it right the first time
There’s nothing wrong with having a team and doing it yourself. You have more control and sometimes it makes more strategic sense. But depending on how you want your organisation’s use of ServiceNow to evolve (or where you plan to invest your time), how you build out or augment that function will change.
It’s important to think about the future. We often find that organisations make several unconscious design decisions that build their ServiceNow capabilities into a corner. Years later, they have to tear down bits of their architecture and re-platform so that it can accommodate new demands — or simply operate as planned.
With a ServiceNow consultancy, it’s much easier to find shortcuts to success that are built on solid, scalable foundations and long-term experience.
How often should you upgrade your ServiceNow instance?
So rather than extensive feature creep and an ever-growing list of non-essential capabilities that don’t work properly, consultancies will test every single aspect through trial and error to determine what works best for your particular configuration. What’s more, these consultancies will set up the platform in a way that enables you to adapt accordingly, helping you to get to your goals faster and cheaper.
This kind of value realisation is significant because while on the face of it, a consultancy might cost more than an in-house team at the start, the long-term value and cost savings will often outweigh the in-house option.
Don’t just take our word for it
Our advice? Evaluate staffing requirements and the skills you need to ensure smooth operation, both now and in the future. You’ll also want to consider how you train and maintain your team’s working knowledge of ServiceNow capabilities and integrations.
Look for meaningful gaps. Focus efforts and attention there, and then see how your approach will potentially pan out. This will help you to determine what level of support you need at each stage of your plan, and whether that includes calling a consultancy for help.
Our ServiceNow Expertise
Let us start with this: you deserve more from your ServiceNow implementation. And having read the above, perhaps you’re considering a partner to help you get there.
Most consultancies will offer similar services and are happy to take on briefs, no questions asked, but we’re fundamentally different because we want you to get the most out of your investment, every, single, time.
We’re not order takers — at Velocity Consulting, we challenge you to think critically about your ServiceNow program and business needs. Whether you want to reduce service calls by 80% and ticket resolution by 25% or reduce onboarding time for new hires.
The reason for this? To design, develop, and deliver a platform that meets your unique needs. To that end, there are 5 areas we focus on unlike any other specialist.
1. Challenge-focused, problem-aware implementation
Before any project, it’s important to ask: “Why are you doing this?”
For example:
- What are the outcomes that you want to achieve?
- What capabilities do you need across every level of your organisation?
- How do we get your organisation to a better future state using ServiceNow?
- And what are the most important metrics you want to improve?
These are just examples, but it’s vitally important for us to get a clear understanding of all your business priorities —- not just those fed down from senior leadership.
The reason for this is simple: ServiceNow will inevitably touch every part of your organisation and, therefore, getting a coalition of people who will test and use the aspects of the platform you have asked for is the fastest and most effective way to ensure what’s delivered meets everyone’s expectations.
ServiceNow is an incredible tool that’s highly flexible, but its greatest strengths are also its weaknesses. Platform flexibility can deliver a functional product that’s closely aligned with business requirements, but without a clear understanding across teams (or of best practices), you’ll end up with a sub-optimal product.
These issues are even more apparent in large organisations that work from several connected databases, the smallest of alterations in any program — without aligning priorities with other departments — can spell disaster.
2. Agile, user-centric development and delivery
As mentioned, we try our utmost to encourage clients to get all key stakeholders and departments involved to ensure the outcome isn’t just to specification — but fit for the growth plans of the organisation.
Once we have all the respective teams bought in and up to speed, we operate using agile methodologies — showing the work as we go — so clients get a clear understanding of what’s delivered and how it operates.
This approach does two things: one, it reduces feature creep or additional requirements specified at the end of the project. This benefits you, as the client, as we can deliver projects much faster (20-25% faster) and at a substantially lower cost.
The second thing is that you can see the immediate impact of each item we implement, proving the clear value of our expertise at every phase of your project. We won’t move forward unless you’re happy.
3. Transformation-led strategy
When it comes to deploying a ServiceNow program, organisations that attempt it alone sometimes make several unconscious design decisions and operational choices that make it incredibly difficult for consultants, or new members of the team, to reverse or optimise.
Unfortunately, this is quite a common predicament, especially in the technology space.
As organisations grow and expand into new markets, they need the appropriate tools and frameworks to sustain that growth. This might mean acquiring a new ERP system or plugging payroll software into an existing database of employee information.
As experts in agile and effective program development, our approach to ServiceNow implementation is all about business transformation, and laying the appropriate foundations for such success.
We start by defining business needs through workshops and consultative sessions. We then design a solution based on the requirements of your organisation beforree developing the specified configurations and finally, testing and deploying them.
Our approach ensures you have a ServiceNow platform that empowers your organisation and people to operate at maximum performance while enabling your in-house teams and other third parties to make necessary changes with ease at every step of your transformation journey.
4. Value and opportunity realisation
As a strategic leader within your organisation, you are most likely under pressure to maximise the value of your IT investments and reduce (or mitigate) any risk that comes with it. You want to manage the total cost of ownership (TCO) while simultaneously improving the performance of your teams and functions through ServiceNow.
Find out how to troubleshoot ServiceNow to diagnose gaps in value
And that’s where we can help. As you’ve read so far, we work closely with all our clients to help align their business objectives with ServiceNow capabilities, both in the short and long term. As a result, we reduce the technical complexity of any project, so that you can better see the value and performance from your ServiceNow license.
What’s more, we’ll optimise existing projects (no matter how complex) and fix any issues you might have inherited, or noticed, along the way.
5. Methodology
To help clients unlock the power of ServiceNow, we’ve developed our outcome-centred methodology called Velocity TransformNow. Whether you’re new to ServiceNow or an existing user, TransformNow will empower you to get more from your platform.
Enable
Understand the customers’ business demands, enable the appropriate IT facilities, and create value.
Maximise
Evaluate the real benefits you should be observing and helping you to get there through specific, targeted changes.
Tune-Up
Shift ServiceNow capabilities as your organisation changes to constantly drive value within your use case.
Support
Incident management, help and how-to guides, small changes, reports, dashboards and much, much more.
Why is all of this important?
A lot of ServiceNow consultancies will have comparable levels of expertise and experience, so it’s important for us that we we differentiate our services based on value and trust.
When we work with you, we spend a considerable amount of time understanding and sizing up your requirements. What this means is that we find the right match between what you need (or would like) done, and the level of support we need to provide.
What’s important to realise is that ServiceNow isn’t a cheap investment. You’re looking at 6-figures plus depending on your deployment, level of support, and additional licenses, so of course you want a partner you trust and can work with closely and collaboratively.
What we can tell you is this: we will always work with your best interests in mind and give you clear-cut, no-nonsense advice based on what we know and the successes we’ve helped other clients achieve. Our philosophy is about ensuring everyone wins.
How are Consultancy projects charged?
At Velocity Consulting we offer two primary charging models;
Time and Materials
Within this model we agree on a day rate for resources to be consumed and in a relatively accelerated pre-contract process we establish an estimated effort consumption profile for the project for budgetary purposes. The benefits of this model are:
- Speed to initiate – without a need for highly detailed pre-contract workshops, we can start your project within days or weeks
- Agility – operating in an Agile Scrum mode we can accept and adopt changing requirements as they become apparent from stakeholder involvement, each time updating the effort profile for budget visibility
- Low cost – paying only for resources consumed means you are in control of contingency or risk budgets, and you will only be billed if resources are consumed and never for unproductive time
Fixed Price
A fixed price model requires an extended pre-contract workshop to fully describe the features and services to be delivered, at which point we establish a fixed price for fixed scope. The benefits of this model are:
- Control of budgets – you have assurance that (if the scope does not change) the project cost will be precisely the figure agreed
- Control of scope – the scope is set ahead of time, limiting options for stakeholder changing opinions to derail the project
- Options -- for milestone-based payments rather than consumption-based billing
Contingency and risk are baked into the agreed price, and so do not need to be considered internally
We are happy to discuss hybrid or alternative models for charging methods.
Why choose to work with a UK ServiceNow Consultancy?
Also, as a UK-based ServiceNow consultancy, we can offer a few other benefits for clients in our region, namely:
Local expertise
Act global, think local.
Every country has its way of doing business, so if you operate in the UK (or are headquartered here and operate globally) you may want a partner that understands the intricacies of the UK market, from regulations to cultural nuances, and can provide support at times that best suit your teams.
This kind of knowledge is invaluable, especially for organisations in the UK that are just starting up — or those looking to move operations into this particular geography.
Accessibility
Working with a UK-based consultancy means easier access to face-to-face meetings, workshops, training sessions, and day-to-day support. With a high level of accessibility, you’ll foster better communication and collaboration throughout the project lifecycle.
Routine support and maintenance
If you’re operating in the UK, a UK-based ServiceNow consultancy can act on urgent requests precisely when you need help, this can reduce time to resolution, which is especially important when there’s a major problem.
Regulatory compliance
Region to region, regulatory rules, and policies often vary when it comes to things like data usage. A UK-based ServiceNow consultancy will stay ahead of changes as a part of their day-to-day, and can also provide advice on adhering to specific regulations in the region.
What is IT Service Management (ITSM)?
Information Technology Service Management (ITSM) refers to a strategic approach to design, deliver, manage, and improve the way information technology is used within an organization. It ensures that IT services are aligned with business needs, incorporating various practices and processes for end-to-end service delivery.
What’s included in the ServiceNow IT Service Management suite
Incident Management
Restore services faster with intelligent routing and built-in collaboration.
Problem Management
Identify the root cause of issues and proactively prevent future disruptions.
Change Management
Accelerate change at DevOps speed by automating approvals while maintaining control.
Request Fulfilment Service Catalog
Improve self-service by offering products and services through a modern, user-friendly storefront.
User portal
Provide employees with an AI-powered self-service portal that works on all their devices.
Knowledge Management
Improve business efficiency with easy knowledge sharing and collaboration.
CMDB and Asset Management
Track the dependencies and relationships of supported IT services to maintain continuity, and oversee infrastructure, operations, and field service assets to make more informed decisions.
Service Level Management
Manage provider-customer commitments to meet or exceed service levels.
What is IT Operations Management (ITOM)?
IT Operations Management (ITOM) refers to the process of managing and maintaining the day-to-day operational activities and infrastructure components within an organisation’s IT environment.
Encompassing a wide range of tasks and responsibilities, ITOM ensures the reliable and efficient delivery of IT services to meet business needs.
While ITOM is related to IT service management (ITSM), the two are vastly different. ITSM manages services throughout the entirety of the IT lifecycle, from strategic planning, service operation, service desk, continual improvement, and program design. It also encompasses helpdesk activities and fulfilment, whereas ITOM focuses on maintaining a steady-state service, providing insight into potential areas of IT Service failure or risk.
What’s included in the ServiceNow IT Operations Management suite?
ITOM Visibility
A series of applications designed to discover your environment, from horizontal CMDB discovery to full top-down Service Mapping, the suite creates a simplified method of understanding the deployed estate and how the various elements (configuration items) hang together to create services. Typically this content is then consumed via the ITSM product for all processes that require identifying a CI (e.g. Incident Management) and forms the data backbone for process in the IT Asset Management space.
ITOM Health
Collecting and collating content from the discovered estate, the Health set of applications correlate, aggregate, and filter alerts to generate intelligence about the operational capabilities deployed and identify risks and issues for both automated and manual resolution. A natural integration from Event Management to Incident Management (and Security Incident Management) exists in the product to ensure a close alignment between ITOM and ITSM.
What is Project Portfiolio Management (PPM)?
Project portfolio management (PPM) is the centralisation, management and optimisation of an organisation’s portfolio of projects.
As well as centralising existing projects under one umbrella or platform, PPM also includes the intake process for projects through the Demand Management process which seeks to understand business needs and quantify/qualify projects to deliver against those needs, including identifying the scope of potential projects, authorising them, assigning them to project managers, outlining specific requirements and skills needed, managing resource and cost plans and much, much more.
What’s included in Project Portfolio Management?
Risk management
PPM involves identifying, assessing, and managing risks associated with individual projects as well as the overall project portfolio. As projects are assessed, managers can make informed decisions on strategy, as well as monitor at-risk elements (e.g. part of the project being delayed) to mitigate disruption or negative impact.
Task prioritisation
PPM helps managers to prioritise tasks based on strategic importance, impact on the organisation, and available resources. Rather than pursuing tasks that provide less value (or require a significant amount of resource that’s not available), managers can redirect efforts to the highest-value opportunities.
Project selection
Using PPM, projects are selected based on strategic value and alignment with organisational priorities and objectives. Proposals are assessed, scoped, and ranked before being chosen.
Alignment with strategic objectives
Of all the benefits, this is the most important. Alignment with strategic objectives ensures that any project, no matter how large or small, will benefit the organisation by working towards its goals.
Resource management
At a glance, managers can have a look at their PPM dashboard or project management tool and see where resources are allocated and where support is required.
Performance monitoring and reporting
As PPM requires organisations to outline key strategic objectives, managers can quickly and easily track project KPIs and metrics for individual projects, generating reports for stakeholders to look at and see progress.
ServiceNow Transformation FAQs
It depends on your requirements. A typical project could take between 12 and 18 weeks for an initial out-of-the-box implementation of ITSM Standard (the most common first suite to deploy). The question is, how configurable do you want your platform to be, and what features do you need? Coming up with a clear idea of what components you need (and when) will help determine project length.
Beyond the license cost, you also have to consider implementation costs, maintenance costs, support costs, and training costs. But rather than the cost of the solution, we would urge you to think about the value and opportunity potential it offers. ServiceNow will radically transform your organisation and how you do business, and — if implemented and used correctly — reduce costs across your entire enterprise, unlock new opportunities, and increase revenue through better experiences and higher productivity.
You can also start with your ServiceNow “as is”, costs, e.g. cost of the license and implementation. Then, set a baseline. How much can you afford to spend and what components can you get into play with each purchase?
Buy-in, involvement, clear direction. You’ll want to designate a project manager to help manage communication between teams and key project sponsors or stakeholders. If you’re working with a consultancy, a project manager is especially important as they’ll work to get alignment on expectations and deadlines. From a technical perspective, it’s vital to have sufficient licenses on all products to be involved in the project (including ServiceNow licenses, which will be required during the build project), and to have agreed authorisations to proceed in place from product owners.
Misalignment between stakeholders, unreal expectations, feature creep. These are just a few challenges, but most are resolved with a clear plan and priorities for each stage of the implementation. Communicating with project managers and stakeholders at every opportunity ensures nothing’s missed. It’s also important to challenge teams/clients on what they want from the platform so that everyone clearly understands the objectives.
Still have questions?
Or ready to get started? Book a no-obligation chat with us today.