ServiceNow Governance

Release version: Xanadu

Updated August 1, 2024

2 minutes to read

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Summary of ServiceNow Governance

ServiceNow Governance offers a structured framework for organizations to effectively manage and utilize the ServiceNow Platform. It focuses on governance across strategy, portfolio, and technical domains, helping customers realize their transformation vision and maintain technical integrity.

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Key Features

Introductory Customer Session: Sets expectations on governance processes and customer participation while reviewing educational materials.
Discovery Sessions: Assess current governance models and propose actionable plans based on customer insights.
Customer Workshops: Interactive sessions for establishing governance in strategy, portfolio, and technical domains, enhancing understanding of how these areas interconnect.
Governance Deliverables: Includes workshop materials, action planning notes, templates, and draft designs for governance models.

Key Outcomes

Customers can expect to enhance their governance structures, engage in Q&A during follow-up sessions, and gain additional insights through simulations of their new governance frameworks. Engagement with the following key resources will be crucial:

ServiceNow Executive Sponsor: Acts as the main strategic contact.
Platform Owner: Ensures alignment of platform management with business strategy.

Customers are required to provide specific information and documents related to governance to facilitate effective engagement and outcomes. Note that ServiceNow does not execute governance policies but supports their development.

Guidance on building ServiceNow Governance boards and policies.

Overview

ServiceNow Governance provides Impact Customers with a framework that streamlines the decision-making required to define how your organization should use and manage the ServiceNow Platform. This includes setting up governance across strategy, portfolio, and technical domains. This Impact Accelerator aims to assist Customers in driving their transformation vision, delivering the right work at the right time, and maintaining the technical integrity of their ServiceNow implementation.

What You Get

Introductory Customer Session

Set expectations on process and depth of deliverable
Communicate expectation for Customer participation
Review educational material on ServiceNow governance across strategy, portfolio and technical domains
Request data and any other inputs from Customer

Discovery Sessions

Assess current governance model across strategy, portfolio, and technical domains, including:
- Customer’s vision and strategy roadmap decisions
- Customer’s demand management
- Customer’s environment, platform, data, and development management
Discuss leading practice content
Propose action plan items for Customer to execute

Customer Workshops

Dedicated workshop(s) on setting up strategy governance and the executive steering board
Dedicated workshop(s) on setting up portfolio governance and the demand board
Dedicated workshop(s) on setting up technical governance and the technical governance board
Dedicated workshop(s) on how the three main domains of governance work together

Note:

Each workshop includes educational material and interactive activities that will help the Customer design their governance boards and ServiceNow Governance policies.

Governance Deliverables

Workshop slides
Action planning notes
Action planning templates
Draft designs for governance model & processes

Follow-Up Customer Session

Opportunity for Q&A related to governance deliverables
Opportunity to run through additional governance simulations to test the Customer’s new governance structure
Provide additional guidance on leading practice

Requested Customer Resources

Table 1. Customer resource and responsibilities
Customer Resource	Responsibilities
ServiceNow Executive Sponsor- Required	Primary strategic contact for ServiceNow.
Platform Owner- Required	Responsible for the overall accountability of the ServiceNow platform. Provides leadership and oversight to the System Administrators, ensures team alignment to business strategy and the ServiceNow roadmap, and is actively involved in the overarching governance of the platform.

Requested Information / Access

Strategy Governance:

Organization chart for consumers and delivery in the platform
Defined vision & strategy for ServiceNow
Strategy roadmap and technical roadmap for ServiceNow
Documented OKRs, themes and epics
Business outcomes aligned to the platform
Business case or business case templates relating to the platform
IT governance documents relating to the platform
Steering board documents, for example
- charters
- board participants lists and roles
- steering board agendas

Portfolio Governance:

Details of any enterprise-level demand forums
Any existing ServiceNow demand processes and forums- e.g.: process, intake forms, assessment scorecards, etc.
Existing Demand board documents, for example: charters, board participant lists, agendas
A view of any in-flight or upcoming platform demand including Project plans & timelines
Organization chart- specifically aimed at highlighting where demand can originate
CoE Charter (if in place)
EA process workbook
Development methodology and process (agile and/or waterfall)
Demand scoring & weighting criteria

Technical Governance:

Technology governance documents (charters, agendas) - specifically
- Any enterprise-wide technology governance which may need alignment with
- Any enterprise-wide technology architecture standards to be observed
- Any existing platform technical governance boards
Architecture blueprint
Project backlog
IT strategic plan
Pain points, business drivers, and desired business outcomes

Exceptions

ServiceNow is not responsible for execution of the strategy governance policy or process.