Demand workflow

Release version: Australia

Updated March 12, 2026

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Summary of Demand workflow

The Demand workflow in ServiceNow defines the sequential stages a demand undergoes from initial submission through assessment, approval, and execution. This structured process helps ensure demands are progressively refined, validated, and aligned with business and strategic objectives before resources are allocated. The workflow supports customization through custom playbooks to tailor states and activities to specific organizational needs.

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Key Workflow Stages and Roles

Create a demand: Business users can submit ideas via the Service Catalog or Idea Portal, which demand managers evaluate and promote to demands. Alternatively, demands can be submitted directly by demand managers or users. (State: Draft)
Complete demand details: Demand managers or users add required information, transitioning the demand from Draft to Submitted.
Refine and finalize demand: Demand managers complete all necessary data such as business cases, timelines, resources, costs/benefits, and stakeholder alignment, possibly assigning tasks or requesting SME support. (State: Submitted)
Move demand to screening: Demand managers transition the demand to Screening, triggering stakeholder assessments to score the demand.
Complete assessments: Stakeholders submit their evaluations during the Screening state.
Move demand to qualified: Upon completion of assessments, the demand automatically or manually moves to Qualified.
Review demand: Stakeholders review the demand for approval or deferral.
Approve or defer a demand: Demand managers set the demand status to Approved (to proceed with execution) or Deferred.
Convert demand to strategic/operational entity: After approval, demand managers create related entities such as projects or Enterprise Agile Planning items, migrating demand data accordingly.
Complete demands: Demands are closed either automatically upon completion of the related entity or manually by the demand manager.

Practical Implications for ServiceNow Customers

This workflow provides a comprehensive framework to manage demand lifecycles, ensuring demands are systematically evaluated and aligned with strategic goals before resource commitment. It enables clear role responsibilities and automates state transitions where appropriate, improving governance and traceability. Customers can customize the workflow to fit their unique processes and integrate demand management seamlessly with project and agile planning entities.

The demand workflow defines the stages a demand moves through, from initial intake to assessment, approval, and execution. At each stage, you can evaluate the demand, align it with business objectives, and set up the right processes before resources are assigned.

Workflow overview

The following table lists the end-to-end life cycle for managing demands. This workflow provides a process for demands so they are progressively refined, validated, and aligned with business and strategic objectives.

Note:

This workflow describes the traditional demand management process. You can customize the states and activities by defining a custom playbook.

Table 1. Demand workflow overview
Task	Description	Demand states involved	Roles involved
Create a demand	Demands enter the system via Service Catalog or Idea Portal, or being submitted directly by demand managers: Business users can submit an idea via the Service Catalog or Idea Portal. The idea is then evaluated by demand managers after which they can promote it to a demand. Business users can bypass the ideation process and submit a demand directly from the Service Catalog. Demand managers or demand users can directly submit demands from the Next Experience for Demand Management.	Draft	Business user, demand manager, demand user
Complete demand details	The demand manager or demand user reviews and adds required details. The demand moves from the draft to the submitted state after the basic demand details are added.	Draft → Submitted	Demand manager, demand user
Refine and finalize demand	The demand manager completes all required information (size, impact, business case, timeline, resources, costs/benefits, stakeholder registry, strategy alignment). The demand manager can assign tasks or request SME (subject matter expert) support.	Submitted	Demand manager
Move demand to screening	The demand manager moves the demand to screening. Assessments are sent to the stakeholders to score the demand after it reaches the screening state.	Submitted → Screening	Demand manager
Complete assessments	Stakeholders complete and submit assessments for scoring.	Screening	Stakeholder
Move demand to qualified	The demand moves to the qualified state after the required assessments are submitted. Next Experience for Demand Management updates the state automatically. The demand manager manually sets the demand to qualified while it is in screening, for example, when assessments are delayed or not required.	Screening → Qualified	Demand manager, Next Experience for Demand Management
Review demand	Stakeholders review the demand for approval or deferral.	Qualified	Stakeholder
Approve or defer a demand	The demand manager sets the demand to approved (moves forward for execution) or deferred (moves to the Deferred state).	Qualified → Approved or Deferred	Demand manager, demand approver
Convert demand to strategic/operational entity	After the demand is approved, the demand manager creates the selected entity such as project, enhancement, or Enterprise Agile Planning (EAP) entities. The created entity is based on the values in the Category and Type fields of the Demand record. Depending on the type of record created, the demand data is migrated to the created entity.	Approved	Demand manager
Complete demands	Based on the selection in the Close Demand field, a demand is completed automatically when the converted entity is completed, or manually by the demand manager at any state.	Approved → Completed	Demand manager, Next Experience for Demand Management