Join 1400+ ServiceNow professionals!
Sign up to our monthly Flow@Work Exclusive newsletter to get free access to our expertise and lots of tips and tricks to make work flow on the Now® Platform.
Home » Learning Center »
4 minutes
How to climb the IT maturity ladder
With solid IT workflows already in place, your organization is probably enjoying greater agility and better user experiences. So, what is next? As AI tools like chatbots and predictive intelligence continue to develop, new chances for IT automation are opening up. This guide highlights the key steps and things to keep in mind as you move to the next level of IT maturity.
Table of contents
Importance of managing organizational change
ServiceNow’s platform stands out for its plug-and-play simplicity and variety of out-of-the-box solutions. But ITSM is all about people. When people are involved, it’s crucial to align, define, and manage processes to build a strong foundation. One that can make the most of ServiceNow’s powerful AI and predictive intelligence tools.
Advancing your IT maturity also means updating governance and changing management thinking. Moving toward more automation and self-service will affect your agent workforce. That’s why strong organizational change management is key to making the transition successful.
- What does this change mean for your organization?
- Why are we making this change, and what is the goal?
- How do we support agents whose roles may evolve or disappear due to increased self-service?
First steps up the ladder
Since many of you already use ServiceNow ITSM Standard, your cloud-based ITSM platform helps you:
Streamline service delivery
By unifying multiple service desks into one platform, you reduce complexity and costs while ensuring consistent service management across your organization.
Improve service quality
Automated workflows with built-in approvals and notifications improve your ability to deliver fast, accurate, and reliable services.
Better user experience
A single system of record makes issue resolution easier and drives self-service, paired with consumer-style web and mobile access to offer personalized, superior service to your users.
What to expect when moving up the IT maturity ladder
Using AI and predictive intelligence helps your IT team deliver better service and work more efficiently.
- Spot problems early and fix them automatically.
- Use chatbots to handle simple requests so your team can focus on bigger issues.
- Give your agents quick and smart suggestions to solve problems faster.
Moving up in IT maturity means automating more and keeping an eye on how your services perform, and not just individual tickets, but the whole service experience.
TIP! You can only improve what you measure! Make sure you set up the right dashboards and measurement tools.
What’s needed to grow ITSM maturity
Growing your IT maturity takes careful planning and a solid ITSM foundation, like the one ServiceNow provides. Every step forward should follow a simple Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle to keep things on track.
ServiceNow Platform
If you’re using mostly out-of-the-box ITSM workflows, you’re already set up for easy maintenance and upgrades. The next step is making self-service the focus. AI can help by routing any kind of ticket and offering smart suggestions to your team.
Your ITSM foundation
Your Common Service Data Model (CSDM) and Configuration Management Database (CMDB) are the backbone of your ITSM. They need to be well-managed, updated automatically, and 100% reliable.
Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle
With ServiceNow Pro tools like KPI Composer, Virtual Agent, Agent Intelligence, Performance Analytics, and Continual Improvement Management, you can continuously improve and reach operational excellence.
Continual ITSM improvement cycle
To get the most out of ServiceNow and make every step toward a more mature ITSM count, it’s important to keep minimized the gap between deployment and real-life. Each new change brings challenges, so making small improvements helps build confidence while moving forward.
- Break it down into small steps.
- Clearly define each step.
- Do this for every process, even the smallest changes.
Plan-Do-Check-Act
Once you’ve defined these small steps, using the Plan-Do-Check-Act cycle for each one will help you improve. This approach lowers costs, speeds up processes, and increases customer satisfaction.
- Plan: What do you want to achieve? Set KPIs that match your ITSM goals and make sure everyone in the organization understands them.
- Do: What can be automated? Automate your ITSM tasks and give your team the tools to keep improving.
- Check: Are things working? Track how your processes perform against your goals and find areas to improve.
- Act: What’s next? Create plans to fix issues and make sure improvements get done.
