ServiceNow ITSM Implementation | County Government

From Manual Processes to Modern IT: Transforming Service Delivery with ServiceNow ITSM

The Client

This thriving United States county serves a diverse and growing community. Their role is to provide essential services to residents ranging from public health and safety to infrastructure management. With a large population and an expanding array of services, The County’s IT department is vital to ensuring the smooth delivery of services to all departments, facilitating communication and operational efficiency across the board.

The Challenge

The County had made a significant investment in an ITSM platform, Cherwell, but found that it wasn’t meeting their evolving needs. Despite their commitment to modernizing their IT operations, the platform’s limitations were holding them back. Manual processes still dominated, hindering productivity, and a lack of visibility into core ITSM workflows led to day-to-day inefficiencies and prevented leadership from making data-driven business decisions. Even after four years, The County was far from realizing the ROI expected from Cherwell.

Ivanti’s announcement to deprecate and end support for Cherwell added urgency to the situation. The County needed a more scalable and flexible ITSM solution that better aligned with best practices and seamlessly integrated with their external partners, reducing workflow friction. The leadership team recognized the need to address these gaps and ensure their IT operations could keep pace with their growth and increasing demands. This led them to partner with Beyond20 to implement ServiceNow ITSM as a comprehensive, future-looking solution.

The Engagement

Every civil servant deserves access to technology that will make their work lives easier as they provide critical services to the community.

The stakes were high with this engagement: Cherwell’s looming end of life meant there was no time to waste. Our Rapid Time to Value project methodology allowed us to jump in without missing a beat, collaborate closely with The County’s team, and execute a strategic, efficient transition to ServiceNow ahead of their Cherwell license renewal.

We began with design workshops: targeted sessions that both educated The County’s team on ServiceNow’s capabilities and gathered requirements to tailor the solution to their needs. These workshops were designed to maximize understanding and minimize delays, so the project could progress swiftly while meeting their specific goals.

From there, we moved to core configuration: establishing and hardening the new ServiceNow environment, activating essential plugins, and building the foundation that would support all of their IT operations. Each subsequent phase was handled with the same focus on speed and precision:

• Incident Management: We built a streamlined process to centralize IT incident handling, delivering a single point of contact for employees to resolve issues quickly and effectively, reducing downtime almost immediately.
• Problem Management: To prevent repeat issues, we enabled a module that would allow the IT team to identify and address root causes, proactively minimizing the impact of incidents over time and driving long-term stability.
• Change Management: By establishing standardized change processes for normal, emergency, and routine changes, we reduced the risk of disruptions, ensuring that all adjustments to the IT environment were handled smoothly and predictably.
• IT Asset Management and CMDB: We set up a centralized repository for managing IT assets and created a Configuration Management Database (CMDB) that automatically updates, enhancing service awareness and responsiveness and reducing risk.
• Service Catalog: We built a user-friendly service catalog, configuring 20 diverse and dynamic catalog items, enabling employees to request and receive services faster than ever before—an essential improvement given the looming deadline.
• Knowledge Management: With two newly developed knowledge bases—one for IT staff and another for all employees—we empowered self-service, integrating known error information directly with problem management to cut down on support tickets and resolution time.
• Employee Portal: We created a one-stop-shop where employees across The County could easily access and request IT services, improving efficiency and service delivery from the start.
• Virtual Agent: To support employee self-service even further, we configured an intelligent chatbot that connected with the knowledge bases, providing immediate answers and helping users resolve issues on their own.
• Mobile Configuration: To ensure IT staff could remain agile and resolve issues on the go, we set up a mobile-friendly ServiceNow experience tailored to their needs.
• Third-Party Integrations: Integrating more than six external applications, including Intune, Endpoint, MS Teams, and Active Directory, we ensured seamless data flow, increasing efficiency and connectivity throughout The County’s IT operations.
• System Integration Testing and UAT Guidance: We ensured that all ServiceNow modules worked together smoothly through comprehensive testing. Our team also guided The County’s staff through user acceptance testing, reinforcing their training and familiarity with the system.
• Training and Long-Term Resources: To guarantee immediate adoption, we trained around 50 employees on the full suite of implemented modules. We also provided quick reference guides and job aids, giving The County resources to maintain and optimize their platform long-term.

From initial workshops to final integrations and training, every step of this engagement was designed to get The County off of Cherwell and fully live on ServiceNow quickly and precisely, enabling them to meet their deadline and achieve a seamless transition.

The Result

Beyond20’s implementation of ServiceNow ITSM delivered significant results for The County’s IT department, transforming how they delivered services and equipping them to meet both immediate deadlines and future needs.

Enhanced Service Delivery: With all IT operations centralized on ServiceNow, The County’s IT team gained visibility and control over requests, which translated into faster resolutions and more consistent outcomes. Streamlined workflows ensured that departments received quick, reliable service—making IT support a dependable resource for the entire organization.

Scalability and Flexibility: ServiceNow’s architecture gave The County the ability to respond quickly to changing needs—whether adding new service offerings, integrating third-party applications, or managing assets across their environment. With the CMDB and asset management in place, the team could manage and adapt quickly without the burden of costly workarounds.

Alignment with Best Practices: By implementing ITSM best practices through ServiceNow, The County established consistent processes across incident, problem, and change management. This consistency improved response times, reduced errors, and made the IT department a trusted partner within the organization, ensuring smoother operations and a stronger support structure.

Improved User Experience: The launch of the self-service portal, virtual agent, and knowledge bases significantly improved the experience for employees. With easy access to IT resources and self-service tools, employees could resolve common issues on their own, reducing the demand on IT support and driving higher satisfaction across the board. The IT team was equipped to respond quickly to complex needs, while end-users could find answers independently.

Transitioning from their legacy Cherwell system, The County didn’t just address their immediate IT challenges—they set themselves up for sustained success. Beyond20’s ability to rapidly deliver a solution tailored to The County’s needs ensured that the IT team was ready to deliver exceptional service from day one, meeting their deadline while laying the groundwork for an efficient and adaptable IT environment.