ServiceNow ITSM Pro Implementation | County Government
15 Weeks to Go-Live: A County Government’s Race to Modernize IT Service Management The Client A large county government in…
A large county government in the southeastern United States oversees more than 60 agencies and public service operations, including transportation, public safety, parks, libraries, and human services. Thousands of employees work across these departments to deliver essential services to the communities they serve.
Behind the scenes, the County’s enterprise IT team supports the technology that keeps these operations running, serving approximately 8,000 users across more than 800 departments and organizational units. With so many different locations, schedules, and service requirements, managing IT services consistently across the organization is no small task.
When the County’s legacy Cherwell platform approached end of life, its IT team found itself up against the clock. With licenses set to expire, the County had just 15 weeks to move to a new IT service management platform before risking disruptions to the services its employees depended on every day.
And for an organization supporting more than 60 agencies, switching platforms was no small undertaking.
Each department had its own operational needs, service expectations, and stakeholders. Establishing consistent processes for handling incidents, changes, requests, and knowledge would require careful coordination across the organization. On top of that, the County needed to connect several existing enterprise systems, establish foundational data and processes, and prepare its IT teams to take ownership of the new platform.
The County saw an opportunity to do more than replace an aging system. As part of a broader effort to modernize its operations and explore new technologies, leadership wanted to build an ITSM environment that would improve how employees received support, give IT teams better visibility into their work, and establish more consistent processes across departments.
It was an ambitious goal for a 15-week window. The County needed a partner who knew Cherwell, understood ServiceNow, and could help its teams make the right decisions quickly enough to meet a deadline that wasn’t moving.
With extensive experience helping organizations transition from Cherwell to ServiceNow, Beyond20 was brought in to lead the County’s implementation of ServiceNow IT Service Management Professional (ITSM Pro).
The timeline was tight, so getting everyone aligned early was essential. Beyond20 began with a focused two-week design phase, working closely with County stakeholders to define requirements, establish priorities, and make key decisions about how the new environment should operate.
Rather than spending months in planning sessions, the team turned those requirements into a prioritized backlog and got to work. Configuration took place over three consecutive two-week sprints, with demonstrations at the end of each sprint so County stakeholders could review progress, provide feedback, and keep the project moving.
Just as important was deciding what not to carry over from Cherwell. Beyond20 recommended staying close to out-of-the-box ServiceNow functionality wherever possible, helping the County avoid unnecessary customization and the maintenance headaches that often come with it.
The implementation covered six core ITSM practices, with configurations designed around the County’s day-to-day operations:
To bring everything together, Beyond20 also configured the foundational elements of the platform, including roles, assignment groups, business hours, notification templates, and reporting dashboards.
Four integrations connected ServiceNow with the County’s existing enterprise systems: Microsoft Entra ID for user and group information, SCCM for configuration item updates, Cisco for interaction records, and single sign-on for authentication. These connections allow essential information to flow into ServiceNow without requiring teams to enter it manually.
Throughout the project, Beyond20’s technical architects, process consultants, and engagement managers worked alongside County stakeholders to keep decisions moving and requirements aligned. Each testing scenario was tied to an approved requirement, helping the team catch issues early and keep last-minute scope changes from putting the deadline at risk.
The engagement also included user acceptance testing, training, and knowledge transfer to prepare the County’s IT teams to manage the new environment themselves.
From initial design through go-live, the focus stayed on delivering a working, maintainable platform within the County’s 15-week window.
Fifteen weeks after kickoff, the County was live on ServiceNow ITSM Pro, successfully retiring Cherwell before its licenses expired.
What began as a time-sensitive replacement project gave the County an opportunity to improve how IT services are delivered across the organization. With six ITSM practices in place, integrated enterprise systems, and a new employee self-service experience, the County now has a stronger foundation for supporting its workforce.
A Deadline Met, With Room to Grow
The County completed its transition within the 15-week window, moving off its legacy platform without extending its Cherwell licensing. By building around native ServiceNow functionality, the team also avoided carrying unnecessary customization into the new environment, making future upgrades and enhancements easier to manage.
More Consistent IT Service Delivery
With standardized workflows for incidents, problems, changes, requests, and knowledge, IT teams have a more consistent way to manage work across departments. Clearly defined categorization, prioritization, assignment, and approval models have helped simplify service delivery, with the County already reporting faster response times and more consistent workflows.
An Easier Way for Employees to Get Help
A branded Employee Center gives County employees a central place to report incidents and submit service requests. Two dedicated knowledge bases also make information easier to organize, maintain, and access, giving employees and IT staff a more consistent support experience.
Better Visibility, Less Manual Work
With Service Operations Workspace and reporting dashboards available from day one, IT teams and leadership have a clearer view of service activity, workloads, and performance. Four enterprise integrations keep user, configuration item, and interaction data flowing into ServiceNow, reducing manual entry and helping teams work with more reliable information.
A Foundation for What Comes Next
The County’s IT teams were trained and prepared to take ownership of the new environment at go-live. Additional enhancements, including incident templates, portal announcements, and risk assessment scoring, were captured in a prioritized backlog, giving the team a clear starting point for continued improvement.
The County entered the project with a looming deadline, a complex IT environment, and plenty of decisions to make. Fifteen weeks later, Cherwell was retired, ServiceNow was live, and its IT teams were ready to take the reins. With a more consistent approach to service management in place, the County now has a solid foundation to build on as it continues improving the IT services its teams rely on every day.
Beyond20 is a ServiceNow Elite Partner dedicated to changing work life for our clients through rapid time to value across the ServiceNow platform. We help organizations make ServiceNow work in practice and for people, combining platform-spanning expertise, practical guidance, and hands-on delivery to help teams move with confidence and see value faster.
