The original article was posted at the UIT Community site on Nov. 28, 2016.
We’re only seven days away from the next release of ServiceNow.
Are you ready?
What’s happening on Dec. 5?
By far the most visible change is the new Services Portal. This will change the way clients access UIT support and will provide new options for getting help, such as the ability to live chat with a Service Desk consultant and easily search for and find self-help information. If you haven’t yet watched the Services Portal video tour, do it now. It is well worth your four minutes.
The December release brings other changes to UIT too.
Since August, ServiceNow has been UIT’s backend tool for:
Problem Management—how we report and track resolution of systemic service issues affecting multiple clients, and
Change Management—how service owners request, communicate, and track changes to their services.
With this next release, ServiceNow will also become UIT’s backend tool for:
Request Management—how our clients gain access to our services,
Incident Management—how we report and track resolutions on service questions and issues reported by an individual client, and
Knowledge Management—how we share service information that helps clients help themselves.
What should I do to be prepared?
Get trained—Certainly, the best thing you can do to be prepared is to attend training. If you’ve already done that, you should be in good shape. If not, there’s still time. Go to our training page to get more information on training opportunities...or search through your email inbox for one of the several emails we’ve already sent you about training.
Practice—You’re welcome to practice on our test system to make sure you’re ready for some of the new processes. Simply go to our training environment and try out the new processes. You can also play around in the new Service Portal. This is a great supplement to training, but not a replacement.
What if I need more help?
We’re all about helping you however we can. Following are some great resources.
Visit our project site—There’s all sorts of support materials at the ServiceNow project site, including past communications and presentation slides, overview videos, user guides, and contact names for all of the ServiceNow processes.
Use our feedback form—Send us questions or concerns using our feedback form. Someone will get back to you quickly.
Stop by the Command Center (post launch)—We’ll have folks on hand to provide you immediate support after the launch. We’ll send you times, locations, contact details in a follow up email on launch day.
Anything else?
Just one more thing. We all know this launch will only be successful with your support. As with any major change, there will undoubtedly be some post-launch turbulence. Stay positive and constructive, and be sure to pass along any concerns immediately to the project team. We are mobilized to minimize or eliminate any problems quickly.
We thank you for all your support in helping us prepare for this release. Thanks to you, we look forward to a successful launch.
