Multi-Vendor Operating Model Through a ServiceNow Centre of Excellence and Innovation

[Akash Bhardwaj]

As organizations scale their ServiceNow adoption, one of the biggest challenges they face is governing and coordinating delivery across multiple vendors while maintaining platform consistency and reducing the Technical Debt.

A well-defined ServiceNow Centre of Excellence and Innovation (CoEI) can address this challenge by establishing a unified framework for governance, architecture, and continuous improvement — ensuring that every enhancement or implementation contributes to a cohesive enterprise platform.

Why a CoEI Matters in a Multi-Vendor Environment

When several partners or delivery vendors are involved in managing different ServiceNow modules or functions, platform fragmentation becomes a real risk.

The ServiceNow CoEI acts as the control tower for all platform initiatives. It defines architectural standards, oversees platform operations, and enforces alignment with the organization’s strategic goals — regardless of which vendor executes the work.

The Tiered Governance Model

A three-tiered governance structure provides clarity of decision-making and accountability across strategic, tactical, and operational levels:

1. Strategy & Governance / Executive Steering Committee
   This tier provides direction and oversight for ServiceNow investments, ensuring alignment with enterprise objectives, budget priorities, and digital transformation goals.
2. ServiceNow Portfolio Governance / Demand Review Board
   The portfolio board evaluates new demands, approves the prioritization of enhancements and projects, and manages the demand pipeline against available capacity.
3. Project Management Governance / Programs & Projects Board
   This layer oversees project delivery — monitoring timelines, risks, dependencies, and overall progress. It forms the execution backbone that connects business strategy to platform outcomes.

Inside the ServiceNow CoEI

The CoEI serves as the single point of accountability for platform excellence, with responsibilities that typically include:

• Architecture & Design Reviews
• Platform Operations (monitoring, upgrades, and performance optimization)
• Process & Data Governance (standardization and naming conventions)
• Dedicated support squads for run-and-operate activities
• Platform strategy and roadmap planning
• Business engagement and continuous improvement

The CoEI ensures every change or initiative is executed within the organization’s defined governance and architectural principles, keeping the platform scalable and secure.

Coordinating Multiple Vendors

In a mature ServiceNow environment, multiple vendors often provide specialized services across areas like ITSM, SecOps, IRM, HRSD, or App Engine.
Rather than allowing each vendor to operate independently, the CoEI brings them together under a common governance and performance framework.

Each vendor is accountable for its deliverables, but all operate within shared SLAs, KPIs, and design standards set by the CoEI.
This unified approach drives consistency, enables reusability, and ensures interoperability across the enterprise platform.

Quality Assurance and Release Management

A centralized QA and Release Management function is critical in this model.
It enforces testing standards, manages controlled release cycles, and ensures that all platform updates are validated before deployment.
This approach protects platform stability, maintains compliance with governance standards, and promotes business continuity.

Organizational Change Management (OCM)

Beyond technology, the success of a multi-vendor model depends on user adoption and cultural alignment.
The OCM function plays a key role in stakeholder engagement, communication, and training — ensuring that new capabilities are understood, accepted, and effectively used across business teams.

Why This Model Works

The strength of the multi-vendor operating model lies in its ability to balance governance and agility.
It fosters innovation across vendors while maintaining centralized control through the CoEI.

The part two of this blog focuses on the RACI under the multi vendor operating model.