5 Common Pitfalls in ServiceNow Implementations (And How to Avoid Them)

[Jamie L Douglas]

In my 15 years of leading and guiding ServiceNow implementations across a variety of industries, I've seen many organisations struggle with similar, avoidable challenges. Drawing from this extensive hands-on experience, I want to highlight five common pitfalls that frequently derail ServiceNow projects and provide practical, real-world advice to help you proactively avoid them.

1. Underestimating Organisational Change Management (OCM)

Too many organisations see OCM as an "optional extra" rather than essential. Employees naturally resist change, especially when it disrupts their daily routines. When communication, engagement, and training are neglected, employees quickly become frustrated, which negatively influences how the platform is perceived internally. I've observed implementations go smoother when companies proactively involve users—such as running naming competitions for their self-service portal or gamifying early adoption—making employees feel part of the journey.

How to Avoid:

• Define OCM clearly from the outset and allocate resources accordingly.
• Budget explicitly for OCM activities, including partner-facilitated workshops to identify critical OCM needs.
• Engage users early through gamification and interactive activities.
• Provide targeted OCM support and training, including platform admin teams.

Consequences of No Action:

• Low adoption rates and high user frustration.
• Negative perceptions of the ServiceNow implementation.
• Delays in achieving business outcomes.

2. Weak Governance Leading to Technical Debt and Unmanageable Demand

ServiceNow implementations can quickly spiral into chaos without strong governance. After launching ServiceNow, demand for its capabilities often skyrockets. Without a structured method to prioritise and assess incoming demands, IT teams get overwhelmed, resorting to quick fixes or patchy solutions. In one scenario, I encountered a rushed implementation of a task management application because "there wasn’t enough time" to properly assess requirements. The solution worked technically but didn't fully meet security or operational needs, causing long-term inefficiencies.

How to Avoid:

• Establish clear governance roles across three levels: Strategic (financial decisions), Demand (prioritising requests), and Technical (solution best practices).
• Introduce structured forms and processes to evaluate and prioritise enhancement requests.
• Regularly involve enterprise architects to ensure alignment with broader business strategy.

Consequences of No Action:

• Increased technical debt and higher ongoing costs.
• Inefficient resource allocation, causing project delays.
• Unmanageable backlog of unprioritized requests.

3. Lack of In-House ServiceNow Expertise

ServiceNow expertise is expensive, and many organisations understandably struggle to recruit and retain skilled platform administrators. Unfortunately, inexperienced admins often lack comprehensive knowledge of ServiceNow best practices, unintentionally leading to excessive customisations and management complexity. Recently, during a local SNUG, a new AI feature called 'text-to-flow' was showcased. While appealing to novices, I highlighted the risk of inexperienced users creating numerous duplicates and poorly governed flows, inevitably leading to technical debt and degraded performance.

If your organisation plans to leverage team members new to the ServiceNow platform, consider investing in developing a robust citizen development strategy aligned closely with your governance framework. In the short term, it’s beneficial to seek external partner guidance and mentorship, alongside proactively engaging the ServiceNow IMPACT team. IMPACT can support you with health checks, capability assessments, and tailored learning recommendations, ensuring your internal team develops safely and effectively within clearly defined governance boundaries.

How to Avoid:

• Offer structured training paths using ServiceNow’s free on-demand resources, regularly refreshed to match platform updates.
• Engage ServiceNow’s IMPACT team proactively to assess internal capabilities and design tailored learning plans.
• Clearly define internal roles within your governance model, assigning routine tasks to internal admins and escalating complex decisions through your technical governance forums.

Consequences of No Action:

• Excessive customisations leading to performance degradation.
• Increased dependence on external, costly fixes.
• Reduced platform effectiveness and business value.

4. Underestimating User Acceptance Testing (UAT)

UAT is often viewed merely as a contractual obligation, leaving untrained end-users to muddle through testing without proper guidance. Ironically, most organisation don't realise users can't meaningfully test a system they've never been trained on. This oversight frequently results in delays, increased costs, and significant frustration. My approach, "Guided UAT," involves hands-on, collaborative sessions immediately after sprint showcases. I walk users through features step-by-step, answering questions, clarifying doubts, and efficiently resolving issues. This method not only ensures thorough testing but also greatly improves user adoption, satisfaction, and long-term platform success.

How to Avoid:

• Implement "Guided UAT," facilitating structured interactive testing sessions.
• Combine these sessions with hands-on training, addressing questions and issues in real-time.
• Ensure regular, collaborative communication to quickly identify and rectify issues, building confidence and user buy-in.

Consequences of No Action:

• Significant project delays and cost overruns.
• Lower user satisfaction and adoption.
• Increased support burden post-launch.

5. Lack of Strategic Vision and Direction

Too often, ServiceNow is implemented without a clear strategic direction, resulting in a series of disconnected, short-term solutions rather than a cohesive platform aligned with broader business goals. Without a solid roadmap, you're far more likely to encounter the issues we've already covered—like poor adoption from insufficient change management, governance challenges causing technical debt, internal skill gaps, and ineffective UAT. Ultimately, this reduces the value of your licenses, leaves powerful features unused, and diminishes your return on investment.

In my experience, organisations that invest early in a clear strategic vision and roadmap can proactively address these challenges. A well-defined roadmap improves usability, enhances user perceptions, provides clear governance guidance, and reduces technical complexity, ensuring your platform delivers genuine long-term value.

How to Avoid:

• Create a practical, achievable roadmap that aligns directly with your business objectives.

• Regularly revisit and refine the roadmap with senior stakeholders, adjusting as business needs evolve.

• Clearly define success criteria linked to your strategy, regularly evaluating progress and adapting as needed.

• Use your roadmap as the central reference in governance discussions, prioritisation decisions, and capability planning.

Consequences of No Action:

• Fragmented, short-sighted solutions with limited scalability.

• Increased exposure to the pitfalls discussed earlier (OCM, governance, skills gaps, ineffective UAT).

• Lower ROI, missed opportunities, and higher long-term platform management costs.

By proactively addressing these common pitfalls—prioritising change management, establishing effective governance, strengthening internal skills, defining a clear strategic vision, and rigorously executing UAT—organisations can dramatically improve their ServiceNow implementations. This structured approach ensures not only a smooth go-live but also sustained long-term value, strong user adoption, and maximised return on your ServiceNow investment.