Transforming Backlogs into Business Wins

[Simon Hendery]

Every IT team knows the pull of a growing backlog. It starts small, then suddenly everything is orbiting around urgent requests and the loudest stakeholders. Before long, your roadmap looks more like a reaction plan than a strategy.

It doesn’t have to be that way. The real shift happens when leaders flip the gravity: value first, backlog second.

Start by setting three to five clear outcome themes that tie directly to business goals. For example:

• reduce time-to-fulfill by 30 percent
• double self-service adoption
• cut unplanned work by 20 percent
• raise first-contact resolution rates.

These are the types of outcomes that actually move the needle for your customers or employees.

Once you’ve nailed the themes, focus on the capabilities needed to get there — things like better knowledge management, a smarter virtual agent, workflow orchestration, stronger integrations, or AIOps and observability. Then map out quarterly increments that deliver visible progress, not just completed tickets.

In a ServiceNow context, this can mean using Demand Management and Application Portfolio Management to connect epics and features to OKRs and benefit hypotheses. This keeps the conversation anchored on value, not volume.

Applying metrics and guardrails in your delivery process

Before you build, set baselines. Track metrics like cycle time, rework, deflection, and experience scores. You’ll know exactly where you’re improving, and where to course-correct. Guard your delivery with some simple guardrail patterns: naming conventions, update set discipline,  scoped apps and CI/CD pipelines to keep change flowing safely and often.

Avoid the “big-bang” portal refresh. Ship smaller, targeted improvements. Test new widgets, measure how people actually use them, and keep what works. Most resistance to change disappears when you can point to data that proves adoption. ServiceNow’s Virtual Agent can be a powerful tool here to boost self-service uptake.

Finally, use your quarterly business reviews as a chance to rebalance. Measure benefits realized versus promises made. Recut scope without hesitation.

When you anchor your roadmap on outcomes and capabilities, the backlog becomes what it should be: fuel for progress, not the force deciding your future.