One Size Fits None: The Case for Multi-Modal Change

[JuliaAllenSN]

In today's enterprises, not all teams work the same way - and not all changes carry the same level of risk. Development teams move quickly, operations teams prioritize stability, and regulated environments require more oversight. Yet many organizations still reply on a single change process to support them all. While well intentioned, or perhaps forced due to limited resources, this approach often creates unnecessary friction, slows delivery, and makes it harder for teams to work efficiently within the process. 

Multi-modal change in ServiceNow offers a more practical alternative: a flexible framework that allows different types of changes to follow the right level of governance, while still operating within one cohesive change management model. 

Use this article as a deeper dive and expanding upon the existing best practice 'Change Management Process Guide'  using real world examples of when and why a CAB fails and how ServiceNow can solve problems from both the process view and what it means for the technical teams utilizing the platform. 

What is multi-modal change and why would I need it?

Multi-modal change request is not a feature, but more an operating model. If you have multiple groups, multiple CABs or if low-risk changes are slowing down your regular CAB then that is when the multi-modal change model comes into play. It supports multiple ways of creating, approving, executing and governing changes based on risk and context.

What does it mean to support and run multiple changes at the same time?

It means that instead of having multiple CABs reviewing every single change – following a single process - it allows an organization to run multiple change executions and approvals at the same time within ITSM, and with their own rules. From a software perspective it uses the same table, same governance but perform with different rules.

What multi-modal change is and is not

What it is:

• Different decision paths
• Same system of record
• Unified visibility

What is NOT:

• Different tools
• Different reporting
• Different compliance stories

Warning signs you may need multi-modal change in your Enterprise

The following are common situations where you may begin to consider using a multi-modal change setup:

• Business is slowed down – Go Lives are delayed due to CAB cycles
• There are a lot of “emergency changes”
• Shadow IT is deploying work
• Audits – regulators are asking why approvals are skipped
• Audits – inconsistent evidence that should be provided
• Multiple enterprise teams that require CAB but have different maturity levels (the “one-size-fits all” change process is failing and the teams are following different processes)
• Integrations become common and chaotic
• DevOps teams bypass changes
• Major incidents are tracing back to minor updates
• Change knowledge – some change types need a CAB, others do not, and no one knows why
• Risk decisions are made by who is in the room vs. a true weight or calculation
• Change volume is extremely high or growing
• Leadership starts to ask the big question: “why are we so slow, and still breaking things?”

Common Scenarios

Enterprises usually have a single Enterprise CAB. This would include governing multiple products or platforms. Everyone must follow a single definition of a ‘Normal Change’ process, and everyone has the same approval steps and calendar cadence.

Why does this begin to fail for larger enterprises? CAB begins to become a long meeting, or several meetings, covering “noise” from the products, low risk change are waiting on approvals, real risk discussions become “shallow” because of volume and need to deploy. CABs for different groups become common – the visibility into impacts is missing or in multiple reports, locations, etc.

Governance/Process Example:

With the use of multi-modal different teams can stay within governance, use a single system of record and move ahead quickly. Here are situations where multi-modal control can be utilized, but governance remains even with multiple CABs and multiple teams.

Team	Mode Used	Risk Method	CAB Behavior	Governance
Core Infrastructure	Regular (Normal/Major)	CI criticality, service impacts, blackout windows	Enterprise CAB	High-risk INF changes and fully governed
Customer App Team	Automated / Risk-based	Pipeline evidence, change success scores	No CAB unless score is high	Fast delivery with audit evidence
ERP Team	Major change only	Business impact, compliance controls	Dedicated ERP CAB	Regulatory confidence
Network	Regular	Scope of impact if it fails, downstream dependencies	Network CAB only	Focused technical reviews
Platform / Engineering	Standard, Automated	Template based, historical success	CAB bypassed	Low-risk work does not block CAB
Security Operations	Emergency, Regular	Vulnerability rating, exposure	CAB review post implementation	Rapid response and documented

What stays the same? Same change table, same reporting, same audit trail, visibility into changes and impacts

What changes? Who goes to CAB, when CAB is really required and how risk is determined. CAB stops being a generic meeting everyone wants to hurry through. CAB becomes selective and useful.

The ServiceNow Technical View

Using ServiceNow with multi-modal changes from a technical perspective simply means that you give change managers an easy way to tailor change workflows for different use cases, easily shift into a visible risk intelligence and create change approval policies that can keep teams moving ahead.

Examples:

From a technical perspective, let’s review the various teams above and how the platform supports their multi-modal work.

Key takeaways:

• Teams do not get custom processes, they get policy driven paths through the process
• CAB is no longer a step for everyone, it’s an outcome of risk and policy

Team	Mode Used	Workflow Logic	Approval Policy	Risk Intelligence
Core Infrastructure	Regular (Normal/Major)	Full lifecycle flow with planning, implementation, PIR	Approval policy requires CAB when a risk is higher than medium	CI criticality, service impact
Customer App Team	Automated / Risk-based	DevOps integrated flow auto-created from pipeline	Auto-approval when risks are low	Change success score, pipeline evidence
ERP Team	Major change only	Major change flow with planning blackout checks	Always require approval	Compliance weighing, CI tier
Network	Regular	Network specific workflow with dependency checks	Route to Network CAB only	Scope of impact if it fails, CI relationships
Platform / Engineering	Standard, Automated	Template driven flow	Pre-approved standards	Historic success
Security Operations	Emergency, Regular	Emergency flow with post-implementation review	Retroactive approval required	Vulnerability severity, exposure

Governance

It is important to note that all changes are on the same table, use the same lifecycle states and are reported the same way. Using Change Management module out-of-the-box as the ‘Northstar’ allows enterprises to strengthen governance, drive changes with valid data (risk and evidence) and help get the work flowing again, and leadership trusting in the data.

Additional Information:

• Out-of-the-box Change Models and Flows
• Calculated Risk Scoring
• Change Success Scores
• Change Management – whitepaper for Multi-modal