Any top tips for a successful implementation of PPM?

[Richard Smith3]

We are in the process of moving all of our projects onto Service Now. Do you have any top tips for ensuring a successful implementation / transition onto the PPM tool? we are currently manual with some Project Managers using spreadsheets to manage projects and other MS Project 

[Uncle Rob]

YES!  My favorite question to answer!

#1 SINGLE MOST IMPORTANT TIP FOR ANY SERVICENOW IMPLEMENTATION

Know what problem you're trying to solve, and what success & failure look like.  Then (and this is the trick part), ensure you're measuring with Performance Analytics towards those aims.  This is especially true of ITBM, because the reasons why people deploy are so varied.  
Are you trying to get better at up front estimation?
Are you trying to vet projects more accurately?
Are you trying to minimize plan deviations?
Are you trying to reduce risk exposure?  Reduce / Manage Project Issues?  Sop over allocations?  

Those are questions you need to ask *before* launching an implementation.

A little less important, but still worth mentioning...

Plan to use PPM for the Enterprise, not the first group of PMs to lay hands on ServiceNow.
I've seen at LEAST 3 PPM implementations go south because a few IT PM's want to customize out-the-wazoo, and then its borderline useless when the rest of the enterprise wants to use it.

[Richard Smith3]

Thanks Robert that is helpful.

We are primarily looking to improve outcomes of our projects through having clarity around best practice and getting visibility over progress - we have customised the system to achieve this i.e. built in a simple but standard process. We are also applying it across all projects.

[natashahunter · Accepted solution]

I agree with Robert's advice...and just as well, a topic I can discuss in great detail, but will try and stick to the high points:

1. Meet with all of your current and prospective project users, understand their requirements and ask to see what they are currently tracking and what their process is. Understand their critical needs - (must haves, should haves, could haves, want to haves) so you have an understanding of where they are and what is important to them, but also what is "pie in the sky" so you know what their vision is - this will help you develop a roadmap. Also understand what they are asked to report on (currently) or what they would like to report on. This is also helpful so you understand what data needs to be captured...if you do not or cannot capture the data, it cannot be reported on. Understand their current pain points.

2. Stay as OOTB as possible - this will help with upgrades/patches and with scalability/on-boarding new groups and making the tool as globally applicable as possible. ServiceNow has been making lots of modifications to Project Portfolio Suite - so much so that a lot of enhancements or customizations we have been asked about by our users have typically been addressed via an upgrade or is on the roadmap (win-win in my book - users got what they needed and less dev we needed to do!).

If custom fields are requested, ask the question - does this make sense for everyone that is/will be using project, why is this important to capture, what value does it bring? 

If not applicable to everyone, you can still add the field, but not add to the form - the people that need to see it can still add it to a list view or report to view or edit the data - we have done this for a group that had a very particular need for data and this has worked very well for them.

As a future enhancement and when you get to a point - you can look at creating different views of the project form or project task form, but that brings about other things like roles/ACLs, etc.

3. Find the commonalities between the groups and work towards an MVP (minimum viable product) or first iteration of Project (which, again, should be as OOTB as possible, with some minor adjustments to support your organization and your user's needs) to get your users in the system and using it - they will help continue shape and evolve the tool through familiarity and utilization. Think 80/20 - people's needs change, businesses change so trying to deliver a solution that is 100% aligned is really very elusive with how much things evolve from day-to-day. For the more unique asks, keep a backlog and see what can be incorporated at a later time, always circling back with your users to ensure it is something still desired and before you do any work, check the release notes for future upgrades in case it is something that ServiceNow is already planning for).

4. Be thoughtful in your training approach - offer multiple sessions in various formats (recordings, live, ecopy) and hold users accountable to attend the training - including a top down approach (work with Leadership to communicate the importance of training attendance).

5. From there, encourage an active, continuing dialog between yourself and your users once they begin using to understand what is working well and what are continued pain points. Develop a communication celebrating the utilization and what is currently in-flight, as well as tips or best practices.

[Richard Smith3]

Thanks Natasha that is helpful