Demand Assessment Data vs Portfolio Scoring Framework

jhwagemaker · ‎03-28-2025

Hi all,

In the old UI the way to score Demands was to use the assessment data on the Demand and then use the Demand Workbench to validate and compare the scores.

In the Strategic Planning Workspace we now have the Scoring Framework to score items. Not just for Demands, but also for Project and Epics.

Any advice on what to use?

staceybailey · ‎03-28-2025

Demand assessments help to inform the decision about whether or not to approve a demand -- should we take this on as a business or not? The questions on the demand assessment should be fairly universal for all types of demands. The results of Demand assessments may also help determine the order of the demands to review for approval amongst leadership / stakeholders to make best use of their time.

The scoring framework within SPW helps to inform the prioritization of planning items within a specific portfolio. Scoring frameworks may vary greatly from Portfolio Plan to Portfolio Plan. The factors that lead to scores for demands related to introducing new market-facing service offerings may be significantly different than those that are related to new back-end operational processes. We can create custom scoring frameworks that make sense for each of these use cases. Then, the scores resulting (along with the original assessment results) can help portfolio plan owners and editors decide how to rank planning items within the backlog, but the neither the scores nor the assessment results dictate priority ranking. We maintain the human in the loop for that.

Please let me know if that helps.

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JR Laprime · ‎04-01-2025

Thanks @Prashant_S. Our portfolios will contain a mix of planning item types, including demands, projects, and epics. For overall portfolio management, we plan to use the WSJF scoring framework to prioritize pipeline and active work, allowing for continuous assessment of priority as new demands are submitted and screened.

However, I am unsure about the role of demand assessments in this process, particularly with the adoption of an out-of-box scoring framework in Strategic Planning Workspace (SPW). It appears that demand assessments and scoring in SPW serve complementary purposes, operating at different stages of prioritization and decision-making within ServiceNow's Strategic Portfolio Management.

Based on product documentation and comments, here is my understanding of the two concepts, their use cases, and overlap:

Demand assessments evaluate and prioritize incoming demands.
Scoring in SPW, using frameworks like WSJF, prioritizes and manages existing pipeline and active work.

More details explaining this summary located at the bottom of this post.

I would like to know if my understanding is accurate and if ServiceNow recommends using both demand assessments and scoring in SPW. While the approach can be tailored to individual business needs, I am looking for guidance on how to minimize redundant process workflows when using SPW/Next Experience.

Demand Assessments

Scoring in Portfolio Planning

Demand assessments are used during the early lifecycle of a demand—typically in the Screening and Qualified states.

They:

Are initiated by demand managers and completed by stakeholders.
Collect qualitative and quantitative feedback on metrics like Risk, Strategic Alignment, ROI, and Cost.
Use metric categories and weighted scores to generate a numerical value, which feeds into bubble charts in the Demand Workbench for comparative analysis.
Help in forming a structured evaluation before a demand is approved or promoted to the portfolio level.

Scoring in SPW is more formalized and focuses on prioritizing planning items (e.g., demands, projects, initiatives) already within a portfolio.

It:

Uses pre-defined frameworks like RICE (Reach, Impact, Confidence, Effort) or Value vs. Effort, or custom scoring frameworks.
Is applied within the Portfolio Planning or Strategic Planning Workspaces for ranking and resource allocation.
Supports scenario planning, roadmap development, and exportable ranking data.

How They Overlap

Both capture structured evaluation metrics, but assessments are collaborative and qualitative, while scoring frameworks are model-driven and quantitative.
Demand assessment scores can inform which demands are included in portfolio plans, where they are then subject to further scoring under a formal framework.
Assessment data may be used as inputs to scoring attributes such as Risk, Strategic Value, or Cost.

In short

Demand assessments feed into the broader prioritization process, and scoring refines that prioritization within a portfolio plan to support investment decisions and scenario planning. They are stages of the same continuum—from idea evaluation to strategic execution

View solution in original post

staceybailey · ‎03-28-2025

Demand assessments help to inform the decision about whether or not to approve a demand -- should we take this on as a business or not? The questions on the demand assessment should be fairly universal for all types of demands. The results of Demand assessments may also help determine the order of the demands to review for approval amongst leadership / stakeholders to make best use of their time.

The scoring framework within SPW helps to inform the prioritization of planning items within a specific portfolio. Scoring frameworks may vary greatly from Portfolio Plan to Portfolio Plan. The factors that lead to scores for demands related to introducing new market-facing service offerings may be significantly different than those that are related to new back-end operational processes. We can create custom scoring frameworks that make sense for each of these use cases. Then, the scores resulting (along with the original assessment results) can help portfolio plan owners and editors decide how to rank planning items within the backlog, but the neither the scores nor the assessment results dictate priority ranking. We maintain the human in the loop for that.

Please let me know if that helps.

jhwagemaker · ‎03-28-2025

Hi Stacey, thank you for reply! This helps a lot!

JR Laprime · ‎03-31-2025

Hi @staceybailey, this is helpful. However, some of the Portfolio Scoring Frameworks seem to have overlap with foundational Demand Assessment questions. Are there any recommendations on how to best use Demand Assessments without introducing redundant questions with Portfolio Scoring (I am particularly interested in comparing with WSJF scoring)?

Prashant_S · ‎04-01-2025

@JR Laprime If your portfolio contains only demands you can use the Score field (which will have the demand assessment scores populated ) to prioritize and rank your demands. However if your portfolio contains mix of Demands, Projects and Epics you can skip the demand assessment scoring and use the scoring frameworks provided as part of Strategic Planning Workspace.