HeQuestions in regards to Demand Management

[georgimavrodiev]

Hello all,

Recently, I started getting familiar with the Demand module of ServiceNow. I am using it on a DEV instance, which runs on Jakarta, Patch 5.
I already went through the documentation in docs.servicenow.com, and also watch the short demo videos of NOWsupport. No matter, the large amount of information I read - I am having some problems understanding the design of the application. Thus, I would like to address couple of questions to you, with the hope that one of you who is experienced and familiar with Demand will be able to provide me with detailed answers.

Firstly, I would like to say that from what I understand, in a real case scenario, the idea behind Demand module is that an employee will submit an idea. Once this happens > a Demand Manager will review it and if he / she thinks the idea is worth - it will get approved > as a result: a corresponding Demand will be created > then the Demand Manager will start working on it, meaning: he / she will populate the respective Stakeholders Repository or will select a Portfolio (to which users will be assigned in order to become Stakeholders for the Demand record) > the Demand Manager will also use the financial information he / she has on the table or will collect such in order to add it into the Demand record > if any Requirements are required in order for the Demand to be correctly processed - the Demand Manager will be again the one to add them into the Demand. Here, the Manager may add also Benefit Plans or Cost Plans. Once all the information is analyzed and the Demand gets scored by the Stakeholders -> it will go through the different phases of it and it will get enhanced to a project, change, defect or enhancement.

Here are my questions (please apologize me if they are a lot):

- What are the 'Source' & 'Owner' fields inside a Requirement record (Request Related List)? Does the user filled into the 'Owner' field is the one responsible for the investigation, to say so, and the completion of the Requirement? I suppose the user, presented into the 'Source' field is the one who created the Requirement itself, right?

- Who does create the Goal of a Demand? The Demand Manager ONLY? I saw there is no owner of a Goal. It has only its states, so the Demand Manager should be responsible for its fulfillment towards the Demand progress?

- What is the idea behind 'Assessment Instances' Related List? Is it useful in the real life and for which situations?

- I saw that the 'Financial return' depends on the value added into the 'Capital expense' and 'Labor costs'. Why does it not depend on the value of the 'Operational expense'? Also, if a Demand Manager initially adds values on all these fields -> the Financial return and ROI will get calculated automatically, but if a Cost Plan gets added on a later stage -> it will affect the Financial benefit (as it is being added for the first time). Where these automatic calculations are being done and what is the formula?

- Could you please give me a real - case scenario of the following: in which phases of the Demand exactly the Demand Manager is being communicating with all the Stakeholders in order to find out the respective elements and fill in the record in order for the associated parties to be familiar with the progress and benefit, details of the Demand? I would like to receive an answer of this question from someone who uses the OOB Demand module of SNOW on daily bases

- Who are usually the Decision Makers? I doubt it is always the Demand Manager. Well, may be he updates the Decisions in the Demand records, but he is not the one who takes them, right?
May I have a real - case example? I would like to know exactly who can be a Decision maker and what kind of decisions can be taken, depending on the Demand orientation, to say so, or better to say: its purpose (final goal).

- Are the Assessment Results being filled in (calculated) only in the 'Screening' phase and are they are being calculated based on the scores given by the Stakeholders?
Where they come from? How are the Assessment results calculating when moving to 'Screening'?
I see, if the Stakeholders do not provide scoring (do not fill any Assessments) -> then the Assessment Results are being default ones (default Assessment criteria taken in consideration with the lack of 'filled in Assessments by the Stakeholders, as if they fill them in - new results will be calculated). I am right?

- Who fills in the Demand Budget and where it is getting filled in? Even a user with it_demand_manager role cannot fill in the Demand Budget Related List, for example.

- May I receive a definition + scenario (short example) of the Allocation Type & the Allocation Spread plus an explanation of the influence, to say so of the Booking Type, which can be Hard or Soft?

Some technical questions:

- If a user submits an idea -> no notification is being sent over to the Demand Managers. They have to manually and on their opinion to check the Ideation module in order to find out that there is / are new Idea(s). I thought SNOW provides such notification mechanism... ?

- If a Demand Manager accepts and Idea and by doing so - promotes it to a Demand -> no notification is being sent over to the submitter of the idea. The same question as the above one?
Do I need to manually configure such notifications in order to create a notification mechanism of my own? Demand module does not provide such?

- If a Demand record gets into the 'Screening' phase -> no notifications with Assessments are being sent to the Stakeholders. Yet, if I impersonate to one of the Stakeholders and go to Self - Service - there I can see that I have an Assessment to take. I've checked all Business Rules and Notifications OOB and they are active and their trigger - requirements are 'covered'. Yet, no notifications are being sent over to inform the Stakeholders that they have an Assessment to take in order to score a specific Demand record. Is this normal or there is a problem with my instance? I guess I will have to create a custom notification also here.

- A Stakeholder user who has the it_demand_user role cannot update the Demand record at all. He may only see it. Is this expected for a real - case scenario? Only the Demand Manager has to be the one updating the Demand record after communicating with the other parties (Stakeholders)?

Thank you in advance, and once again - please apologize me for the large number of questions of mine!
I really find the Demand module for quite interesting and will be really happy if someone provides me with answers of this query so my interest can become bigger

Best Regards,

Georgi

[georgimavrodiev]

Hello arun.vydianathan and sean.witt@careworkstech.com ,

After reading a lot of topics in regards to Demand Management, here in the IT Business Management section of the Community, I noticed that you two have a really high level of knowledge understanding of Demand and its structure.

Would you be able to provide me with some short answers of the questions of mine, shared above?
Please note that the opening - thread input of mine is quite large one, so I will be glad if you may check it out when you have some free time and share your insights with me. Thank you both!

Best Regards,
Georgi

[georgimavrodiev]

Hello Lisa.Manchester , anna.scheib , and kellykaufmann ,

I would like also to ask you to help me out with my above query when you are available.
I am kind of stuck with the answers... thus, I will really appreciate if you may give me a hand, if Arun and Sean are busy.

In addition, I would like also to check with you if ServiceNow provides some instructor - led training sessions about Demand Management, similar to the CSA or ITSM Fundamentals / Implementation. I searched SabaCloud, but did not manage to find such paid training. Yet, if you know for the existing of such course - please do let me know.

Thank you!

Best Regards,
Georgi

[kellykaufmann]

Hello Georgi

I am on a break from contracting/consulting, but wanted to reply since I am tagged. In short, the detailed and generic processes will vary for every organization. ServiceNow doesn't dictate who does what when - that is left open for the organization to determine, and use the tool to facilitate that. Here is an example of what I have done with Demand in the past - I suggest mapping out something similar for your organization so you can design how to use the system and to be a reference and training material: Process for requested projects - for sharing.pdf - Google Drive     and here is a detailed training guide for that Demands Guide - 20150205.docx - Google Drive . Mapping out Demand requires lengthy discussions that should be led by someone with knowledge of the tool as well as good question-asking. This process typically involves many groups & individuals as many tend to be impacted by this process, and I typically did a series of couple hour meetings every day for a week. Hope this helps.

I hope others will have the time to reply to your specific questions.

[georgimavrodiev]

Hello Kelly,

Thank you for taking from your time to reply!

I find the information, shared by you, for quite useful!
I already answered most of my questions, but the one about the scoring of the demand.
Currently, checking out the Assessment Metric / Results documentation.

Wish you a great day ahead!

Cheers, Georgi