How to determine value in real life

[major li]

Hi Community,

From the product document, I am aware of the following methods. 

Value (score_value field) is calculated as (*) 

a. Impact (60%)

Low: ❤️ locations and/or 1 Business Unit/Central Function
Medium: ≥3 locations and/or >1 Business Unit/Central Function
High: >15 locations and/or > 2 Business Units/Central Functions

b. Financial Return (40%):

10 if Financial Return >$1M

9  if $750K< Financial Return < $1M

8  if $500K< Financial Return < $750K

6 if $250K< Financial Return <  $500K

4 if $100K< Financial Return < $250K

2 if $50< Financial Return <$100K

1 if $0< Financial Return <$50K

However, in your daily work as a demand manager, are you following this? I have 2 recent case

1. a demand is submitted to pull data from SAP to cmn_location table. From the measurement, is the impact high? 

2. in the screening phase, when stakeholders are asked to assess the strategic alignment. one of the question is "does the demand align with strategic priority of the organization?". what if this demand aligns with business strategy, but they found wrong IT product to implement the demand? for example, aws may be more suitable for servicenow in some cases. how to make sure the demand management process align the right product with the right demand?

Thank you. 

[Shashank_Jain · Accepted solution]

@major li ,

• Product Scoring (Impact 60% + Financial Return 40%) is baseline guidance, but in practice demand managers adapt it with qualitative inputs, strategic alignment, and resource availability.

• Case A – SAP → cmn_location: Could be High Impact if data is used across many locations/business units; scope must be clarified before scoring.

• Case B – Strategic alignment vs. solution fit: A demand can align with business strategy but propose the wrong IT product.

  • Treat alignment (business need) separately from solution fit (technology choice).

  • Demand may be approved, but solution re-evaluated (via architects/governance).

• Best Practice: Don’t rigidly follow scoring; validate impact scope; separate demand alignment from solution fit; use governance (Architecture Review Board, portfolio managers) to ensure the right product is chosen.

[Shashank_Jain · Accepted solution]

@major li ,

• Demand management is organization-wide, focusing on prioritizing business needs across all departments, not tied to a single IT product.

• Approval of a demand ≠ approval of the solution; demand approval confirms the need, not the implementation.

• Solution fit is determined after demand approval, typically through:

  • ARB/Demand Board reviews

  • Solution assessment workflows

  • Integration with portfolio management for investment and delivery alignment

• Key principle: Separate “what to do” (demand) from “how to do it” (solution) to avoid premature technology decisions and ensure strategic alignment.
  
  If these solutions were helpful , please accept the solution and close the thread.
  That will be much appreciated.

[major li]

 it is no doubt the best answer ever

[Shashank_Jain]

Thank you for the kind words @major li ,

As per community new feature, you can mark multiple answers as accepted, if the above solution was also helpful, mark that too accepted as a solution.

Thanks in advance!

[major li]

Just did @Shashank_Jain .

May I ask is there an OOTB feature from ServiceNow to support 

• ARB/Demand Board reviews

• Solution assessment workflows

Or how do you practice in real life?