Governance and CoEI First: Why It Matters Before You Go Live

Here's the problem:

Often ServiceNow platform governance and a CoEI are the last thing on the mind of an organization as they are initially implementing the ServiceNow platform.  Typically, those implementing are caught up in the capabilities of the platform that spurred the implementation project and are focused on the initial rollout and impact of those capabilities.  (Some customers aren't familiar with the term “CoEI”. It stands for Center of Excellence and Innovation and is ServiceNow's guidance around an organizational model for operating the platform.) 

In these scenarios, the organization is ill-prepared for the surge in demand that follows an implementation project, and the backlog inevitably grows.  Without proper governance and operating structures in place, the ServiceNow team struggles to effectively prioritize the work and risks spending valuable time on work that is not aligned to organizational strategic priorities.  This has a compounding effect as the backlog grows and ultimately results in frustration from business stakeholders – they're not able to unlock any additional value from the platform.

Here’s the fix:
Start thinking about governance and operating models before your implementation kicks off.

✅ Use ServiceNow and Crossfuze guidance to iterate quickly.
✅ Right-size your model to fit your org.
✅ Use it during implementation to guide scope and prioritization.
✅ Have a demand intake process ready on Day 1.
✅ Build your team to be ready before go-live.

Governance isn’t a phase. It’s a foundation.
#letsdothisright