From Kickoff to Cake: How to Set Your ServiceNow Implementation Up for Success

I love what I do.

I love working with our customers, seeing them have their first “aha” moment, and tackling all the fun, messy problems we get to solve together. But like anything, there are parts I don’t love.

One of the biggest? Walking into an implementation where no one has prepared the organization for:

• what activities are about to happen
• the time commitment required
• who can actually make decisions
• and what inputs we’ll need from the business

That’s when things get painful—for everyone.

So you’ve just signed your first implementation SOW.
What should you be thinking about before kickoff and the work that follows?

I’m so glad you asked 
The guidance below will help not only your implementation partner, but your organization as a whole.

Kickoff: Setting the Tone for Everything That Follows

First up is the kickoff. This is where you:

• meet your project team
• walk through the signed SOW
• review the planned schedule
• ask questions (lots of them)

If you’re a Project Manager, you’ll usually have a separate meeting beforehand with the partner’s Engagement Manager to align on key details.

What to do before kickoff

Read the SOW.
I know. I know. That sounds painfully obvious—but trust me, it’s not.

We fully understand that you don’t know what you don’t know, and no question is dumb. No offense to any directors or C-levels reading this, but we often see SOWs signed by folks who don’t live the day-to-day work (and honestly, they shouldn’t be expected to).

Kickoff is about leveling the playing field.

• Speak up if something feels off
• Call out missing scope or discrepancies
• Ask questions early

We want to get aligned now—not in sprint 3 when changes are harder, slower, and more expensive.

Workshops: Where the Real Work Happens

Oh, how I loved in-person workshops.

This is where we dive into how you do things. We want to understand your processes and show you how they map to ServiceNow. This is where we showcase the platform and help you see the art of the possible.

What to expect

Reverse demos
We may ask you to show us how things work today in your current tool. This context is gold.

Decisions (lots of them)
We need answers so we know how to build your system. Sometimes it’s simple:

• “What categories do you need?”

Sometimes it’s not:

• “Which system should we integrate to pull this data?”

Just as important: who is the true decision-maker when opinions differ? We need to know that upfront.

Engagement—especially with remote workshops
With more workshops happening remotely, it’s harder to read the room. In person, you can see faces, body language, and those subtle cues that tell you how things are landing.

I’ve seen grown adults nearly come to blows over decisions.
No, we don’t need that level of passion—but we do need engaged people who know the work and can provide answers.

If workshops are remote:

• be present
• turn cameras on when possible
• participate

Without engagement, we’re guessing—and guessing leads to rework.

One quick aside: partners bill for the hours they work with you.  The more time spent revisiting decisions and redoing workshops, the more money you’re spending on the same conversations.

User Acceptance Testing (UAT): Don’t Skip This

UAT is one of the most critical—and most frequently underestimated—parts of an implementation.

To be blunt: it’s time-consuming. That’s why it often gets pushed off…which leads to:

• project delays
• missed go-live dates
• increased budgets

UAT is where end users get involved to:

• validate the system works as designed
• start getting comfortable with the platform
• adjust to new ways of working

What to expect

UAT scripts
These are written by your organization or your partner and cover end-to-end scenarios like “Open a New Incident.”

Testers will:

• execute the script
• record pass/fail results
• capture feedback for the implementation team

Defects vs. enhancements

• Defect: the system doesn’t meet the acceptance criteria of an approved story
  • In plain English: it’s not working the way you approved us to build it
  • Not “Bob in accounting doesn’t like it” ;)
• Enhancement: a new or changed request

Enhancements should be evaluated by the organization to determine:

• is it essential for go-live?
• is there budget to include it now?

Go Live: Let Them Eat Cake 🍰

You did it!

This is honestly one of the best parts of any project. All the hard work comes together, and you get to celebrate the success of your new platform.

What to expect

A go-live celebration—often involving cake.

And not just any cake. Some of the coolest cakes I’ve seen at customer go-lives include:

• double-decker London buses
• skyscrapers
• trash trucks
• money bags

If you can imagine it, I’ve probably seen it in frosting.

Final Thoughts

This doesn’t cover everything you might encounter, but these activities are foundational. Preparing for them will:

• make your experience smoother
• reduce wasted billable hours
• help your team feel confident and successful

While it may look daunting at first, there’s a lot of fun to be had along the way. The relationships I’ve built with customers—being in the trenches together—are some of the best parts of what I do.

And that’s why, even after 15+ years, I still love this work.