Overview
The ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) Implementation project will provide an enterprise-level service management tool that serves Washington University in St. Louis’ (WashU) human resources (HR), finance (FIN), and Workday Student teams. The current solution requires HR teams to work in two different instances of ServiceNow, hindering efficiency and increasing the risk of poor user experience. This project adds functionality to the more modern instance of ServiceNow to meet the business needs of HR, FIN, and the Workday Student support teams without requiring those teams to follow processes designed specifically for IT support teams. In addition to implementing this new ServiceNow module to meet the needs of support teams, this project expands our current ServiceNow service portal to allow a single entry point for HR, FIN, Workday Student, and IT support requests, as well as a consistent support portal to check the status of support requests. Current entry points (support emails, for example) will also be maintained to minimize disruption while taking advantage of the new functionality this project introduces.
Project Background
The current module of IT ServiceNow, ITSM (IT Service Management) was leveraged for the Workday HCM and FIN support team as a part of the MyDay program rollout. A known gap at the time was that the team’s HR business partners used a different instance of ServiceNow, and business partners in Financial Services managed support requests via email or other means. This made cooperation between teams difficult, leading to a confusing user experience for our coworkers needing support. The upcoming rollout of Workday Student presents another layer of complexity to this service support picture, and so the ServiceNow CSM (Customer Service Management) project began, with the goal of streamlining the support experience for both support teams and those needing to request support.
Requirements & Objectives
The goals of this project are:
- Improved end-user experience: searchability, consistency, streamlined access
- Interoperability: passing tasks to multiple groups seamlessly without the need for double entry in redundant systems, tied to single record
- Security: sensitive data info visible only to appropriate WashU personnel
- Improved fulfiller experience: Ability to track ticket status from creation to completion, workspace/dashboards to allow the fulfillers to quickly identify tasks and priorities, the ability to use workflow templates for common tasks
- Scalability: system set up to easily onboard other support groups
Centralize & Modernize Services
- Centralize all requests for Workday Student, FIS, Finance Operations, HR Operations and HRIS into a single digital platform
- Implement an intuitive self-service platform for requestors to find what they need
- Modernize the ways requestors get information and support through digital transformation
Simplify & Automate Processes with CSM
- Improve efficiency of Service Delivery through modern case management
- Leverage process automation technology to reduce manual activities, allowing Service Delivery teams to operate in their highest value
- Improve operational performance and strategic decision making through actionable data insights and analytics
Establish a Foundation for Platform Expansion and Maturity
- Consolidate content, process, and support into a single service delivery platform
- Optimize ROI of the ServiceNow CSM platform
- Enable WashU to expand platform capabilities to solve for complex enterprise business needs
What is Changing?
Previously, a user needing support would have to go to several different webpages to find support email addresses or different support portals which led to confusion. In future state, users will have a single support portal to get help with IT, HR, FIN and finance issues, as well as Workday Support. The idea is to streamline and improve the support process to give users a consistent way to check on the status of their support request in ServiceNow CSM.
CFU/Finance Operations & Payroll
Previously the support groups managed support requests through email or other methods. Sometimes, CFU/Financial Operations & Payroll would receive emails from support requests that should be handled by other groups such as HR. In the past, there was no good way to pass support requests from one group to another. ServiceNow CSM gives those groups a standard way to intake support requests and pass them to these groups with all of the information intact.
Workday Finance Support
Workday Finance Support currently manages their support requests in the IT-focused module (ITSM), which often presents limitations, especially when work needs to be passed to their CFU Financial Operations partners. Switching to ServiceNow CSM allows the Workday Finance Support team to configure workflows, SLAs, and other items without impacting IT’s use of ServiceNow.
HR Operations/Central HR Operations/Benefits/Employee Engagement
Previously, these teams managed their support requests in ServiceNow, but were using a heavily customized version of the platform, limiting their ability to take advantage of new ServiceNow functionality. Switching to ServiceNow CSM gives HR & Central HR Operations, Benefits and Employee Engagement the opportunity to move to the more modern instance of ServiceNow, and partner with their Workday Support teams and finance teams to pass tickets easily between them.
Other Central HR Groups
Other central HR groups were often using custom email addresses to manage support requests. ServiceNow CSM gives them a more consistent way of tracking, assigning and reporting on support requests, as well as a consistent way to pass work between other groups using ServiceNow CSM.
Workday HR Support
Workday HR Support currently manages their support requests in the IT-focused module (ITSM), which often presents limitations, especially when work needs to be passed to their central HR Operations partners. Switching to ServiceNow CSM allows the Workday HR Support team to configure workflows, SLAs, and other items without impacting IT’s use of ServiceNow.
The Workday Student support team will utilize ServiceNow CSM to manage support needs and requests starting with the first go-live date for Workday Student in September 2024. Training and self-service resources for users of Workday Student will be available on Workday@WashU in summer 2024. Find out more about Workday Student go-live year dates and resources on the Student Sunrise website.
Project Timeline
ServiceNow CSM’s project kicked off in January 2024. There will be staggered go live dates for implementation starting in summer 2024 and continuing into the fall 2024 for (HR, Fin, IT & Workday Student).
The project’s timeline allows our team to conduct rigorous planning, testing, deployment and engagement to ensure a smooth deployment of ServiceNow CSM ahead of the Workday Student deadlines.
Project Milestones
The implementation of ServiceNow CSM will be executed following a structured and phased approach, ensuring a systematic transition process.
| Milestone 1 | Project Kickoff Meeting Current State Assessment and Readout, Discover Stage Gate Approval, CSM Core Setup Workshop | Kickoff Session complete and materials shared – 100% Current State Sessions complete, and materials shared – 100% Gate Approval sent for Brian L approval – 100% CSM Core Setup Sessions complete, and materials shared; complete – 100% | Mon 1/22/24 | Fri 2/23/24 Completed all tasks by 2/16 |
| Milestone 2 | CSM Process Flow and Services Workshop, Interaction Workshop, Configurable Workspace Workshop, Sprint 1 Demo | Process flows and services workshops completed 2/22 – 100% Interaction workshop completed 2/29 – 100% Configurable workspace sessions completed – 100% Sprint 1 Demo – completed 3/13 – 100% | Mon 2/19/24 | Fri 3/15/24 Completed all tasks by 3/15 |
| Milestone 3 | Case Management/Case Types/Forms Workshop, CSM Data Model Workshop, CSM Knowledge Workshop, Basic Portal Immersive Workshop, Reporting and Metrics Workshop, Sprint 2 Demo, Sprint 3 Demo, UAT Enablement Session | Case Mgmt workshops – Complete 4/4 CSM Data Model (along with the Core Config) Workshop – Complete 3/8 Knowledge – Complete 4/17 Portal Workshops – workshops complete as of 4/12; mockup design review scheduled for 4/29 Reporting / Metrics – Complete 4/8 Sprint 2 demo complete – 3/27 Sprint 3 demo complete – 4/3/24 UAT Enablement Session – Complete 3/7 | Mon 3/4/24 | Fri 4/19/24 |
| Milestone 4 | HR Case Type Workshop, Design Stage Gate Approval, Sprint 4 Demo, Sprint 5 Demo | Case Mgmt workshops – Complete 4/4 Document being drafted by Cask – Expect 5/31 Sprint 4 Demo scheduled for 4/24 Sprint 5 Demo schedule for 5/8 | Mon 4/18/24 | Fri 5/31/24 |
| Milestone 5 | Sprint 6 Demo, Sprint 7 Demo | Sprint 6 Demo scheduled for 5/22 Sprint 7 Demo scheduled for 6/5 | Mon 5/6/24 | Fri 6/7/24 |
| Milestone 6 | Sprint 8 Demo, Create Stage Gate Approval, UAT Testing, UAT Certification, Evaluate Stage Gate Approval | Sprint 8 Demo scheduled for 6/20 | Mon 6/3/24 | Fri 7/12/24 |
| Milestone 7 | Train-the-Trainer Activities, End User Training, Go-Live, Hypercare, Transition Support to WashU, Project Closeout Meeting | Mon 6/3/24 | Fri 7/26/24 |
Project Sponsors
| Name | Title |
| Erin Culbreth | Senior Associate Provost |
| Pat Gray | Associate Vice Chancellor of Human Resource Systems |
| Jason Burg | Associate Vice Chancellor of Financial Information Systems |
| Mark Craig | Executive Director Enterprise Applications |
Contact
Email us with questions.