What I Learned Rolling Out ServiceNow at a Previous Firm

Paul Riley – April 12, 2025  – 6 mins read

Before I joined my current firm, I was leading IT at a multi-office legal business going through a pretty serious period of change — mergers, restructuring, and (as usual) a backlog of support tickets older than some of the interns.

We knew we needed something better than the patchwork of shared inboxes, spreadsheets, and aging ITSM tooling we were using. That’s when we rolled out ServiceNow — and while it wasn’t perfect, it taught me a lot about getting the most from a system that’s as powerful as it is complex.

Why We Chose ServiceNow

We were a growing firm, and our old setup wasn’t scaling:

• No visibility over request volumes
• No real prioritisation — everything was “urgent”
• Auditing was painful
• Cross-department processes (e.g. HR onboarding or facilities) were totally manual

ServiceNow promised structure, automation, and a platform we could expand beyond IT — and it delivered on most of that.

The Wins: Visibility, Consistency, and Accountability

Once we got it embedded, the impact was real.

• Ticket Management That Actually Worked

We introduced true triage flows, SLAs by category, and automatic routing based on department, location, and request type. Suddenly, support stopped being a black hole.

• Better Reporting = Better Resourcing

With clear dashboards and historic data, I finally had the numbers to argue for hiring a second-line resource — and to show which teams were overloaded.

• Repeatable Processes

We built workflows for common events — new starters, laptop requests, offboarding — and automated the approvals and task assignment. That alone saved hours every week.

Where We Struggled (At First)

ServiceNow is powerful — but that’s both a strength and a challenge.

• It Needs Real Ownership

At first, we underestimated how much internal ownership was required. The platform is highly configurable, but if you leave it to external consultants to drive everything, you lose momentum and relevance. Eventually, we brought configuration in-house and things moved faster.

• Don’t Overbuild Early

We tried to roll out CMDB, HR workflows, and change control all at once. In hindsight, I’d have phased that. Start with Incident, Request, and Knowledge — get those working and adopted, then build.

• User Buy-In Takes Time

Lawyers aren’t always quick to adopt new processes. We ran into resistance at first — “Why can’t I just email you?” — but after 3–6 months of consistent use, the benefits became obvious to them too. Visibility and response time improved, and the data started to speak for itself.

The Legal Sector Angle

Legal environments are unique: high expectations, security concerns, and tightly defined workflows. ServiceNow wasn’t “legal-first” — but it was adaptable.

We were able to:

• Integrate with our document management system (iManage)
• Route issues securely by practice area or client matter
• Build workflows for client onboarding and conflict checks

It took work, but the platform had the flexibility. That’s something I respected about it.

Final Thoughts: Fit for Purpose, If You Invest

I’ve since moved to a different firm with a different stack — and we’re using other tools for service management. But I still look back on ServiceNow as one of the most robust platforms I’ve worked with, provided you:

• Commit to owning and configuring it properly
• Roll out in realistic phases
• Build in adoption and training early

If you’re a legal IT leader looking at ServiceNow, I’d say this: it’s not “just” a ticketing tool. It can be the backbone of your operational workflows — across IT, HR, risk, and even client-facing services — if you treat it like a long-term investment.