Tech specs
1-8 of 26 reviews
What is our primary use case? The main use cases of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management are project management and resource management. For example, resource management includes tracking the billing rate of architects, product owners, tech leads, or developers, which will be part of resource management. By using the rate card, it associates with a project to determine overall project costing and generates status reports. There's a proper format where Microsoft PowerPoint is used for presentations, and ServiceNow can generate a similar status report. Additionally, onboarding projects from other tools such as Microsoft Project Planner into ServiceNow is a use case, including exporting Excel files for use in Microsoft Project Planner. The integration of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management with other ServiceNow modules improves workflow efficiency by calculating overall project costs associated with vendor management. Each vendor is responsible for multiple projects, and costs can be derived from the project, asset, or contractual portfolio. ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management integrates with the SLM, vendor management, and the contract management modules. When I open a vendor workspace, I can see associated costs, and in the CSDM implementation, services can be tagged against a project for better tracking. This process integration includes project portfolio management, CSDM, vendor management, and contract management. What is most valuable? The complete ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management suite is used for strategic alignment, allowing us to track projects, portfolios, costs, and vendors to make informed decisions based on project tasks. While I may not be able to specify exact strategic outcomes from the SPM, the overall cost can be reduced by eliminating scattered tools such as JIRA and Microsoft Project Planner, which were onboarded into a single platform for multiple processes in ServiceNow, especially with CSDM that offers services-based alignment. The impact of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management's analytics and reporting features on decision-making processes includes utilizing reports based on milestones during project implementations. Some tasks can be delayed or not aligned with requirements, such as in agile-based projects where features such as Sprint Burndown Charts are monitored. Reports can be fetched from SPM showing if milestones have been achieved, allowing for course corrections based on metrics indicating whether they are on track. What needs improvement? Based on observations, improvements in ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management could involve enhancing the project workbench, which currently shows every project to any project manager. Restricting access through ACLs for project managers can be cumbersome, so a portfolio or program workbench that avoids ACL requirements would enhance usability. Additionally, the recommended export and import functionality could be developed into a real-time scenario to allow seamless data synchronization without manual interventions. Lastly, templating project status reports to cater to various project types such as AMS, Agile, or Waterfall could simplify usage across projects. For how long have I used the solution? I have been dealing with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management for approximately one and a half years. How are customer service and support? Technical support from ServiceNow is good, as the HI ticket system is available for any module, including SPM. A client manager is also available for specific use cases, ensuring good support from the technical side. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive What other advice do I have? I would recommend ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management to others. My first impressions of ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management are good because I am learning. I am enjoying using the platform. The solution deserves a rating of 8 out of 10. Disclaimer: My company does not have a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer.
What is our primary use case? We have a lot of services and projects running, and our clients need to align these projects from the innovation phase. They start with an idea and align it with their strategy. Then, they orchestrate the teams performing these solutions or completing these projects so that they can finalize the projects and measure their performance. What is most valuable? The alignment feature between projects from the idea phase until it is finalized is highly valuable. The ability to measure efforts in terms of money and resources is beneficial. Moreover, aligning the portfolio with overall strategy and goals is essential for success. Resource management is another critical component. These features are instrumental in managing business investments effectively. What needs improvement? Improving configuration activities and productivity would be beneficial, as fresh graduates using the system require training to adapt. Additional online help or materials would ease the configuration process. Furthermore, the integration of artificial intelligence is something my customer is considering for future upgrades. For how long have I used the solution? I have used ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management for around six months within the last twelve months. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The solution is stable. I would rate its stability as nine. We have not faced any complaints or issues with its performance. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? The solution's scalability is rated as nine. Scalability is critical for our clients as they deal with numerous projects and changes. It helps in managing the pipeline efficiently. How are customer service and support? I received support from system integrators rather than directly from ServiceNow. However, support is accessible for urgent needs, although they should improve vendor compliance to align with ServiceNow's strategy. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral How was the initial setup? The initial setup is rated as seven. It requires vendor support, as the integration process isn't simple enough for the team to handle alone. Additional online resources could simplify the process. What about the implementation team? We worked with system integrators for implementation. Proper identification of necessary customer features was essential to ensure cost-effectiveness. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The pricing is rated six, as it's relatively low-medium compared to other solutions. However, the value isn't fully justified when not all features are used. A pricing model adjustment is needed for better alignment with customer usage. What other advice do I have? I rate the overall experience with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management as eight. The pricing model should be adjusted to fit the user's needs better. It would be beneficial for them to consider how features are priced according to usage. I rate the overall solution as eight out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? On-premises Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
What is our primary use case? I have integrated Splunk with ServiceNow as part of my work. I am a ServiceNow expert, although my knowledge of Splunk itself is limited. What is most valuable? The best feature is the effective reporting system for project portfolio and program management. It allows us to track tasks easily, create cost budgets for individual tasks, and is aligned with AI features. It's a comprehensive strategic project management tool, Agile tool, and business continuity tool. The platform consolidates multiple offerings into one module, eliminating the need to invest in siloed applications. What needs improvement? There is always scope for improvement. As of now, making the product more cost-beneficial would help more organizations consider investing in it. For how long have I used the solution? I have been working with ServiceNow for eight years. How are customer service and support? ServiceNow support is awesome. They have knowledgeable teams across all levels, and both their support and sales teams are fantastic. How would you rate customer service and support? Neutral What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? It's a bit costly currently. Efforts are being made to explore cost-benefit measures for investing in it. Which other solutions did I evaluate? There are many competitors offering various tools for project management, Agile, and business continuity. What other advice do I have? I would give an eight out of ten. There is always room for improvement, and nothing can be truly perfect. If public cloud, private cloud, or hybrid cloud, which cloud provider do you use? Other Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:partner
What is our primary use case? We use the solution for strategic management. We use the solution to plan the organization level to plan the overall picture or the KPI of the organization. Then, they decide on the management and the department's projects or department resources to align with their organization's directions. How has it helped my organization? Information management is very beneficial for our customers. What is most valuable? If the customer has accurate information and the vendor implements it correctly, the customer should gain a clear overview of their organization's strategic direction and current performance. If they need to adjust resources or focus more on dynamic KPIs, using the appropriate tools will make this process more convenient. They can review the planned outcomes they aim to achieve in their projects or KPIs and compare them to the results. What needs improvement? If we have enough information, we can address issues from the cloud to the top level of the organization. This allows us to see if our resources are being allocated properly from an executive perspective. Their packages often include advanced features, typically offered in Standard, Professional, and Enterprise tiers. New or advanced features are usually available only in the Professional and Enterprise packages, which require customers to pay significantly more. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management as a reseller for one year. We use the latest version of the solution. What do I think about the stability of the solution? I rate the solution’s stability a ten out of ten. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is suitable for medium enterprises. Everything tends to work well for the customer if it's properly configured and implemented and the right information is provided to the system. I rate the solution’s scalability a ten out of ten. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is easy. I rate it a nine out of ten, where one is difficult, and ten is easy. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The pricing is average. They always have some extra options to add. I rate the product’s pricing a six out of ten, where one is cheap, and ten is expensive. What other advice do I have? In SysML solutions, it's common for this to be just one module. When used with other modules in ServiceNow, they can function as a unified platform for the organization. All the data is in the same data model, making it easy to use other modules and expand across the organization. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: My company has a business relationship with this vendor other than being a customer:reseller
What is our primary use case? We are in the early phases of integrating our IT service incidents with a knowledge base. Additionally, we plan to create a security portfolio and manage tickets related to security and privacy. How has it helped my organization? It manages portfolios and aligns our current portfolio with internal changes. This process is integral to our team’s management strategy as we continually update the portfolio. What is most valuable? It provides flexibility. As long as you can imagine a solution and have a way to create it, the tool allows you to implement that flexibility effectively. What needs improvement? ServiceNow need to focus on internal empowerment rather than awareness to drive the change. Previously, our company depended on external parties to handle incidents. We are taking ownership of incident management, and everyone is aligned with this shift. Our IT team, service management, security managers, and others are committed to ensuring reliability and business continuity. What do I think about the stability of the solution? It is stable and performs well. The user experience is positive and shows improvements over time. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? It is scalable, but I'm not comfortable creating a scale because my manager would be most comfortable providing that figure. I rate the solution’s scalability a seven out of ten. How are customer service and support? We have a strong base for support and can still effectively utilize the out-of-the-box features. Most of the documentation is already available for portfolio management, so we need to digest and apply what’s written. How was the initial setup? The initial setup is straightforward. We are customizing it out of the box. We inherited the system. We own and manage the system, having taken over its management responsibilities. What other advice do I have? I recommend it because it is a stable and proven tool within the ServiceNow ecosystem. It offers a well-designed setup right out of the box. Compared to EasyVista, which we considered previously, ServiceNow's solution is more straightforward and user-friendly. Overall, I rate the solution an eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? We define business strategic goals in the latest SPM. Last year, the new ITBM was changed to SPM, and we have updated to SPM accordingly. We align our demands towards the business strategies and goals. Additionally, we are integrating APM with SPM, linking our applications to understand the priority and business value of each application. What is most valuable? The new feature includes different lenses, like the organizational lens or project manager lens, allowing us to view data through various perspectives. Previously, the journey started with demand, project, and idea management. Now, strategies and goals are aligned with demands and partners, making it a strategic approach for the enterprise. What was once an operational tool focused on maintaining the project center has evolved into a strategic tool. The introduction of objectives and strategic goals is a game changer. What needs improvement? SPM is definitely strong for project management, but its finance capabilities are not as robust. While there is a separate Financial Management product, it would be beneficial to have more out-of-the-box support for finance integrations within SPM. I’m not suggesting replacing systems like SAP for finance, but there should be better support for financial integrations. Currently, connecting to SaaS solutions is complicated, and getting into detailed financial calculations is challenging. Forecasting is manageable, but handling actual financials is not as straightforward. The finance area needs improvement, specifically making finance application integrations easier. Generic finance capabilities should be more user-friendly and integrated into SPM. Although they have started this journey, it hasn’t been fully released yet. There seems to be a roadmap, and once complete, it will be very useful. Additionally, incorporating a Q&A feature for entire strategies or project demands and enhancing text analytics within SPM would be beneficial. For how long have I used the solution? I have been using ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management for over eight years. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? I rate the solution’ scalability a six out of ten. How was the initial setup? In the workspaces, some features are not working well, particularly the UI actions. When migrating from legacy UI actions to the new workspace available in SPM, there are technical issues and some actions are not supported. Since the workspace feature is relatively new, it still needs to mature. We develop the software instances, and once it is stabilized, we move to the integration instance. From there, we progress from development to testing, and finally to production. The deployment process takes around four months to complete. I rate the deployment process as six out of ten. What other advice do I have? Any initiatives or scenarios can be effectively managed and controlled using the new dashboards and workspaces. The workspaces provide a clear vision for managing and controlling various initiatives, including cross-functional and cross-departmental efforts. Users can handle multiple tasks in the same window using tab structures, and the navigation menus are very user-friendly. Overall, it is easy to maintain and align complete initiatives with project goals and strategic objectives from the same workspace. We have a separate operations management team that handles deployment plans for various projects, whether it’s ITSM, HR, or others. To answer your question, clear deployment instructions need to be prepared in advance. Based on these instructions, one person can handle the deployment. However, if there are any issues, developers will need to support the process. Typically, two developers will be on call during deployment. Once a solution is deployed, it doesn’t mean it will stay unchanged. It is a continuous process requiring ongoing support and handling of upcoming work. Therefore, we always need people to support and manage the system. I recommend the solution as It’s evolving, and the upcoming releases are much stronger than the current version. Right now, it’s in the adoption phase, so there might be some teething issues. Overall, I rate the solution a six out of ten. Which deployment model are you using for this solution? Public Cloud Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.customer
What is our primary use case? We primarily use ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management for demand management, resource management, and Agile Management. It's integrated with another solution where our portfolio data resides, but ServiceNow supports our information and processes enabling seamless connectivity to our portfolio. We've utilized certain aspects of the platform during this time, although not the entire range of features, focusing more on specific functionalities rather than a comprehensive implementation across all areas from idea management to HR. What is most valuable? The most valuable feature is the end-to-end processes, which enable us to manage strategies from start to finish. It covers idea management to implementation and beyond. Real-time analytics in ServiceNow SPM significantly support our operational decision-making processes. What needs improvement? The main challenge we face with SPM is its flexibility, which can sometimes lead to lengthy discussions and slow down implementation. As for improvements, integrating IT finance management tools like AppTio or Nearos would be beneficial. We already have data mining capabilities, but continuous updates and enabling of new features would be great, considering the rapid pace of DevOps advancements in the market. In terms of forward-looking analytics and comparison to tools like Power BI, there are areas that could be enhanced, especially in drill-down reporting. For how long have I used the solution? It's been about four years since we began working with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management, or SPM. What do I think about the stability of the solution? We've experienced performance issues with SPM, but the support team is quick to resolve them within a couple of weeks, making it stable overall. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? SPM is scalable, supporting around 120 users globally across multiple locations. How are customer service and support? The technical team is highly responsive and helpful. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive How was the initial setup? The setup process for SPM was complex, taking around four to five months. However, compared to today, the setup time has reduced to around three months. The maintenance is relatively easy since we stick to standard processes, minimizing the need for extensive maintenance. What was our ROI? Regarding ROI, we've seen improvements in time to market, which is great. What's my experience with pricing, setup cost, and licensing? The pricing is negotiable based on the contract and licensing perspective. What other advice do I have? The main advantage of ServiceNow SPM, from my perspective, is its end-to-end processes and integration across various functionalities on one platform, making it easy to measure from idea inception to operational implementation. However, a drawback is its excessive flexibility, which can lead to challenges in Standardisation and adaptation within the organisation. I would recommend ServiceNow SPM to others. My advice would be to negotiate for a flexible contract initially to avoid unnecessary costs. I would rate ServiceNow SPM as eight out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
What is our primary use case? We use the solution for incident and knowledge-based management. What is most valuable? We mainly use the solution to support operations and align our ITSM operations with our business goals. This involves coordinating between our application development, support teams, and network engineering teams. When there's an issue at the product or network level, we raise a ticket, and our team works together to resolve it. What needs improvement? ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management must improve its interface, which is not very interactive or user-friendly compared to other tools like Zendesk. The real-time reporting feature doesn't help much in our decision-making process. It's quite complex to use and lacks the rich features needed for visualization. Overall, I find it to be very poor. For how long have I used the solution? I have been working with the product for eight to nine months. What do I think about the stability of the solution? The tool is 100 percent stable. What do I think about the scalability of the solution? Regarding agents, we have roughly 50-60 who can resolve tickets in ITSM. However, around 2000-2500 people can report tickets and view tickets company-wide. How are customer service and support? I don't directly interact with ServiceNow support because our internal team is responsible for that. They handle any requests for configuration or development on ServiceNow. If there are any issues, they will reach out to ServiceNow support. So, I can't say for sure, but I presume they're receiving good support based on how things are handled internally. How would you rate customer service and support? Positive Which solution did I use previously and why did I switch? We were using on-premise CRM solutions to handle our support cases. However, we've decided to retire CRM altogether. So, we needed to find an alternative solution. I started looking into options and consulting resources like PeerSpot and Gartner to help us decide. How was the initial setup? The tool's deployment is difficult. I rate it a four out of ten. Integrating and setting up the basic system took a long time, about eight months. We started in December 2022 and finished in July. There were many complex scenarios and options, making it difficult. Understanding and configuring everything properly was a challenge, especially compared to setting up a similar system with Zendesk, which only took a month. My team and I were involved in our design team. Four developers, one analyst, and two QA guys were on the ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management implementation side. So, in total, there were six people on our IT team. It took them about eight months to configure everything for us. What other advice do I have? We moved from using an old tool to ServiceNow. The collaboration feature is a bit slow for us. We think it might be because of how we use it, not ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management. We want to make it better by connecting it with Microsoft Teams. We've been trying to integrate the solution with Teams, but it's been challenging. We're also looking to integrate it with SharePoint and Power BI. We've requested these integrations and are waiting for developers to implement them. I expect it should be straightforward based on the documentation I've seen, but I'll know once they're done. It's on hold right now, and we're waiting for them to pick up the tickets. Once they start working on it, it may take a week or two to complete. If it takes longer, it might indicate a more complex integration process. I recommend starting with a proof of concept for ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management. There are simpler options out there. People tend to prefer products that are easy to use and configure. So, I'd suggest trying out the POC before deciding. I rate the overall product a nine out of ten. Disclaimer: I am a real user, and this review is based on my own experience and opinions.
