ServiceNow implementation: ensuring user adoption

Objective: an international biotechnology company is implementing the IT service desk, ServiceNow. Our aim was to identify how it would affect the organisational structure and support processes of IT. Furthermore, we discussed what initiatives were taken to ensure user satisfaction and minimise potential user resistance by including theories on user adoption, transition strategies, and affordances in relation to organisational goals.

Ethnographic methods

• Data collection: conducted multiple semi-structured interviews with the Head of Project, 2 IT employees, and 1 user.

• Data analysis: two main phases of coding. The first phase is the open coding process in which all data was read through to formulate ideas, themes, or issues. Secondly, the data was read again to assign pieces of data into these categories.

  
  

Results from analysis

• Motivation for change: the company was experiencing exponential growth across contitents, and therefore needed stronger IT support systems

• New functions: global 24/7 support, more channels to get support from (such as phone, chat, and app to log tickets), dashboard on frequent issues (will allow IT to be proactive), and use of AI chat bots (can automate basic support requests)

• New organisational structure: restructures work tasks and responsibilities between the Desk Site Support team and the external IT supporters. It will allow the Desk Site Support team to do more value-adding tasks.

• Implementation considerations: need for 'hyper-care' during deployment to hold end-users hands. They also hired an external consultant to produce learning material, webinars, and articles, to provide the necessary information for the end users. The challenge would be to change the end-users habits and make them see the benefits in the new system.

Discussion of transition perspectives

• Implementation initiatives: Two implementation strategies with a distinction between ‘technical’ and ‘end user’ transition

• Social perspective: Risk of negative attitude among end-users, where of minimisation initiatives have been taken (plan for organisational storytelling, learning materials, increased IT support in the first phase of implementation - hypercare)

• Communicating affordances/benefits of new system is key: actualization of the affordances will increase the chance for a higher user satisfaction

• Learning initiatives: different need for training depending on user types. Training for Desk Site Support team requires a deeper understanding of the system’s capabilities and features, and end-users require knowledge sharing in terms of learning material, guides etc.

  
  

Conclusion

Prior to the implementation several considerations of initiatives have been made of how to minimise user resistance, such as distinction between two types of transitions, the neccesity of minimising negative attitude among end-users, communicating the benefits of the new system, and ensuring that end-users learn how to use the systems sufficiently.