Implementing an ITSM module on the ServiceNow platform brings immense potential for digital transformation: improving service delivery, increasing operational efficiency, and enhancing end-user satisfaction. However, without the right strategy, such projects can stall and ultimately fail to achieve business objectives or incur unexpected costs.
Now Create is the recommended implementation methodology for ServiceNow, designed to guide project teams through each implementation phase, minimizing risk and accelerating time to value.
The article explains Now Create, its goals and structure, and the advantages and difficulties worth considering before and during use.
What is Now Create?
Now Create is the official methodology and best practices for ServiceNow implementation projects. It serves as a central repository of implementation practices for customers and partners, collected and described from thousands of successful implementations.
Essentially, Now Create provides pre-defined project plans, role-based guidance, and reusable templates to help project teams intuitively and consistently plan and execute ServiceNow implementations.
The goal of Now Create
The goal of Now Create is to ensure speed, quality, and minimize risk in ServiceNow deployments. By following this methodology, organizations can define their business outcomes faster and avoid common project pitfalls.
Focusing on results – Now Create organizes leading practices, templates, and tools into “Success Packs” tailored to specific business outcomes or ServiceNow products. This makes it easy to translate a desired outcome (such as improving IT help desk productivity) into a concrete project plan with all the necessary steps and deliverables.
Structure and key phases
Now Create defines a standard project lifecycle with six key phases every ServiceNow implementation (or upgrade) should go through.
These six phases are:
- Get Started,
- Initiate,
- Plan,
- Execute,
- Deliver,
- Close.
Each phase has specific objectives, activities, and exit criteria, ensuring that the project makes the “right decisions at the right time” before moving on to the next phase.
Get Started
In this first phase, the team defines the project’s vision and scope, identifies stakeholders, establishes governance, and confirms resources. Key deliverables include clearly defining business objectives and a project charter or implementation plan. The Get Started phase also kicks off critical but often overlooked preparations, such as organizational change management (OCM) planning and developing a testing strategy to ensure the organization is ready for the upcoming changes.
Initiate
In this phase, stakeholders approve the project plan and the business objectives defined in the previous phase, and a commitment is made to support the goals set. The implementation team is tasked with reviewing the existing environment, understanding the current architecture, and confirming the availability of licenses and new instances provided by ServiceNow.
Plan
In this phase, the project plan, including timelines, milestones, and planned deliverables, is reviewed and refined. The team finalizes requirements, designs the architecture, and conducts a risk assessment to anticipate and mitigate potential issues. Planning also includes preparation for data migration, integration, and solidifying OCM and training plans (e.g., planning user training, finalizing communication plans) before implementation begins.
Execute
During execution, the project team performs the implementation work as planned – configuring the ServiceNow platform, developing any customizations or integrations, and building defined user stories and requirements. Regular progress tracking and communication with stakeholders are conducted to ensure compliance. The main outcome of the Execution phase is a working ServiceNow instance configured and ready for validation.
Deliver
In this phase, the focus is on ensuring that the solution is fully ready for production use. Activities include rigorous testing (unit testing, system testing, and especially end-user testing (UAT), resolving any defects, and obtaining user approvals. End users and administrators are trained on the new system, and communication ensures that everyone is prepared to “go live”.
Once quality criteria are met and users are comfortable, the system is deployed (“go-live”) and the team provides post-launch support for a smooth transition to day-to-day operations.
Close
In the final phase, the remaining tasks are completed to formally close the project. This includes confirmation that all objectives have been met, knowledge transfer (e.g., handover of documentation and outstanding tasks to operational teams), and release of project resources. A post-implementation review or retrospective is conducted to measure the project’s success against the initial objectives and capture lessons learned. It is also a time to celebrate the team’s achievements and communicate successes to stakeholders.
The closure phase ensures that the organization recognizes the value of the project and is prepared to maintain and continuously improve the solution.
„Success Pack”
These phases provide the framework for Now Create, but the tools and templates accompanying each phase are equally important. Now, Create includes delivering these tools packaged in so-called “Success Packs”.
A Success Pack is a project plan for a specific product (for example, an ITSM implementation Success Pack, an HR service delivery Success Pack, etc). For example, a Success Pack includes:
- Project management documents – e.g., project kick-off presentation, project plan templates, status report templates, and phase checklists.
- Process and project tools – e.g., workshop agendas and slide decks, process guides for workflow design, data model templates, and architecture plans.
- Technical accelerators – e.g, initial user stories, configuration sheets, integration guides, scripts, or demonstration prototypes.
- Adaptation and testing materials – e.g., training plans, OCM checklists, test scripts for UAT, and implementation guides.
Advantages and benefits of using Now Create
Proven, in line with best practice
Now Create is built on ServiceNow’s experience gained from over 7,000 implementations in various industries. By using comprehensive guidance at every stage, we can avoid many of the errors or omissions that make it difficult to deliver a project on time.
Achieving value faster
By following a ready-made plan and using ready-made templates, the team is able to significantly speed up the initial phases of the project. They save time on defining the project structure and its expected outcomes, allowing them to focus on delivering these expectations.
Reduced risk, increased quality
Now Create, by controlling the value delivered between phases, mitigates issues that can otherwise become critical in later phases of the project. For example, we cannot move from Plan to Execute without a clearly defined plan or requirements. This disciplined approach, combined with a testing strategy and appropriate management, increases the quality of the results.
Focused on results and business needs
A key strength of Now Create is its emphasis on delivering business outcomes, not just technical outcomes. All project activities are focused on achieving a specific outcome (for example, reduced IT service resolution time or automated HR onboarding), which helps to maintain a clear scope and purpose.
Comprehensive tools and templates (project accelerators)
Organizations benefit from Now Create’s extensive library of templates and accelerators. These resources save significant effort and ensure consistency. For example, teams receive ready-made project charters, workshop documents, process documents, test plans, and more – all in line with ServiceNow best practices.
Improved team collaboration and role clarity
Role-based guidance and Now Create’s structured approach improve team coordination. The methodology clearly defines who should perform which activities at each stage (project manager, process owner, technical manager, change manager, etc.) and the roles of the team. Because the guidelines are “addressed by role,” each team member knows their responsibilities and recommended tasks. This promotes accountability and keeps the project moving.
Flexibility and adaptability
Although Now Create is prescriptive, it is not a rigid, one-size-fits-all checklist – it is flexible enough to adapt to different project sizes and methodologies. Organizations can integrate Now Create into existing project management approaches (agile, waterfall, or hybrid).
Now Create is often described as a “semi-structured” framework – structured enough to provide clear guidance, but adaptable to any project’s context.
Common challenges and risks to watch out for
Treating organizational change management (OCM) as an option
A common mistake is to focus solely on technical implementation and underestimate the importance of change management. Even with Now Create’s guidance, the project may encounter resistance and low adoption if an organization neglects OCM activities (stakeholder communication, end-user training, change impact management).
Poor governance and scope control
Another pitfall is failing to establish a strong governance structure around the project. Now Create provides guidelines for establishing project governance (e.g., steering committees, project sponsors, and defined decision-making processes). If the organization fails to implement or enforce these, the project can suffer from scope expansion, uncontrolled demand, or project decisions that cause long-term problems.
Insufficient internal knowledge or over-reliance on methodology alone
Now Create provides a roadmap, but organizations still need skilled people to implement it. A common challenge is skills gaps within the project team – for example, a lack of experienced ServiceNow developers, architects, or product owners. Without sufficient knowledge of the platform, the team may misconfigure the platform or deviate from best practices, even if they have the methodology in hand.
One symptom is overcustomization of ServiceNow due to a lack of understanding of the out-of-the-box capabilities, which leads to performance issues and a greater maintenance burden.
Skipping or accelerating critical testing and validation
The Now Create delivery phase emphasizes thorough user acceptance testing and user readiness, but time-pressured organizations may be tempted to rush this part. The risk lies in treating UAT as a mere formality (“box ticking” to boot) rather than a critical validation step.
If end-users are not properly engaged and the system is not rigorously tested in real-world scenarios, flaws or usability issues may not become apparent until after launch, causing delays in launch or putting out fires after production.
Many projects fail to realize that users cannot effectively test a system they have not been trained on.
Lack of strategic vision or long-term planning
Now, Create is very effective in driving a project to achieve a specific outcome, but organizations should put the project in the context of a broader strategy. One of the pitfalls is implementing ServiceNow tactically, piecemeal, without a clear roadmap or vision for the platform. This can result in siloed solutions or quick wins that do not scale or fit together optimally. For example, an implementation may meet the immediate needs of one department but not align with enterprise data standards or future expansion plans, leading to later rework.
As one expert notes, companies can lose strategic direction and use “disconnected, short-term solutions” and miss out on the wider business transformation that ServiceNow can drive.
Sii x ServiceNow
With the cloud-based ServiceNow AI platform, we automate processes and facilitate the work of departments to increase productivity within entire organizations.
ServiceNow offeringSummary
In summary, organizations should view Now Create as a supportive platform rather than an autopilot. The methodology greatly increases the chance of implementation success, but it must be applied with common sense, adequate resources, and organizational support.
If the guidelines are not followed, challenges such as resistance to change, poor management, skills shortages, or non-compliance with strategy can still occur. The good news is that Now Create explicitly addresses these areas (for example, pointing out the need for OCM, supervision, etc., as part of the process).
Organizations can take full advantage of Now Create’s benefits by being mindful of these pitfalls and proactively addressing them. The result is a ServiceNow implementation or upgrade delivered on time, within budget, and, most importantly, delivers the expected business outcomes and smooth user adoption. Using Now Create, teams can “deliver ServiceNow flawlessly” – achieving faster time to value, while avoiding the common pitfalls that derail enterprise software projects.
Sources
- ServiceNow, “Execute ServiceNow projects flawlessly with Now Create” (Now Create eBook) servicenow.com
- ServiceNow, “Now Create: Faster implementations, better outcomes” (Webinar description, 2024) servicenow.com
- Jamie L. Douglas – ServiceNow, “5 Common Pitfalls in ServiceNow Implementations (And How to Avoid Them)” (Community Blog, 2025) servicenow.com
Leave a comment