As ServiceNow platform owners, administrators, developers, and process owners, you are often tasked with delivering significant technical and business process changes in your organization. This work has the potential to unlock tremendous business value, but the way you communicate these contributions can make all the difference. One often-overlooked opportunity lies in how you craft and share your release notes.
Yes, those release notes. The ones you’re already making after each sprint to describe the development work you’ve done or ServiceNow features you’ve rolled out in production. Release notes can be more than a checklist of fixes and features. They can be a bridge between IT and the business; a chance to showcase the tangible impact of your work. If your release notes only list technical updates, you might be missing out on a powerful opportunity to demonstrate value to your leaders and customers, as well as inspire confidence in your ServiceNow platform.
Moving Beyond the Basics
Take a moment to reflect on your current release notes. You are publishing release notes after each development cycle, right? Do they merely list out stories, tasks, and defects resolved? Are they filled with technical jargon or overly granular details that only other developers can understand? If so, they may not be telling the full story of how your ServiceNow development pipeline is driving business outcomes.
💡 Imagine instead:
1. Highlighting Successes 🏁: Show how a newly implemented feature streamlines an internal process, reducing task completion times, and freeing staff to do additional value-add work.
2. Framing Solutions in Business Terms 🖼️: Explain how a new integration eliminates redundant data entry, improves data security, and enhances data hygiene.
3. Quantifying Value 🔢: Use metrics to emphasize the return on investment wherever possible. In some cases, this may mean revisiting previous development work when efficiencies are realized down the line.
4. Relating Work to Corporate Objectives 🏆: For example, "This release’s enhancements to the Incident Management workflow reduce average time to write resolution notes by leveraging Generative AI."
Why Business-Centric Release Notes Matter
When stakeholders across the organization can see the business value of your work, it creates opportunity alignment and builds trust in your platform. Leaders often view ServiceNow as “just a ticketing tool”, but release notes that highlight new functions and their business value can shift that perception. They turn IT into a strategic partner; one that directly supports organizational goals.
🤔 Consider this: A well-crafted release note can make the difference between users viewing a new feature as "just another change" or a transformative improvement that they can use in their daily work. If your audience can see their problem solved in your release notes, they can leverage that solution and amplify its value.
Best Practices for Writing Release Notes That Resonate
1. Understand Your Audience 👀: Tailor the tone and content of your release notes to stakeholders, not just fellow developers. What does the business care about? Efficiency? Compliance? Innovation? Speak to that.
2. Translate Technical Details 👩💻: Avoid technical jargon unless absolutely necessary. Instead of "Updated ACL rules for incident records," try "Enhanced data security by improving access controls on Incident records."
3. Include Business Impact 📈: Share specific, measurable outcomes whenever possible. Think about qualitative impacts that add value as well, like "improving user experience".
4. Celebrate Wins 🏅: Don’t be afraid to highlight successes—big or small. Did you complete the release ahead of schedule? Include it. Did user adoption exceed expectations? Did a UAT tester provide positive feedback? Mention it.
5. Keep It Brief But Impactful 💪: Remember, your audience probably isn’t as enthusiastic about the technical solution as you are. Be concise but ensure each release note describes not just what it is but what you can do with it.
Your Challenge Moving Forward
As stewards of your ServiceNow platform, you play a critical role in driving your organization forward. Your development pipeline is already delivering value—don’t let that value go unnoticed. Use your release notes as a stage from which to tell the story of your success and connect your work to the bigger picture.
The next time you prepare release notes, challenge yourself to go beyond the technical updates. Think about the “why” behind each change. By answering these questions, you’ll not only improve the quality of your release notes but also strengthen the impact of your platform.
- Who benefits? 👤
2. How does it advance business goals? 🏃
3. Are you using language that resonates with your stakeholders? 💬
Release notes are just one artifact in a healthy ServiceNow program. Are you ready to take your stakeholder relations, Demand Management, or platform governance to the next level? Astrica can help! From strategy and roadmap development through implementations, we’d love to talk about how we can help you do more with Now!