Include Process in Your ServiceNow Roadmap, Not Just Technology
In this, the second in our series on ServiceNow Program road mapping, we’ll dive into concepts of building a Process Roadmap. Miss the first in the series? Check out our Technology Roadmap Blog here.
Too often, ServiceNow roadmap conversations begin and end with technology —modules, features, and shiny new capabilities. And while these are all important, they are not all that goes into a transformation for your organization. At Astrica, we believe your ServiceNow program roadmap can be of most benefit in a multifaceted context, including concepts of Technology, but also giving strong consideration of Process, People, and Data. This allows you to both build and communicate a ServiceNow Program strategy that encompasses the drivers of most value and influence your various stakeholders.
In this post, we’ll turn that page and explore how to build a ServiceNow roadmap centered around process transformation. If you’re a process or platform owner, admin or developer, or internal change leader, this perspective can help you drive more meaningful outcomes in the success of your ServiceNow Program.
Strategies for ServiceNow Process Roadmap
When building a ServiceNow Program roadmap with a process-first mindset, you're creating a visual strategy for how your core workflows will evolve to deliver measurable outcomes and value to your organization. This roadmap reflects current state process maturity, existing process improvement efforts, and future transformations designed to unlock value from your ServiceNow investment. Depending on organizational priorities and appetites, we recommend a couple of different approaches for structuring this roadmap.
Road mapping by Process Value Chain
For this approach, remember to focus on the entire process value chain and not just purely on the process steps. That is, the end-to-end flow of activities that transforms inputs (like service requests or incidents) into valuable outcomes (like resolved issues, delivered services, or improved user satisfaction). Depending on your existing implementation or plans, this could include:
Instead of a roadmap lane per module, build lanes per process domain. Let automation, AI, and upgrades appear in service of those process milestones—not as the driver.
Map Process Roadmaps to Personas
Most processes will have touchpoints across an array of stakeholders representing several different personas. In designing a process-oriented ServiceNow Program roadmap, we can use that to our advantage by visually showing how process improvements benefit key personas:
When stakeholders see their needs represented in the roadmap, it is easier and more meaningful for them to engage with your overall ServiceNow Program strategy.
Tie Process to Organizational Outcomes
Your roadmap can help guide your internal ServiceNow teams and Partner(s) but also help engage your stakeholders and leaders. To this end, it’s important to not build your roadmap in a vacuum and make sure you link each process lane to clear strategic goals that matter to your organization. For example:
This isn’t just good practice—it helps your roadmap earn and keep executive buy-in.
What Goes on a Process Roadmap?
A good process roadmap isn’t just a project tracker; it represents an entire transformation journey. Here are some key elements to include in your process-oriented ServiceNow Program roadmap:
A well-built process roadmap doesn’t just map out tasks—it tells the story of where your processes are, where they’re going, and how technology, governance, and improvement efforts come together to deliver measurable change.
Who Builds a Process Roadmap?
Just like with a Technology Roadmap, your Process Roadmap needs diverse input:
Ultimately, your Platform Owner likely has final accountability for not only the content but major efforts of socializing your process-oriented ServiceNow Program roadmap.
Connect Process to People, Technology, and Data
While a process roadmap may be a critical view into your ServiceNow Program and your efforts to achieve value from your investments, this document must not exist an island of its own. You can think of it as a link between strategy and execution. Your roadmap should evolve in sync with:
Final Thought
If you want your ServiceNow Program to drive real change, don’t just ask, “What technology do we have?” but also leverage your road mapping activities to address “What processes do we need to transform?”
A process-first ServiceNow Program roadmap helps you focus on outcomes, earn stakeholder trust, and get the most from every platform investment.
If that’s the kind of roadmap you’re ready to build or you have questions about any of these topics, let’s talk! We’d be happy to connect with you on how we can help you drive change in your organization leveraging ServiceNow as a catalyst.