Organisations struggle to maximise ServiceNow ROI due to strategic misalignment and fragmented management approaches. Establishing a Centre of Excellence and Innovation (CoEI) alongside a robust optimisation framework delivers up to 40% efficiency gains through continuous improvement, demand management, and strategic governance that transforms ServiceNow from an IT tool into an enterprise-wide value driver.

Your ServiceNow investment isn't delivering the returns you expected. This pattern repeats across implementations where strategic alignment takes a back seat to tactical firefighting. Across organisations, platform capabilities languish underutilised whilst teams struggle with misaligned priorities, duplicated efforts, and workflows that feel more like obstacles than enablers. Requests pile up without clear prioritisation. Departments build conflicting solutions. Strategic initiatives stall because no one's quite sure how ServiceNow fits into the bigger picture.

The result? Inefficiencies multiply, user frustration grows, and executives start questioning whether the platform investment was worth it. You're not alone, this pattern repeats across implementations where strategic alignment takes a back seat to tactical firefighting.

Maximising ServiceNow ROI requires more than good intentions. It demands a structured approach centred on two pillars: a Centre of Excellence and Innovation (CoEI) and a comprehensive optimisation framework.

The CoEI functions as your strategic command centre, establishing best practices, eliminating silos, and ensuring every ServiceNow initiative aligns with organisational priorities. It's not bureaucracy, it's clarity. Meanwhile, your optimisation framework provides the systematic approach to demand management, prioritisation, and continuous performance assessment that keeps your platform evolving with your business needs.

Together, these elements transform ServiceNow from a collection of underutilised modules into a cohesive enterprise asset that drives measurable business outcomes.

Think of your ServiceNow platform as a carefully tended garden. Without strategic cultivation, even the most promising seeds fail to flourish. You've invested in fertile soil, now it's time to maximise your harvest.

Most organisations approach ServiceNow implementation like scattering seeds randomly and hoping something grows. They deploy modules, configure workflows, and wonder why the results feel underwhelming. The missing ingredient? A systematic cultivation strategy that nurtures growth, eliminates waste, and aligns every element with your organisational climate.

Strategic alignment isn't abstract theory, it's the difference between a thriving ecosystem and a chaotic wilderness. Your ServiceNow objectives must resonate across IT and business functions, creating a unified vision that guides every decision.

This is where a Centre of Excellence and Innovation (CoEI) becomes invaluable. The CoEI establishes governance frameworks, promotes best practices, and ensures resources flow to high-value initiatives rather than departmental pet projects. Think of it as your master gardener, understanding which plants thrive together and which compete for the same nutrients.

For instance, when a retail organisation established their CoEI, they discovered three departments building separate customer service solutions, each consuming resources whilst creating integration nightmares. The Platform Owner and ServiceNow Architect leading the CoEI consolidated these efforts into a single, enterprise-wide approach that delivered 35% faster resolution times and eliminated duplicate licensing costs.

Strategic alignment means asking tough questions: Does this initiative support our core objectives? Are we solving the right problems? Who benefits, and how do we measure success? Without clear answers, you're cultivating weeds alongside your crops.

Once strategic foundations are set, your optimisation framework provides the systematic approach to growth. This isn't a one-time exercise, it's an ongoing discipline of assessment, refinement, and resource allocation.

Demand management sits at the heart of effective optimisation. Every organisation faces more requests than resources. The question isn't whether to prioritise, it's how to prioritise intelligently. Your framework should evaluate initiatives against clear criteria: strategic alignment, ROI potential, resource requirements, and implementation complexity.

Consider a financial services firm that implemented structured demand management through Strategic Portfolio Management. Previously, their ServiceNow roadmap resembled a wish list, dozens of initiatives competing for attention with no clear prioritisation logic. By establishing transparent evaluation criteria and governance processes led by their Product Owner and CoEI, they reduced their active project portfolio by 40% whilst increasing delivered value by 60%. Fewer projects, better outcomes.

Your optimisation framework should also address technical debt systematically. That customisation built three years ago? It might be hindering performance or blocking upgrades. Regular platform health assessments using Instance Scan and platform analytics identify these inefficiencies before they compound into major obstacles.

Continuous improvement transforms your ServiceNow platform from static tool to dynamic capability that evolves with your business needs.

Start with automation opportunities. ServiceNow excels at eliminating repetitive tasks that consume disproportionate time. A manufacturing organisation automated their hardware provisioning workflow, reducing 14-day cycles to 2 days whilst freeing IT staff for strategic projects. That's not just efficiency, it's competitive advantage.

User experience deserves equal attention. Clunky interfaces and confusing workflows drive users to workarounds that undermine your platform investment. Through Service Portal and Employee Centre, organisations create intuitive, role-based experiences that reduce training requirements and accelerate adoption.

The key is systematic measurement. Establish baseline metrics for critical processes; resolution times, approval cycles, user satisfaction scores, automation rates. Track these religiously. When a metric deteriorates, investigate immediately. When it improves, understand why and replicate the success elsewhere.

A healthcare provider implemented this approach across their IT Service Management deployment. By monitoring ticket resolution patterns, they identified bottlenecks in their approval chains and redesigned workflows to eliminate unnecessary steps. Resolution times dropped 28% within 90 days, and user satisfaction scores climbed from 6.2 to 8.4 out of 10.

Performance analysis isn't about generating reports, it's about driving action. ServiceNow's Instance Scan and platform analytics provide visibility into technical health, but interpreting these insights requires expertise and context.

Your CoEI should establish regular health reviews that assess platform performance against strategic objectives. Are customisations creating upgrade risks? Is technical debt accumulating? Are integrations performing optimally? These aren't IT questions, they're business questions with significant financial implications.

Governance extends beyond technical health to strategic alignment. Quarterly reviews should evaluate whether your ServiceNow roadmap still reflects organisational priorities. Business objectives shift. Market conditions change. Your platform strategy must adapt accordingly.

For instance, when a logistics company pivoted to remote operations during market disruption, their CoEI, led by the Platform Owner and ServiceNow Architect, rapidly reassessed priorities. Initiatives focused on physical office workflows were paused. Resources shifted to Employee Workflows and remote service delivery capabilities. This agility, enabled by strong governance, allowed them to maintain service levels whilst competitors struggled.

A mature CoEI doesn't just govern, it innovates. Beyond establishing standards and managing demand, your CoEI should actively identify opportunities to expand ServiceNow's value across the enterprise.

This means looking beyond traditional ITSM use cases to Customer Service Management, HR Service Delivery, and Strategic Portfolio Management. It means fostering a community of practice where platform administrators share insights and solutions. It means maintaining relationships with ServiceNow and implementation partners to stay current with platform capabilities.

The most effective CoEIs balance control with enablement. They establish guardrails that prevent chaos whilst empowering teams to innovate within those boundaries. They create templates and accelerators that speed delivery without sacrificing quality. They measure success not by projects completed but by business value delivered.

You've seen how strategic alignment, optimisation frameworks, and continuous improvement transform ServiceNow from underutilised investment into enterprise value driver. But the reality is simple: implementation requires more than understanding, it demands practical guidance, proven templates, and lessons learned from organisations that have navigated this transformation successfully.

That's where The Platform Operating Manual comes in. Our detailed guides provide the frameworks, templates, and real-world examples you need to establish a high-performing CoEI, implement robust optimisation practices, and drive measurable ROI improvements. We'll show you how to gain executive buy-in, structure your governance processes, and avoid the common pitfalls that derail optimisation initiatives.

Don't let strategic misalignment and fragmented management hold your ServiceNow investment back. The difference between adequate and exceptional platform performance lies in systematic cultivation of capabilities aligned with business objectives. Check back with The Platform Operating Manual soon, to access the complete CoEI implementation toolkit.

The principles behind modern Centres of Excellence originated in Toyota's manufacturing revolution during the 1950s-1980s, when the company pioneered systematic approaches to standardising best practices across global operations. Their framework for centralised expertise and continuous improvement reduced production defects by 75% whilst accelerating innovation cycles, principles that translate remarkably well to enterprise technology platforms.

Today's ServiceNow CoEIs apply the same philosophy: centralised expertise, standardised practices, and continuous improvement that transforms platform investments into sustained competitive advantages. The parallel isn't coincidental, both approaches recognise that maximising complex system value requires dedicated focus, systematic methodology, and unwavering commitment to excellence.