How to avoid Service Management tool implementation pain

CIO: “We’re about to implement a new Service Management tool. But I’ve heard horror stories – spiralling costs, endless delays, heavily customised platforms that fail to deliver ROI. Can you help?”

Us: Yes.

We’ve seen too many organisations fall into the same traps when rolling out a new Service Management platform. Here’s how to avoid them to give your investment the best chance of success.

Are you sure you need a new tool?

In our experience, most issues are not caused by the technology itself. Instead, they stem from:

• Poor or outdated data and content (e.g. Service Catalogue, Knowledge Articles)
• Weak processes and unclear policies
• Undefined roles and responsibilities (e.g. no Practice Owners)

A quick Service Management health check can tell you if you really need a new platform, or if you’d get faster, cheaper wins by fixing what’s already in place. Even if you do move forward, you’ll avoid carrying the same problems into your shiny new tool.

Treat it as an ongoing capability, not a one-off project

Your tool won’t stay fit-for-purpose without continuous upkeep. This includes updating assignment groups, access controls, content, processes, patches, and vendor upgrades.

You could manage this fully in-house. But the industry is moving more to a hybrid model – keeping strategic control internally, while using a specialist Managed Services Partner (MSP) for execution. Source them through a formal procurement process to get the right fit.

Don’t forget the people side

This is not just a technical rollout. It’s an organisational change. Without strong Organisational Change Management (OCM), user adoption will stall and ROI will suffer.

If you don’t have the capability or capacity in-house, bring in OCM specialists that have Service Management tool experience. In many cases, change management investment can match the cost of the technical implementation. It’s worth every penny.

Choose your technical partner (and your approach) carefully

The right partner makes all the difference. The best implementations we’ve seen follow this three-step approach:

Step 1: Vision alignment

Agree the overall vision for Service Management, how practices fit together, and surface any stakeholder differences early. Resolving these now prevents expensive rework later.

Note: if your implementation partner does not provide this, we provide a highly effective one day interactive workshop that takes weeks off implementation timelines.

Step 2: Configuration clarity

Your partner should give you a decision template for every configurable element (e.g. ticket routing rules, dropdown values), showing:

• Current out-of-the-box (OOTB) setup
• Their recommendation for your context
• Space for your decision

Note: most OOTB settings are designed for generic use, not your specific organisation’s circumstances. We use hundreds of industry-aligned blueprints to help clients get better outcomes faster.

Step 3: Controlled customisation

“No customisations”. We often here this, yet the final version contains hundreds of expensive and complex solutions with little documentation. Customisations are always required to some degree. Managing them is key to success.

Through structured walkthroughs of each module, your partner should identify and log potential customisations as user stories. Each story is then assessed for:

• Practice alignment (Practice Owner)
• Interdependencies (Service Management Architect)
• User experience (UX Lead)
• Security compliance (Security Lead)
• Technical debt (Technical Architect)

Only user stories with all approvals move to implementation, ensuring user acceptance criteria is clearly defined. Disagreements follow a pre-defined governance route.

All customisations should have an owner, and a review date, with the aim of developing out those customisations as vendor upgrades become available. In addition, all customisations should be included in a solutions design document (created by the implementation partner) to ensure maintainability when the initial implementation project closes.

The results of this approach:

• Implementation in months, not years
• Budget is adhered to (and therefore significant reduction in project spend)
• Fewer surprises and tensions
• Greater user adoption and therefore a much higher chance of delivering on ROI

If you’re about to start a Service Management tool implementation, or wondering if you should, we’d be delighted to discuss with you. We are a fully independent advisory organisation with years of experience in this area, and we can help you get it right the first time.

Reach out to Chris and our Service Management experts by sending your enquiry to  contact@masonadvisory.com to explore how we can help or click here to learn more about our services.