My ServiceNow Story: Shilpa Jana, ServiceNow CMA
The team at GlideFast Consulting is full of passionate, skilled, and enthusiastic developers and architects. If there is one thing that we all have in common, it is our love for the ServiceNow platform and community. “My ServiceNow Story” is a blog series that will give you an inside look at the work and lives of the consultants at GlideFast Consulting and how they started and built their careers in the industry. Our consultants will share their stories with you and will lead you down the path that brought them to where they are today.
This ServiceNow Story features Shilpa Jana, ServiceNow Certified Master Architect, based out of Atlanta, GA.
What is your experience with ServiceNow?
I have worked in ServiceNow for 9 years and have 13 years of IT experience. Prior to becoming a Certified Master Architect, I held several positions as admin, developer, consultant, and architect. I have a breadth of knowledge accumulated from 70+ ServiceNow projects and working with 50+ clients. I have experience working in multiple processes in the Now Platform, including ITSM/ITIL, HRSD, CSM, ITAM, and IRM. I have been a CMA since Feb 2022 and am proud to be one out of only 56 CMAs in the USA.
What is your favorite thing about the ServiceNow platform?
ServiceNow is a versatile platform. We can literally build anything in it. The most amazing part is we can automate the entire service management of a company. It includes not only IT Service Management, HR or Customer service management, but also a small group of 4 people who sit on one floor and provide a small service to employees in the company. ServiceNow provides a gateway for everyone in an organization to help manage and automate their work.
What difference has it made being a CMA?
Recently, one of my customers was asking me if the format for update sets was good. Before I would have responded, “it's great”. However, after becoming a CMA, my thought process has changed. This question is, in fact, a Technical Governance policy defining update set naming convention. Hence my response was, “It’s great that you are thinking about it; however, also having these guardrails (technical governance policies) on how you want your platform to be used will help you in the long run. Technical governance is very important from the beginning, not something that is done after 2 years of maturity. It helps you achieve your desired outcomes sooner.”
What are the things you would want customers to focus on, in their digital transformation journey?
ServiceNow is a platform in which you can “Accelerate digital transformation.” Accelerate is a keyword that customers should focus on. Some customers struggle to go-live on ServiceNow for years or their requirement-gathering process takes so long that it hinders the digital transformation. A good mix of Leadership buy-in and organizational change management are keys to accelerating digital transformation.
I believe citizen development is something customers should focus on when trying to accelerate their digital transformation. As enterprises use more and more products within ServiceNow, it is best to grow with a citizen development mindset. ServiceNow now has an extensive focus set on Low-Code approach. This helps independent teams to build their products and maintain them using low-code features such as playbooks, decision builders, flow designer, app engine studio etc. This also frees up time for the platform team, which allows them to focus on more challenging work.
Do you have any advice for architects who are looking to join the CMA program?
We are all Architects, even before we join this program. Here, we learn how to guide our customers in their digital transformation journey. I feel the program is the start of our journey to be that trusted advisor for our clients. It’s going to be exhausting at times with your day job. If you have imposter syndrome, you will feel that through the program. I learned that perseverance is very important. We get a lot of guidance from the best, technical and non-technical, to be a ServiceNow thought leader. It’s a great, memorable program. For me, the connections I made especially with my cohort will last forever. I hope the same for you and all the best.
Interested in working with the experts like Shilpa on the GlideFast Consulting team? Reach out to our team here. We would love to learn more about your ServiceNow challenges and how we can help your organization build better solutions.