The need for strong ServiceNow talent
ServiceNow in your organization has never been more important, and it will only become more critical and central to your operations. Having ServiceNow certified professionals leading the effort to implement and elevate the work being done in your organization can help solve business issues that keep you from achieving goals like growth, revenue, cost savings, and meaningful organizational transformation.
ServiceNow’s solutions deliver digital workflows and custom creator workflows that support critical infrastructure and assets, provide HR services, manage governance, risk, compliance, etc. Managing these internal & customer workflows is more important than ever to achieving our organizational missions.
To add to this need, IDC’s 2021 ServiceNow Professional Impact study found that, “when certified professionals are responsible for essential activities, the activities get completed more quickly, with fewer errors, and are more likely to conform with best practices.”
The benefits of achieving ServiceNow certification
From a leader’s perspective, ServiceNow certification can help optimize productivity in your team (in fact, Certified ServiceNow Implementers are 80% more productive than non-certified professionals). It exposes our teams to different and new ways of achieving organizational goals.
Additionally, our developers and administrators can seek certification for products we are currently considering or plan to implement. This provides a valuable head start going into implementation when we decide to expand this unified single platform to meet new challenges.
It is also important to note that ServiceNow certifications require ongoing ‘delta testing’ when new versions are released. This ensures that our experts remain current in their knowledge and skill with ServiceNow.
How do certifications align with ServiceNow products?
ServiceNow product lines provide individual learning and certification paths. Based on your organization’s use of the Now Platform, consider what certifications will benefit your company the most.
Some products have a single certificate, while others require more extensive learning. The below list outlines each product line (bold) and its associated certification(s). You can find much more detail on each of these in our Guide to ServiceNow Certification.
Business Continuity Management (BCM)
- BCM Assessment Simulator Early Adopter Recognition (no certification is available at this time)
Customer Service Management (CSM)
- Certified Implementation Specialist (CIS)-CSM
- CSM Professional
DevOps
- DevOps MicroCert (Simulator)
Field Service Management (FSM)
- CIS-FSM
Governance, Risk, and Compliance (GRC)
- CIS-RC
- CIS-VRM (Vendor Risk Management)
Human Resources Service Delivery (HRSD)
- CIS-HR
- HRSD Professional
IT Asset Management (ITAM)
- CIS-HAM (Hardware Asset Management)
- CIS-SAM (Software Asset Management)
IT Business Management (ITBM)
- CIS-PPM (Project Portfolio Management)
- CIS-APM (Application Portfolio Management)
IT Operations Management (ITOM)
- CIS-DISCO (Discovery)
- CIS-EM (Event Management)
- CIS-SM (Service Mapping)
- CIS-CPG (Cloud Provisioning and Governance)
IT Service Management (ITSM)
- CIS-ITSM
- ITSM Professional
Now Intelligence
- CIS-PA (Performance Analytics)
Now Platform
- CAD (Certified Application Developer)
- CIS-SP (Service Provider)
Security Operations (SecOps)
- CIS-SIR (Security Incident Response)
- CIS-VR (Vulnerability Response)
What is the time commitment required for certification?
While the individual course and exam preparation times vary, based on the certification sought, you can expect a single certification to take about five total days to complete, on average. Many of the required courses are available on-demand, meaning students can take them at their own pace.
Instructor-led courses are 2-3 days in length. Study and preparation time is difficult to estimate, as each team member will be unique. Still, we strongly recommend taking certification exams as soon after a course as possible and never waiting more than two weeks to sit for the exam.
What other certifications should we consider?
While ServiceNow certifications are a great way to validate skill and knowledge with the Now Platform, gaining expertise through education and certification beyond the technology will provide methodologies and best practices that enhance the value of ServiceNow with solid process consistency throughout your enterprise operations.
ITIL 4 and IT Service Management
The ITIL framework has long been regarded as the premier publication about IT service management. ServiceNow relies heavily on the best practices outlined in the framework, and companies worldwide have adopted the guidance delivered—from Santa Clara to Sri Lanka.
Providing stakeholders with a common language to define processes and the appropriate governance to direct and control activities across the organization ensures that when ServiceNow is implemented, it will deliver the value our customers’ demand. ITIL 4 Foundation is a highly recommended certification for IT professionals and our business counterparts.
PMI Project Management Professional
PMP is a globally recognized certification that is a must-have for program and project managers. Ensuring that planning, scheduling, and delivering quality projects on time and on budget is essential for every organization. And when coupled with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM), you will empower your project teams to produce exceptional results.
When should you look externally to get ServiceNow support for your team?
Invariably, you will have more projects and ideas to get done than your team can handle themselves. In addition, your organization’s needs will grow and shift, so you may find that your team, while proficient in one or more areas, may not have the expertise to take on a new area of ServiceNow. That’s where an external implementation partner can help achieve your goals.
Further, an external view can be helpful to get the team thinking in new ways, get a fresh set of eyes that’s worked with hundreds of other customers in solving their challenges; and it means you do not need to take on more full-time employees. You can engage for only what you need.
When considering working with an implementation partner, here are some things to consider:
-
- Is the partner’s focus solely on technology & data, or do they balance deep technical skill with subject matter expertise in process and organizational change?
- Does the partner offer a delivery model that provides on-demand, periodic support, not just one-time engagements?
- What ServiceNow certifications are held by the partner’s team?
- What other certifications do team members hold (ITIL, PMP, CISSP, for example)?
- Does the partner have experience migrating customers between platforms and building extensive integrations with third-party applications and systems?
- How mature/robust is the partner’s own service delivery practice (CMMI, ISO)?
ServiceNow certifications are a great way to validate your teams’ knowledge and expertise. And they have been shown to improve performance and engagement. It’s also important to look beyond technology-only certifications to supplement learning and expertise where process and organizational change are crucial to a successful project.
Determining which certifications will be most valuable to an organization takes some time and research, and there will likely be times when it just is not feasible to go it alone. Engaging an implementation partner can help you unlock productivity with the Now Platform, which can significantly shorten delivery time. If you have questions, reach out to us. Our team of certified professionals and advisors would be glad to discuss options.