1. Executive Summary
This case study illustrates how a large enterprise streamlined its project management processes by integrating Microsoft Azure DevOps with ServiceNow Strategic Portfolio Management (SPM). The integration addressed the challenges of manual data tracking, disparate systems, and lack of visibility, resulting in improved efficiency, enhanced decision-making, and better alignment between development teams and leadership.
2. Challenges
The organization faced several challenges in managing its software development projects:
- Manual Project Information Calculation: Project managers spent significant time manually calculating project information, leading to potential errors and delays.
- Budget Management in Excel: Maintaining project budgets in spreadsheets resulted inversion control issues, inconsistencies, and difficulties in tracking actuals against budgets.
- Lack of Real-time Visibility: Leadership lacked a consolidated view of project status, roadmaps, and resource allocations, hindering their ability to make informed decisions.
- Disparate Systems: Development teams used Azure DevOps for project execution, while leadership relied on ServiceNow for broader IT management activities. This disconnect created silos and required manual data synchronization.
- External Client Collaboration: External clients primarily used Azure DevOps, creating a need for seamless data flow between Azure DevOps and ServiceNow.
3. Solution
The organization implemented ServiceNow SPM and integrated it with their existing Azure DevOps environment. This integration enabled:
- Bi-directional Data Flow: Project information, including project status, stories, assignments, and sprints, flows seamlessly between Azure DevOps and ServiceNow.
- Centralized Project Visibility: Project information from Azure DevOps is automatically synchronized with ServiceNow, providing leadership with a consolidated view of all projects.
- Automated Budget Management: ServiceNow SPM’s financial planning capabilities replaced manual Excel-based budget tracking, allowing for real-time tracking of actuals versus budgets.
4. Key Features and Implementation Details
- ServiceNow SPM Implementation: The organization implemented ServiceNow SPM to centralize project portfolio management, including project planning, tracking, and reporting.
- Azure DevOps Integration: A bi-directional integration was established between Azure DevOps and ServiceNow using ServiceNow’s integration capabilities.
- Developers continue to use Azure DevOps for their daily tasks, including creating projects, stories, assigning tasks, and managing sprints.
- Project information is automatically synchronized with ServiceNow SPM.
- Automated Data Synchronization: The integration ensures that any updates in Azure DevOps are reflected in ServiceNow, and vice versa, eliminating the need for manual data entry and reducing discrepancies.
- Role-Based Access:
- External clients use Azure DevOps to create and track project-related activities.
- Leadership uses ServiceNow to access project roadmaps, dashboards, and reports.
5. Results
The integration of Azure DevOps with ServiceNow SPM delivered significant benefits:
- Improved Visibility: Leadership gained a centralized, real-time view of project status, roadmaps, and resource allocations within ServiceNow, eliminating the need to switch between multiple applications.
- Enhanced Decision-Making: Access to accurate and timely project data empowered leadership to make more informed decisions regarding resource allocation, project prioritization, and portfolio management.
- Increased Efficiency: Automation of data synchronization and budget management reduced manual effort, freeing up project managers and resources to focus on higher-value activities.
- Better Alignment: The integration aligned development teams using Azure DevOps with business objectives and leadership’s strategic goals tracked in ServiceNow.
- Simplified Reporting: ServiceNow SPM’s reporting capabilities enabled the organization to easily generate comprehensive project reports and dashboards, improving communication with stakeholders.
- Improved Budget Control: Real-time tracking of actuals versus budgets within ServiceNow SPM improved financial management and helped prevent cost overruns.