Capability Development

Executive Summary

Head Ahead partnered with the Enterprise IT Services department of a leading defence, aerospace, and security company to transform their ServiceNow delivery model. Initially engaged to deliver a critical ITSM implementation, Head Ahead went beyond the immediate project to help the client build a sustainable, high-performing internal ServiceNow Product Team. Through strategic leadership across resourcing, team structuring, process framework development, and competency growth, we enabled the client to reduce external dependency, accelerate project delivery, and pursue strategic initiatives in-house, achieving potential savings worth millions.

The Client Challenge

An Enterprise IT Services department within a large defence, aerospace, and security company had a strategic objective: to implement the ServiceNow ITSM module across its extensive userbase.

Lacking internal skills and experience to deliver this at scale, the department appointed Head Ahead to lead the technical delivery. A new project team was established, blending seasoned external ServiceNow consultants with internal staff new to ServiceNow.

While the project was successfully delivered, it became evident that developing internal capability was crucial for the client’s long-term strategic ambitions. The goal evolved: transform the temporary project team into a sustainable Product Team to serve UK business units and expand support globally.

Over the following years, Head Ahead collaborated closely with senior stakeholders and the ServiceNow Product Team to drive this transformation.

Strategic Objectives

Alongside leading the delivery of multiple workstreams, Head Ahead was tasked with developing:

• Internal ServiceNow technical competencies to limit reliance on external consultants.

• A scalable team structure to provide both support and implementation services.

• A robust process framework, encompassing delivery methodology, pipeline management, and cost recovery strategies.

Our activities were delivered iteratively over an extended engagement, ensuring sustainable capability development.

Approach and Solutions

Resourcing Strategy

We established tools and procedures to enable accurate pipeline estimation, managed by the Product Owner.

This strategic insight into short- and long-term resourcing needs allowed the client to:

• Optimise team composition across internal staff, independent consultants, and ServiceNow partners.

• Make informed long-term recruitment decisions.

• Significantly reduce reliance on external consultants.

Team Structure

A structured, agile Product Team was built, aligned to specific service elements:

• Business as Usual (BAU): Focused on incident resolution, request fulfilment, and small feature enhancements.

• Projects and Features Development Teams: Delivering small to large-sized ServiceNow projects, adapting team size and skill mix to evolving demands.

• Environments and Release Management: Managing ServiceNow instances, cloning, patching, upgrades, and releases.

Periodic team rotations promoted knowledge dissemination, while governance was maintained through biweekly workstream reviews, weekly design reviews, and a Scrum of Scrums approach.

Process Framework

Leveraging Agile Manifesto and underpinning principles, Scrum, Kanban, DevOps, and PMP best practices, we developed a tailored process framework to meet the client's unique organisational needs:

• Scrum was adopted for structured project delivery.

• Kanban was used by BAU and Release Management teams to accommodate reactive workflows.

• Agile Development modules and Visual Task Boards within ServiceNow provided full visibility into incidents, requests, projects, risks, and issues.

• A customised estimation model streamlined effort, cost, and resource predictions — addressing the challenge of a large volume of demands with minimal waste.

Continuous coaching, active collaboration, and documentation reinforced a culture of improvement and process excellence.

Competency Development

A task-based learning programme accelerated ServiceNow skill acquisition:

• Internal staff completed formal ServiceNow courses and certifications.

• Engineers, Business Analysts, and Testers gained practical experience by shadowing and collaborating with seasoned ServiceNow consultants.

• Onboarding programmes were extended to new Test Managers and Delivery Leads unfamiliar with ServiceNow.

This structured competency growth ensured that skills matured alongside the team’s delivery responsibilities.

Impact

By the end of our engagement:

• The client had established a high-performing internal ServiceNow Product Team.

• A mature process framework and strong operational practices were embedded.

• Reliance on external consultants was dramatically reduced.

• Critical strategic projects could be delivered in-house, promptly and reliably.

• Potential savings worth millions were realised.

This transformation not only fulfilled immediate objectives but also laid a lasting foundation for the client’s future ServiceNow ambitions.

Our success was made possible by the unwavering support of internal senior leaders and the collaborative spirit of the professionals involved. We are honoured to have played a role in creating such meaningful impact.

Partner with Us

If your objective is to develop a sustainable in-house ServiceNow implementation capability, Head Ahead is the trusted partner you need.