I just started at a mid-size company (around 600 people) and we have a ServiceNow setup that’s causing us headaches. Don’t get me wrong - ServiceNow is probably awesome when done right, but ours was set up badly and nobody here knows how to fix it properly.
Right now we use it for IT stuff like ITSM, ITOM, and managing our app portfolio. It also handles our identity management and connects to Google Workspace and Azure AD to control who gets access to our AWS and GCP environments.
Since none of us are ServiceNow experts, we hired a consulting firm to audit everything and tell us what we actually have running. They’re going to give us a report about how everything is connected and what’s actually useful.
But honestly, we’re pretty sure we want to get rid of ServiceNow completely. It’s way too complicated for a company our size and needs someone working on it full time just to keep it running. We want something lighter that fits better with how we actually work.
We’re looking at these replacements:
Jira Service Management for our IT service desk
LeanIX for tracking our applications
Workato for connecting everything together
The hardest part is replacing the identity stuff. Right now ServiceNow handles all our user onboarding, removing access when people leave, approval workflows for system access, and keeps logs for audits. We need to keep doing all that without starting a huge identity project.
We could really use some help here!
Has anyone:
Moved away from ServiceNow to something simpler? What tools did you pick and how did it go?
Been in a similar spot where ServiceNow was too much? Did you stick with it or switch?
Know any good US-based consultants who help with ServiceNow migrations?
Any stories, tips, or recommendations would be really helpful. Thanks!
We ditched ServiceNow 18 months ago at a similar sized company. Identity management was the biggest pain - ended up using Microsoft’s built-in identity governance since we’re already deep in Azure AD. Handled lifecycle management and approvals without adding another vendor. Went with Freshservice over Jira SM for the service desk because our non-tech staff found it way easier to use. Migration took 4 months but cut licensing costs by 40%. Pro tip: run both systems for at least a month during switchover. We found forgotten integrations that weren’t documented anywhere - would’ve been screwed without the parallel setup.
We kept ServiceNow and hired a contractor for 6 months to fix our mess. Cost the same as migrating but way less risky. The contractor documented everything and trained two of our people to handle maintenance. Now it actually works and we’re not drowning in complexity. Sometimes fixing beats starting over - migrations eat time and break things. Just something to think about before you go the full replacement route.
Just wrapped a project replacing ServiceNow at an 800-person company. Same deal - inherited mess, nobody knew how to maintain it.
Biggest mistake companies make? Trying to copy every ServiceNow feature. You don’t need half that stuff. We mapped actual usage first and found people only used 30% of the workflows.
For identity management - if you’re already using Microsoft, check out Azure AD Governance. Handles user lifecycle, access reviews, and entitlement management without adding another platform. Audit trail’s solid too.
Your tools look good, but heads up - Workato gets pricey when you start connecting everything. We stuck with native integrations where possible and only used automation for complex workflows.
This saved our butts: create a simple spreadsheet of every integration point before starting. ServiceNow hides connections everywhere. We found API calls buried in business rules that nobody remembered existed.
Don’t rush it. We planned 3 months, took 5. Users need time to adapt and you’ll hit edge cases nobody documented.
For consultants - Accenture’s ServiceNow practice has teams that specialize in migrations out of the platform. Not cheap, but they know where all the landmines are.
we went throug a similar process last yr & switched to Okta for id management. way easier than trying to recreate ServiceNow’s identity stuff. also, check out Meridian Consulting - they helped us a lot & were really good at mapping things out before we migrated!