I just started at a mid-sized company (around 500 people) and got stuck with a messy ServiceNow setup. The previous team made it way too complicated and it’s a nightmare to manage. SNOW could work great if done right, but ours needs to be completely redone and we don’t have time for that.
Right now we use ServiceNow for:
IT Service Management
IT Operations Management
App Portfolio Management
Identity workflows - SNOW handles all our user onboarding, offboarding, access requests, and role updates. Everything gets approved and tracked there for audit trails.
We hired a ServiceNow consultant to map out what we actually use and how everything connects. But we’re already thinking about switching to simpler tools that are easier to manage.
We’re looking at:
Jira Service Management for IT service desk
LeanIX for application management
Workato for integrations and automation
My biggest worry is whether JSM can handle the identity management stuff we do in ServiceNow right now. We need to keep the approval processes and audit tracking without starting a huge IAM project.
I’m hoping to hear from people who have:
Made the switch from ServiceNow to JSM - what worked and what was a pain?
Figure out how to do user lifecycle management in JSM or other Atlassian products?
Worked with US consultants who know both platforms and can help with this kind of migration?
Thanks for any advice - really want to learn from others who did this before.
Been through this nightmare with overcomplicated ServiceNow setups. The platform’s powerful but turns into a monster when mismanaged.
JSM works fine for basic IT service desk stuff, but identity workflows? That’s where it gets messy. JSM’s approval processes are pretty basic compared to ServiceNow. You need something more robust for complex user lifecycle management with proper audit trails.
Your tool stack has three different platforms that need to talk perfectly. Workato’s decent for integrations, but you’re still juggling multiple systems.
Seen this exact scenario at several companies. The real solution is one automation platform that orchestrates everything across your tools. Instead of forcing JSM to do identity management, build the workflows you actually need.
Latenode handles complex approval chains, user onboarding sequences, and audit logging across multiple platforms. Keep JSM for tickets, LeanIX for app management, and let Latenode tie everything together with sophisticated workflows.
Audit trail concerns disappear - every step gets logged automatically. Plus you’re not locked into any platform’s limitations.
Made this exact switch two years ago - JSM is refreshing after dealing with bloated ServiceNow setups. Way easier learning curve and your team won’t hate using it. But JSM won’t handle those identity workflows you mentioned. We kept our user lifecycle stuff but moved it to a proper identity governance tool instead of cramming it into a service desk. ServiceNow was overkill for tickets but actually made sense for complex identity workflows with multiple approvals. Migration took four months with decent planning. Biggest pain was rebuilding all the custom approval workflows someone cobbled together in ServiceNow over the years. JSM’s automation is good but you’ll have to simplify some processes. Workato integration worked for us, though expect headaches getting the mapping right initially. Definitely get that consultant - find someone who knows both platforms and can save you from the usual data migration disasters. Maintenance dropped big time after switching. JSM updates don’t break everything like ServiceNow upgrades did.
jsm’s def easier but ur gonna miss some of snow’s fancy workflows. we switched partially last year and still use snow for the tricky identity stuff since jsm isn’t quite there yet. might be worth running both for a bit?
We did this same migration 18 months ago at a similar-sized company. JSM worked better than expected for basic ITSM stuff, but identity workflows were a pain - had to completely rethink our approach. JSM handles user provisioning okay through Automation for Jira, but you’ll need to build custom approval chains from scratch since JSM’s approval system isn’t as robust as ServiceNow’s workflow engine. Audit trails exist but you’ll spend way more time configuring them to match what you’ve got in SNOW now. We ended up keeping identity management separate - Okta Workflows was way more reliable than trying to make JSM do everything. Workato worked great for system connections, though mapping your existing ServiceNow integrations will be messy at first. Maintenance got much easier after the first six months though.
Dealt with this exact nightmare three years ago. Previous admin made our ServiceNow a total Frankenstein with custom workflows everywhere.
JSM’s solid for tickets but won’t replace your identity workflows. The approval system’s pretty basic compared to what you’ve probably built. We tried cramming user onboarding into JSM - total disaster.
Audit requirements will bite you. JSM logs things but nothing like ServiceNow’s detailed workflow tracking. If you’re regulated, this’ll give you major headaches.
Keep identity management separate from JSM. Check out SailPoint or Saviynt if you need something serious. Even Azure AD with Power Automate beats shoving everything into a service desk tool.
Workato handles integrations fine, but mapping your existing ServiceNow business rules takes forever. Document everything first or you’ll miss critical stuff.
Here’s what nobody tells you - JSM performs way better and your agents will actually want to use it. ServiceNow made our team miserable with how slow everything ran.
Get that consultant but make sure they know your compliance needs. Most just focus on technical migration and completely forget about audit trail continuity.