SNCF Réseau’s transition to the ServiceNow platform through the HARMONIS project has centralized and standardized IT service management, improved data quality in its CMDB, and introduced agile methodologies, with plans to enhance user support through AI innovations like a virtual agent.
The IT system is a strategic asset for an infrastructure like that of SNCF Réseau. Incidents, changes, production start-ups… So many critical issues that were managed differently in different units of the organization, before the switch to the ServiceNow platform 7 years ago. This transition enabled the implementation of standardized, centralized management of IT services for a wide variety of user populations. Users also benefited from the fact that all IT system components were stored in a central database (commonly referred to as the “CMDB”). In particular, the ServiceNow platform has retained the name of the “HARMONIS” transition project since its launch, to emphasize the platform’s cross-functional and central dimensions.
Various integration and consulting services have supported SNCF Réseau in major changes, audit actions and the appropriation of new uses by users.
At the end of 2023, to optimize HARMONIS maintenance activities, the DGNUM has decided to entrust them to a single integrator in a Skills Center.
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Innovations under the sign of agility
The arrival of Inetum in November 2023 marked a new stage with the implementation of a team made up of varied and complementary profiles.
“There was still room for improvement in terms of monitoring developments and comitology,” recalls Arnaud Maillard, ServiceNow Business Unit Manager at the DGNUM. “Requests for changes to the Harmonis platform were arriving by e-mail, with errors in prioritization or arbitration”.
“We now have a work methodology that enables us to industrialize thanks to an agile organization with 2-week iterations,” stresses Armelle Fichou, Sales specialist ServiceNow at Inetum.
This agile method is accompanied by a new, structured comitology. Communication is also progressing with the “HARMONIS Café”, biannual events where the team presents the latest major developments and new features. “A café area on the SNCF Réseau website is temporarily mobilized to present various workshops on themes related to the tool, to attract users and get their feedback”, explains Arnaud Maillard.
One year on, the results are in. “From the moment we introduced a centralized approach, and the agile method for managing changes, these new features have been fairly well accepted,” confirms Arnaud Maillard.
Particular attention was also paid to the quality of the data in the CMDB. “There used to be a certain mistrust of the CMDB, but this has been overcome by the work carried out by the HARMONIS Skills Centre,” says the SNCF Réseau project manager with satisfaction.
AI, the next step
Standardization remains a priority. “As an integrator at Inetum, a major challenge is to make every effort to return to the standards of the ServiceNow platform to better meet needs, and then to enrich its use once this basis has been respected,” explains Armelle Fichou. “And that’s just the beginning. The next logical step, for example, would be to think about improving the service with AI.”
An example of a possible application for application user support management. “We’re in the process of setting up a virtual agent,” reveals Arnaud Maillard. “They use a knowledge base available in another tool interfaced with HARMONIS. We plan to transfer this base to the HARMONIS platform; but rather than simply migrate it, we’re going to set up new ways of accessing this knowledge via a virtual agent, a chatbot.”
