The holidays are supposed to be a time for reflection, gratitude, and maybe pretending you’re not checking email quite as often as you actually are. Inside the ServiceNow ecosystem, though, December has its own special energy.
Projects slow down just enough to let reality catch up. Roadmaps get reviewed. Backlogs get side-eyed. Someone inevitably asks, “Could we just get one more thing in before the end of the year?”
We’ve been there. So have you.
That’s why, instead of a year-end victory lap or a crystal-ball prediction post, we thought we’d share a few holiday truths from inside the ServiceNow world. Consider this a friendly nod to everything you’ve navigated this year and everything your instance is quietly hoping for in the next one.
Fewer “Temporary” Fixes in the Stocking
You know the ones. The workaround was supposed to last two weeks. The script that “just needs a little cleanup later.” The integration that technically works, as long as no one touches it or even looks in its direction.
By December, those temporary solutions may just take up permanent residence.
The good news is that this time of year is perfect for taking stock. Not ripping and replacing everything. Just asking honest questions about what’s serving the business and what’s quietly adding friction behind the scenes.
Everyone Is Grateful for Automation… Unless It Breaks
Automation is one of ServiceNow’s superpowers. When it’s working well, it’s invisible. And those moments are frequent. But when it’s not, it becomes very visible, very fast.
The holidays tend to surface this more than any other time of year. PTO schedules change. Approval chains get weird. That one person who knows how something works is suddenly out until January.
Well-designed workflows account for real human behavior, including holidays, handoffs, and the occasional out-of-office reply that never gets updated.
Security Is Still on the Nice List (Even If It’s Not Flashy)
Security, risk, and governance don’t always get the seasonal spotlight. They’re rarely the features people brag about in their holiday cards.
But ask any team that dealt with an incident this year, and you’ll hear the same thing: visibility, ownership, and clean processes matter.
The quiet wins. The things that don’t make noise because they’re working exactly as intended. That’s the kind of maturity that pays off long after the decorations come down.
Integration Fatigue Is Real
If your ServiceNow environment touches everything, that’s because it does. IT, HR, SecOps, OT, Finance, Facilities. Each integration adds value, but also complexity. Over time, even good integrations need attention. Not because they’re broken, but because the business has changed around them.
The holidays are often when teams finally have the space to say, “Let’s make sure this still makes sense.” That pause is healthy.
The Best Gift Is Clarity
Not a new module. Not a shiny dashboard no one uses. Not a rushed feature added on December 29th.
Clarity.
Clarity on ownership. Clarity on outcomes. Clarity on what success actually looks like in the new year.
A Final Thought Before the Big Day
If this year felt messy at times, that’s okay. Complex platforms support complex organizations. And progress rarely shows up as a straight line.
At CoreX, we’re grateful for the teams who invite us into that complexity. The ones who ask hard questions. The ones who care deeply about getting it right, not just getting it done.
Here’s to calmer instances, cleaner workflows, fewer “we’ll fix it later” notes, and a little more breathing room in the year ahead.
From all of us at CoreX, best wishes for a happy, healthy, incident-free holiday season!
