Insights Article

Intact Named ServiceNow U.S. Federal Partner of the Year

Award recognizes company’s leadership and expertise in federal digital evolution

RESTON, Va.—February 29, 2024—Intact Technology, Inc., a ServiceNow Elite Partner, has been named the ServiceNow U.S. Federal Partner of the Year. The prestigious award recognizes Intact’s dedication to excellence, innovation, and unparalleled delivery to federal government customers.

 

ServiceNow, a global leader in cloud-based workflow and digital transformation platforms, awards partners who demonstrate exceptional performance, customer satisfaction, and innovation in leveraging ServiceNow solutions to address the unique challenges of government agencies.

 

“The team at Intact consistently delivers unmatched outcomes, putting our joint customers first and demonstrating the power of what’s possible with ServiceNow,” said Steve Walters, SVP and GM, Public Sector at ServiceNow. “On behalf of the entire U.S. Federal team at ServiceNow, we thank Intact for the incredible momentum we’ve made together to deliver not just transformation, but sustained digital evolution for government agencies and their employees. Congrats to the team on this well-deserved recognition and we look forward to our continued partnership together.”

 

Intact’s operating model is the fastest and most straightforward route for federal agencies to successfully achieve their desired outcomes. We consistently exceeded our goals with a ServiceNow Customer Satisfaction (CSAT) score of 4.8 out of 5 and a Net Promoter Score (NPS) of 83 [industry average of 23]. How do we achieve these results?

  • An approach and contracting model that guarantees efficient outcomes by thoughtfully leveraging technology as it was designed.
  • A “must-have” view of organizational change management with human-centric adoption campaigns to help agency employees understand how to use new platforms.
  • A subscription model that makes continuous enhancement fast and easy.
  • A rapidly scaling team of experts and good humans driven to meet customer needs.

 

“It is an absolute honor, and we are deeply humbled to be recognized as the ServiceNow Federal Partner of the Year,” said Jesse White, CEO, Intact. “This award is a testament to the incredible work of our team and our unwavering commitment to our partnership with ServiceNow to help government agencies achieve extraordinary outcomes.”

 

About Intact Technology

Intact Technology is a different kind of ServiceNow consultant. Our business model cuts failure out of the equation—unlocking sustained digital evolution. Intact is committed to making consulting simpler, more efficient, and risk-free for the best value on the market. For more information, visit https://intact-tech.com.

 

Copyright © 2024 Intact Technology, Inc. All rights reserved.

 

ServiceNow, the ServiceNow logo, Now, Now Platform, and other ServiceNow marks are trademarks and/or registered trademarks of ServiceNow, Inc. in the United States and/or other countries.

 

Contact Us

Nicole Wise
Corporate Communications Manager
nwise@intact-tech.com

Insights Article

The Bureaucracy Barrier

How We’re Modernizing the Public Sector to Woo Digital Natives

Jesse White
CEO
Published
January 8, 2024

Nearly 40% of federal employees will be eligible for retirement in the next five years, and the impending ‘knowledge cliff’ has long been a well-reported concern. This uncertainty presents a dual challenge for the public sector: preparing for a potential mass exodus of experienced employees and attracting a new generation of digitally adept job seekers eager to make a difference—but disillusioned by outdated systems and convoluted workflows.

“You have this new generation coming into the workforce and there seems like a lot of bureaucracy in the federal government and things don’t make sense,” says Bahar Niakan, Managing Director of HR Modernization at Intact. “The workflows don’t make sense. The manual processes don’t make sense. There are endless PDF forms that you have to complete.”

Just trying to get basic work tools can be a frustrating slog. “Getting a computer or your security clearance done is hard. And that’s your first experience with the federal government walking in the door,” she says.

When digital native applicants encounter bureaucratic hurdles like filling out a PDF form just to receive a work laptop, they quickly lose interest in pursuing a potentially rewarding career in the public sector. Instead, they take their talents to more agile industries, often in the private sector. In order to attract and retain the upcoming generation of public servants, the government must find a way to overcome this generational divide.

“I tell employees the stories of changes I’ve gone through, how difficult it is even for me as a change agent. When we get through this process and get to the other side, your lives are going to be better, your work is going to be easier, and your customers are going to be happier.”

Modernizing systems to empower employees

Outdated legacy systems hinder both current employees and potential hires. These systems turn simple tasks into time-sucking rabbit holes.

“HR can sometimes feel like a black hole,” Niakan points out. “You send a request in, and you don’t know where it went. You don’t know how long it’s going to sit there. And when you get a response, you feel lucky. What you don’t see is how incredibly hard the HR team is working to get all of their customer needs accomplished. You don’t know it because there is no visibility into HR.”

By implementing ServiceNow, Intact streamlines workflows and provides real-time visibility. “We’re able to give our employees and leaders access to information that they didn’t have before,” Niakan explains.

For example, during her tenure at the Department of Health and Human Services, Niakan’s team used ServiceNow to create a platform called HR Exchange. This system allowed different HR centers to share candidate certificates between them—a process that was previously manual and siloed. With the old method, hiring managers would receive hundreds of eligible candidates on a list, pick one to hire, and discard the other qualified resumes.

But by making all the resumes keyword searchable, hiring managers from other departments can easily comb through thousands of resumes for other candidates that matched their required qualifications.

“At one point, we had 100,000 resumes available in the database,” Niakan recalls. “I could put in the word ‘epidemiology,’ for example, and it would narrow down to 417 resumes. Then I could add ‘basketball’ and it would narrow down to 26 people.” This new level of visibility allowed managers to efficiently identify qualified candidates across silos, improving hiring outcomes.

Staff can work more efficiently and focus on high-value activities by having critical data readily available. They can automate repetitive tasks using ServiceNow, allowing experienced personnel to dedicate their time to more strategic initiatives. It’s an approach that not only helps retain valuable institutional knowledge but also accommodates the retirement of long-time employees.

The importance of transferring critical institutional knowledge to the next generation has caught the attention of oversight bodies. According to the Office of Personnel Management, failure to transfer this knowledge could compromise a federal agency’s ability to fulfill its mission.

“Agencies must modernize human resources IT infrastructure by upgrading and integrating enterprise IT systems supporting the workforce and increasing the data available to inform management decision-making,” according to the OPM’s 2022 Federal Workforce Priorities Report.

The fear of failure holding us back

Modernizing any system comes with its own set of risks. But when it comes to federal agencies that are accountable for providing essential benefits and services, any failure can have a significantly adverse impact on vulnerable populations.

“These are major systems we are talking about, like the ones that run the food stamp program I worked on at USDA. That’s a system that has to work every day,” says Jonathan Alboum, the Federal CTO at ServiceNow, who previously served as CIO for the U.S. Department of Agriculture. “These systems always have to work, so you don’t have a lot of opportunity to introduce something new that’s going to fail—or that might fail.”

With so much at stake, fear of destabilization breeds deep risk aversion. Yet refusing to evolve also poses dangers. Outdated tools frustrate users and impose limitations. The key is finding a middle path.

“ServiceNow gives you a lot of ability to innovate quickly and rapidly, and, in many cases, ServiceNow is already a key technology in an agency,” Alboum says. “So you can build off of that to implement other aspects of ServiceNow, like low-code applications, very quickly to transport processes.”

By leveraging familiar systems like ServiceNow, change can unfold steadily using the right iterative approach. The process begins with small upgrades that help build trust and confidence, paving the way for more expansive modernization in the future. While transforming massive bureaucracies may require patience, the iterative progress empowers current staff and makes public service more appealing to potential hires.ServiceNow’s connected platform enables the free flow of information across silos. For example, during the COVID-19 pandemic, Niakan was able to provide real-time policy and safety updates to the entire HHS workforce and widespread access to Federal Employee Viewpoint Survey results.

“Managers were able to look at not just their own survey results within their organization down to the work unit level, but they could also make comparisons with other organizations to see what organizations might be doing better in a certain area,” she said.

You need to help people transition through change first

One reason why the pace of modernization is usually slow is that leaders recognize that effective modernization goes beyond technology. Implementing change across massive bureaucratic systems also demands the ability to competently and compassionately address their employees’ fears and resistance.

“Change is scary for a lot of people,” Niakan says. “It’s not just about putting a new system in front of them. When you say to a person, ‘You need to change the way you’re thinking,’ there’s no system in front of them to learn, with buttons to press. It’s more complex than that.”

With a thoughtful, people-focused approach, leaders can overcome resistance by building trust and helping staff understand the “why” behind digital transformations. Though progress takes patience, this mindset shift brings government into the 21st century—where public service is more streamlined, responsive, and fulfilling for users both inside and out.

“I tell employees the stories of changes I’ve gone through, how difficult it is even for me as a change agent,” she says. “When we get through this process and get to the other side, your lives are going to be better, your work is going to be easier, and your customers are going to be happier.”