From spreadsheets to strategic portfolio governance.

How a leading Canadian advisory firm replaced Excel-based portfolio tracking with a fully governed SPM platform — achieving 100% adoption and transforming investment decision-making.

CLIENT
Leading Canadian Advisory Firm

INDUSTRY
Professional Services

DURATION
16 Weeks

Year
2023

100%

Platform adoption

<1 Wk

Project validation time (from weeks)

200+

Tasks centralized

6

SPM modules deployed

The Challenge

An Excel tool at end of life. No visibility. No governance.

One of Canada's largest accounting and advisory firms was managing its entire IT project portfolio through an in-house Excel-based tool. The tool had reached end of life: there was no centralized visibility into demand, resource capacity, or project status. Over 200 tasks were being tracked manually, cost information was difficult to access, and investment decisions were made on stale data. Leadership had no real-time view of the portfolio.

The firm had already adopted ServiceNow for ITSM and ITOM. The next logical step was to extend the platform to strategic portfolio management — but they needed a partner who understood SPM as a governance discipline, not just a module to configure.

Our Approach

Process workshops first. Configuration second.

Coaxxion delivered a full SPM implementation over 16 weeks, deploying six modules: Demand Management, Resource Management, Project Management, Portfolio Management, Roadmap Planning, and Scenario Planning. The engagement followed Coaxxion's Co-Action Framework — starting with process workshops that mapped the firm's actual governance needs before any configuration began.

The approach was deliberately OOTB-first: leveraging ServiceNow's native capabilities, using configuration over customization, and anchoring every design decision in best practices. Coaxxion's team co-designed the solution with the client's PMO throughout, embedding knowledge transfer at every phase.

The Results