How SimpleOne replaced ServiceNow for 7,000 employees of the Monetka retail chain
Updated at: 18 February 2025
**Client: **[Monetka]()retail chain
**Developer: ** [SimpleOne](</>), developer of a platform for automating service business processes
**Integrator: **[Media-tel]()LLC (Devoteam Group)
**Monetka retail chain chose SimpleOne ESM-platform as an alternative to ServiceNow system. The platform completely replaced the previous solution and became a single window to support all IT and operational processes of retail outlets. The migration project was realized by the integrator Media-Tel LLC (Devoteam Group) in 3 months. The migration was unnoticeable for users, as the interfaces and functionality of the new platform were adapted to the client's established user experience.**
**Client's industry:** retail.
**Task: to** migrate from a foreign business process automation platform ServiceNow to a similar Russian-made system SimpleOne within a short period of time.
**Solution:** implementation of ESM-platform SimpleOne.
**Migration period:** 3 months.
**Term of full project realization:** 5 months.
## Situation before implementation
Monetka is one of the largest food retailers in Russia, one of the [top 150]() largest companies in Russia according to RBC, with more than 1900 stores in the Urals, Siberia and Volga region.
For several years the support of all internal IT processes of the company, as well as repair, maintenance of stores and equipment supply were automated with the help of ServiceNow platform. The functionality of the system used suited the company, but the vendor involved in the development and support of the platform demonstrated its intention to leave the Russian market, gradually reducing the scope of its presence in the country.
#### "In addition to the growing problems with the vendor, we had plans to expand from ITSM to ESM, the need for more licenses increased, which made the cost of the system significantly higher. That's why our colleagues from Devoteam, with whom we used to implement ServiceNow, suggested that we consider another platform from which we could make a seamless transition without losing quality and functionality"
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
In October 2021, Monetka decided to find a similar platform made in Russia, as the risk of the vendor reneging on its contractual obligations to maintain the platform became too great.
Another reason for switching to another platform was the pricing of ServiceNow in foreign currency, which made the cost of the system constantly grow.
It was necessary to ensure a painless migration in the shortest possible time so that the performers and users would not notice the difference in both visual and technical components of the systems, so that it would not be necessary to rewrite user manuals and conduct a long training to work with the new platform.
## Product selection
For the client it was crucial to implement an alternative domestic analog with functionality that would not be inferior to the capabilities of ServiceNow. It was important to preserve the current user experience as much as possible.
The main criteria for selecting a new platform were:
1. Russian development;
2. Rapid migration in 3-5 months;
3. Reduction of system costs;
4. Transfer and preservation of all historical data for the last 3 years in the same format in which they were stored in the previous system;
5. Ability to customize the user interface identical to the previous system;
6. The possibility of further development of the system independently, using the development skills already accumulated by "Monetka" employees on the previous platform.
According to the results of the analysis of enterprise solutions, SimpleOne was the only platform that met all the requirements both in terms of functionality and user experience.
#### "SimpleOne gave us the opportunity to migrate the system without users noticing. In doing so, SimpleOne's migration and subscription offer was more cost-effective than continuing to subscribe to ServiceNow. So not only did we not lose any functionality, but we also reduced our costs
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
Temporary licenses from the cloud were provided to the client for the duration of the project. The temporary license was needed in order to develop the platform in accordance with the client's requirements and to complete the migration by the time the full-fledged use was started.
#### "In Monetka, we saw a target customer interested in developing and increasing the maturity of their processes. With the help of SimpleOne platform tools, any business logic can be automated, thus speeding up the processes of handling requests and reducing downtime, for example, when servicing stores or cash registers"
Sergey Chukanov
CEO of SimpleOne
## Migration project
#### "After the company approved the transition project, Devoteam and I started implementing SimpleOne, using the principles and design approaches with which we implemented ServiceNow. We created an internal project team, Devoteam assembled its own team, and built active communication with SimpleOne representatives"
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
The project started in December 2021 and ended in April 2022.
Planned project milestones
The project was originally intended to be implemented in 3 phases:
Stage 1.¨NBSP;
Replication in the new system of all functional part of the previous system;
2 stage.
Development of integration switching and loading of historical data;
3 stage. Training of the client's specialists, updating data and connecting users.
Actual project timeframe
In practice, between the 2nd and 3rd stage of implementation there was a force majeure: the previous ServiceNow platform stopped working abruptly, because of which the client together with the integrator and vendor had to urgently, in just 2 days, put the SimpleOne platform into operation earlier than planned. As a result, the implementation project proceeded as follows:
Stage 1
As part of the first phase, the integrator, in order to maximize the customer's user experience, replicated the features of the previously used ServiceNow system, but also implemented more modern technologies and approaches to user experience design.
#### "As part of the design process, we showed our colleagues ideas that differentiate the SimpleOne interface from the previous system, but are much more interesting in terms of user experience. For example, the application form, which contains changeable and immutable attributes, was transformed, it became more understandable and pleasant"
Vladimir Lyaleko
Director of IT Service Management Center of Media-Tel LLC
Application form transformed on SimpleOne platform: added widgets at the top, clearly grouping the necessary information
#### "SimpleOne is one of the few ESM platforms that allows complete customization of not only the visual component, not only the self-service portal, but also the core system interface"
Vladimir Lyaleko
Director of IT Service Management Center of Media-Tel LLC
Upon completion of the first stage, all functional blocks used on the previous platform were customized. The configured blocks included both typical modules of the SimpleOne platform and blocks customized specifically for Monetka.
SimpleOne typical blocks:
- Self-Service Portal;
- Incident Management;
- Request Management;
- Problem Management;
- Knowledge Base Management.
Non-typical blocks customized specifically for the project:
- Store Operations Management;
- Management of scheduled and preventive maintenance;
- Adapted mobile interface for operation engineers and field IT specialists.
Implemented modules
### Stage 2
The second stage was devoted to migration of all data for the last three years: several million requests with all history, attachments and comments on them.
Based on the results of the second stage, it was planned to implement all integrations, download all historical data and configure adapters to download updates at the time of system switchover. Training of the client's specialists and transition to the prepared platform was planned to be realized at the 3rd stage.
### Emergency implementation
In the midst of stage 2, the vendor of the previous platform, 2 months before the end of the contract, without warning, suspended access to its system. The project went into emergency mode, with the work of phases 2 and 3 being forced and overlapping.
Since the client and integrator allowed for the possibility of such a confluence of circumstances, they were able to offload all data and internal directories in advance. There was an urgent need to upload root directories and switch integrations. The vendor also came to the rescue and within 2 days organized a production environment and issued temporary licenses, so that "Coin" specialists could immediately continue working in the new system. SimpleOne activated the subscription for 2 months earlier, formalizing the legal component later, so as not to leave the client without a functioning platform for a few days while the documents were being processed.
Thus, what was planned to be realized within 2-3 weeks was done in 48 hours - settings and directories were transferred and Monetka specialists started working in the system.
#### "The system was urgently put into operation at a time when its functionality still needed to be finalized. Now we rolled out all the results not on a demo, but on a productive stand, on which several thousand people are already working. At this difficult moment, the SimpleOne platform demonstrated another of its advantages - it allows rolling out updates and historical data without stopping the system, which makes it possible to minimize the negative effect of a sudden outage as much as possible"
Vladimir Lyaleko
Director of IT Service Management Center of Media-Tel LLC
### Stage 3
During the operation of the previous solution, the client has accumulated expertise in handling the platform. One of the selection criteria was the ability to apply the accumulated development skills on the platform to the new system, as the company plans to develop the system independently in the future. For this reason, during the project, Devoteam team members were not only involved in implementation, but also actively trained Monetka's technical specialists to work on the new platform.
#### "Having competencies on the client side has a positive impact on the implementation of the solution and its further operation. Even small changes can make the work of employees more convenient and efficient"
Sergey Chukanov
CEO of SimpleOne
During the remaining month, the integrator stabilized the system in order to make it complete. Two teams were formed: the first one eliminated errors and helped users, while the second one finalized historical data uploads and integration improvements that had not been completed before the emergency shutdown of the previous system.
#### "During the emergency outage, the integrator's specialists once again proved their professionalism, and the vendor proved to be a reliable partner. SimpleOne promptly deployed stands for us, provided us with licenses and facilitated the fastest possible migration from the old platform to the new one"
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
## Result
The SimpleOne platform was used to build an ESM-system for the client, which acts as a single window to support all IT-processes and automate the processes of building and store operation, with functionality identical to that of the previously used software. Thus, all issues related to IT support and operation of Monetka retail outlets are now solved in the SimpleOne system.
At the moment the system consists of the following components:
- Self-service portal;
- System interface;
- Adapted mobile interface for operation engineers and field IT-specialists.
In addition to the IT department, the SimpleOne platform is connected to:
- Legal Department;
- Security Service;
- Marketing Department;
- Tender Department;
- Corporate University.
About 7,500 people work in the system - the same number as worked in the previous system. The end user who works on the self-service portal does not see any difference, for him the system is identical to the previous one in terms of design and the entire user experience. For the contractor, the system is not identical, but it is intuitive - the whole ideology of the previous solution has been preserved and the contractor did not need to be retrained.
"End users have not noticed the transition to the new platform - the self-service portal looks and functions identically to the previous one. At the same time, the employees who are responsible for business services and work with the system interface note that the interface has become faster and more user-friendly. That is, in our case SimpleOne turned out to be faster and more user-friendly"
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
According to the metrics that the system collects, user performance has not decreased. All key metrics: response and decision times, time between failures, etc. remained the same.
#### "The main positive result of the implementation is that the employees didn't notice anything. The end users did not feel any difference and they still work the way they do. There was no negativity from the change of platform, and this is, in fact, the main achievement that the client was striving for"
Vladimir Lyaleko
Director of IT Service Management Center of Media-Tel LLC
## Further plans
In the future, the client plans to develop the system independently, adding modules to automate other processes.
#### "We plan to develop the ESM-platform exactly in terms of service approach of back-office processes. In the near future we plan to connect new business processes"
Igor Ivanov
Director of Service Management of Monetka retail chain
