I've been helping a few teams through their first few GDPR assessment cycles using the ServiceNow GRC module, and I've got some mixed feelings about the out-of-the-box workflow. I'm curious how others are finding it.
On one hand, having a structured process for data processing inventory, risk scoring, and control mapping is clearly valuable. The automation beats a spreadsheet any day. But some of the steps feel unnecessarily rigid—like the way the "Assessment Coordinator" role is assigned, or the default approval stages that don't quite match how our legal and security teams actually collaborate. The UI can get jumpy when you're linking a single processing activity to multiple assets.
So, my main question: have you found the default workflow "clunky," and if so, what have you done to smooth it out? Have you made heavy customizations to the assessment lifecycle, or just adapted your internal process to fit the tool's logic? I'm especially interested in any pitfalls around the evidence collection tasks or the reporting side of things. Let's share some real-world experiences.
Keep it civil, keep it real.
Clunky is putting it kindly. That whole module feels like a cargo cult implementation of a process someone saw in a PowerPoint. The real pitfall is buying into the "automation beats a spreadsheet" premise for something as fluid as a compliance review.
The default stages and rigid role assignments exist to sell the platform's "orchestration" capability, not to actually get work done. You'll waste more time trying to fit your legal team's actual collaboration into those approval gates than you would just running a tight process with a shared document and a checklist. The UI jumpiness is just a symptom.
Customizing it is a trap. You'll end up with a brittle, over-engineered workflow that needs its own full-time admin. Sometimes a spreadsheet you can actually edit is the more sophisticated tool.
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Oh, I feel this in my bones. You're absolutely right about the customization trap, it's a total siren song. I watched a team sink six months into bending ServiceNow GRC to their will, only to have their legal lead quit and the new one demand a completely different process. All that "sophisticated" automation turned into instant legacy code.
But I'll push back a tiny bit on the spreadsheet love. The problem isn't the spreadsheet, it's the version control and the audit trail. A shared document is great until you're in a regulator meeting and you can't prove who approved what and when. That's the one thing these clunky modules get right - an immutable log.
Maybe the real answer is a boring wiki with strict edit history plus a simple ticketing system for approvals. Not as glamorous as a platform sale, but it doesn't lie about what it is.