CHC Helicopter: Migration from ServiceNow to HaloITSM

Background

CHC Helicopters is a global aviation services company with operations spanning North America, South America, Europe, Africa, and Australia. With approximately 2,800 staff and a 24/7 operational model, CHC supports critical services including offshore oil and gas transport, search and rescue, and aeronautical training. Operating in a highly regulated environment, CHC must comply with international standards such as those from EASA and other regional authorities.

For over 15 years, CHC had relied on ServiceNow as its Enterprise Service Management (ESM) platform, building numerous systems for regulatory reporting and internal operations. As the business grew and diversified, so too did the demands on IT - both in terms of technical capability and cost efficiency.

Brandon Wilson, Global Director of IT Infrastructure, CHC Helicopter noted:

“Our instance had been customised heavily over 15+ years to support complex regulatory reporting. That legacy setup made it harder to adapt or move quickly when changes were needed.”

That's when CHC’s IT leadership began to explore alternatives, ultimately selecting Halo ITSM, with BDQ as the implementation partner. Halo offers an all-inclusive licensing model with named or concurrent agents, and CHC estimated that they would save approximately 70% on their annual licensing costs.

This case study explores how CHC, with BDQ’s help, transitioned from ServiceNow to Halo.

Problem

CHC wanted to move to a licensing model which was all inclusive and based around agents, whilst deploying a solution that had sufficient capability to match its requirements.

Regulatory obligations also added complexity. CHC needed its chosen solution to support CMDB functionality, integrate seamlessly with global operations, and empower internal IT teams to make changes directly. Operating across multiple countries, CHC also had to manage compliance with regional data protection regulations such as GDPR.

There was no doubt that the current solution was very capable, but nevertheless, CHC decided to see if it was possible to introduce an alternative solution which would still be capable of supporting a complex enterprise.

As Brandon put it:

“ServiceNow is a very capable product - but did we need all of its features?”

Solution

Brandon Wilson, Global Director of IT Infrastructure, had used Halo ITSM at a previous company and knew it would deliver in terms of licensing model and features. Brandon brought in BDQ to work with CHC's senior IT team to guide the migration from ServiceNow to Halo ITSM.

Halo’s all-inclusive licensing

Brandon knew that Halo had an all-inclusive licensing structure. Halo offers all core functionality - including CMDB, reporting, and integrations - using a model which is based upon the number of agents, either named or concurrent, or a mix of the two. For CHC, Halo’s inclusive licence model made it straightforward to predict future costs, with approvers, portal users, CMDB records, built-in integrations and all other functionality within the product included. All CHC needed to consider was the number of agents required, and whether they should be concurrent or named.

Enterprise capability

CHC does have complex requirements, being an enterprise, multi-location company, so any chosen solution must meet these needs. Halo has features that manage organisations, sites, assets, agents, teams, workflows and ticket types, which were used to implement CHC’s multi-location, multi-asset requirements.

To manage ongoing costs and responsiveness to the business, a CHC goal was that in-house staff could make changes directly without requiring external consultants. Halo allows the vast majority of changes to be configured via the UI, and Brandon had previous experience with Halo, so CHC was comfortable that in-house maintenance was possible. However, Halo still gives access to SQL and APIs to deal with more complex requirements, along with the ability to write scripts and callbacks.

BDQ’s implementation approach

Given the size of the project and the very tight timeframes to replace the current system before contract renewal, CHC decided to work with BDQ to manage and deliver the project. BDQ are a Halo solution partner and has years of experience with service management implementations, along with ITIL-accredited consultants.

BDQ took a phased and collaborative approach. The existing system was a multi-domain, enterprise service management configuration, which supported different teams, much broader than IT. There were also very tight timeframes - it was important to get the project finished before the existing license expired. Given these constraints, it was decided to replace the current configured functionality with the equivalent in Halo, rather than analysing and reimplementing business processes as part of the project.

Migrating ServiceNow configurations to Halo

Where possible, incremental improvements would be made, but the majority would be left to a second phase. BDQ's process was to analyse, configure, test and perform user acceptance testing for each ServiceNow domain application and the relevant team. Core configuration around permissions, organisations, team structures and other central functions was analysed and configured in parallel.

To achieve this, BDQ analysed and documented the existing ServiceNow apps. BDQ then worked directly with CHC’s regional and functional teams to document any regulatory and operational requirements.

Each service management application was rebuilt with native Halo features, ensuring that critical regulatory workflows (such as standards and publications management) were properly transitioned. A standard analysis, design, build and UAT process was applied for each application, along with the required core configuration.

Project management with Jira, Confluence and Teams

To manage a project this size, with parallel workstreams and tight deadlines, BDQ used their skills and knowledge around project management. BDQ are also an Atlassian solution partner, and uses Jira and Confluence to manage and collaborate on the project plan, documentation, and user acceptance testing. BDQ were also integrated into CHC’s Teams structure, so that CHC and BDQ could act as an integrated team for maximum efficiency and responsiveness.

Despite the complexity, the initial transition was completed in approximately two months, thanks to BDQ and CHC’s hard work.

Brandon noted:

"Even when requirements changed mid-stream, BDQ adapted quickly. The BDQ consultant got hammered by our publications team due to a spec change, and he just kept at it until it was right. BDQ’s team really stepped up - spending late nights and weekends to meet our decommission deadline. The dedication was clear. BDQ took the time to verify with each team that the build was correct. That level of detail and customer care was really impressive."

Outcome

Thanks to BDQ’s work and Halo’s technology, CHC continues to operate a mission-critical global, enterprise-wide service management platform that supports everything from IT to HR, facilities, and even helicopter parts logistics. Halo is fully auditable, supports regulatory compliance, and can scale with CHC’s needs with a licensing model that is based around agents. Internal teams continue to have the autonomy to make changes, report effectively, and maintain regulatory compliance. BDQ and CHC are moving to phase 2 of the work, where improvements to processes will be made. Brandon commented:

“It's been a great journey with y'all. The BDQ team's been great about getting in there and focusing on the work. Really, really, really, really happy with the experience.”

CHC’s IT team will be able to maintain and adapt the system over time. CHC has indicated they will continue to partner with BDQ for strategic support and additional enhancements, particularly where internal resources may be constrained.

Brandon estimated:

“With BDQ and Halo, we did the core work within 2 months and got the new system in on time and on budget!”

"ServiceNow" is a registered trade mark of ServiceNow, Inc. References to ServiceNow in this paper are for descriptive purposes only. Cost and resource figures reflect CHC Helicopters’ own environment and may not be representative of other organisations.

Halo pricing taken from Halo’s standard list price as of July 2025.

Published July 2025