ServiceNow Partner ‘Fired Up’ For Changes Aimed At The C-Suite

“It’s hard to listen to these guys without getting fired up and have your mind racing about the potential of this,” Rob Rishel, executive director of the ServiceNow practice with CAI, Inc., tells CRN.

ServiceNow is taking aim at the C-suite with changes to its partner program using a down-the-middle pitch that the company can save customers $5 to $10 for every dollar they spend on the platform.

One new offering, Now Value, is a suite of services and tools for partners to showcase the cost savings and efficiencies that customers can find using Service Now. It includes an online calculator backed by Forrester Total Economic Impact studies of other ServiceNow customers. Partners can use this tool to determine what companies can expect to save, and in which areas the platform can streamline.

Partners can then give customers a real-dollar estimate based on the number of employees, the number of annual critical outages, and annual incident volume, among other data points. The site generates a clean graph – as well as a downloadable 13-page PowerPoint -- that display’s the expected increase in efficiency, where in the organization that happens, and how that translates into dollars. The calculations are “based on financial models constructed by ServiceNow and certified by Forrester Consulting,” ServiceNow says.

“It’s focusing on those metrics that are important to the C-suite,” Rob Rishel, executive director of the ServiceNow practice with CAI Inc., told CRN. “It shows you the absolute return on investment of everything you were doing historically, and what you were doing before. A lot of customers didn’t have good data around existing processes. Getting those established. Getting those benchmarks from day 1, then as you go, being able to see the trends of that stuff … If you get the CFO saying ‘Show me the money. Show me the payback.’ The Now Value methodology takes that to the next level.”

David Parsons, ServiceNow’s senior vice president of global alliances and channel, said the new approach is about communicating the benefits automation to the people who need to understand it.

“Think of Now Value and what we are doing with partner industry solutions as a way for us to help our partners, to really equip them, enable them, empower them to leverage this knowledge to go deliver those kinds of outcomes for our customers,” Parsons told CRN. “We want to enable them to maintain that 97-percent renewal rate. We don’t take it for granted. We know in everyday, and in everyway we have to earn it with our partners.”

Allentown, Pa.-based CAI – which was founded in 1981 -- has been a ServiceNow partner since 2012. Considered an “elite” level partner, CAI carries out massive ServiceNow integrations across the country, but Rishel said in the current environment, new customers are interested in hearing about ways automation can streamline their business.

“As a platform, as a company, I don’t know that anybody is better positioned from a digital transformation perspective, to deal with the realities of today’s working world,” Rishel said. “How is work getting done? Its getting done through workflows. That’s the bread and butter of ServiceNow. With everyone being remote, having that automation operating is absolutely critical to a firms success. ServiceNow couldn’t be better positioned for customer success.”

As the nation’s mobility freeze begins to thaw, and companies look for ways to save money and be prepared for what’s next, Rishel said his ServiceNow practice has been inundated with requests.

“It’s been absolutely crazy,” he said. “From a new business perspective. My conversations have been increasing, our initial calls, sales opportunities, I’ve never had a busier time. We’ve been partners since 2012. We’ve seen the growth. Every time I think it can’t get any bigger, they make a change. The change to (CEO Bill) McDermott has been a shot in the arm. McDermott is throwing gasoline on the fire.”

In addition to Now Value, ServiceNow is also giving partners a chance to show off their software development skills with ServiceNow Partner Industry Solutions. The new marketplace showcases partner applications that are aimed at industry-specific workflow and digital transformation needs of customers. The marketplace will enable partners to drive differentiation, champion their industry expertise, and unlock new growth opportunities by reaching ServiceNow’s customers across the globe.

ServiceNow Industry Partner Solutions include inaugural offerings Accenture, Atos, Deloitte, DXC, Ernst and Young, and KPMG. Rishel said in some ways its about bragging rights.

“Which white spaces are out there that the Accenture’s of the world aren’t addressing?” Rishel said. “We have some unique IP that we could get out there.”