Putting partners front and center to drive customer success

After 23 years at Deloitte, I left the only company I’d ever known. It wasn’t a decision I took lightly. The partner world has been my home, my family, and my connection to many close friends. More than a few people asked why I left after two-plus decades ascending the ladder to senior partner and global practice lead.

It’s a fair question, but one with a simple answer: Today, there are few better places to drive business transformation than at ServiceNow. I’m passionate about this company’s ability to make the world work better for everyone. I’ve seen its potential firsthand, and I know what’s possible with the Now Platform® at the core of customers’ business transformation.

At the same time, I’m a huge believer in the partner ecosystem. Their methodologies, frameworks, and client relationships are second to none. For ServiceNow to realize its potential, we must embrace the partner ecosystem in new, expanded, and differentiated ways.

That’s why we’re evolving ServiceNow internally so partners are at the heart of our go-to-market strategy and the continued innovation of the Now Platform.

The new North Star

My goal is to help shape this embrace so that one plus one equals a whole that’s greater than the sum of its parts. I want to start a movement in which partners are in the trenches with us as we work for our joint customers and in the room with us as we collaborate on a vision for their success.

It’s an evolution that places partners front and center from the very beginning, with both parties focused on our shared mandate of making the world work better.

That means partner thought leadership will fuel the expansion of the Now Platform into every industry, function, and process. Conversely, the Now Platform will proliferate partner thought leadership—in the form of methodologies, frameworks, data, and insights—across the enterprise via new joint offerings and solutions.

For our customers, the benefits are clear. A unified, end-to-end approach will deliver solutions that consider their unique transformation needs by business imperative and outcome. Meanwhile, innovation will increase and accelerate as the number and variety of partners developing solutions on the Now Platform expands.

It’s a win-win-win—elevating the role of partners, allowing us to truly embody our brand promise, and driving better outcomes for our joint customers. This is our new North Star.

In partnership together

In practice, that means a few things. First, we’re aligning as a company on a single Global Solutions Framework that articulates the business imperatives, personas, and industries that are top of mind for us at ServiceNow.

As CEO Bill McDermott says, our goal is to have an ecosystem that moves as one with ServiceNow. By aligning on one clear view of the outcomes we’re striving toward, we make it easier for partners to stay in sync with and inform our strategy.

Second, we want to be THE platform on which partners develop and monetize their thought leadership, whether it be in the form of partner offerings or partner solutions. Our recent partnership with NTT to help customers realize the benefits of private 5G is one example of this effort. We’ll continue to encourage and incentivize partners to build on the Now Platform to bring their unique IP to life.

Lastly, we plan to reinvent our partner programs, processes, and systems to put our go-to-market strategy at the center. That will take the form of partner programs that align directly to how our partners work, incentivizing them for the value they provide at every step of the client relationship—from opening doors to delivering incredible (and sustainable) results.

It will mean a complete reinvention of our partner systems to simplify our ability to work together and a reimagination of our partner processes so that they’re as fluid as our platform enables them to be.

Ultimately, this vision of a new partner relationship depends on our shared customer focus. It’s a realization that both we and our partners hold pieces of the puzzle when it comes to their success. Together, we can make the world work better for everyone.

That’s why I left the only organization I’d ever known to join ServiceNow. We can change how businesses operate. But it requires that we open the door here at ServiceNow to embrace partners in new and exciting ways.

We’re not just going to walk through that door. We’re going to kick it open, because the opportunity for our partners, customers, and us is simply too large to ignore.

Find out more about our partner programs.

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