Contract Services Management: A Next Big Thing for ServiceNow?

[MichaelDortch]

If everything in the enterprise really is or can be a service, what's next on the service management and delivery horizon? At a growing number of enterprises, it is or could be contract services management. Herewith, in no particular order, some inspiring, if not corroborating, nuggets of evidence.

Said nuggets result from my attendance at Accelerate 2015, a conference produced by a company called Apttus. Said company is delivering disruptive innovation in multiple revenue-related arenas, notably contract, quote-to-cash (QTC), and configure, price, and quote (CPQ) management. And they are doing so via a purpose-built application platform running on Salesforce.com's Salesforce1 infrastructure platform.

Accelerate 2015 reportedly had some 2,000 attendees, approximately twice the number who attended Accelerate 2014. (You know, like Knowledge13 compared with Knowledge12.) And the customers and partners I encountered were some of the most engaged, upbeat, and business-savvy ecosystem members I've seen outside of a ServiceNow Knowledge conference.

Partners, sponsors and exhibitors at the event included Accenture, Cloud Sherpas, Deloitte Digital, and PwC — all significant players in the ServiceNow ecosystem.

I got to spend a sliver of my time at Accelerate 2015 with Kamal Ahluwalia, Chief Marketing Officer at Apttus. Here's a dramatic reenactment of part of that conversation.

Me: What's the one thing Apttus customers don't yet fully "get?"

Kamal: The breadth and depth of our platform.

Me: What's the one thing analysts and influencers following Apttus don't yet fully "get?"

Kamal: the speed at which we move — Web speed. We do things in months that those who follow us think will take years.

Me: What's the next big thing?

Kamal: Helping to enable more customers and partners to take greater advantage of the power of our platform — at Web speed.

Another noteworthy similarity between Accelerate 2015 and past Knowledge conferences: lots of sessions featuring Apttus customers. One featured Brian Lille, CIO at Equinix, and a long-time ServiceNow champion. In response to a question from me, he said that he and his team are exploring ways to integrate the strengths of the Apttus and ServiceNow platforms. The goal is to bring more improvements to contract management at Equinix, within and beyond IT. (If you missed him at Accelerate 2015, you can see him speak at Knowledge15. Feel free to pass along greetings from me.)

Remember when no one outside of IT cared about IT service management, until the realization that IT services enable the business? ServiceNow certainly does.

Remember when no one outside of compliance, risk, or security management cared about governance, risk, and compliance (GRC) management? Today, enterprise decision makers increasingly realize the GRC is really about making their organizations more agile, resilient, and trustworthy. And ServiceNow has added enhancements to its GRC solution, and the team of experts from Intréis, a GRC-specialized partner, to its internal staff.

Whether it's an internal service level agreement (SLA) or the document describing a primary external business relationship, the contract defines how your business does business. Contract management is therefore a service with high business value, and one that would benefit immensely from greater automation, consolidation, and modernization. You know, like IT service management. Or GRC management. Or enterprise service management.

I expect that when Accelerate 2016 rolls around, there will be even more members of the ServiceNow ecosystem participating as presenters, exhibitors, and attendees. And I expect that decision makers at more enterprises will already be talking about that time in the recent past when none of their colleagues cared about contract management. Meanwhile, you might start or elevate discussions with your legal and contract management specialists about how best to advance contract services management at your enterprise. (If you want to point someone at a view of all of this that is a bit less ServiceNow-centric, try this: "Why Contracts Matter to Your Enterprise — And What You Should Be Doing About It."

What do you think? Am I being naively optimistic, impressively prescient, or late to a party that started a while ago? Please do let me and the rest of the Community know by leaving a comment. Thanks!