Service Bridge Licenses

[d_worthington]

I have a large customer with several standalone instances. Generally, each one is configured to handle all of the needs its department requires. The customer wants to break apart and aggregate this functionality into various groups of consumers and providers of the various services, making for more cost-efficient operations going forward, utilizing Service Bridge functionality. I need to be able to explain to my customer the impact this will have on their license counts and costs.  They have been told various and conflicting (and mostly inaccurate, I believe) things about this impact - from a doubling of the number of licenses needed to a general uplift of license types.  While I understand that license costs are negotiable and require quotation, information about license types and numbers shouldn't be so obscure and difficult to ferret out.  Can anybody help me come to this understanding and knowledge? 

So for a simplistic example.  Say we now have two 100-licnse ITSM support groups, and we want to consolidate that into one, 200 license support group (ignoring possible future economies of scale). They've been told they would need 400 licenses, or alternatively, they would have to "transform" licensees to other licenses - a "general uplift."  But what's the real story? OK - a bad, simplistic example, but it's what they're being told.

[Mark Manders]

You are describing exactly why we can't answer this for you. Even ServiceNow is not able to provide you with an answer. And that is absolutely the worst. 

And getting the 30 sales reps around the table, also doesn't get you to the 'single truth', because they are just looking at their own thing. 

You say this is one customer. With this many instances and so many sales people involved, the company must be of importance to ServiceNow as well. Isn't there someone within ServiceNow to whom the customer can turn to if it needs escalation (a sales director or something)? You aren't looking to cut cost, you are looking for a solution that can even bring ServiceNow extra revenue, but you need to get an answer. Maybe that person within ServiceNow can get a solution architect to look at your situation and propose the best solution for the client (instead of people looking at their own targets, not wanting to lose an instance or whatever). 

Based on that solution, you will know what is going to be done on what instance and what that will do with the licensing. I am very sorry, but you do need to get in touch with ServiceNow to get the clarity. Just not the different sales people. You need a company wide solution, not an instance solution.