Meet Tony

Tony Krauter is a Now Creator with over 20 years of experience in IT. Today, he’s the sole Now Platform administrator/developer at Sargento. Beginning as a college intern answering phone calls at a help desk, he’s created a career out of supporting ServiceNow. It’s been quite a  journey for Tony—one that continues as he earns more ServiceNow certifications. His most recent accomplishment? Becoming a certified system administrator.

ServiceNow evolves—and so does Tony’s career

When the time came for Tony’s previous employer to find a new platform in 2009, ServiceNow wasn’t on Gartner’s Magic Quadrant. After seeing how the current solutions were outdated and poorly bolted together, Gartner recommended a new up-and-comer that many people didn’t even know about. Then Tony and the selection team saw the first demo from Rob Luddy himself, and they were sold on the solution.

Like those of many early adopters, this IT solution started out with support from the help desk. But it eventually grew too large and needed proper support from an applications team. Tony dates his experience with ServiceNow, saying he was using the platform before it started naming releases after cities. Along the way, he’s used many modules including ITSM, Discovery, CMDB, HR, Asset Management, Performance Analytics and Application Development. “It's been an amazing journey seeing the tool evolve from an IT ticketing tool to a platform that you can run your business on,” says Tony.  

After hearing that another local company was looking for a ServiceNow administrator/developer, Tony took his talents to help grow the newly launched platform at Sargento.

Now Creators and expanding learning opportunities

Having been a user of ServiceNow since before Now Creators existed, Tony says the ever-changing ways to continue learning about ServiceNow have helped him tremendously. “I don’t think anyone would’ve imaged how ServiceNow progressed from that first wiki to all the options that exist today like the Developer site, a free developer instance (which I recommend to everyone!), the Customer Success Center, Now Community, Now Learning, podcasts, webinars, Now Creators, and more.”

Tony knows the challenges of grasping the potential of the Now Platform—especially as new modules come out with every release, bringing new possibilities.  He says, “Attending training can be costly and not everyone has the opportunity to do that so taking advantage of the online offerings, like Now Creators, has been very beneficial. And ServiceNow is adding new content all the time.”

ServiceNow’s content and classes—along with the Now Creators’ learning paths—can lead to certifications and micro-certifications, but that’s not all Tony suggests taking part in. As you gain skills and complete Now Creator milestones, you’ll find a lot more. “Attending events from Now Learning, which offers training at a significant cost reduction, are also very helpful.” He continues, “It’s important to join your local SNUG to meet new people, gain knowledge on the platform, and attend hands-on labs as well. Our local SNUGS can be pretty intimidating with 150 to 200 attendees, so building relationships with a few colleagues you can bounce ideas off of is very helpful.”

Getting recognized

Tony was initially reluctant to build out a Now Creator profile but said it eventually “seemed like the right thing to do since working with ServiceNow has become my career. Then I saw the Super Badges and role-based paths easily laid out on the Now Creators site and how it made achieving the goals and knowing what you need to do very easy.” Being able to edit his profile and share accomplishments that highlight his expertise has also been useful and, in his words, “exciting.”

Earning that first Super Badge might be addicting—Tony kept going and now has earned multiple Super Badges and micro-certifications, taken many classes, and much more. All of this appears on Tony's profile alongside his other achievements, including attending several Knowledge events, being active on Now Community, and even achieving expert level 3 status. But, Tony says, “Being acknowledged by ServiceNow as a Now Creator is the ultimate recognition for taking the time to attend training, follow learning paths, and manage my profile.”