IT management, Enterprise, Content

ServiceNow CEO: Partners Master ITSM Pro Remote Deployments

ServiceNow partners and systems integrators are successfully deploying the IT service management (ITSM) platform without going onsite for customers, CEO Bill McDermott told Wall Street analysts during the software company's Q1 2020 earnings call on April 29.

Positioned as a rhetorical question to analysts on the call, McDermott said:

"Who would have thought that ITSM Pro could have been implemented by our partners in 21 days or less -- remotely? That's pretty cool."

That's a particularly important statement. Although ServiceNow's software can involve complex enterprise deployments, partners and professional services firms for the most part need to do installs remotely amid the coronavirus pandemic.

ServiceNow: Key Partners to Know

The remote deployment effort appears to be going well. McDermott praised such partners as Accenture, Deloitte, DXC, EY and KPMG during the earnings call. That partner ecosystem is "doubling down" on ServiceNow, McDermott asserted.

Expanding on the remote deployment trend, he added:

"Not only can ServiceNow virtually implement the system but so too can the ServiceNow ecosystem. And initially, there may have been some training that was required with certain partners on how to do that. But our substantial partners absolutely know how to do that. And that is the manner in which ServiceNow is being implemented. It’s done virtually by ServiceNow as well as our ecosystem partners. It's not an issue whatsoever."

ServiceNow's financial results appear to back up that point. For its Q1 2020:

  • Revenue was $1.046 billion, up from $740 million in Q1 2019.
  • Net income of $48.2 million, far better than a $1.5 million loss in Q1 2029.

The results generally beat Wall Street's expectations.

ServiceNow: Next Moves

Best known for its ITSM software, ServiceNow has broadened its market focus to address digital workflow automation across multiple departments and use cases -- including HR, finance, cybersecurity and more.

The overall strategy calls for ServiceNow to march toward $10 billion in annual revenues within the next few years. The company wants to build multiple partnerships that each generate $1 billion in annual revenues.

That big-bet partner strategy started under former CEO John Donahoe, and it continues under McDermott. Key leaders in the partner effort include David Parsons, a VMware veteran who joined ServiceNow as senior VP, global alliances and channel ecosystem, in October 2018.

The hot ServiceNow deployment and consulting market has triggered M&A across the ServiceNow partner ecosystem.

Joe Panettieri

Joe Panettieri is co-founder & editorial director of MSSP Alert and ChannelE2E, the two leading news & analysis sites for managed service providers in the cybersecurity market.