Erica Volini (ServiceNow)
ServiceNow has undertaken a major partner program transformation featuring new initiatives to help drive partner expertise, differentiation and skills, along with financial incentives.
According to ServiceNow, the multi-year vision is designed to support the $500 billion market opportunity for the Now Platform and associated partner services.
Newly minted ServiceNow senior vice president of alliances and channel ecosystem Erica Volini told ARN ServiceNow was growing at a rapid and expansive pace and needed its partner ecosystem to be aligned to the outcomes and results it was seeking to achieve.
“We’re massively upping our game in terms of both financial investments as well as opportunities for our partners to differentiate themselves,” she said.
The new program features four distinct modules in which partners can choose to participate: Build, Consulting and Implementation, Resale and Service Provider.
Partners are also being peppered with new financial incentives containing a new Partner Development Fund, a co-funded investment program, along with simplified discounts and rebates.
Specifically, Volini said it was offering partners the opportunity to differentiate by product, industry or specialisation, along with the assets they create using badges such as “built with” or “built on” ServiceNow. This is also backed with the investment to help partners take it into market.
ServiceNow's partner portal has also been improved to make it easier for partners to work directly with the software vendor, along with an improved “partner finder” enabling customers to find the right partner to best suit their business needs by region, industry, or domain expertise.
“We're being very prescriptive so that no one has to guess what's important to us with regard to what makes a great partner,” Volini said.
She also highlighted three major expectations as a result of the new program including an increase in the capacity of ServiceNow talent, driving and creating new business opportunities and creating customer value.
“We want to add a million new people into the ServiceNow talent ecosystem in the next two years and our partners play a huge role in that and require that new talent, so investing in an IT capacity is critical,” she said.
“We want our partners to be creating new markets, with new buyers in industries that we don't face off with today and we're going to have a hyper focus on customer value.
“We need to make sure our customers are getting the transformational value that they're signing up for in purchasing the ServiceNow platform.”
The new program will be available from 6 March and partners will have until June next year to transition across.
Volini joined ServiceNow in 2021 after 23 years at Deloitte. She succeeded David Parsons, who led the ServiceNow alliances and channel ecosystem organisation since 2018.
Parsons will now lead a new and strategic ecosystem ventures function focused on accelerating growth with partners in targeted markets. More details on this initiative are expected to be announced later this year.
Enable CEO Bruce Hara said ServiceNow’s significant and ongoing investment in its partner program was paying off.
“The focus on simplification, capability building and transparency – key pillars for growth – is particularly promising. For us, this transformation of the partner program will position us to even better support our customers’ change agenda,” Hara said.
ValueFlow Asia Pacific CEO Max White said the simplified and streamlined program acknowledged its commitment and re-affirmed its continued investment in scaling ServiceNow sales, service and support capabilities across the Asia Pacific region.
“The new program offers sales-led partners the opportunity to evolve their capabilities and drive and own new business within markets and industries where they can clearly demonstrate domain expertise, while building long term customer relationships,” White said.
Auckland-based Integrated Knowledge Consulting CEO Kevin Chung added the new program will help drive further growth and innovation, particularly in the markets it plays in New Zealand and South Korea.
“It empowers partners to deliver exceptional value to customers, accelerating digital transformation so organisations can reduce costs, increase growth, and improve experiences,” Chung said.
