Guest Host:
Jason Rosenfeld
Our Guest:
Erica Volini
In this special episode, Jason Rosenfeld interviews Erica Volini, Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at ServiceNow, to discuss the power of partnerships in driving ServiceNow’s vision for enterprise-wide transformation. From partner qualifications to the game-changing impact of GenAI, Erica offers expert insights into how ServiceNow is shaping the future of work. If you're looking to understand how to leverage ServiceNow for business growth, this episode is for you!
Sean Dawson: Welcome to a special edition of The Distillery. This episode is a little different because our CEO, Jason Rosenfeld, took over hosting duties and sat down with Erica Volini, senior vice president of global partnerships at ServiceNow, for a fantastic conversation. It's one you definitely won't want to miss. Enjoy.
Jason Rosenfeld: Hey everyone! Welcome to a special episode of The Distillery. I am super excited to welcome Erica Volini, the Senior Vice President of Global Partnerships at ServiceNow, to The Distillery Podcast. Erica, thank you so much for joining me today.
Erica Volini: So excited to be here. Jason.
Jason Rosenfeld: I want to thank you for your amazing leadership over the past two plus years. The partner program has matured so much, and I'm so extremely grateful for our partnership and relationship that we at Cask have built for the last 13 years. So thank you.
Erica Volini: Yeah, absolutely. The feeling is totally mutual. I'm so excited to be here today. Cask is, as we'll talk about throughout the podcast, an incredibly important partner in our ecosystem. And I'm thrilled to be able to participate and grateful for everything you have done to help promote ServiceNow into the market.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yeah. Well, it's not hard to promote because the technology and this ecosystem is so amazing. So, I've got a number of questions for you that I'm dying to hear some of your feedback and vision too around the partner ecosystem.
I know ServiceNow is deeply invested in the ServiceNow partner ecosystem. We're just coming off of GPES, which was an amazing event. But can you talk to us and tell the audience about what you believe is really the true value of services partners and why services partners are so critical to the ecosystem?
Erica Volini: Yeah, absolutely. And I think you just said it. For me, it's a business strategy decision. When I think about Bill's objectives for this company: there are two main objectives. One is revenue-based. We're at $10 billion of revenue right now. And he wants to more than double that in a relatively short period of time. We're talking about 10 to 20 billion over less than four years. That is exponential growth. The second is he wants us to become the defining enterprise software company of the 21st century—what he affectionately refers to as DESCO21C. And I don't think either of those objectives are possible without the partner ecosystem.
In order to grow revenue that exponentially, we need to be in every single corner of the enterprise. We need to be opening up brand-new markets. We need to be working with different personas. And we cannot do that through our field alone. Simply from a capacity standpoint and also from an expertise standpoint. We need our partners to bring their depth of industry expertise and depth of functional expertise to be able to get into every corner of the enterprise. That's what's going to get us that revenue acceleration.
And obviously, we can't be the defining enterprise software company if we're only focused on the CIO. So to me, partners are critical. For me, there is no path to these objectives without the partner ecosystem. So there is an inextricable link there. And that's the basis for everything we do is based upon.
Jason Rosenfeld: I love it. And I think, in terms of the ecosystem and where everything is headed, which is really true enterprise, end to end, almost every persona in the enterprise can use ServiceNow. I know for us and for Cask’s business, we use it across our business and we run our business on ServiceNow. And as I talk to more and more C-level executives across different industries—whether it be from manufacturing, financial services and banks, to our government organizations—they're all looking at different parts of the platform and leveraging things like supply-chain management on the platform, things like managing constituents and how we provide services to citizens as government entities. So I think those are the kinds of things that make me really excited, because those are fun problems to solve for customers.
Erica Volini: A hundred percent. And it's all based on business outcomes. The reality is our vision and what you're going to see from ServiceNow, as in the next few short months, is that we're going to be coming out saying, “We want to be the single repository for every workflow across the enterprise, every single workflow.” And with the advent of RaptorDB, which is all about being able to increase our speed and processing power, we're going to have the ability to do that.
And when you think about that vision, not only of bringing the existing ServiceNow workflows across the enterprise, but literally being the single repository of all workflows, the opportunity—the market opportunity—here is huge. And then you layer on top of that our brand, our 98.5 percent renewal rate, and it feels like, “What an incredible opportunity!”
But also, you ask yourself, “How are we going to go after that opportunity?” And the first answer on everyone's mind? partners. And that's why the ecosystem is so important.
Jason Rosenfeld: That's awesome. That's awesome. So tell me about how you look at partner qualification, speaking of partners. So all of this—having the partners being so critical to what ServiceNow is trying to achieve as a company to be that defining software company of the future—tell me about how you see what partners are more mature than others in terms of qualifications and recommendations to these customers so that they understand what partner makes sense. And then talk to me a little bit about the Elite partnership too, and what does Elite mean to you?
Erica Volini: Yeah. So let's start with the first part, because a lot of people ask me what defines a great partner. And I wanted us to have a consistent answer, which is why we anchored our entire partner program on what we affectionately call the Three Cs. We're making it real simple. It's competency, it's capability, and it's customer success. And to me, that's what defines a great partner.
Competency means is that partner investing in constantly skilling up their workforce on everything that the platform has to offer. We look at things like number of certifications that you have, growth in certifications, what types of certifications, how many master architects do you have. That's what competency is all about.
Capability is then how do you take that competency and bring it to the market. How effective are you in being able to leverage your knowledge of ServiceNow to drive and open up markets? And here we look at things like source net-new ACV, impacted net-new ACV. Are you bringing us new logos into our ecosystem? What does your market trajectory look like?
And then finally, but it's definitely not least—I would actually say it's foremost—is customer success because we want to make sure—especially for us, because we're so focused on a land-and-expand strategy across the platform—that our customers are getting the business transformation value from our platform. And so we need to know is that customer satisfied? We look at CSAT. Can you produce customer stories that actually translate into true business transformation value? And that helps us to understand not only do you have the competence, not only do you have the ability to take that confidence to market, but are you delivering for that customer? And that really matters.And that's why we're able to retain that 98.5 percent renewal rate.
So to me, that's what makes a great partner. And then it becomes how do you bring that into the market. How do you let customers know? And that's where the tiering status comes in. For us, you start as a registered partner. You come in, you move your way up, specialist, premier, and then elite and global elite.
And really, elite is the category that most of our partners are aiming to get towards. And it's a small subset—relatively small subset—of our partners. When you think about a 2,300-partner ecosystem, a relatively small portion is sitting in that elite status. And when you think across those Three Cs, a partner that's elite status is constantly growing, their practice, knows about the platform in depth, really has a clear go-to-market, they're working and they know how to bring ServiceNow to the market, and their customers love them. Consistently, the customers say, “This is a partner I trust. It’s a partner I would go back to.”
And we see that those are the partners in that elite category that we want to send our most important customers to. And we've set up our tool Partner Finder to make sure it is super easy for our customers and our field to understand which partners are at that level when they're making the decisions on who should be their services partner.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yes. Speaking of Partner finder, one of the things at Cask that we've put a major emphasis on, especially over the last few years, is product line achievements.
Erica Volini: Yes.
Jason Rosenfeld: And how important they are to basically differentiate our company from the rest of the pack to show how we're different, how we’re special. Can you tell me your view on what's called PLAs (product line achievements) and why they matter?
Erica Volini: Yeah, absolutely. So to your point, there are certifications. You have people who are certified in the product. But a product line achievement then says, “It's great that you have those certifications. Now, prove to us that those certified individuals have actually implemented successfully.” And when you're able to do that, when you combine the certification with proven expertise that you have implemented and implemented successfully, that's when you can get a product line achievement.
So it really is, to use elite again, the elite of the elite that have those product line achievements. And that's when a customer or a member of our field organization can say, “This is absolutely a partner I could trust because they have done it and they have done it well. They have implemented this part of our platform really well, and I could trust that they have the ability to do it again.” And of course, Cask has 11 PLAs, I believe, which is absolutely in the top tier of our ecosystem, which is incredible.
And then even beyond the product line achievement, we have what we call “validated practices.” So we will actually go in, look at that partner and say, “Let's talk about every aspect of how you set up the practice.”
And we will look and then validate, “Yes, this practice, we believe, is at the top of the top.” And that also can be found on Partner Finder. So we really are trying to find a way for our customers to have a sense of not just who's invested in training and certifications, but who has been there and done that, and the product line achievement (or the PLA) is critical for that.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yeah, no. And those validated practices, I know those are pretty in-depth assessments of organizations’ practice in specific areas. And we are very—I know our teams that actually run the practices, they're part of the practices. They've really enjoyed going through those assessments to basically show off their work and what they've done because they're super proud of it.
And I love the fact that there is now a badge associated with that. I know the team does because it shows off all the hard work that they put in over the course of time.
Erica Volini: A hundred percent. I think that one of the most important things that we can do as us being a great partner to our ecosystem is find every way possible to help our partners like Cask differentiate. Because it's a tough market out there. Twenty-three hundred partners? How do you separate? How do you show where the distinctions are? How do you really elevate those partners who are truly making the investment? Because I know it takes time, it takes money, it takes resources to be able to achieve product line achievements, to be able to have validated practices, to keep your team certified, to keep certified master architects and certified technical architects. That all takes investment time and resources.
And so a big part of what we're focused on is making sure we give you ways to show that off to our customers, to our field, so that you feel like you are getting that preferential selection when it comes down to services work. And I think, to me, that's what makes it a great partnership, is that you put in the time and effort and we make sure that time and effort is front and center for our customers.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yeah, no, I appreciate that. And I think, the other thing on top of—you've got the Partner Finder, that you've got access to all the PLAs. If you're a customer, you got that they can see certifications, you can see customer satisfaction scores, which is great.
But from your perspective, in talking to customers and talking to other partners, what are the less tangible elements around what makes a great partner? What do you hear from customers that they value that may not be necessarily on paper on a website?
Erica Volini: I would say number one is transformation expertise. We're in a transformation world. That's why our new mission is being the AI platform for business transformation. So having the ability to understand the customer's transformation objectives, bringing business-functional, industry/sector-specific knowledge to the table beyond just an understanding of the ServiceNow platform? Number one by far with customers. Because they're looking at ServiceNow not just as a transactional platform but as a way to fundamentally change the way work is happening. And work has to be unique to the business context, to the industry context. And so you have to be able to bring that to the table. I would say that's the number one ask.
And then secondarily, I would say it's the ability to bring thinking and creative ideas into the implementation, helping them to understand the broader implications than just technology. What's the implications to their people? What's the implications to downstream processes? How can you think beyond just what the technology itself can do?
And then third is just trust. Trust that you're going to be a great partner, that you're going to show up, that you're you're not going to necessarily constantly bring up the SOW and put it in the customer's face, but you're going to be there and you're going to invest because you see this as a long-term relationship where you both have skin in the game in order for it to be successful.
Those would be my top three. But number one by far is that transformational expertise.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yeah, I love that. And honestly, one of the things that I hate is when people call us an implementer. Because implementation is something that you have to do. But transformation is much more than implementation. And this has been years and years of collaborating with ServiceNow and working with thousands of customers. And I hate that implementer word because, to me, that's just very tactical. It's all about the outcomes that customers are looking to achieve.
And now that ServiceNow is truly across the entire enterprise, it becomes even more and more critical. Because could you implement one part of the platform? There's lots of partners that can implement ITSM. But can you start broadening across the enterprise? Can you have that transformation conversation of how the different personas interact across an enterprise?
And then the change management that you mentioned in terms of the people, at the end of the day, I think we're all in the people business. I think most companies, most organizations, most are in the people business. So how do you work with people? And that's around how do you change and get organizations to change and transform. And I think in terms of where ServiceNow is now headed with GenAI, it's going to be even more and more important.
So, your thoughts. GenAI is the topic across all industry, across all boardrooms and C-level conversations that I'm having. And I know you've called it a once in a generation opportunity in the ServiceNow ecosystem since GenAI is really going to revolutionize how all industries do work. Can you talk to me and let me know from your perspective, where do you see the role of partners like Cask, elite partners, and helping customers navigate into this new capability and a major change for a lot of organizations?
Erica Volini: Yeah. I think you just hit the nail on the head. We talk transformation. I often say there's little t transformation and there's big T transformation. Gen AI is going to be big T transformation. Because when you think about the functionality that's in Now Assist (ServiceNow’s GenAI product that's out there), we're not just doing things like case summarization or deflection. We are literally building autonomous agents. Agentic AI. We are literally setting up the fact that organizations can have AI agents and human agents working together.
And when you look at what those AI agents can do—not just executing a single task but then thinking through the implication of that task to downstream policies for downstream teams, making suggestions on how to improve the customer experience or the employee experience—and you quantify the capacity that then freed up for the from the human agents, it opens up a whole new world of transforming work, transforming jobs, transforming roles, making people's lives better. I mean, I could go on and on. My background is future of work. So this is what really gets me excited.
But we need our partners to paint that picture for our customers. We need our partners to help advise up front and help them to understand the potential that's here. And then think about, “How do I stage this? How do I start thinking about going on this journey? How do I set this up not as a one time project but an ongoing evolution of the way that work is happening (to your point) across the enterprise, using every part of the ServiceNow platform?”
So our partners, number one, have to be setting the stage and doing that education with our customers, because while customers are saying, “Yes, GenAI!” understanding what that means tactically, it requires some consultation. Then it's about figuring out where to get started and really setting the course for that, then implementing and not just implementing (to your point), but implementing and delivering value because our customers have to prove then back out to their board, back out to their C-suite, “Hey, here's the value that we got. We could see it on paper. This is the literal ROI that we're seeing here.” And then continuing that motion, moving forward, and handling everything that comes along with it in terms of transforming work, transforming the organization and transforming roles.
I was a partner at one point in my life, and thinking about this from the partner ecosystem standpoint, (A) I think this is an incredible opportunity, but (B) so much of what I just talked about can only be done by our partners. And so to me, AI and GenAI is an opportunity for our partners to be first: first out in front, tip of the spear. And that's absolutely the way we're thinking about it from a ServiceNow standpoint.
Jason Rosenfeld: Yeah, I know we're pumped about it. We have a whole enterprise meeting tomorrow internally to go through what we're doing and executing. We got a couple of customers, and it's starting to accelerate. And I think the big key for what I'm hearing, and the outcome that most organizations really want to achieve, is acceleration. Whether that's acceleration to support the IT organization, HR organization, customer service.
But I'll be honest: Even for companies like Cask, our business is going to be transformed. Partners—and this is not just the ServiceNow ecosystem, but I think most services and consulting organizations, especially ones that do development configuration, I believe that with the advent and what we're doing around creator workflows with ServiceNow, what it is we do is going to be heavily accelerated by ServiceNow and GenAI.
Erica Volini: Totally agree.
Jason Rosenfeld: So talk to me about the future. Do you have any vision of where we're at today and where you see the role of partnerships evolving in the future? What is it going to take for companies like Cask to be competitive/relevant? Is it more of the same? Do you see anything new that's coming?
Erica Volini: I see only new. I think we've been on a massive evolution, like you said, just in the past three to four years, going from our partners being viewed as implementers—like you said, a word you don't like, but that's kind of where our partners were—to our partners co-selling with us in the market, to our partners opening up new markets for us. And where we're going is we need our partners to be creating markets, creating brand-new markets for us to go after, using their thought leadership and their IP to say, “Here's a market you're not even thinking about that you can go use ServiceNow’s platform in. We can open the door. We can bring you in, and we can literally expand the TAM potential for ServiceNow.”
That's where we're going. To me, that's the opportunity I see, which I think is so exciting for the ecosystem to be able to play that type of role in not just generating services revenue and not just helping us to generate net-new ACV but to truly being an instrumental part of increasing our TAM. And that's what I see out there for the future.
And I think, honestly, as we think about working across the enterprise, going into new geographies—geographies we're not penetrated in, sectors/subsectors that we're not even focused on right now—the opportunities are really endless.
My encouragement to partners like Cask, especially our elite partners like Cask, is to help take a step back and think about, “Where should we be? “What market opportunity are we not going after right now that we could?” And if you come to us with an idea, an opportunity to go there, we'll go all in to go do that. And that's what partnership is really about.
That's the direction we're heading in. And I think based on the progress we've made in a relatively short period of time, we're going to do that. That's going to be the next couple of years. And then when we get there, that's when we know we're in a true partner-first world.
Jason Rosenfeld: Awesome, awesome. So I'd be remiss if I didn't ask you what do you think of CasK? I heard you say trust is really important earlier. Obviously, the concept around transformation. Why Cask?
Erica Volini: Listen, Cask is a great partner. Outside of being elite, I mentioned this earlier because we should look at the data points, and I think that's the best way to do it. This shouldn't be subjective. This is objective: Eleven product line achievements? Outstanding. Six offerings across some of the most important areas, including Gen AI, that tell me you know how to take our platform to market? Excellent.
You're focused on new markets. You're helping us open up markets. We just talked about market creation— Brazil, Mexico, Canada—outside of your work in the US. So you're thinking beyond. You're thinking about new markets and how to create that. Terrific. Absolutely trusted, like you said. High-quality delivery every step of the way, which is amazing.
And you are constantly thinking about that equation on ROI. How do we not only get to value, how do we get to value faster? And that really matters for us, because in today's world, especially with GenAI, it can't be about long proofs of concept that go on and on and on. It's got to be, “Let's get in. Let's deliver value. Let's prove the ROI. Let's get everyone to understand what the value is. Let's go next. Then what's next? Then what's next?”
I always like to tell people when I see an implementation as a start and finish, and I'm like, “You don’t get ServiceNow.” Think of it as a circle. It never ends. It should be constant. And your ability to prove out that value and drive that value so quickly is completely aligned with that strategy.
So what I see is heavy investment in competence, clear ability to get to market, proven ability to deliver with quality and gain trust with customers because you're focused on that business transformation value. And to me, that's the equation for great partners. So it's no surprise that Cask is one of our most important elite partners, which is why I'm here on this podcast today. And I'm grateful for the investment that you're making. And I'm looking forward to seeing what we could do together in the future.
Jason Rosenfeld: Awesome. Erica, this has been amazing, and I really appreciate, like I said at the beginning, everything that you've put into the ecosystem, where we're headed as an ecosystem, and how important the partners are and elevating the partners, with ServiceNow. And thank you for joining us on The Distillery. We'd love to have you back, naybe at some point as the partner ecosystem and things continue to evolve and change, because that's the one thing that will continue to happen is change. From where we started in the ecosystem where there were no different levels of partner—back in the day when I went through my first ServiceNow training, there was not even an exam or certification exam—to where we are today, where you look across the concept of PLAs and where everything is headed in terms of the level of maturity. And the customer base is absolutely incredible.
Thank you so much for joining us. And I look forward to the incredible partnership moving forward.
Erica Volini: Me too, Jason. Thank you so much.
Jason Rosenfeld: All right. Take care.
We’re with you for what comes next
You're working in a rapidly shifting environment.
Global dynamics, AI advancements, heavy competition–the only certainty is change.
We get it. And we’re here to help you harness the full potential of ServiceNow to simplify transformation.
Let's navigate the future together.
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We’re with you for what comes next
You're working in a rapidly shifting environment.
Global dynamics, AI advancements, heavy competition–the only certainty is change.
We get it. And we’re here to help you harness the full potential of ServiceNow to simplify transformation.
Let's navigate the future together.
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