Why Do IT Teams Hate ServiceNow?

Jake Stauch says IT teams often name ServiceNow as both a top cost and the tool they hate most. Serval is enterprise automation and enterprise service management: people ask questions, get help at work, and automate parts of the job they do not enjoy. The company competes with ServiceNow, the longtime legacy provider in the category.

He found the category at Verkada, selling enterprise physical security products to IT teams and spending years asking what they spend the most money on and what they hate the most. ServiceNow topped many of the lists, even though for most of his time there it was unclear how anyone would beat a company that had done so much so well. ServiceNow is a robust, customizable workflow platform that can map to enterprise processes, but every new idea still has to be implemented, often with consultants. The work runs six to 12 months behind where a team wants it. A big onboarding flow meant to last five or 10 years can justify that upfront effort and then keep working. Everyday automation cannot. ServiceNow does not catch up, and it keeps getting more expensive. A platform that will not keep up while the bill rises is what drove the frustration and the interest in a better solution.