3 Analogies to help you visualize ServiceNow as a platform of platforms

** The views and opinions expressed in this article are my own and do not necessarily reflect the views or opinions of my employer **

Shortly after Bill McDermott took over as the CEO of ServiceNow, in an interview with CNBC’s Jim Cramer, he positioned ServiceNow as a Platform of Platforms.

While there are different ways in which we can technically explain how ServiceNow acts as a platform of platforms, I feel using some metaphors will make it easier for people to understand this concept. In this article, I present 3 different analogies

Analogy 1: Think of an enterprise as a musical symphony. In doing so envision the various departments as different musicians and the platform/tools that they use as musical instruments. What is the one missing link in this seemingly perfect analogy? Yes. You are right. It is the music conductor. The primary duties of the conductor are to interpret the score in a way that reflects the specific indications in that score, set the tempo, ensure correct entries by ensemble members, and "shape" the phrasing where appropriate. In this analogy, ServiceNow is essentially the conductor who orchestrates various services via digital workflows within the enterprise.

Analogy 2: Have you not wondered often that an enterprise is pretty much like a human body. The various departments, employees, stakeholders and service providers, applications, and platforms can be thought of as various organs of the human body. Just as how all of these organs should work in synergy, all the constituents of an enterprise must also do the same. What is the command center of the human body? Our biology 101 lessons clearly taught us that our nervous system is the human body’s command center. Originating from our brain, it controls our movements, thoughts, and automatic responses to the world around us. It also regulates other body systems and processes and allows us to experience our environment. Just like the nervous system, the ServiceNow platform regulates services and processes within the enterprise and acts as the enterprise's command central.

Picture reference: Ross and Wilson Anatomy and Physiology in Health and Illness

Analogy 3: What is common with Airbnb, Netflix, Amazon, and Uber? They are all aggregation platforms. As early as 2015, Ben Thompson coined the term “Aggregation Framework” in this stratechery post. Within any enterprise, there are several services that are requested and fulfilled by different providers. By aggregating these services, an enterprise can make it dramatically simpler and provide a better service experience for the consumer. While ServiceNow platform inherently provides services by itself, it also acts as the aggregator for various other enterprise services.

Hope these analogies resonate with you. Eager to hear what other analogies can we use to communicate the platform of platform story.

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