ServiceNow Now Assist vs. Salesforce Einstein
- Now Assist delivers AI-powered experiences within the ServiceNow platform that increase productivity with intelligent suggestions and task automation within workflows. It integrates seamlessly across various business areas, such as IT, HR, and customer service, providing AI-driven insights, summaries, and automation for improved decision-making and efficiency. Now Assist uses purpose-built Now LLMs (large language models) and allows for custom AI workflows through the Generative AI Controller. With its extensive app-development toolset, Now Assist gives developers the power to generate custom code, workflows, new playbooks, and complete apps using plain language. Organizations also have the flexibility to connect to third-party LLMs.
- Salesforce Einstein is an AI platform embedded within Salesforce products, offering AI-generated content across sales, service, marketing, and commerce. Einstein GPT and Einstein Copilot enhance user productivity by automating tasks, generating insights, and personalizing interactions. It combines Salesforce’s proprietary AI with generative AI models from partners, targeting customer engagement and automation.
Customer experience (CX)
Customer experience refers to the overall perception and satisfaction customers have with a brand—shaped by every interaction, from initial awareness to post-purchase support. Effective CX tools help enhance the interactions that impact the customer experience.
ServiceNow CSM vs. Salesforce Service Cloud
- ServiceNow Customer Service Management (CSM) is designed to optimize customer service operations by providing end-to-end issue resolution. It leverages automation, AI, and omnichannel support to enhance customer satisfaction while reducing operational costs. With integrated self-service options, cross-departmental collaboration, and real-time insights, CSM helps organizations refine their workflows, proactively address issues, and provide personalized customer care that automates the flow of work across every team involved
- Salesforce Service Cloud focuses on customer engagement (intake) through its CRM platform, offering tools for managing customer interactions across multiple channels. It provides a comprehensive view of customers through its Customer 360 platform, enabling businesses to deliver personalized service. Service Cloud is highly customizable but may require additional add-ons for features like process automation and service catalog integration.
ServiceNow FSM vs. Salesforce Field Service
- ServiceNow Field Service Management (FSM) streamlines field operations by integrating scheduling, dispatching, and workforce management. FSM enhances customer experience by reducing friction and leveraging predictive intelligence for operational insights.
- Salesforce Field Service focuses on managing and optimizing onsite service operations by scheduling resources and dispatching technicians. It is designed for customer-centric operations, integrating with Salesforce’s CRM to track service performance and enhance customer engagement.
ServiceNow Sales and Order Management (SOM) vs. Salesforce SFA, CPQ, and Order Management
- ServiceNow Sales and Order Management (SOM) is a comprehensive platform that integrates sales, quoting, order management, and post-sales service to streamline the lead-to-renewal lifecycle. It enables faster product launches, automates sales and fulfillment workflows, and offers real-time visibility into the customer lifecycle, reducing order fallout and enhancing customer satisfaction.
- Salesforce SFA (Sales Force Automation), CPQ (Configure, Price, Quote), and Order Management streamline sales processes from lead generation through to order fulfillment. These systems automate quoting, pricing, and order handling, integrating customer data across Salesforce's Customer 360 platform to provide a complete view of the sales process.
IT Service
IT service encompasses the management and support of an organization's technology systems, which impacts nearly every business function. By ensuring reliable technological infrastructure, organizations can maintain smooth operations, minimize disruptions, and manage risks more effectively.
ServiceNow ITSM vs. ITSC
- ServiceNow IT Service Management (ITSM) intelligently delivers resilient IT services, reduces cost, boosts agent productivity, and serves exceptional experiences to employees—all on one AI platform for business transformation. ServiceNow ITSM resolves incidents fast and increases change throughput while reducing outages, promoting self-service, and continuously optimizing processes.
- Salesforce IT Service Center (ITSC) is a third-party product that is part of Salesforce’s work.com offering. It integrates endpoint management with Salesforce's service desk, providing basic IT service management capabilities. The work.com documentation for ITSC states that it is managed by a third party with whom Salesforce no longer has a relationship, and there have been no documentation updates for ITSC since 2022. It does not include features like a native configuration management database (CMDB) and relies on external integrations for more complex IT environments.
Employee experience (EX)
Employee experience describes the overall journey and interactions employees have with a company. A positive EX is crucial as it directly impacts employee satisfaction, productivity, retention, and more, ultimately influencing a company's ability to attract and keep top talent. EX tools help businesses encourage employee engagement by streamlining processes, fostering communication, and providing their workforces with a supportive, efficient work environment.
ServiceNow HRSD vs. Salesforce HRSC
- ServiceNow HR Service Delivery (HRSD) provides a unified platform for managing employee services and HR processes. It offers a single portal for employees to access support, step-by-step guided experiences for key HR events, and personalized workspaces for HR agents. Automation and AI-driven insights help streamline HR workflows and optimize inefficient processes.
- Salesforce HR Service Center (HRSC) is designed to manage employee service requests within the Salesforce ecosystem. It leverages Salesforce’s cloud infrastructure to provide employees with self-service capabilities and HR agents with case management tools. HRSC focuses on employee engagement through integration with Salesforce’s Customer 360 platform and collaboration tools like Slack. HRSC is a newer product, but it supports basic HR service functions and offers integration opportunities with other Salesforce tools.
Automation and low-code
Automation in business makes it possible for employees to accomplish more in less time, allowing intelligent tools to handle basic, repetitive, or mundane tasks so that human professionals can focus on strategically important activities. Low-code solutions take this further, providing users with intuitive tools for quickly assembling and modifying applications without needing extensive technical expertise or coding literacy.
ServiceNow Automation Engine vs. Salesforce MuleSoft
- Automation Engine is a comprehensive platform that connects systems, automates workflows, and streamlines processes. It integrates modern and legacy systems using RPA, AI, and low-code API tools, offering native integration with the Now Platform. With more than a thousand pre-built components, Automation Engine provides quick time to value for automating cross-enterprise workflows.
- MuleSoft is Salesforce’s unified platform for integration, APIs, and automation. Integrated with Salesforce Flow, it enables users to automate processes and manage workflows. MuleSoft offers both RPA capabilities and low-code integration through MuleSoft Composer.
ServiceNow App Engine vs. Salesforce Low-Code AI Builders
- ServiceNow App Engine is a low-code platform designed to help businesses build custom applications quickly. It empowers both citizen developers and professional coders to create and scale enterprise-grade applications with built-in governance and collaboration. By leveraging the Now Platform, it integrates workflows, AI, mobile, and analytics into a unified development experience.
- Salesforce Lightning App Builder provides tools to build and extend AI capabilities within Salesforce. With features like Copilot Builder and Model Builder, users can create custom AI models, automate tasks, and embed AI-driven actions into their CRM workflows, offering personalized customer and employee experiences.
Cybersecurity
Because business platforms interact with and manage so much sensitive information, cybersecurity must be a primary consideration when choosing a PaaS solution. Cybersecurity tools are integral for maintaining business continuity and securing both internal operations and customer data.
ServiceNow SecOps vs. Salesforce Cloud Data Security & Privacy
- ServiceNow Security Operations provides a unified platform for managing cybersecurity threats, automating responses, and enhancing collaboration across IT and security teams. It integrates security, IT asset management, and risk workflows, leveraging AI-driven insights and automation to quickly identify, prioritize, and resolve vulnerabilities.
- Salesforce Cloud Data Security & Privacy focuses on safeguarding customer data with encryption, monitoring, and compliance tools. It offers solutions like Salesforce Shield for tracking data access, Security Center for managing permissions, and Backup & Restore for ensuring data resilience across cloud environments.
5 reasons to choose ServiceNow for an end-to-end experience
ServiceNow offers a fully comprehensive IT solution, bringing together the full functionality of the most essential business applications and tools. And while Salesforce offers powerful support for CRM and related services, only ServiceNow provides the kind of complete, end-to-end experience that spans customer experience, employee experience, sales and order management, IT, HR, automation, and more—and all powered by advanced AI on a single, cloud-based platform.
