Salesforce has announced plans to enter IT service management (ITSM) – ServiceNow’s stronghold – marking an escalation in the competitive battle between the two enterprise software giants.
Earlier this year, ServiceNow unveiled its AI-powered ServiceNow CRM. Unlike its previous focus on post-sale workflows via Customer Service Management (CSM), ServiceNow CRM encompasses front-to-back office functions, integrating capabilities for sales, order processing, and customer support.
The launch marked a clear strategic shift: ServiceNow was positioning itself to compete directly in the CRM market.
Now Salesforce is retaliating with a move into ITSM – which crucially it plans to run on Slack, a collaboration platform already prevalent across the enterprise.
Slack Integration a Smart Differentiator?
Speaking on The Logan Bartlett Show, Salesforce CEO Marc Benioff said: “We’ve never been in the ITSM market before, so we’re entering, and we’re building on Slack… ServiceNow is a great company. I think they automate, like 9000 companies – I don’t know what the number is that they have – but Slack is on a million companies.”
That widespread adoption is a critical factor. The Slack integration could pose a serious challenge to ServiceNow and its traditionally separate architecture, as the model bypasses adoption hurdles by bringing IT support into familiar workflows.
“Embedding ITSM in Slack could be a smart differentiator. Right now, ServiceNow is leading the ITSM platform race, but it often requires people to leave their daily flow of work to interact with it. By putting ITSM natively into Slack, Salesforce can gain an edge by providing convenience and less friction,” says Jessica Davis, principal analyst covering MSPs at analyst firm, Canalys.
ITSM “Far From Salesforce’s Core CRM Strengths”
However, Jason Wong, Distinguished VP Analyst at Gartner, points out that the Salesforce-Slack integration will require organizations to invest more in Slack, “which is not cheap, when there are already established channels for ITSM interactions, such as through intranets, Microsoft Teams and Slack connectors.”
And Benioff isn’t wholly correct when saying Salesforce has never made inroads into the ITSM market before. Wong notes that Salesforce dabbled with ITSM some years ago, through its partnerships with Work.com and endpoint management company Tanium to build an employee service/IT help desk on its platform.
“We haven’t seen much traction with this offering because this is far from Salesforce’s core CRM strengths,” says Wong. “Salesforce’s core data model is inherently focused on customer objects and data; and moving to support IT operational and asset requirements may prove difficult for IT organizations that need customizations.”
Could Salesforce Chip Away at Midmarket ITSM Deals?
ServiceNow remains the ITSM leader – it is deeply entrenched in Global 2000 and Fortune 500 enterprises, where complex workflows, governance, and compliance requirements make switching costly. The firm has also worked hard to create a multi-department workflow backbone (HR, CSM, finance, GRC), reinforcing its role as a platform, rather than a point solution.
But Salesforce’s brand power and massive customer base could potentially chip away at lower to midmarket ITSM deals, forcing ServiceNow pros to reinforce differentiation. Those midmarket organizations often don’t need the depth of ServiceNow, and may prioritize ease of use, rapid deployment and integration with their existing Salesforce stack – even if it’s less feature-rich.
So what does all this mean for ServiceNow pros?
ServiceNow partners may face more competitive bids in accounts that already run Salesforce, requiring sharper positioning and faster delivery on their part. It may also call for potentially tighter integrations with Salesforce – somewhat ironically – to keep customers locked in.
Salesforce is framing ITSM as an extension of its CRM and digital HQ vision – its centralized, cloud-based workplace where collaboration, CRM data, and workflows come together, enabled by the integration between Salesforce Customer 360 and Slack.
This places pressure on ServiceNow pros to be able to articulate the depth, maturity, and specialization of the Now Platform. And while enterprises may welcome a Salesforce alternative, especially for lighter-weight ITSM needs, large-scale ITSM remains firmly in ServiceNow’s wheelhouse. But expect to see customers leverage the rivalry to negotiate better pricing and innovation from both sides.
Final Thoughts: Salesforce Must Move Fast in Its ITSM Bid
The key takeaway is this: Don’t expect ServiceNow to sit back and let Salesforce try to eat its lunch.
“[ServiceNow has] already been pushing into customer and employee workflows, so I expect it to lean harder into its Microsoft Teams integrations and AI automation to defend its lead,” says Davis.
“The real question is whether Salesforce can catch up fast enough in ITSM depth.”