ServiceNow India steps on the gas again after temporary blip

ServiceNow, a US-based software company, has been expanding at a breakneck pace having celebrated a decade of its incorporation and taking baby steps in the country last week. 

The company, based in Santa Clara, California, helps large enterprises digitise their workflow. It has 20,000 employees worldwide and serves 7,500 customers. While it does not provide a specific count for its India workforce, sources indicate that approximately one-fifth of its employees are based in India, with a significant portion of new product offerings being developed there. 

The company did not comment on its financials but information pieced together by TechCircle shows how the firm has been quickly scaling up and is expected to enter the league of few of its other units globally where it generates half-a-billion dollars in revenues. 

The firm has more than doubled its topline for four straight years on a low base before decelerating to around 77% growth in FY20. This slowed down, relatively, in the first year under the pandemic. Growth rate nearly halved but at 40% it was still on a high growth trajectory during the year ended March 2021. 

ServiceNow ventured into the robotic process automation (RPA) sector in March 2021 by acquiring Intellibot, a Hyderabad-based RPA startup. The specific purchase price was not disclosed by either company. The acquisition not only enhanced the company's Now Platform with AI and ML capabilities, but also solidified its presence in the Indian market, it said.

The company bounced back a year after in FY22 though this was along with a sharp spike in expenses that pulled the firm into losses as the employee costs more than doubled. ServiceNow came out of the black and again hit a high growth path sporting a robust 74% rise in revenues last year, data collated by data research platform VCCEdge.  

Globally, ServiceNow's revenue for 2022 was $7.245 billion, a 22.88% increase from 2021. It is expected to have ended 2023 with a topline of over $8.5 billion. 

Nuts and bolts

ServiceNow currently serves several major technology providers, top banks, and the public sector in India. In March 2022, the company launched two local data center facilities in Mumbai and Bengaluru to help customers meet data residency requirements. 

The pandemic-driven acceleration in digital transformation and cloud adoption continues to drive business for the company. Last July, ServiceNow opened its Innovation Centre in Hyderabad, which serves as a digital incubation hub for Indian enterprises. It allows them to model, demonstrate, and stress-test digital roadmaps, such as GenAI, hyper-automation, and low-code apps, to enhance the customer and employee experience. 

In a press release published in July 2023, ServiceNow stated that India has played a crucial role in the development of the company's vendor material management, security incident response, and data loss prevention services.   

In India, the company serves customers in various industries such as financial services, telecom, and manufacturing. It has also formed partnerships with major IT companies like Infosys, Wipro, and Cognizant. For example, Infosys has been working with ServiceNow for a decade and is now building their own business on the ServiceNow platform.  

ServiceNow also said it plans to double its workforce in the next two to three years. It is already provided training to over 18,000 employees, partners, and customers to meet the increasing demand for its product specialists.  

Research conducted by ServiceNow and Pearson last year indicates that AI and automation will require 16.2 million workers in India to reskill and upskill, while also creating 4.7 million new tech jobs. To achieve its goal of becoming a $1 trillion digital economy, India needs a future-ready workforce with skills in AI and automation.  

Currently, ServiceNow offers more than 600 free training courses and 18 job-related certification programs in digital technologies. There is a huge demand for ServiceNow platform skills, and individuals have the opportunity to gain on-the-job training with leading enterprises and partner organisations across the country.  

The company is actively investing in India's skills growth through state and national programs that provide equal opportunities for digital careers. In the past year, ServiceNow has announced more than 10 academic partnerships with Indian organisations to fill roles in its growing customer and partner ecosystem.  

In August 2023, ServiceNow partnered with FutureSkills Prime, a MeitY Nasscom digital skilling initiative, to build a future-ready workforce and address critical business needs.  

ServiceNow Chairman and CEO Bill McDermott said, “C-level decision makers are actively making enterprise platform investments that deliver significant business impact. Whether it’s cost-takeout or innovation to drive growth, ServiceNow is the intelligent platform for end-to-end digital transformation.”  McDermott had been a former SAP chief executive.

Additionally, the company announced a partnership with tech majors Nvidia and Accenture to accelerate the adoption of artificial intelligence software in the corporate market.