Chris Pope, senior director of Strategy at ServiceNow, joined John Furrier and Dave Vellante on theCUBE at Knowledge15 to talk about how ServiceNow is bringing its technology to developers and customers. The interview jumped from topics like changing the perceptions of potential customers to the company’s strategy for developers. Through it all, Pope gave clear and involved answers as to how ServiceNow seeks to expand its customer base.

Everything as a service

“This guy was a horse trainer, of all things. So we picked it, and we did horse training as a service,” Pope said, describing a workshop where customers learned how their particular needs could be broken down into the ServiceNow platform. “The how is the platform,” he said. “They got the technology; now what are the problems they want to solve?”

Pope explained how data management in a company comes down to some common core data that is used by different departments in their own unique ways. Without a good data management solution, that core breaks down and falls out of sync with everyone having their own versions. A single platform like ServiceNow unites that information.

Solutions beyond IT

“We did many deals that were HR only, that were led with an HR solution,” he continued, as the conversation moved to non-IT projects. In a change from the typical IT-forward experience, these successful projects allowed ServiceNow to establish a presence in other areas. Later, that presence turned into contracts for IT projects. “We come in through the front door, the windows, up the stairwells, down the elevators,” he said. “It’s just a case of where do we start first.”

Pope offered the basic strategy ServiceNow uses to earn its customers, describing how it focuses on solving the problems of one department and then using that as a showcase for its product. He mentioned how demonstrating success kicks off an organic growth of interest through the rest of the company.

“It’s almost a hearts and minds thing,” he said. “And then the technology is, right, we can do that, we’re empowered. Let’s go do this.”

Watch the full interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE and theCUBE’s coverage of ServiceNow Knowledge 15.