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ServiceNow CEO Bill McDermott Eyes Defining Enterprise Software of the Future

As tech companies take the brunt of a market downturn, Bill McDermott, Chief Executive Officer of ServiceNow, is focusing on potential growth opportunities. He has even gone so far as to predict that ServiceNow is poised to become a “defining enterprise software company” of the century—an audacious claim for a venture competing against Oracle and SAP. However, those competitors may be hindered by legacy systems, putting McDermott’s cloud-based enterprise resource management business in a position to thrive.

McDermott’s case is buoyed by ServiceNow’s recent deal with BT—the U.K.-based telecom giant—to replace 56 legacy applications and 76 different ways of implementing service processes with a single ServiceNow platform. BT forecasts about $30 million in savings over five years thanks to the project, and McDermott believes seeing these savings will inspire potential clients to make the switch to ServiceNow as well.

The executive is also attempting to convince potential clients with ties to legacy infrastructures that they still need ServiceNow’s products. As a former CEO of SAP, his insight into both companies should give him the credibility he needs to make his argument.