How to Switch ServiceNow Partner Mid-Project Without Burning the Build
A platform owner at a German logistics group called me on a Monday morning in March. Their ITSM go-live had slipped from January to April, then April to June. The Big 4 partner running the build had cycled through four lead consultants in seven months. The latest one had been on the platform for nine days. The steering committee had a board update on the Thursday and the CIO wanted to know whether they should walk. That conversation is more common than people admit. The decision to switch ServiceNow partner mid-project gets framed as nuclear, and most CIOs delay it for one or two quarters longer than they should. The cost of the delay is almost always larger than the cost of the switch. The trick is doing the switch without setting fire to the work that already exists, and without paying for the same scope twice. The pattern is consistent. A Big 4 or top-tier SI wins the bid on the strength of brand, references, and a named partner who shows up to the pitch. The build starts and the named partner disappears within four weeks. The actual delivery team is junior, often offshore, often rotating. The platform architect role is staffed at 0.3 FTE by someone covering three other...
