The Customer Success Café Newsletter

The Customer Success Café Newsletter

NEWS

ServiceNow Spent $7.75B. Your CS Stack Is Next.

Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café's avatar
Hakan Ozturk | The CS Café
Dec 28, 2025
∙ Paid

When ServiceNow spends billions and keeps acquiring, this is not about features but one thing:

  • Fewer vendors.

  • Fewer tools.

  • Fewer excuses.

And that creates a quiet but dangerous moment for Customer Success.

Because the next question is already forming in your CFO’s head:

“If one platform can run the workflows, why are we still paying for all these tools?”

If CS does not own the answer, CS becomes the explanation.

Not for churn but for waste.


The ServiceNow Armis Deal Signals A Stack Consolidation Wave

The Armis acquisition for $7.75 billion in cash signals a bigger shift: platforms are buying leverage to own more workflows. (Source: ServiceNow Press Release)

Security, IT, finance, ops, CS. Everyone wants fewer vendors.

All pulled into fewer systems with one promise:

“Standardize decisions. Reduce cost. Show ROI.”

That is where CS tools quietly die (same Supabase lesson: clarity wins)


Why “Good Engagement” Gets You Cut During Budget Reviews

Most CS teams lose trust during consolidation for one reason:

They can’t explain, in plain words, what they prevent or accelerate.

Here’s the mismatch:

  • CS says: “Adoption is strong.”

    Exec hears: “So what changed?”

  • CS says: “We improved engagement.”

    Exec asks: “Which decision is now faster, cheaper, or safer?”

When those answers are fuzzy, your tool looks optional.

When your tool looks optional, procurement sharpens the knife.

Consolidation doesn’t remove products. It removes unclear ownership.

If you can’t explain your value in one sentence, consolidation will do it for you.


The Line Every CS Leader Should Memorize

Consolidation doesn’t kill products.

It kills products that can’t prove their place in the workflow.


Q1 budget reviews start in 3 weeks. If you wait until Finance asks for proof, you’re already late.

Paid members get the CFO defense template, the decision-mapping worksheet, the consolidation meeting agenda, and the 30-day proof plan that keeps CS funded when IT and Finance are hunting for cuts.

Budget season is where “useful” tools get removed and only provable workflows survive.

“Hakan’s newsletter provides tactical examples and resources that can be adopted, rather than just listing buzzwords.”

— Carissa Jaji, Senior Director Client Success, Ontheside

“The CS Café Newsletter is the ultimate resource for all things Customer Success. Always current and actionable.”

— Kevin Herrholtz, VP Client Success, AddShoppers

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