welcome to Glide chat where we give you the rundown of all things service now let's talk about the now right [Music] now welcome to another episode of Glide chat my name is Mike Lombardo CEO founder Glide fast I'm standing with John Els the director of solution Consulting for Mia John how are you I'm good I'm good excited to be in Boston yeah first time or first time in Boston no way what about the the US I've covered lots of the US okay all right what's your favorite part of the us before Boston because I know Boston's now your favorite I'm I'm a big fan of Palm Springs Palm Springs in uh Cali yeah I was out there my wife and I when we got married our honeymoon was a three and a half week road trip around kind of West Coast so we started in La that's cool went to Palm Springs Scottdale yeah then we went up to love Scottdale mmth Lakes yuse Vegas wow San Fran yeah Highway Route One Coast down to Monteray Santa Barbara Santa Monica Santa Fe wow you've seen more than I have that's crazy wow okay in what part of uh UK are you from so I'm in a small village um just outside of a place called Swindon but that's an hour west of London for okay that don't know it okay well has a small vill it's funny Village is it like a really a village like uh there's 50 houses wow in this in this Village wow with an average age of about 70 holy moly so is there like um is there like Town meetings in the center of village and stuff there is have a cup of tea and cake so 50 houses yeah how many like 300 people 200 people yeah if that yeah wow that's that's wild most of the houses are just old couples yeah with respect yeah yeah so it's like two per house you get the odd house that might have a couple of children is is that where you grew up or is that you no no so my family all were born and raised up in a northern part of the UK yeah I was actually born in Blackpool Blackpool okay I got two older sisters yeah uh my mom my dad two older sisters moved down to the South when I was Tiny I was like a year old yeah but it's because my dad had work and then we grew up in the South Park oh okay cool um all right so now you're at Glide fast so you've been in the service now space four to five years before that you were working in how do you say it cherwell cherwell I say I say sh we everyone I knows it the thing I did hear about sherwell a lot was they were um really good at process though like they were very process oriented and I think it kept customers more in the guard rails yeah yeah I would say you know it was it was good to a point and it lacked maturity in areas yeah that was its limitation so you know living in that world and competing or trying to compete yeah against service now you realize very quickly you're up against a beast you're up against you know people that are pushing boundaries software that's doing something different and it's it's not really a competition we think it is but it's no it's not and it's funny because I don't see anybody in the rear view either yeah I mean what what's what's close to service now I mean there's maybe a part of service now like you know you look at like alasi and jera okay agile story development n Niche very very nich anything you do with alasi and you have to integrate with all these other systems service now it's like connect the Enterprise it's yeah it's everything it's not do a bit of ticketing well or you know do a bit of devops well yeah it's everything full scale everything yeah yeah and that's what's so exciting and it's just like you don't know how far it's going to go you know it's funny when I got into service now like 2011 I was like it's too late like I'm in it too late the the ship has already sailed and it wasn't even like in its like the first inning you know if this was a baseball game what inning do you think service now's life cycle is in you're going to put me on the spot with my baseball knowledge we could use basketball quarter do we think that's okay all right uh I would say second quarter basketball second quarter yeah yeah early second quarter the technology is so scalable and there's the foundation already covers so much ground and because it's an application development system first first and foremost so really the it's Limitless almost and it has such a a core Foundation of applications like those are all scalable and then we can just keep rolling new applications in and when customers jump onto those then service now just invests them further keeps developing them out and it just it's off the races it's endless yeah it really is there isn't a use case no that I've heard or other people talk about that apply service now exactly yeah can't so why why glast why did you come here so Glide fast when I came into the service now space yeah was the first company that I started to absorb information through YouTube videos really and it was instant know these people get it they know what they're doing doing the're leading the way great content and it was just that trigger that's where I got started to build the admiration and that just doesn't stop wow and so for thank you for years it was a case of I love this company but it was always you know in a distance it was over the pond it was in the US yeah wasn't really directly relevant to me wow as much as I just appreciated what you were doing oh that's cool so it was when rumors were were happening and come to A Mir I need I need to be on that wow that's pretty cool yeah and I know the feeling you're saying because it's like when I first started in service now and I took a hold to like Chuck tamasi and certain people that were putting out content and it was actually truly helping me solve Pro you know problems for my customers and for you like you're trying to learn this thing you go service now Wiki roadblock you know and then all of a sudden once you find your answer it's like oh wow thank and it's like wow look at the passion you know and that's really what's special about Glide fast like you hit the nail on the head it's like we're passionate we want to be the best we want to share that knowledge we want to see customers get the most out of the platform yeah and for me it wasn't just his information yeah like when I was looking at Glide fast content it was a unique perception and a spin on the information it wasn't just information to listen to yeah it made me think differently and see it differently and that that's like the big that's cool grip that got me that's cool where do you see um Glide FAS and Mia going upwards upwards yeah yeah we yeah we have to there's there's so much opportunity in UK Amir yeah I think Middle East is going to be a big grow area everybody's talking about Saudi Arabia big growth area they're spending a lot of money over there service now investing a lot of money yeah um it will have its challenges yeah but definitely a space to to be part of I think I think they're going to be almost one of the biggest customers uh in in a year here it doesn't surprise me you look at what's happening in the Middle East you know the the rise of Dubai and Abu Dhabi and Al Saudi these are people that are wanting to be at the front of things in the world and they're not going to do that if they ignore you know software like service now yeah cuz the Next Generation too show the last generation was probably old school the new generation's like we need technology we need to invest what's this thing have you seen the thing called the line that that like what like it's like a miles new yeah it's like a 1K stretch yeah of town that's vertical so it's it's not very wide I think it's like yeah a small width yeah but it's it stretches the whole way across it's like in the middle of the desert it's going to be like temperature and controlled and all this like I was thinking like a strip mall or something but it's like but it's crazy because there going to be like housing and all this like like theme parks like crazy uh like Vegas Disneyland all this stuff like just combined into one like it's it is crazy you think it's GNA happen though I mean it's I'm skeptical and I think I saw the desert there's that I read something that was fascinating that basically evaluated how much time effort and resource you would need to build this thing yeah even if you had every Builder worker materials that you would need the volume of those materials yeah we're not talking even been able to build this in 20 200 years yeah oh stop it it the numbers just don't that up they talking a big game yeah there's a part of me that thinks maybe maybe when you have enough money you can do a lot exactly and they've done this sort of thing before where lots of people have gone nah can't do it well well they've done a lot like look at Dubai exactly I mean some of the crazy drone shows and the like the lights on the buildings I mean I've never been but there's everything I see there is just wow they're not a they're not it's not a region that wants to be seen to fail how often could you say no way they Dubai wanted to go and do something and it didn't happen no I don't think ever I don't think ever it feels like a really big task yeah it is so maybe maybe what's uh what's some of your hobbies tell me about you uh used to be soccer yeah before right here look at you are you American now soccer what is that just adapting you mean football football yeah I don't want to turn away any any audience you know smart but uh yeah you used to play that a lot but my right hip now just is giving up on me yeah so I I try and play golf when I can that's good oh you you hit your hip my right hip I went to the doctor said right we'll do a scan scan came back and he looked at it and said if I didn't know your age I think I think you were 45 you know what's funny is like one I I ski andow I snowboard a lot and uh one time I I literally I had to get taken down in like the the like the tobogan so embarrassing but I wiped out so bad I hurt my hip so like I wasn't in pain but I couldn't move dude my whole side was bruised up I was like oh I'm going to need like a hip replacement I'm going to be I don't know I never went to the doctors at nothing got no skin nothing and I've just never even had any pain I don't know if it just hopefully it just healed yeah what about you the big Sports person I'm so so much on the computer and I mean not I guess not as much now like I you know when I was coding and stuff a couple years ago a few years ago I was more on the computer but you know on the computer so much like in in at a desk and working and in meetings that when I'm not anything I can do to get outside you know like I love snowmobiling water skiing uh jet skiing snowboarding yeah like I not really like extreme like I'm not like kind of like I'm not a Double Diamond you know what I mean I'm just like I like I like to go I like some speed you know I'm not a mogul you know the Mogul on the mountain nope you don't know what a mogul is is that an American word it's like like literally bumps in the mountain so not only are you on like a steep freaking Hill you got these bumps that like if you don't if you don't like weave in and out the right way you're you're done tumbling yeah so I don't I'm not into those like extreme that's extreme sports to me I'm like that's not for me but um yeah like snowboard I love like whipping down the mountain I love hitting like a jump a little bit here and there but uh but snowmobiling is have you ever done that dude that's the best that's the best oh I mean spending time with my kids as much as I can like everyone always talks about golf like I can't do that it's just too time consuming you know it's too time consuming I already travel so much for work you know someone that likes speed I can imagine you don't want to spend four hours walking around it's freaking awesome though it's beautiful the the weather you know like you know you put your phone down you're in nature the sun you know the green you know it's cool but it's just it's a lot it's the worst place in the world as well you're not playing well oh yeah yeah yeah yeah there's no Escape well I'm never playing well so it's like you know what I mean I've never had I've never known anything else nor do I but I keep going yeah that's what everybody says everyone's like we all Su at it but you've got uh two daughters as well haven't you yeah you have two girls two girls yeah I think the age between like 18 months and three yeah like that age yeah they're old enough to know what they want they're not old enough to know they can't have it yeah yeah yeah and they're not old enough to know when you tell them no you can't have it or they don't know what in a minute means yeah so you just get these these battles constantly but they they either play really nicely together yeah or they they go at each other yeah yeah I think as they get a little older they'll probably get along better I think it's tough for my 10 and six because you know the six wants to like hang out with the 10-year-old and stuff and she's kind of like I'm yeah she's like like oh it's boring it's I don't want to do that they at the same school no was right now we're homeschooling oh cool yeah cuz we came out of Co and we just kind of like kept it going like we found a um curriculum online and like a really good curriculum and my wife really enjoyed teaching them and I just gonna ask is it your wife then yeah my wife mostly yeah yeah my wife mostly we have a daddy school thing that I I try to do try to do one one lesson a week and stuff but see I part me would love that yeah but it's a a big decision and the reason I would it's a big decision I think it could be great is because I think a lot of I don't know how it is in the US but in the UK I think curriculums are really outdated they don't teach you things you need in the real world and I I remember listening to Elon Musk talk about this exact thing about the skills and he he wants to set up a school yeah or he said he wanted to I don't know if he still does yeah I think he might have he was talking about we're not going to go in there and teach him you know Pythagoras Theorem it's not relevant teach to learn skills that they need you know give them a project they have to learn how to build something they have to learn to fund it and budget it they have to learn to communicate with people all of these skills that you don't teach in schools it's all just information let's talk about these trophies you know what these are you know what the skateboard is you definitely don't know what that one is I don't know what the skateboard is I know what the awards are there's only like four partners that got that that have that so what is it in 2018 we were only a three-year company at knowledge they they I don't know if they still do it I think they do it's like a partner Summit kind of thing and you know the head of Partners get up there they do a bunch of presentations like couple hours thing it was it was early it was like 8:00 a.m. we we it was a late night at knowledge Vegas you know and I was like I gotta go I gotta go so I get there and um cat Lang who now who I love by the way shout out cat Lang uh she used to run training and certifications at service now she's she's uh she's moved on somewhere else now but she's doing a presentation and I'm not thinking anything of it and she's like we want to you know they were just starting to get real serious about certifications I think there were a lot of challenges with Partners you know putting on uh developers and Consultants without without certifications and we want to honor you know these partners and recognize these Partners who have you know the most certifications in the industry um and we're a little old Glide fast we are really early on in our journey right we're 10 years old now now or 9 years old this year you know we're only three and so there was like two top Partners right and then which were like Accenture it was like Accenture and I think KPMG or deoe and they were like the top two overall worldwide and then in the Americas it was like Glide fast in KPMG we're like What imagine like your KPMG like a big four yeah and you hear like the Glide fast in the same breath as us and like I just remember like sitting people I'm sitting next to like wasn't even Glide fast people they're just like dude that's you like stand up stand up I was like what and then uh then we got this awesome skateboard they they gave us a trophy in the form of a skateboard and uh we got a picture with the head of Partners and Cat laying and stuff it was really motivating like was that one of the first moments you probably thought yeah yeah here we go absolutely but that's how ser ious we took expertise you know what I mean like that's that's confirmation like I knew how important I saw like this is I I learned it myself it took me a it was so hard for me to freaking learn it like I know you can't just fake it to you make it this is not one of those things where you can just like ah just we'll put you on the project you'll figure it out like no this is not going to be easy you know because you set that standard when you created life yeah you've determined then at that point yes this is the standard I want and yeah every single time someone turns up in Glide fast or as Glide fast yeah you need to know they're going to meet that 100% from day one and it for me it wasn't a choice it wasn't like this is what I want you know it wasn't like what Mike Lombardo wants it was like this is what you everybody should do this is what you have to do if you want to build a successful company and you want to dominate the space and you have to have the the best in the business you have to have the you know we can't go make a promise to a customer and like hope we figure it out when we get there you know what I mean yeah cre creating a business is no small thing I'm not talking from experience but it's not a small small thing you have to be brave you have to be a whole lot of Brave you have to have Vision yeah like for you yeah how have you found that Journey since you started to to know you know it's just kind of just bads yeah I mean just go just you just do it you know you just kind of get used to just like dealing with hard problems and just you know solving just one way or the other even if it's not the perfect solution just solving things as best you can all the time because the problem's going to keep coming you know it's it's like being on the help desk that's how I learned it I think it's just because every time you answer the phone it's another problem and it's just one way or the other you gota whether you're going to use Google the knowledge base you know calling a phone and a friend calling the guy NE asking the guy next to you every single time you answer the phone it's going to be a problem on the health desk and that's it just transferred I think and that's how I was with a lot of stuff like I never let you know I see some of the people around me and they uh you know a pro a little problem would them you know so there's a problem to every solution even if it's not Bullseye you know yeah sometimes the problems look and feel huge but chip away and you break them lots of smaller ones it's perception though it's your perception of the problem you crash your car total your car you know one way you look at this is the worst day in my life I have no car now how am I going to get to work how you know I got to drive my mother to hospital later how am I going to do that I got to do or it's like great now I get a new car wow this car was worth more I didn't die hey guess what I didn't die what a day it is right so just the glass half full thing which is funny because I never liked I never liked that analogy the glass half full half empty but it means something that's and that's to me what it means it's just like it's perspective it's how you look at it and there are big points in your life with that perspective changes and without yeah lowering the tone or you know changing the mood of this whole Glide chat um I lost my dad when I was 20 cancer me too 14 changed your whole perspective yeah everything yeah yeah and from then on it was always the glass half full yeah Viewpoint yeah know you can't really sit and moan or no it's too short exactly yeah exactly what what kind of cancer was it uh it was esophagal secondary in kidney sorry sorry to hear it was a whole kind up and down you know you get diagnosed yeah yeah yeah go through treatment and treatment is see that I didn't really know cuz I was 14 so they my mother and it was my stepfather actually my father still here but my stepfather and he was really well really close he was like my dad and yeah that was so they didn't tell me so it kind of happened quick he was in the hospital he was going to he had he had bone marrow cancer and there were um he had a transplant and like there was a chance he could survive and he just didn't but but yeah it was my first day of high school too first week of high school pass so it really yeah really kind of CH but it changes your whole perspective I used to worry about like the stupidest things and it's like it doesn't even matter exactly like you know someone I loved is gone and you know people I do love are here you know it's like you you got to be grateful for the things you do have you know 100% yeah yeah but yeah like just to wrap up the awards yeah then for me and for Glide fast it's funny because we do a lot of awards for for people at Glide fast I think there's every month I think we do like 15 different awards for people you know operations you know each pod sale sales and stuff it's not about the money you know cuz like everyone's like oh just on the podcast did yesterday or day before one of the questions she was like you know you sold your company for all this money and like that's got how did that feel like I'll tell you this felt better than the money than selling swear to God because it's recognition for for your hard work you know what I mean and money is just like in you know selling the you know all all I could think about is like okay now I have this multi-billion dollar company that we have all these resour ources now and they have expectations of us and me and I made promises and how can I keep those and how can I you know blow away their expectations you know so it was like not more pressure but it kind of was not in a bad way but just like okay it was like new goals you know what I mean selling isn't you I'm guessing you didn't sell because you thought great I can cash in and you know exit exit and just you know live a happy life you did because that was the right time to take Next Step entrance yeah for me it was an entrance yeah every everyone else sold their company is an exit for them for me it's an entrance CU that's what everyone always asked me how was the exit hey congrats on your exit I said what exit still here I'm not what exit are you talking about is there a ward that you want next more than any other oh you know such a good question that like and it's a great question because no no I want I want there to be one yeah I wish I hope I hope there is I I hope there is there got to be there'll be more Awards I yeah but I just don't know I don't know I don't know what there is cuz I mean we got the elite America's Elite partner of the year we had the global Elite partner of the year cuz the the the global Elite partner that was the best one we ever got was in 22 and in 22 we got the America's Elite partner of the year and then in 23 we got the America's Elite again in the customer workflow partner of the year but yeah I don't know like what beats that there's no higher service now award no maybe something in consulting or something like that you know digital transformation yeah yeah you know that would ones on there and I won the um and then I won uh entrepreneur the year from ernston Young and that was insane that's I mean then that was more actually it it really wasn't me it was Glide fast win I mean my name's on it like it's you know but that was all of Glide fast that was the founders that was me that's the the team I didn't win the global one or the the the United States one but I won it regionally for New England so I don't know like I don't know what else is out there that there might be some awards out there that aren't even there yet yeah exactly that that's the hope maybe they create a new one create a new one for us yeah that's next level Amia hey I'll be I'm excited for the Amia one there we go that's what we need that's what we need yeah there's space on there yeah all right well thanks for joining me John this is a great talk and uh it's great getting to know you a little bit more personally and stuff and and uh let's let's go let's go work yeah we might all right talk to you later Cheers Cheers do you have a topic in mind that you'd like to discuss reach out to us at glast.com And subscribe to our podcast for new episodes thanks for listening