--- original_url: "https://jace.pro/blog/from-startup-to-servicenow-the-story-of-itapp/" format: markdown ai_optimized: true --- From Startup to ServiceNow: The Story of ITapp- # From Startup to ServiceNow: The Story of ITapp April 15, 2025 [servicenow ](/tags/servicenow/)[acquisitions](/tags/acquisitions/) Enable AI Animation*This is part of a series I’m writing to inspire myself and other builders by shining a light on companies that ServiceNow has acquired. If you’re dreaming of building something yourself, these stories aren’t just history, they’re playbooks with lessons we can learn.* --- ## [What Was ITapp?](#what-was-itapp) Founded in 2012 and based in San Jose, ITapp set out to make managing cloud infrastructure easier for businesses. They did this with visual app assembly, faster integrations, and a streamlined, cost-effective approach to cloud orchestration. Back then, I wasn’t building full-stack sites yet and didn’t realize the significance. In hindsight, it’s clear this was a big deal. ITapp wasn’t just offering cloud management, they made it easy. Look at Netlify and Vercel: both wrap complex infrastructure from AWS or Google Cloud in an easy-to-use package. ITapp was doing something similar. On their [website in 2015](https://web.archive.org/web/20151101114337/http://www.itapp.com/?_bhlid=6088df797ee93d35e090d692cb4f983b15578926), ITapp made some big claims. **75% faster** installation in HA mode - **80% faster** integration time - **75% less complexity** in app assembly - **40% lower** cost than competitors It wasn’t just hype. The integrated with AWS, Azure, OpenStack, Citrix XenServer, and VMware. They weren’t trying to reinvent the wheel; they wanted to make it easier to drive. ## [The Founders: Seasoned Builders, Not First-Timers](#the-founders-seasoned-builders-not-first-timers) ITapp’s founding team was stacked with enterprise veterans: - [Brajesh “BG” Goyal](https://www.linkedin.com/in/brajeshgoyal/?_bhlid=4a126fd9af40a1ba1f08f3b02d0010c8a05c028c) brought deep technical and product experience from Oracle and NetApp, and would go on to lead product integration of ITapp at ServiceNow after the acquisition. - [Brian Krug](https://www.linkedin.com/in/krugone/?_bhlid=eab5e58f17f9d69d20d10bc4a817c21f9bf8135e), previously a VP at Cisco, co-founded ITapp and later served as VP of Product Success at ServiceNow before founding AppFaktors. - [Giridhar “Gigi” Padmanabh](https://www.linkedin.com/in/giridhar-padmanabh/?_bhlid=4fe66e5fc9bc535ce6347cd95ef00e663d0df389) came with cloud experience from newScale (acquired by Cisco) and became a Senior Director at ServiceNow. - [Andrew Tahvildary](https://www.linkedin.com/in/tahvildary/?_bhlid=df8620cd3ebb7ddfdbeeb2871da251a206656f18), though not a founder, was an early advisor and investor. Bringing in battle-tested engineering leadership from his time at Primavera, newScale, and later companies acquired by Oracle, EMC, and Apple. This wasn’t a bunch of first-time founders learning as they went. These were people who had built and shipped real enterprise software at scale, and were now playing to win. ## [The Product: A Next-Gen Cloud Management Platform](#the-product-a-next-gen-cloud-management-platform) ITapp positioned itself as a next-gen cloud management platform with a visual, policy-driven approach to provisioning and orchestration. You could: - Visually assemble full-stack applications - Attach custom storage and networking containers - Manage quotas and delivery across multiple cloud providers - Automate deployments with integrated CI/CD pipelines It was part cloud broker, part orchestrator, part DevOps enabler, built with the enterprise in mind. --- ## [The Acquisition: ServiceNow Buys In](#the-acquisition-servicenow-buys-in) In April 2016, ServiceNow acquired ITapp for [$15 million](https://www.sec.gov/Archives/edgar/data/0001373715/0001373715-16-000364-index.htm?utm_source=jace.pro&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=from-startup-to-servicenow-the-story-of-itapp&_bhlid=5feb389e415367f6dc1f384bbe39a9a517fcc4ee). It was a quiet but strategic move. At the time, ServiceNow was aggressively expanding beyond its help desk roots into broader IT Operations Management (ITOM) and cloud-native tools. ITapp wasn’t about giving ServiceNow new capabilities from scratch, it was about accelerating their existing cloud management roadmap. As Sri Chandrashekar, then VP/GM of ITOM at ServiceNow, put it: “ITapp will augment our existing cloud management solution, allowing customers to optimize their cloud ecosystem while ensuring compliance and security.” The goal: take ITapp’s tech and integrate it deeply into the Now Platform, giving ServiceNow-native experiences for cloud provisioning, governance, and policy enforcement. --- ## [Where It Is Today: From ITapp to Cloud Management to Cloud Accelerate](#where-it-is-today-from-itapp-to-cloud-management-to-cloud-accelerate) ITapp’s DNA lives on in [ServiceNow Cloud Management](https://www.servicenow.com/products/cloud-management.html?utm_source=jace.pro&utm_medium=newsletter&utm_campaign=from-startup-to-servicenow-the-story-of-itapp&_bhlid=201d5dbeb5c9a190c84c9028e9d97597f0b8d52e), officially launched in May 2017. Over time, the product has evolved, been repackaged, and now sits under [Cloud Accelerate](https://www.servicenow.com/products/cloud-management.html?_bhlid=cf3d61f48ac814cbe199b3f1abc304a3baacff28) as part of the [AI Ops Enterprise](https://www.servicenow.com/content/dam/servicenow-assets/public/en-us/doc-type/other-document/entitlements/sn-it-operations-management.pdf?_bhlid=7aba6ee7a19768d10f93170869805b824089ba30) offering. What started as a standalone cloud orchestration platform has become a foundational element in how ServiceNow helps enterprises manage cloud at scale—wrapping it in workflows, automation, and policy enforcement powered by the Now Platform. --- ## [What I’m Taking From This](#what-im-taking-from-this) Here are three takeaways for builders and product-minded folks: - **Solve real problems, not just trendy ones.** ITapp didn’t try to ride the latest hype wave. They focused on pain points, complexity, cost, integration time, and built something that made a difference. - **Deep enterprise experience matters.** The founding team knew their buyers, their constraints, and how enterprise IT works. That domain knowledge gave them credibility and clarity. - **Integration can be more valuable than innovation.** ServiceNow didn’t need a shiny new product. They needed a way to deliver cloud management faster. ITapp gave them a shortcut. --- [View this page on GitHub](https://github.com/jacebenson/jace.pro/tree/main/./src/posts/2025/2025-04-15-itapp.md). [From Startup to ServiceNow: The Story of ITapp](https://jace.pro/blog/from-startup-to-servicenow-the-story-of-itapp/) [Jace Benson](https://jace.pro) ![Jace Benson](https://jace.pro/icon-512x512.png) --- *This content is from Jace Benson's ServiceNow and tech blog at jace.pro* *Original post: https://jace.pro/blog/from-startup-to-servicenow-the-story-of-itapp/*