How does one company form an effective technology partnership with another company? Our guest this week might tell you it’s not so different than a successful mentoring relationship. It requires alignment on the outcomes both parties want to achieve.

Daniel Paluszek is a Principal Partner Technology Strategist at ServiceNow, and in episode 337 he helps us set some context on technology partnerships and go-to-market strategies before we discuss his personal journey to working in technology. We’ll follow Daniel through early experience working at a university help desk, learn about how he grew in scope and responsibility working for a defense contractor, understand why he later chose to move into a consulting role, and wrap the entire discussion with advice on mentoring and the importance of effective communication.

Original Recording Date: 06-11-2025

Topics – Meet Daniel Paluszek, What Makes a Technology Partner Best of Breed, Tech Origin Story, Mentorship and Lessons in Developing Others, Communication through Presentations, A Step Toward Consulting

2:12 – Meet Daniel Paluszek

• Daniel Paluszek is a Principal Partner Technology Strategist at ServiceNow.
  • He is part of a solution consulting team supporting ServiceNow’s global strategic partners. Daniel and his peers work to optimize the way in which ServiceNow and its global partners go to market together to solve customer business problems and build solutions that drive business transformation.
  • On a daily basis, Daniel looks at the following:
    • Where is the industry moving?
    • What technology is ServiceNow developing that can apply to industry challenges?
    • What are the customer pain points, and how can a joint strategy be developed to solve these?
  • Daniel consistently thinks about how to solve problems, and it may not be something technical that solves a problem.
    • ServiceNow has evolved from an IT ticketing platform to a work platform, and many of the things Daniel works on span beyond IT.

4:21 – What Makes a Technology Partner Best of Breed

• What does it mean to be a partner to a technology company like ServiceNow? Many listeners may not understand this.
  • Daniel believes a partner can look at a customer from an agnostic point of view to help solve specific business or technical challenges.
    • Partners usually work with and have a joint strategy with several equipment manufacturers (OEMs) or ISVs (independent software vendors). These can be leveraged to provide a best of breed solution that meets a customer’s requirements.
  • Regardless of a partner’s experience, they should focus on solving the customer’s unique problem(s), and this means ignoring / removing the technology landscape to make sure they understand what problem needs to be solved.
    • Once the problem(s) are well understood, a plan and solution can be jointly developed. Solution partners can aid companies like ServiceNow in answering customer requirements.
• John likes this explanation of the partner ecosystem and expected Daniel to use the word reseller, but he did not mention it.
  • “Resell for me is a motion, a sales motion. It is not the end all or be all. There’s some great resell partners, but in my mind, in my vision, the strongest partners are the ones that encompass the entire lifecycle…. The partners that are achieving and acquiring the new business look at it from a holistic approach…not just selling a product.” – Daniel Paluszek
  • Executive leaders like Bill McDermott talk about empowering businesses to increase revenue and productivity while reducing operational expense, and Daniel tells us this effort has to fo

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    Published on 1 month, 2 weeks ago