Before I focused my career almost exclusively on NetSuite, I spent a few years working on projects that involved integration with ServiceNow.

When I started, I thought of it as an IT Service Management platform. Ticketing. Incident management. Helpdesk workflows. But the deeper I got, the more I realized ServiceNow had become something bigger. It had evolved into a platform for enterprise workflow automation, extending well beyond IT.

What struck me wasn't just its scope. It was how developer-friendly the whole thing felt. Free training. Free developer instances. A modern API layer. Well-documented workflows. This was a platform that wanted you to build on it.

Ever since shifting my focus to NetSuite, I've often wished that NetSuite would steal a page or two from ServiceNow's playbook.

Why ServiceNow Makes a Good Comparison

Most people still think of ServiceNow as the helpdesk system. In reality, it has become one of the most important workflow platforms in enterprise software.

Its evolution followed a simple idea: every business process is a workflow. IT, HR, Finance, Customer Service. Instead of building siloed applications for each function, ServiceNow built a platform for orchestrating workflows across all of them. Common data model. Low-code tools. An expanding library of playbooks.

A few things make ServiceNow a relevant benchmark. It has a workflow-first mindset, where every product and enhancement begins with the flow of work. It empowers developers through a free program with full-featured Personal Developer Instances. It runs on a unified platform where configuration, reporting, and automation share a single runtime. And it has embraced workflow-embedded AI with Now Assist, putting generative AI directly into everyday tasks. (The recent Moveworks acquisition shows how seriously they're investing in agentic workflows.)

Both platforms aim to unify enterprise operations. But ServiceNow is winning hearts and minds by being builder-friendly and AI-forward. Those are areas where NetSuite has room to accelerate.

Why This Matters Now

ServiceNow isn't alone in prioritizing developers. This is industry-wide. Salesforce built an empire on Trailhead and AppExchange. Microsoft turned developers into advocates through its partner program and Azure ecosystem. Even traditionally closed platforms are opening up.

The question isn't whether NetSuite should embrace this trend. It's how quickly it can move.

The platforms that make it easiest for developers to experiment, build, and deploy will capture the next generation of business applications. NetSuite has the advantage of a unified data model and deep ERP functionality. Now it needs to lower the barriers for the builders who can extend that foundation.

What NetSuite Already Does Well

Before talking about what NetSuite can learn, it's worth recognizing what it already does exceptionally well.

NetSuite's strength has always been its unified system of record. A single, cloud-native data model spanning financials, operations, inventory, CRM, e-commerce, and beyond. That's something ServiceNow doesn't attempt to replicate.

The financial core is solid: multi-entity consolidation, global tax and currency handling, deep compliance capabilities. It's one of the most trusted back-office systems on the market. The modular breadth covers order management, procurement, project accounting, and inventory. For most mid-market and enterprise firms, it's the one database they need.

The customization framework gives developers real power. SuiteScript, SuiteFlow, and the SuiteCloud Development Framework let you tailor and extend the platform in meaningful ways. And AI foundations are already in motion with Text Enhance, Bill Capture, and Intelligent Performance Management giving finance and operations teams practical, explainable AI.

In short, NetSuite already has the data foundation and operational trust that ServiceNow doesn't. The opportunity lies in what happens above that layer. How users interact with it. How workflows are orchestrated. How AI and developers extend it.

Treat Developers as a Growth Engine

If there's one area where ServiceNow has been brilliant, it's developer experience. And that's where NetSuite could make a transformative move.

When you sign up for ServiceNow's developer program, you immediately get a free, personal developer instance. Not a demo sandbox with restrictions. A full copy of the runtime. You can build, test, and publish apps to the marketplace. ServiceNow treats experimentation as fuel for platform growth.

NetSuite's developer experience has more friction. While developer accounts exist through the SuiteCloud Developer Network, the process is less straightforward. Many developers report needing to navigate sales conversations or partner relationships just to get access to a development environment. This friction limits ecosystem growth and slows innovation.

Imagine if NetSuite adopted ServiceNow's open-door policy. A free or low-cost Developer Edition with time-boxed instances and masked demo data. Public starter kits with pre-built SDF projects, templates, and example SuiteQL queries. A true developer portal with shared code snippets, workflows, and best practices. Certification through contribution, rewarding community builders with verified badges when their workflows gain adoption.

Lowering the on-ramp isn't charity. It's capacity leverage. Every new developer who learns the platform increases NetSuite's long-term ecosystem value.

The Bigger Picture

Beyond developer experience, there are broader strategic lessons in how ServiceNow operates as a platform company.

Lead with workflows, not modules. ServiceNow sells journeys like Employee Onboarding and Incident to Resolution. NetSuite could adopt similar framing: Order-to-Cash, Procure-to-Pay, Close-to-Report. Package them as guided, cross-module experiences rather than menu items.

Empower the ecosystem. ServiceNow's partner community builds and monetizes domain accelerators. NetSuite's SuiteApp marketplace could evolve similarly, encouraging workflow-based apps and micro-automations instead of one-off customizations.

Embed AI in the flow of work. ServiceNow's Now Assist sits inside tasks, not off to the side. It provides conversational, agentic AI that can orchestrate multi-step processes. NetSuite's AI journey is off to a strong start with Text Enhance and IPM, but these are more task-specific. The next step is bridging that gap: context-aware, explainable AI that acts with the user, flagging anomalies, suggesting journal entries, guiding close processes directly inside transaction and workflow screens.

Track adoption, not just usage. ServiceNow treats adoption as a product metric, offering dashboards that show who's using which workflows. NetSuite could do the same for new features and automations, helping customers quantify ROI and identify training gaps.

Stay customer-configurable. ServiceNow's low-code tools let analysts and administrators adjust workflows without developer intervention. NetSuite already has SuiteFlow, but it could evolve into a more approachable visual Process Canvas for finance and operations teams.

The Challenges

Implementing these changes isn't without obstacles. NetSuite operates in a different context than ServiceNow.

ERP systems handle financial data, payroll, and sensitive business information. Free developer instances would need robust data masking, strict access controls, and clear governance policies. The buyer personas are different too. NetSuite's buyers are typically CFOs and controllers who prioritize stability, compliance, and auditability. ServiceNow's buyers are often CIOs more comfortable with experimentation.

Building and maintaining a free developer program requires significant investment. Oracle would need to view this as a long-term ecosystem play, not a short-term cost center. And NetSuite's multi-tenant architecture is complex. Provisioning lightweight developer instances may require architectural changes to ensure performance and isolation.

These are real challenges. But they're surmountable. ServiceNow faced similar hurdles and chose to invest in developer experience as a strategic differentiator.

The Takeaway

ServiceNow's success is built on three pillars: workflows, developers, and AI.

NetSuite already dominates the system-of-record layer. The financial truth of the business. But to fully realize its potential as the intelligent enterprise platform Oracle envisions, it can learn from ServiceNow's platform mindset. Make it easier to build. Easier to extend. Easier to orchestrate across departments and systems. Put AI in the flow of work, not bolted on around it.