The Student Who Told Me More About IT Than IT Did

I’ll never forget this meeting with a university client. The CIO was walking us through their service request process, long forms, multiple approval steps, and weeks for fulfillment. It sounded complicated, but not unusual.

Then a student sitting in on the meeting raised her hand and asked one simple question:

“Why can I order a pizza from my phone and track it to my doorstep in 20 minutes, but I can’t get a laptop from IT in under 3 weeks?”

The room went silent.

That moment crystallized what many organizations still struggle with: end-users today don’t compare you to other IT departments. They compare you to the consumer apps they use every single day.

Amazon sets the bar for fast fulfillment.

Netflix sets the bar for personalized experiences.

DoorDash sets the bar for transparency and real-time tracking.

So why should a student, employee, or customer expect less from IT?

At Crossfuze, we see this dynamic every time we implement ServiceNow in higher education. Students are digital natives. They grew up with technology in their hands. They don’t think in terms of “IT processes”, they think in terms of instant service.

This is why universities are embracing ServiceNow as more than just a ticketing tool. They’re using it to:

Deliver self-service experiences that feel like consumer apps.

Automate repetitive tasks to free IT staff for higher-value work.

Provide real-time status updates, so students never feel left in the dark.

And here’s the thing: this isn’t just a higher-ed story. I’ve heard the same version of that student’s question from employees at Fortune 100 companies, from patients at healthcare systems, and from frontline workers at global manufacturers.

If the people you serve were in the room with you today, what would they say about your service experience?