Technology Services Europe - Closing Comments

Technology Services Europe 2011 early feedback received, both at the event and through written evaluations, was very positive of both the content and conference format.


Initial planning is already underway for TSE12. Information will be forthcoming on the dates and location for Technology Services Europe 2012.

We look forward to having you join us at next year’s conference!

Technology Services Europe - Day Two Final Plenary Sessions

The final plenary sessions for TSE11 included presentations by SAP and TSIA.

Michael Rehm, Head of Field Services, Germany, Austria and Switzerland, SAP Deutschland Ag & Co KG, presented Services as a Product. In this session, Mr. Rehm presented how SAP helps companies of all sizes and industries run better, extend, enhance, and optimize existing solutions or build innovative new applications according to their needs. SAP helps their customers achieve this by leveraging new delivery and partner models for software & services that make it easier, more affordable, and predictable for customers. And by doing so, this approach supports SAP in achieving their ambitious growth and profitability targets.

The closing plenary was presented by J.B. Wood, President and CEO, TSIA.

In The Changing Role of Services in the Sales Process, Mr. Wood challenged the attendees to further examine the role of services in growing profitable account revenue. His talk posed several questions to the delegates, encouraging them to examine their own operations, including:

-In a world where services that lead to consumption are becoming the key to account growth, what dynamics should be considered?

-How should we think about these opportunities?

-How should we realistically evaluate our ability to deliver on the promise given the people, processes and business models we have in services today?

This session provided some provocative thoughts around this major, upcoming revolution of the traditional “go-to-market” model and how this will require selling in the Services Motion.

Technology Services Europe - Day Two Plenary Sessions Continued

TSE11 Plenary session continued with Novabase and Compuware and Siemens Healthcare.

Novabase and Compuware presented Professional Services Automation: A View of Novabase’s Strategy and Return on Investment. Presented by Dinis Adriano, Senior Professional IT Management, Novabase and Steven Krater, Client Executive, Compuware, Mr. Adriano reviewed the journey Novabase took from decentralized systems with outdated business processes housed in different applications to the implementation of a centralized professional services delivery system. Novabase shared how automation of the services delivery cycle improved Novabase’s competitive advantage and increased revenue and services margins. He also shared the different levels of ROI that have been achieved.

From Break-fix to Preventive Care, was presented by Dr. Wolfgang Heimsch, CEO Customer Services, Siemens Healthcare. In this session, Dr. Heimsch reviewed their unique approach to delivering pro-active 24x7 customer service for over 60,000 customers and 200,000 installed systems worldwide. Their trendsetting remote service and connectivity approach utilizes a global team of experts, a global network of material logistics and a global training concept to achieve the highest levels of customer satisfaction year after year.

Technology Services Europe - Day Two Plenary Sessions

Technology Services Europe 2011 Day Two presented a full agenda of plenary sessions for the delegates. The topics ranged from Support Delivery in Virtualized IT Environments to a Case Study on the ROI of Professional Services Automation. From Effective Global Customer Support to Services as a Product. And a closing presentation on the Changing Role of Services in the Sales Process.

Each of the sessions challenged the audience to re-think their own operations and examine how the information presented could be applied in their own organisations.

In Innovation in Delivering Support in Virtualized IT Environments, Erwin Kepel, Director, Global Customer Support, EMEA North, EMC, covered EMC’s approach to virtualized IT environments, the challenges that IT organizations face as they take advantage of the changing models of IT, and more specifically key considerations when evaluating support providers in this context. He reviewed the Virtual Computing Environment (VCE) Company as a case study, with a historical view of how the coalition of Cisco and EMC with VMware established a truly unique model for multi-vendor support in virtualized IT environments.

Technology Services Europe 2011 Networking Dinner

The first day of TSE 2011 concluded with a networking dinner for all delegates. Hosted by TSIA, CFSMI and conference sponsors Compuware, PRTM, Sykes, Citrix Online, ServiceSource and Axeda, the dinner was a stellar opportunity for a good meal and great conversation.

Guests were treated to a three-course dinner at Restaurant Nolle, located right at the corner of Georgenstraße, Nolle offers international and Berlin cuisine and classic beverages in a unique and historical setting. It’s the place to go for a real taste of Berlin’s past and present.

After a full day of sessions, the dinner afforded delegates an opportunity to further discuss the content and how it applies to their own environments. Additionally, guests had time to learn more about each of the solutions offered by the dinner sponsors. All while enjoying a beautiful evening in Berlin with their peers.

Technology Services Europe - Day One Syndicate Sessions

TSE 2011 Syndicate Sessions offered delegates four topics in the areas of Service Quality using Remote Services, the Impact of Cloud Computing, Using Online Services to Connect with Customers and Services Prototyping.

In Optimize Services Quality and Increase Customer Satisfaction through Servic

eability and Remote Services, Andreas Vogt, Director, Managed Services, discussed the Wincor Nixdorf end-to-end serviceability model. The idea behind the concept is as simple as it is evolutionary: service begins in the minds of their developers.

Attendees learned how to improve proactive services, how Wincor Nixdorf is providing a new Information World for their customers, and the positive impact remote services has on services quality.

In his session, The Impact of Cloud Computing, Thomas Lah encouraged delegates to examine their operations by asking these questions:

• Is our company contemplating releasing a hosted, subsciption based product offering?
• Do we still need to clearly define what servies are included in our basic subscription pricing?
• Are customers asking for more help navigating this new cloud consumption model?
  
• Do we need to create new services that will make our cloud offerings 'stickier'?
• Are new cloud offerings cutting out our partners?
  

For those whose answer is 'yes' to any of the above questions, cloud computing is a market trend that impacts the service strategy of your company.

Connecting with Customers Online - TheBlackBerry Way, presented by Baldev Solanki, Manager, Self-Service, Research In Motion, reviewed considerations for getting into social media customer service, how to determine goals and objectives and use a pilot program effectively, and connecting with other social media activities within the enterprise.

Launched in 2009, social media support @blackberryhelp, is used to listen to what customers are saying – and to address support issues they may experience. Initially a pilot program, today, the @blackberryhelp account has more than 250, 000 followers and continues to focus on providing quick-response and personalized customer service.

Walter Ganz, Director, Fraunhofer Institute for Industrial Engineering, presented Prototyping of Services: New Ways of Designing and Testing New Services. In his talk, Mr. Ganz discussed how faced with competitive pressures, many companies are attempting to raise their profile in the market by offering new services. As a result, far greater attention has been accorded in the last few years to new service development and service engineering by researchers and businesses alike. However, the standard approaches for developing new services – from the original idea up to the market launch – overlook the importance of testing development results.

This presentation described how service designing and testing can be realized in practice and presented a possible technique – ServLab – for simulating services with the help of virtual reality and service theatre.

Technology Services Europe - Day One Plenary and Syndicate Sessions

TSE 2011 speakers and delegates explored a variety of services topics in both plenary and syndicate sessions. Value-Added Services continues as an area of high interest in the European technology services sector and delegates enjoyed the insights presented by Michael Herzog, Corporate Director Service, Endress+Hausser.

His plenary session, titled How to Escape the Looming Commody Trap in Value-Added Services, explored the convergence of services and business process integration. When this convergence is supported by a "service oriented" IT architecture, VAS offers a solution to combat two primary concerns - overly complex business processes and a lack of perceived customer value.

First customer pilots with this new breed of "connected" and "managed" services in the process industry are giving first proof of concept. The common phone support process and the well perceived delivery of value within a performance based maintenance contract are two such scenarios. Ideas for the further deployment and productization were highlighted along with possible barriers to overcome.