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The next session of the Building Professional Services Executive Series will be held June 2nd, 2005  at Ohio State University with a networking dinner the evening of June 1st. The formal session will run from 8:00am – 5:00pm the following day, June 2 (Thursday). For those still in town the evening of the 2nd, we will coordinate dinner arrangements for those interested.

Currently, senior service managers from the following organizations are registered to participate:

• Astute Solutions
• Autodesk
• Convergys
• Hewlett Packard
• Hitachi Data Systems
• ITSMA
• Network Appliance
• Plato Learning
• Pretium Partners
• Progress Software
• Quick Arrow
• U.S. Logicalis
• Salesforce.com
• Sterling Commerce
• SPSS
• SSPA

Topics

Based on survey feedback, the session will focus on three complex and relevant topics:

1. Measuring the Value of PS to the Company: Seventy-five percent of survey respondents indicated an interest in this topic. We will start by reviewing a framework to gauge the metrics used in assessing a professional service organization. After this presentation, a panel of service managers will lead a roundtable discussion on the metrics and techniques that are being used to communicate the value of the PS function. UPDATE: Salesforce.com intends to present a case study on the metrics they use to evaluate their service organization in relationship to a “software as service” business model. More details will be provided in the next webmail.
2. Best Practices in Services Engineering: This topic was not listed in the initial survey, but several community members expressed interest in learning more about this discipline and it is certainly a critical topic in building professional services. We will begin with an overview of the Services Engineering function and its significant role in service profitability. Then, Convergys Inc. will present a case study on how they have incubated the Service Engineering capability over the past year. Finally, we will have a roundtable discussion on the topic led by several service engineering leaders.
3. Service Positioning: ITSMA will present data and best practices on effective positioning for professional services, and then provide a detailed case study for discussion. This topic remains important to community members and is designed to help companies deal with the challenge of differientiating themselves.

Already, senior managers from the following companies have made a commitment to participate in the panel discussions:

• Convergys Inc.
• EMC
• Hewlett Packard
• Hitachi Data Systems
• Sterling Commerce
• U.S. Logicalis

We will send everyone the final agenda, speaker bios, and panelist bios 30 days prior to the event.

Costs

The event cost will remain the same: $2,500 per attendee. This fee includes a hotel room for Wednesday evening, dinner on June 1st, and all meals on June 2nd. A 20% early bird discount is available for those registering before March 31st 2005. To register, please send a completed registration form to Dr. David Greenberger at greenberger@cob.osu.edu or by fax to 614-292-7062. Registration will be capped at 45.

Survey: The PS Business Model

In our last session, we discussed the need for better data regarding the PS financial model. Many organizations have no credible source to benchmark their PS business model against. Also, organizations are struggling with achieving the right mix of investment vs. profit. How much do successful PS organizations invest in sales, marketing, and solution development? To mature these conversations, the Fisher College would like to conduct a confidential phone survey. In this survey, Fisher will collect the following information:

• Gross margins achieved by professional services
• Profitability achieved by professional services
• Investments (as a percentage of service revenues) made in Service Sales, Services Engineering, Services Marketing, and Services Operations.

An overview of the survey can be downloaded here. The survey data will be presented at the June session. Please be assured that no specific company names will be reported and data will be reported only in aggregate form. Survey data will be used only for the BPS community and will not be repurposed in any type of external publication, without consent of the participants. Participants in the survey will receive the following benefits:

• A 20% discount on any seats purchased by the company for the June event
• A hard copy of survey data—even if they do not attend the June event
• A phone briefing with Fisher reviewing the survey results

So here is your chance to get real PS business model data at no additional cost! If you are willing to participate in this survey process, please contact Dr. Greenberger (Greenberger@cob.osu.edu). The survey questions can be downloaded here. To have a sufficient sample size, and also to preserve anonymity, Fisher will require at least 25 companies to participate in the survey before presenting the results to the community.

Program Overview

Fisher College Executive Education Series
Building Professional Services

Objective:

To create an interactive dialogue between industry executives and academic leaders that explores the challenges of building professional services at product-centric companies.

Guiding Principles

• Practical Content: To present content that is practical and effective for senior managers building a professional service organization.
• Aligned Content: To coordinate the content presented so that is aligned, synergistic, and accelerates understanding.
• Collaboration: To present insight from industry thought leaders, senior managers, and academic researchers that have compelling strategies and frameworks to present on this topic.
• Dialogue: To create a forum where industry and academics can meet to learn from each other and discuss the complexities of this business challenge.

Executive Sponsors

• Mr. Thomas E. Lah: Thomas E. Lah is a management consultant and lead author of the book Building Professional Services: The Sirens’ Song. Thomas has held many roles in both I/T and Consulting over the past seventeen years. He holds an MBA from the Fisher College of Business at The Ohio State University.
• Dr. David Greenberger: Chair of the Department of Management and Human Resources and Academic Director of Computing in the Max M. Fisher College of Business. David has published extensively in journals and books on such topics as leadership, contingent workers, mentoring, and motivation. His most recent book, Human Resource Management in Virtual Organizations, was published in October 2002.