When services inside of product companies were seen as tactical cost centers, the mandate was clear: make the product work, keep the customer happy, and manage costs. Smart services executives did their job and kept their heads down.
However, as services have transitioned to strategic profit centers and contribution expectations have increased, the services business is [...]
Strategic Alignment Archives
From Tactical to Strategic—Shifting Services Priorities
Wednesday, September 22nd, 2010Strategic Alignment—Do it Right the First Time
Friday, August 13th, 2010Do it right the first time—conduct a strategic alignment assessment where you consider how services can best contribute to organization success balanced against your existing capabilities, your customer issues and needs, and your competitive position. This is too important to the future of the organization not to get it right. Confirm your services strategic role today, and get the facts to [...]
Go Big or Stay Home
Tuesday, August 10th, 2010I’ve seen a group of top management review, discuss, and approve tens of millions of dollars for new plants all within a single 30-minute meeting. I’ve also seen this same group of executives agonize over the course of several meetings and several months over spending $60,000 to launch a pilot services project that would validate the services assumptions and business model [...]
Align the Services Strategy with the Business Mission
Wednesday, July 28th, 2010As in any business, if you don’t get the strategy right, it is darn near impossible to get the marketing right, the selling right, or anything else right—stuff rolls downhill.
My research in the technology industry confirms this criticality and expands it to the realities of being embedded inside a product company. A key differentiator that separates top-performing services organizations [...]
