Product Description

Product companies worldwide are recognizing that their best growth opportunities lie in professional services -- but building professional services organizations at companies that have traditionally focused on products can be extremely challenging. Now, two leading experts present a comprehensive guide to creating professional services organizations, managing them to maturity, and delivering both excellent services and excellent profitability. Using real-world examples, Building Professional Services offers a complete, practical framework for creating and managing organizations that provide support, education, managed services, consulting, outsourcing, and other professional services. Coverage includes: chartering, organizing, and establishing metrics for professional services; addressing the unique challenges faced by professional services in traditional product companies; and managing a professional services business at every stage of its lifecycle. Part of the Harris Kern Enterprise Computing Institute Series, the world's foremost source of information on the people, process, and technology issues behind enterprise computing.

Product Details

• Amazon Sales Rank: #165168 in Books
• Published on: 2002-06-22
• Original language: English
• Binding: Hardcover
• 384 pages

Book Info
Introduces a complete, practical framework for delivering the full spectrum of professional services--from support and education services to managed, consulting, and productized services.

From the Back Cover

How to build a winning professional services organization.

Companies worldwide are discovering outstanding growth opportunities in professional services-but building professional services organizations at "product-centric" firms can be extremely challenging. Now, three leading experts present a comprehensive guide to creating professional services organizations, managing them to maturity, and delivering both quality services and superior margins. Building Professional Services introduces a complete, practical framework for delivering the full spectrum of professional services—from support and education services to managed, consulting, and productized services.

• Managing the professional services business at every stage of its lifecycle
• Focusing on the key factors that drive success: revenue, references, and repeatability
• Responding to the unique challenges faced by professional services in product-based companies
• Aligning services with the rest of the organization
• Establishing effective metrics and business review processes
• The four phases of building a successful professional services organization
• Frameworks for organization, project delivery, solutions development, and operational infrastructure
• Customer engagement models and workflows

Drawing on their experience working with leading technology service providers, the authors cover every aspect of professional services: strategy, tactics, and operations. From financial models to customer relationships, Building Professional Services will help you transform the promise of services into a profitable reality.

"I can't imagine anyone starting a professional services organization without first referencing this work."

—Dave Nestic,
President, NezTech Corporation

"This book is a significant contribution and a practical guide to a fast-evolving frontier. With clearly expressed views and recommendations, it will stimulate both thought and action."

—David H. Maister, co-author of First Among Equals

"Extraordinary insight into the issues faced when building a professional services business unit at a product company."

—Kenneth Coleman, Sr.
Vice President of Silicon Graphics
and retired CEO of K&S Solutions

Harris Kern's Enterprise Computing Institute SeriesSolutions for IT Professionals.

About the Author

THOMAS E. LAH has more than 15 years of experience in IT and consulting. As Director of Solutions Engineering at Silicon Graphics, he led a team responsible for developing and launching a professional services consulting organization on a global basis and growing it from zero to $150 million in four years.

STEVE O'CONNOR has held both business and IT services leadership roles for over 20 years. He served as Vice President for Professional Services at SGI and before that, as SGI's Chief Information Officer.

MITCHEL PETERSON has held a variety of financial and operational roles for more than 18 years. Most recently, he was the Senior Manager of Strategic Planning andCommunications for SGI's Professional Services Organization and was responsible for developing and implementing strategic and tactical programs.

Customer Reviews

Excellent pragmatic approach
This book as become my day-to-day bible to managing a professional service division within our product-oriented company. If you have your objectives and strategy clear, this book will help you getting organized with the tactics.

Required Reading
This book is "just what the doctor ordered" for anyone trying to develop a Professional Services(PS) organization that is aligned with other functional groups and the overall mission of a product company. It also should be required reading for any leader moving for the first time from a stand-alone PS company to head up a PS organization within a product company.
I found it to provide easy to read, practical guidance on what the components of the PS organization should be, what the mission and profitability drivers should be, key organizational interfaces and how it should be measured.
Also, this book was reviewed, chapter by chapter, by all PS leaders as well as other functional leaders within the company, to develop a "lessons learned" document as part of a services strategic planning process. Invaluable assistance!

A good life boat for a PS Organization in a Product Company
I bought the book because I needed to startup a software engineering group within our established PS organization. The book provided very good insight in how a PS organization should run within a Product Company. It provide good food for thought in understanding the difference between a standalone PS organization and one attached to a Product Company. The content opened some eyes within our organization and reset some expectations. The book also validated some of the processes and focus of the existing PS organization. If you are starting up a PS organization from the ground up I recommend this book. If you have a PS organization already in place, within a product company, I also recommend this book to validate your current focus.