Despite the fact that vast engineering networks are the foundations
of modern society, the services that technology companies provide
over them have been a relatively neglected area of study. As a
result, marketing in some technology businesses has been
depressingly tactical and inconsistent. Marketers with little
experience, and even less professional training, run around
presenting PowerPoint decks to each other, chasing after the latest
fad and throwing erratic, changing activities at the market each
quarter. Many work on the unchallenged assumption that markets are
fast changing and that customers only want the lowest prices.
Yet this industry has liberated human imagination in the
internet and convinced the world that they must have a PC and a
mobile phone. Now, as a result of profound, relentless, global
forces, some of the leading firms and greatest minds in it are at
last turning their attention to service. With the advent of
?cloud computing? and radical changes in the
engineering of some utilities, the marketing of services that are
based on a technical infrastructure is about to become as important
and sophisticated as in, say, consumer products. This book explores
their story and experience.
?I really enjoyed the book From Products to
Services by Mr Laurie Young. Encouraged by it, Haier
accelerated its changeover from a traditional product-driven to a
more customer-centric company. This new book Marketing
Technology as a Service is another major contribution to
technology companies for the cultivation of service needs
worldwide.? ? Mr Zhang Ruimin, CEO and Chairman,
Haier Group, Beijing
?Young and Burgess describe a shift in mindset and
pragmatic techniques that are quite doable ? Rae Sedel,
MD, Global Technology Practice, Russell Reynolds
Associates.
?This book provides practical and insightful advice on how
to use services to turn technology into value add solutions for
real people ? Rudy Provoost, CEO, Philips Lighting
?Business leaders in India have been remarkably successful
at offering technology based services like outsourcing across the
world. Currently worth $60 billion, they intend to reach $300
billion by 2020. To succeed, the Indian business community must
offer new value propositions and adapt to emerging trends, like
cloud computing. Burgess and Young have put together the first
comprehensive and practical guide for business leaders to meet
their challenges of exponential growth.? ? Dr Mukesh
Aghi, Chairman and CEO, Steria (India)
Author Biography:
Laurie (Laurence) Young is a business man who likes to write. During his line career he held senior positions at BT, Unisys and PricewaterhouseCoopers. He also founded, built and sold a company. Yet, as his education includes a postgraduate business diploma and an MBA, his writing combines practical experience with sound business thinking. He has extensive experience of the marketing of technology companies having, in addition to his line jobs, advised companies like: Ericsson, Motorola, Energis, Hitachi Data Systems, Cable & Wireless, Datex Engstrom, Phillips and Nokia. This is his sixth book. Bev Burgess has spent twenty years in technology companies, specialising in services marketing in roles at British Gas, Epson and Fujitsu and through postgraduate study. She has also built a service business. As MD of the IT Services Marketing Association in Europe, Bev created the European programme of research, publications and events and headed the company s learning and advisory activities in the region. She personally supported companies like Atos Origin, BT, CSC, EDS, HP, Microsoft, Orange, Steria and Xerox. Today, Bev continues to help companies like these to focus on their best opportunities for growth and take creative, competitive value propositions to market.
