RESEARCH REPORTS
Research Reports on Building a PS Engineering Function
Professional
Services in Small Companies: Insights from the TSIA PS Benchmark Study 
In the six years that we've been benchmarking embedded professional services, only a few member mantras have remained consistent. One of those is that proper organizational, operational and financial benchmarks for PS business surely must be different for differently sized companies. In particular, smaller companies, those smaller than $100 million in total revenue, have remained convinced that their PS businesses just don’t look, operate or perform like those attached to larger companies. Is this view justified?
Impact
of Cloud Computing on Service Organizations
In the TSIA Service Insight that provided an overview of the 2011 TSIA research agenda, Thomas Lah, Executive Director of TSIA defined five market trends that are impacting technology solution providers. In this Service Insight, he puts more definition around the trend of cloud computing and the impact it is having on technology service businesses.
Overview of the key trends impacting the technology industry in 2011, how those trends are impacting technology services, and how TSIA has created a research agenda aligned with the critical issues facing service organizations.
Mobile
Enablement: KM and Intelligent Search
Of the 24 cross-discipline categories of technology covered by the TSIA 2010 Member Technology Survey, the number one top spending area was mobile enablement, with 34% of field service members having approved budget for increased mobility in 2010-2011. But mobility is not just a field service topic. TSIA Research has identified three areas with a variety of mobile innovations: knowledge management and search, productivity tools, and field service automation. In this report, the drivers behind the mobile revolution will be explained, along with an overview of mobile devices and applications from TSIA's knowledge management and intelligent search partners.
Creating
a Converged Services Infrastructure
TSIA’s president and CEO, J.B. Wood, has now released his new book, Complexity Avalanche, a broad exposé of the key business and technology trends driving our industry and service disciplines today. The issues explored in the book serve as a rallying cry for our industry: In order to meet the future demands of both enterprise and consumer customers amid the ever-increasing technology complexity curve, the three service disciplines of professional services, technical support, and field service operations must evolve and converge.
Member
Survey Results -- Services Organization and Structure
This study updates the 2007 Services Organization Study and included TPSA, SSPA and AFSMI member companies. 57 companies completed the survey, this report is just an initial view of the survey data. Please use your inquiry service if you’d like to pose any questions about the study, request special data slices, or just discuss the study.
A common request we receive from AFSMI, SSPA, and TPSA members is for guidance on how to establish a "services dashboard." A business dashboard is a graphical summary that allows managers to monitor the contribution and health of the departments in their organization. To gauge exactly how well an organization is performing, a dashboard captures and reports critical data points from each department within the organization, thus providing a snapshot of overall performance. By having the right dashboard in place, a management team can better monitor the performance of the services organization and identify areas that need attention.
Service
Convergence Begins with KM
Service convergence means that all areas of service and support, including professional services, technical support, field service, and customer education services, are looking for areas in which consolidating people, processes, and/or technology will improve service levels and cut operating costs.
Managing
Legal Liability for Intellectual Assets
When customers purchase intellectual assets, a company should clearly define the legal liability surrounding the use of the intellectual asset by the customer. This document defines a recommended process for managing legal liability when customers pay for the use of intellectual assets.
Solution architects have become the critical path to a PS organization’s ability to successfully scale the business. This TPSA PS Insight thoroughly defines the role of the solution architect, discusses the factors to consider when sourcing and developing solution architects, and presents several industry benchmarks related to this increasingly important role.
Intellectual
Asset Management: Glossary of Terms and Definitions
This article presents a list of common terms and definitions used to enable the working dialogue between the task force representatives from each of our member companies. These common terms and definitions are used as we move forward to develop a framework and best practices for IAM.
This article introduces the Services Engineering function by defining its objectives, outlining key roles of the department, and listing metrics that can be used to evaluate the effectiveness of the function. The article also discusses why the function is critical to the long term success of a technology professional services organization.