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Diane Brundage, SVP Marketing & Volume Operations
TPSA
(408) 354-7136
dbrundage@tpsaonline.com
TPSA Executive Director Thomas Lah's Latest Book Delivers Professional Services Strategies for Technology Product Vendors, Integrators and VARs
"Mastering Professional Services" Offers Insights and Guidance for Evolving Marketplace
SAN DIEGO, November 1, 2005 – The Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) today announced the latest book by its executive director, Thomas Lah, "Mastering Professional Services." The book offers a definitive guide for companies that are continuing to seek growth opportunities by establishing and optimizing professional services.
According to Lah, the book was written to guide companies in the process of designing a viable services strategy that complements a broader company portfolio. Following his previously published "Building Professional Services: The Siren's Song," the new work continues a tradition of providing practical tools and techniques to manage professional services when it is not the core offering of the company. The book includes case studies on leading technology companies such as Cisco, EMC, Hitachi Data Systems, Lucent and Progress Software.
"Today's professional service organizations are being asked to secure high margin revenue streams, improve customer satisfaction, and solidify customer loyalty. However, many of these companies have little experience building and managing a professional services organization. I wrote this book, and we formed TPSA, to provide insight and guidance on the huge challenges faced by these organizations," said Lah.
And product companies are not alone in their attempts to create profitable and effective professional service organizations. System integrators and value added resellers that must incorporate complicated technologies into their service offerings are struggling to scale service capabilities. Outsourcing and managed service providers that now want to provide consulting support are learning there are significant differences in these service lines. Many times, the existing professional service strategy for these companies is simply not sustainable.
"Mastering Professional Services" is available from publisher Atlas Books (www.altasbooks.com), and at Amazon.com.
About Thomas Lah
Lah currently serves as executive director of TPSA, and since 1989 he has helped a broad range of companies establish or improve their professional services organizations. Previously, he was director of solutions engineering at Silicon Graphics, where he was part of the management team that grew professional services from zero to $150 million in four years. He has been engaged by companies such as Hewlett Packard, Lucent Technologies, and salesforce.com on the topic of professional services strategy. Two years ago, he developed an MBA course at The Ohio State University that focuses specifically on the challenge of building tech professional services.
About TPSA
The Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) is the first and only organization for executives who create, produce, deliver, manage, measure, and optimize technology services in the world's leading corporations. Member companies represent a diverse group of market segments including hardware and software products, systems integration, on-demand hosted applications, and value-added solutions. Through membership collaboration and management expertise, TPSA provides the information, concepts, models, and best practices required for success in the critical professional services component of the technology enterprise. TPSA is part of the SupportGate group of associations. For over 16 years, SupportGate has successfully managed industry groups, including the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA). More information on TPSA can be found at
www.tpsaonline.com.
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