Over the years, I’ve observed that a number of companies regularly send teams of people to TSW conferences. It’s not uncommon to see groups of ten, twelve, or more individuals from the same organization attend the event, typically using a divide and conquer approach to cover all the relevant sessions on the agenda.

What’s even more interesting is that these groups take it a step further by extending their stay with a team follow-up meeting to compare notes, synthesize the new information they’ve collected, and assess their current plans and strategies against what they’ve learned. It’s a great way to integrate new ideas and act quickly on new information before it becomes lost or forgotten in the day-to-day shuffle.

Perhaps not surprisingly, it’s many of these same companies who are out in front and leading the way with new service strategies and offerings.

TSIA supports these organizations by offering a team discount (pay for 4 registrations and get a fifth one for free) and complimentary post-conference team meetings for groups of ten or more. If this sounds like something your company could benefit from, please contact Susie Hiner for more details. We’d love to help!

Every day, new boundaries in technology services innovation are reached. TSIA is proud to recognize this creativity and drive to excellence through our awards program. Visit our awards page to see the winners at TSW 2010 Las Vegas.

TSIA Executive Director Thomas Lah Stands with Proud and Enthused Honorees at TSIA Awards Ceremony

TeleTracking Technologies Receives Certified Support Staff Excellence Center Award from TSIA's Tom Pridham

What does the senior executive responsible for IT for a multi-billion dollar global corporation want from his technology services providers? Attendees heard firsthand from the executive vice president and chief administrative officer of MGM Resorts International, Aldo Manzini, during his closing keynote speech. Aldo oversees multiple corporate departments providing significant administrative support to the company’s operations and corporate endeavors. As the key decision maker in IT purchases, he shared his business-user perspective on how technology services providers can add value to his organization.

Aldo Manzini (MGM Resorts International) Delivers "Straight Talk" to Audience in Closing Keynote Discussion

An Insider’s View into World-Class Service Operations
Following breakfast in the Technology Services Expo and the morning keynote address, delegates filed into breakout sessions, themed “World Class Service Operations.” Our industry is filled with examples of organizations that have achieved high levels of execution on core service business fundamentals. This important track covered topics ranging from managing partners and increasing services sales and profitability to demonstrating value to customers. Attendees gained an insider’s view into the companies and individuals whose work excels in areas that impact operational and financial outcomes—and improves customer experiences.

EMC's Susan McKay Discusses the Seven Secrets of Effective Alliance Teams

Evolving Your Services Business
The final track of TSW Las Vegas was “Evolving Your Services Business.” In our industry, change is a given. As services leaders, this means that we must continually look for opportunities to evolve our businesses to meet shifting customer, business, and market dynamics. Sometimes this means adopting a more rigorous, process-oriented approach to managing resources. Other times it requires redefining our services portfolio to deliver more value to the customer. Or it can mean identifying how to scale a business without adding more resources. Attendees discovered that they are not alone in needing to constantly reinvent their services business.

TSIA CEO J.B. Wood Discusses Where Tech Services Has Been, Where It’s Headed

It has been one year since Complexity Avalanche challenged tech companies to rethink the mission of their services businesses. Instead of measuring simply margin and C-SAT, value-added services (VAS) is all about designing services that drive product adoption and resulting product revenues. To say the least, the concept has been controversial in the C-suite. So what has happened in the last 12 months?

TSIA CEO J.B. Wood Discusses the State of Value-Added Services in Today's Opening Keynote

J.B. Wood has spent this time well—meeting with CXOs of all walks, talking about life in tech. Things can change in a year—and they undoubtedly did in the services arena. Executives are learning to speak a new language—the language of VAS. There is a next-generation vision for services. J.B. walked attendees through this new vision.

He also discussed an exciting new body of work being developed by 10 leading tech companies who are participating in the TSIA Value-Added Services Community of Interest (COI). This COI has been building a Value Added Services roadmap that might be the blueprint your company has been looking for.

A Customer Testimonial
“I think J.B.’s speech was right on. Breaking down silos is important, yet also painful. But if we aren’t going to drive this to happen, then who will? The more insight, evidence, and tools that TSIA can provide, the better.”

—Paul Hofstadler, Mentor Graphics

Attendees Get Seated for This Morning's Keynote Address

Women in Services Meet for Networking Dinner Reception
The Women in Services reception and dinner tonight was a great success! One hundred women attended in support of this now-standing tradition at TSW that provides a rich and unique setting for senior women services executives to discuss business and career issues. Jan Uhrich, vice president of strategy and solutions for Dell, shared career tips and discussed what it is like to be a woman in the executive suite. A portion of the proceeds from the dinner and chance drawings will be donated to Dress for Success San Diego, a charity organization that provides business attire and career counseling for financially challenged women. The dinner was a terrific opportunity for Women in Services to make connections that can help to advance their careers and their businesses.

Dell's Jan Uhrich Address Women in Services Networking Dinner Attendees

Prizes Given Away at Women in Services Dinner

Excited Prize Winner During Women in Services Networking Reception

Keeping Our Members at the Cutting Edge
TSW’s new “Edge of the Map” track sessions took place this afternoon, with a large roster of case studies delivered on the cutting-edge work being done in value-added services, services for cloud and SaaS computing, services convergence, and the crucial area of social media. These rooms were filled with attendees eager to learn how to accelerate their initiatives in these areas. They discovered what the early adopters are doing and had the benefit of learning from their experiences—both their mistakes and their successes.

Conference Learning

Knowlege Delivered to Services Professionals of All Walks
Services technology continues to be one of the most powerful levers to increase service efficiencies and improve the customer experience. With services technology spending on the rise, there’s a whole new wave of innovation taking place in our industry that promises to deliver faster and more impactful business results. Services Technology Advantage sessions took place this morning, where delegates learned how to apply breakaway tools, services, and technologies in their lines of business. These case-study sessions talked about the successful projects and technology deployments in hot areas including social media, knowledge management, intelligent search, professional services automation, mobile enablement, and sourcing. Attendees were getting questions answered to challenges and issues that have been on their radars, clearing the way for a new services technology dashboard.

TSIA Booth in the Technology Services Expo

Staying on top of industry trends can help you gain a competitive edge. Yet most of us lack the time to do the research required to stay abreast of rapidly changing market and customer dynamics. This morning, the TSIA Research team delivered “Power Hour” sessions, which helped audience members to put their fingers on the pulse of our industry. Latest findings and recommendations were delivered by TSIA’s Bo DiMuccio, Shawn Santos, Tom Pridham, Joanne Weigel, Bill Rose, John Ragsdale, Michael Israel, Maria Manning-Chapman, and Tim Flannery. Also presenting were Sid Saleh, founder of ServicesRevenue; Dave Brown, president of Support Center University; and panel members Syd Garrett, director of global service delivery excellence, Cisco Systems; Rachel Berg, director, PRTM; and Nigel Marrion, auditor, TSIA Organizational Development Program. Attendees discovered some true opportunities for improved and accelerated results specific to their lines of business. Look to this evening’s edition of TSIA’s ConfernceNews Daily, which will be sent to your inbox, for more details on these powerful sessions.

Recognized Innovator Tour Contestant Demonstrates Cutting-Edge Technology