News and Events
Service Executive Industry Board Created To Shape Evolution of the Maintenance and Services Industry
3 December 2009, (SAN FRANCISCO, CA) - ServiceSource today announced the creation of the Service Executive Industry Board (SEIB). Spearheaded by Mike Smerklo, CEO and Chairman of ServiceSource, the SEIB is an independent industry board created to share best practices, address issues impacting the industry and shape the future direction of maintenance and services. The founding board members consist of senior service executives who are responsible for driving customer satisfaction and retention as well as services and subscription revenue at leading technology-based hardware, software, and healthcare companies. Collectively, these members represent over $45 billion of ongoing customer revenue.
"Customer satisfaction, retention and overall customer value are increasingly strategic and important drivers of overall company health, revenue and profit. Executives charged with managing customer retention and growing services revenue have lacked a cohesive forum to shape industry dialog, share best practices and advance the long-term strategy of the industry," explained Smerklo. "Service management as a discipline is rapidly evolving for technology-based companies, and the formation of a participant-led industry board uniquely focused on customer value will bring service leaders together in a highly collaborative forum to address this dynamic industry."
In addition to Mike Smerklo, SEIB founding members include:
- Hicham Abdessamad, Senior Vice President Global Services - Hitachi Data Systems
- Jay Ackerman, Executive Vice President Business Development - ServiceSource
- Scott Bajtos, Senior Vice President Global Support Services - VMware
- Bret Barczak, General Manager Services Marketing - GE Healthcare
- Jeff Bizzack, President - ServiceSource
- Rafael Brugnini, Vice President Software Service Sales - Hewlett-Packard
- Alan Grady, Vice President Software Subscription and Support - IBM
- Rick Legleiter, Senior Vice President Customer Service - Siemens Healthcare
- Lambert Walsh, Vice President Technical Services - Adobe Systems Incorporated
- Steve Webber, Vice President Finance and Operations Global Services - EMC
- Sophia Williams, Vice President Global Service Sales - Avaya
- Tom York, Vice President Maintenance and Technical Support Services - IBM
With a shared vision and dedication to growing customer value, the founding SEIB members will meet three times annually to create industry standards for benchmarking and measuring the health of global services, maintenance and subscription businesses. Additionally, the board will identify trends and opportunities that are impacting their industry and look to share key learnings and best practices. The inaugural meeting took place recently in Half Moon Bay, California prior to the ServiceSource 5th Annual North American Executive Summit.
"The launch of this Industry Board is critical to evolving individual ideas into industry practices and norms. Customer value is at the forefront of each of our enterprises, and we can collectively benefit from one another's experience," said Tom York, Vice President Maintenance and Technical Support Services, IBM.
As indicated by Matt Healey of IDC's Software and Hardware Support Services Program, now is the right time to create such a board, "Services has been growing in magnitude and importance for several years. The support services market is key to building long term relationships with customers and enhancing overall corporate profitability. Companies who take a strategic approach to this market, looking for best practices, benchmarks, and innovative new approaches will be well positioned to ensure long term financial results and high levels of customer satisfaction and loyalty."
About Service Executive Industry Board (SEIB)
The Service Executive Industry Board (SEIB) is a forum of senior leaders dedicated to advancing the excellence and long-term direction of services inside technology-based hardware, software, and healthcare companies. Founding SEIB members represent leading companies in the forefront of driving world-class customer value. Collectively, they manage over $45 billion of services and maintenance revenue.
For further information:
Kim Hughes, The Blueshirt Group Tel: +415-516-6187
Email: kim@blueshirtgroup.com
About ServiceSource
ServiceSource is the service revenue performance company. We partner with technology, healthcare, and life sciences companies to maximize maintenance, support, and subscription revenue while optimizing customer loyalty. We increase contract renewal rates for clients on average by 10–25 percentage points — and in some cases by up to 40 points. These dramatic results are achieved via a purpose-built service revenue solution, including a suite of cloud applications and managed services built on a proprietary technology platform, which combines the industry's most robust data management engine and a unique service revenue master, leveraging our deep knowledgebase of benchmarks and best practices. Our solution delivers proven results through a 100% pay-for-performance business model that enables a success–driven, shared–risk partnership. Headquartered in San Francisco, ServiceSource has $5 billion in service revenue under management.
For more information on ServiceSource, visit www.servicesource.com or call: 415.901.6030.