Technology Professional Services Association and Geoffrey Moore Present Insights at Wharton West on If, When and How to Cross "The Service Chasm"

Business Wire, Feb 14, 2007

March TPSA Forum Focuses on the Role of Professional Services in a Maturing Technology Market

SAN DIEGO -- The Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) today announced the "TPSA Forum: The Service Chasm," featuring best-selling author Geoffrey Moore, to be held March 20 at The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania's Wharton West Campus in San Francisco.

As professional services executives grapple with the issues and challenges that accompany the maturing technology market, they must reexamine their current service strategy profile in order to determine what product-service mix is appropriate for their company going forward. The spring Forum, one of two held yearly by TPSA, is designed for senior technology professional services executives and offers a unique opportunity to examine how, when and even if to cross "The Service Chasm."

"The dynamics that impact a technology company's service strategy are constantly changing, and recognizing these dynamics and knowing how to deal with competition and differentiation in a maturing market is vital to success and even survival," said Thomas Lah, executive director, TPSA.

"Given its mix of business, financial and technology disciplines, Wharton is an ideal partner for the Forum. In this unique setting - at Wharton's Campus in San Francisco - senior managers will have the opportunity to share insights and learn from industry leaders like GE, thought leaders from The Wharton School and respected technology industry experts like Geoffrey Moore," said Lah.

Moore's 1991 business classic Crossing the Chasm framed and defined a predictable chasm that must be navigated if a technology product is to be adopted on a large scale by the main street marketplace. Since that time, the technology industry has significantly matured, and technology professional services have played a large part in the continued growth of historically product-centric companies. The growing role of technology professional services within a more mature industry brings with it a new set of strategic challenges. According to Moore and Lah, with this maturity, there is a new chasm that technology companies must decide if, when, and how to cross, called "The Service Chasm."

Moore, Lah, and Jeffrey Babin, Lecturer in Marketing for The Wharton School and Managing Director of Antiphony Partners, LLC, will be some of the speakers addressing these strategic challenges at the forum.

Registration for the Forum is open to individuals and teams from both TPSA member and non-member companies. TPSA will be hosting an attendee dinner in San Francisco on the evening of March 19. To register and view detailed agenda details, go to info@tpsaonline.com.

About the Wharton School

The Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania -- founded in 1881 as the first collegiate business school -- is recognized globally for intellectual leadership and ongoing innovation across every major discipline of business education. The most comprehensive source of business knowledge in the world, Wharton bridges research and practice through its broad engagement with the global business community. The school has more than 4,600 undergraduate, MBA, executive MBA, and doctoral students; and an alumni network of more than 81,000 graduates.

Each year, Wharton Executive Education works with more than 8,000 business leaders on its campus in Philadelphia, at Wharton West in San Francisco, and at sites around the world. The Wharton Learning Continuum is Wharton Executive Education's model for delivering Impact Through Education(TM)--supporting companies and individuals in a 9- to 12-month learning process that is designed collaboratively with clients, delivered by Wharton faculty, and monitored to produce specific outcomes.

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.

Leveraging its influential membership, TPSA serves as a pre-eminent thought leader and issues advocate, providing insights and trends analysis to the media, industry and business community-at-large on all matters related to technology professional services. Among its member programs, TPSA offers a Benchmark Survey with peer-group specific and industry average metrics, and The Service 50, an aggregation and analysis of publicly reported financial data, with a focus on trends in services revenues, margins, and contributions to total corporate revenue.

TPSA is a member of a global network of associations that includes the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA). More information on TPSA can be found at www.tpsaonline.com.