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A Service Performance Insight White Paper

Service Compass: Charting the Course to Professional Service Excellence

Five Steps to Build a Successful Services Business Plan

December 2012

Sponsored by

Service Performance Insight

6260 Winter Hazel Drive 25 Boroughwood Place Liberty Township, OH 45044 USA Hillsborough, CA 94010 USA

Telephone: 513.759.5443 Telephone: 650.342.4690

[email protected] [email protected]

www.SPIresearch.com

mailto:[email protected]


TABLE OF CONTENTS

Introduction .................................................................................................................................... 1

Symptoms of Misalignment .......................................................................................................... 1

Five Steps for Successful PS Business Planning ...................................................................... 2

Step 1 – Build a shared vision of success .................................................................................. 2

Step 2 – Assess organizational strengths and weaknesses ...................................................... 4

Step 3 – Expose Key themes and disconnects .......................................................................... 6

Step 4 – Confront reality ............................................................................................................. 7

Step 5 – Build initiatives ............................................................................................................. 9

Tools can help with the planning process ................................................................................ 10

Information enables accurate business planning .................................................................... 11

Quantify Improvement to Drive Change .................................................................................... 13

Conclusions ................................................................................................................................. 14

About Service Performance Insight .................................................................................... 15

FIGURES

Figure 1: Service Planning Pyramid ............................................................................................... 3

Figure 2: SWOT Analysis ............................................................................................................... 5

Figure 3: Expose Key Themes and Disconnects ........................................................................... 7

Figure 4: Subjective and Objective Insights ................................................................................... 8

Figure 5: Create a fact-based appraisal leading to break-through improvement priorities .......... 10

Figure 6: Use tools to organize, strategize and prioritize ............................................................. 10

Figure 7: Integrated Information-driven Business Planning ......................................................... 11

TABLES

Table 1: Integration Helps Drive Performance ............................................................................. 12

Table 2: Translate Key Initiatives into the Financial Plan ............................................................. 13

Service Compass Five Steps to Build a Successful Services Business Plan

Service Performance Insight Page 1

INTRODUCTION

For many professional service organizations annual planning has become

an empty ritual. Firms often waste too much time and energy reliving

past failures instead of exploring new avenues for growth. Done right,

instead of a necessary evil, business planning can open up fresh new

ideas and facilitate playing to strengths rather than shoring up

weaknesses. The best of the best PSOs each year find new and better

ways to do the things they love to do…. and are especially good

at….while minimizing the hassles and tedium of doing the things that

hold them back or waste precious time and resources.

Each year PS organizations should devote time to reenergizing their

vision and strategies as they plan the upcoming year’s business. The

annual business planning process can be a valuable catalyst for growth

and profit. At least annually, plan to get leadership aligned by

reevaluating and improving go to market and sales strategies; discuss

new and better ways to motivate the workforce and streamline processes

and systems. In the ever more crowded professional service market,

creating, maintaining and enhancing competitive differentiation is a

business imperative. Without new and differentiating knowledge, skills,

intellectual property and supporting systems and tools, all too many

firms find themselves slipping towards staff augmentation with

commoditized skills and rates as they watch fresh, young challengers

seize hot new markets with in-demand competencies.

This White Paper identifies five critical steps PSOs should take on an

annual basis to prepare for what lies ahead.

SYMPTOMS OF MISALIGNMENT

Before embarking on an annual planning exercise, SPI Research has

explored some of the reasons why PSOs fail to deliver their desired

results. Our experience has shown that when things go wrong, it most

often starts at the top and then cascades downward throughout the

organization, ultimately showing up in lackluster financial performance.

Eliminating the root causes of dysfunction and inefficiency goes a long

way toward driving organizational success. Common issues:

Unclear strategy – lack of clarity around target markets, target

clients and why we win. Inability to capitalize on market

opportunities due to lack of alignment, lack of employee

engagement or leadership and cultural issues. No leverage to

drive repeat sales, limited competitive differentiation, poor sales

and marketing execution.

Murky service charter – particularly a problem for embedded

PSOs – with conflict between driving financial PS revenue and

margin versus helping the overall company achieve its objectives

of market expansion and client delight.



Silos – exist in all companies – they usually occur in the choppy

waters between groups or functions where responsibility and

accountability are blurry. A classic example… who is

responsible for driving new service revenues – is it sales or

delivery? How can disconnected processes and poor handoffs be

improved?

Skills imbalance - the logical extension of organizational silos…

where all parties are not aligned … not selling what we can

deliver or not being able to deliver what has been sold. Not

enough or too many people with the right skills, excessive non-

billable headcount, sub-par utilization, revenue per person,

difficulty in recruiting, ramping, retaining, inability to quickly,

easily staff projects.

Immature processes - disparate or poor systems and tools.

Inconsistent project methods; lack of tools and intellectual

property leading to low repeatability and inability to drive

efficiency and reuse.

Poor quality and customer satisfaction – Failed projects, cost

overruns, difficulty securing references. No quality review

processes and/or poor project visibility into budget to actuals.

Poor financial performance – Revenue and margin below

targets, poor forecasting accuracy, unpredictability and high

levels of risk.

FIVE STEPS FOR SUCCESSFUL PS BUSINESS PLANNING

The annual planning process — regardless of the agenda, framework or

method subscribed — is not only essential for running the business, but

is also an opportunity for reflection and a powerful catalyst for change. If

an executive team is failing at execution, the root cause resides in

conversations not had, topics not addressed and, subsequently, actions

not taken. Failing to execute is the symptom; diagnosis is key to solving

the problem.

Effective planning relies on both quantitative and qualitative

information. It is critical PS executives don't just consider the annual

business plan as a financial exercise, as key improvement or expansion

initiatives can have implications far beyond the income statement.

Step 1 – Build a shared vision of success

Business planning is hard to do, but is well worth the effort. Many PSOs

use an outside facilitator to ensure key points of view are heard and

incorporated. They annually refocus and reenergize the business for

many reasons beyond financial planning. Overarching objectives may

include:



Accelerate revenue and margin growth either through mergers

and acquisitions or internal process improvements;

Drive alignment between the service organization and other

departments, or improve internal service organization alignment;

Assimilate new groups, companies or functions;

Capitalize on new markets and create new solution offers;

Implement new systems and processes to improve effectiveness

and efficiency;

Improve quality and client satisfaction; and

Optimize sales and marketing effectiveness.

The first step is to build a shared vision of success. It might sound easy,

but it is a critical component of beginning the year with a clear and

concise view of where you want to go (Figure 1). A vision statement

outlines what a company wants to be. It concentrates on the future; it is a

source of inspiration and provides a clear picture of the future. It sets the

direction for business planning.

For instance, Google’s vision "Organize the world's information and

make it universally accessible and useful” is clear, compelling,

inspirational….and… actionable.

Figure 1: Service Planning Pyramid

Source: Service Performance Insight, December 2012

Next is a Mission statement, which tells how the organization will

achieve its vision. It concentrates on the present; it defines customers

and critical processes, and it informs everyone about the desired level of

performance.

What business the company is in and who are the primary

"clients"

What is the responsibility of the organization toward these

"clients"



What are the main objectives which support the company in

accomplishing its mission

For instance, Ben and Jerry’s mission "To make, distribute and

sell the finest quality all nature ice cream and euphoric

concoctions with a continued commitment to incorporating

wholesome, natural ingredients and promoting business practices

that respect the earth and the environment” says it all.

Next is Values and Culture – how we conduct business here. It is the set

of unwritten rules for decision-making and power. Behavior – the

intrinsic values that define “who we are,” “what we do,” and “how we

act.” Establishing core values is an extremely important component of

the service business plan as they describe the attitudes and behaviors the

organization prizes. Consider having the team pick key individuals who

best exemplify cultural values – write their stories and core values will

emerge. If you can’t think of a story that exemplifies a core value… it

probably isn’t one.

Then there is the Charter. Charter defines the scope, objectives and

participants in a project. It provides a preliminary delineation of roles

and responsibilities, outlines the business plan objectives, identifies the

main stakeholders, and defines team or functional authority. The charter

describes the role, function and boundaries for functional organizations.

And finally, the business model, which provides greater detail into the

specific markets, clients and service portfolio.

Should we have a direct or indirect sales model?

Should we have different programs and teams by industry,

geography or account?

Should we have horizontal or vertical centers of competency?

Are we centrally or de-centrally managed?

The business model describes the way the PSO is organized and how it

will address:

Key markets – and key clients

Contribution – what products or services do we provide?

Distinction – what makes our product or service unique, why

clients choose us

The annual business plan is built as a pyramid for a reason – the only

way to galvanize the entire organization is to attach to a bright and

compelling future (the vision), and each of the activities rely on each

other and cascade in order to build alignment and focus throughout the

organization.

Step 2 – Assess organizational strengths and weaknesses

The second step is to conduct a SWOT analysis. It stands for Strengths,

Weaknesses, Opportunities and Threats. A SWOT analysis guides the

PSO to identify the positives and negatives inside the organization

(strengths and weaknesses), and outside of it, (opportunities and threats).



Developing a shared view of the current situation is the first step to

alignment, change and improvement.

Figure 2: SWOT Analysis


First, assess the organization's strengths.

What services are we best known for?

Who are our best employees and clients?

What do we do best?

What do employees and clients like most about our firm?

It might be the PSO has a unique life/work balance – enabling it to take

advantage of skilled consultants at the top of their craft while

accommodating flexible work schedules. But this core strength may also

show up as a weakness due to difficulty in scheduling or inability to

focus part-time workers on incremental business development activities.

Explore how to accentuate the strengths while eliminating or overcoming

the weaknesses.

Second, assess the organization's weaknesses.

What are some things we don't do well and how might we turn

them into a strength? Or eliminate them as a weakness?

For instance, the PSO might have clients that desire global service

delivery but today it can only deliver locally. Therefore, a major

initiative might be to expand globally, either organically, through

acquisitions or through new partnerships. Determine where change is

possible. If the organization is at a juncture or turning point, an

inventory of strengths and weaknesses can reveal priorities and

possibilities.

Now focus on the external environment, assess untapped opportunities in

the market.



What does the market need or how is it changing, and how can

prepare for it?

What are hot new growth services that require minimal training

but can be sold at a high profit margin?

Adjust and refine plans mid-course. A new opportunity might open

wider avenues, while a new threat could close a path that once existed.

And finally, assess external threats.

Are new competitors emerging that could cause disruption and

compromise profit?

Are there new regulations on the horizon, which will cause

increased regulatory costs or eliminate lines of work altogether?

Focus on strengths and opportunities, while shoring up or eliminating

weaknesses and threats that could derail your efforts.

Remember, the purpose of performing a SWOT is to reveal positive

forces that work together and potential problems that need to be

addressed or at least recognized. Executives can list internal and external

opposites side by side. Ask clients to answer these simple questions:

what are the strengths and weaknesses of our firm, or effort, and what are

the opportunities and threats facing it?

Executives should use fact-based information, which probably comes

from core business solutions (ERP, CRM, PSA, etc.), to assess strengths,

weaknesses, opportunities and threats. Take advantage of this

information because it is specific to the PSO and can yield significant

insight into the future.

Step 3 – Expose Key themes and disconnects

In step three expose key themes and disconnects, which while important

to all types of organizations, are particularly critical for embedded

service organizations, where charter conflict is rampant. SPI Research

often sees PSOs where the financial model is at odds with what the

executive team really wants and needs from the professional services

organization.

In many instances there may be incompatible points of view regarding

what the PSO should or should not be. Balancing profit, client delight,

sales enablement and market growth requires give and take. Tipping the

scale too far in favor of profit undermines client delight, sales

enablement and market growth, while tipping too far towards sales

enablement and market growth may compromise client delight and

profit. Use the planning process as a catalyst to expose and rationalize

these disconnects. The answer may be to set up an internal bank of non-

billable hours dedicated to sales enablement, market growth or client

delight.

It is critical in this step to uncover divergent points of view to arrive at

the best possible course which supports the overall vision. SPI Research

finds that some of the greatest debates occur here. Every executive has



his or her own opinion, and they are all important but the team must

understand and rationalize competing priorities.

Figure 3: Expose Key Themes and Disconnects


In many cases there is a root cause for the lack of alignment. Many

professional services organizations have a number of different charters,

each of which impact the financial plan. For instance, one might be

ensuring client satisfaction and references, or focusing on driving repeat

business and referrals. Executives should ask, “Do all of our clients need

to be wildly satisfied or primarily our most important ones?” The second

might be to achieve revenue and profit targets, where the PSO is

primarily focused on efficiency, which may compromise effectiveness.

In many cases, this might be a short term charter to improve the financial

position, but could come at the expense of client satisfaction and long-

term growth. If market growth is a primary focus, expansion could come

at the expense of revenue and profitability.

The plans made a year ago were very important at the time. But going

forward these charter priorities should be reevaluated. Decisions must be

made not only for the next year, but for years to come. Part of the plan

must include how to get there.

Step 4 – Confront reality

Planning does not need to be a necessary evil – it can be the most

important and empowering tool in a PSO’s arsenal to get the entire

organization on the same page – to achieve truly great things. Effective

planning creates a safe, fact-based, and reality-based environment where

new ideas can flourish.

Figure 4 shows an example of the process SPI Research uses to help

clients gain both quantitative and qualitative insight into their current

reality.



Figure 4: Subjective and Objective Insights


SPI Research believes there are two realities, first is objective

performance; how a PSO compares to industry peers from a quantitative

standpoint, which shows potential areas for improvement. It is at this

point where executives should draw information from their information

systems to compare to industry benchmarks - showing where the

organization excels and where it is falling behind. Numbers don’t lie and

executives should use this information to compare and contrast their

organization to others.

For instance, executives might be satisfied with a lower billable

utilization rate than their peers, as they might invest in service

productization. This investment overtime will show up in higher bill

rates and revenues but may represent incremental cost in the short term.

There are many avenues to success, quantitative benchmarks expose the

possibilities.

The second reality is the subjective reality. The subjective reality can

make or break a PSO’s business plan. Is everyone on the same page?

Are there unconscious saboteurs – if so, it’s probably because folks have

not had the opportunity, in a safe environment, to give their opinions.

Here PS executives need to identify the real change agents, those who

are dissatisfied with the current reality, who see a brighter future, and

more importantly are willing to do something about it. There are also

detractors, who just say no, but they may have a very good reason. They

may feel these new initiatives have been tried before and failed, or

perhaps there is just too much on the plate and this too will pass as

another “planning exercise du jour.”

Both realities must become one to achieve any type of lasting change.

Both the agents of change and detractors care about the future of the

organization, and it is important their opinions are heard and respected.

In the end, both sides must be aligned for any type of lasting

improvement. The team must leave the planning session with an



acknowledgment the PSO has decided on a specific direction, regardless

of whether or not they completely agree. This acknowledgment will be

shared with all others in the organization; it is important everyone sings

from the same hymnal.

Then, executives must focus on the highest impact initiatives for

improvement to create an actionable business plan.

Step 5 – Build initiatives

The final step is to create the initiatives that will propel the organization

into the new year and beyond. By now the executive team should have

galvanized the planning team around a shared view of the future, and its

priorities. Now is the time to take action – with realistic success

measures and clear roles, responsibilities and timelines. The team that

ends up with a laundry list of 15 to 20 key priorities is doomed to failure

before it starts.

When too many initiatives are proposed, very few are fully enacted, and

this failure eventually stalls the PSO’s growth and profitability plans.

All of those competing priorities with no real owners or investment

demoralize and disenfranchise both the leadership team and everyone

else throughout the organization. In order to drive the plan forward there

are several areas to avoid, each of which could hurt the planning process.

First is the absence of executive alignment and leadership, due to

initiatives being viewed as only tactical;

No market, benchmark or customer fact-based data to

substantiate decisions on priorities or to describe the rationale

behind the changes;

Lack of meaningful engagement of business operations and

employees until it is too late for them to have input, investment

or engagement in the process; and,

Poor or no sustained communication regarding Why? Why now?

What is in it for me? To build support and participation

throughout the organization;

No ongoing process for communication and follow-through,

resulting in lack of sustained focus and commitment.

To be successful SPI Research recommends no more than five, and

preferably three key annual initiatives. Typically, these overarching key

initiatives address action areas such as business development and sales

growth; employee enablement or financial improvement. PSOs are great

at driving client projects – so develop clear “big rock” improvement

priorities with assigned owners, teams and project plans. Cascade

initiative participation throughout the organization to include your best

and brightest change captains from around the world. Above all else,

clear, frequent communication is a critical success factor. Communicate

what happened in the planning sessions; let employees see and

understand the organization’s vision; help them internalize strengths and

opportunities while acknowledging weaknesses and threats.



Figure 5: Create a fact-based appraisal leading to break-through improvement priorities


TOOLS CAN HELP WITH THE PLANNING PROCESS

First, there should be a top line initiative which is a short statement

explaining the primary objective (Figure 6). Next, the area of focus

breaks the initiative into core components. For each area of focus there

must be success metrics to show whether or not the PSO has succeeded.

Ideally, these metrics are quantitative and not subjective, and can be

measured using the organization’s information infrastructure.

Figure 6: Use tools to organize, strategize and prioritize




Each of these success metrics requires some type of action. Finally there

should be a timeline as well as an executive owner, who is not

necessarily responsible for every action, but must work with others in a

collaborative fashion to accomplish the goals.

INFORMATION ENABLES ACCURATE BUSINESS PLANNING

The annual rite of business planning begins with an analysis of the past

year of data. This information provides a base upon which to build the

upcoming year’s plan. Obviously, utilizing the organization’s internal

business systems to obtain data streamlines the planning process.

Almost every professional service organization with more than 10

employees uses some type of financial management solution (Enterprise

Resource Planning, or ERP). ERP enables PS executives to analyze

critical key performance measurements to determine areas of success, as

well as areas requiring improvement. There are other important solutions

PSOs should leverage in the planning process. They include Client

Relationship Management (CRM) and Professional Services Automation

(PSA). Both CRM and PSA provide the information necessary to show

revenue and profitability by the types of services sold, geographic

regions, clients, employees and practice areas.

Ideally, the information infrastructure is integrated so information can

seamlessly be passed from one system, for instance, from CRM to the

HCM solution to show services sold, which helps with staffing

requirements, from HCM to PSA to better understand the skills required,

resource workload and their cost, to identify gaps where skills are not

available, from PSA to ERP to provide project profitability and then back

from ERP and CRM to show which services and clients are the most

profitable and therefore should be accentuated.

Figure 7: Integrated Information-driven Business Planning


Integration improves visibility into core professional services assets —

the people, processes and capital used to complete work. SPI Research

believes that comprehensive real-time visibility is only attained through

application integration. In other words, information seamlessly flows



across different departments and functions, so that executives and other

critical employees have a more complete picture of operations, and

therefore can make better decisions as part of the annual business plan,

while updating them as conditions change over the course of a year.

To demonstrate the value of departmental solution integration with the

core financial management solution, SPI Research has provided key

service execution performance metrics (Table 1).

Table 1: Integration Helps Drive Performance

Key Performance Indicator (KPI)

Without PSA With Non-Integrated

PSA

With Integrated

PSA

Billable utilization 66.3% 71.3% 74.4%

Concurrent projects managed 4.46 4.54 5.22

On-time delivery 74.8% 76.8% 80.0%

Annual revenue per billable consultant

$183K $206K $225K


Billable utilization is one of the main reasons PSOs purchase PSA. The

table shows PSOs not using a PSA solution averaged 66.3% utilization.

In other words, on a 2,000 hour basis they billed a little over 1,325 hours

annually. Those organizations purchasing PSA, but not integrating it

with the core financial solution improved billable utilization to over

71%, meaning over 1,420 billable hours per year, a gain of almost 100

hours over those organizations without PSA! For organizations utilizing

PSA with integration to the core financial management solution

utilization increased to almost 75% with almost 1,500 hours billed

annually – 80 additional hours of billable time over the course of a year!

These improvements directly translate into revenue and margin.

A similar comparison can be made based on the number of projects

concurrently managed by a project manager. The net effect of a project

manager using no PSA solution to a fully integrated PSA solution adds

up to one additional project managed concurrently, meaning less

overhead required to run projects. This overhead reduction helps

increase project margins which ultimately show up in overall

profitability.

On-time delivery is also a critical key performance measurement;

moving from no PSA to a fully integrated PSA solution increases on-

time delivery, which definitely improves both profitability and client

satisfaction, which ultimately leads to higher growth rates.

And finally, annual revenue per billable consultant soars $42K from

$183 to $225K for companies who deploy and integrate their PSA

application with other core business applications.



The importance of this section is to note that besides increasing

productivity, integrated business solutions also provide visibility and

actionable performance improvement metrics.

QUANTIFY IMPROVEMENT TO DRIVE CHANGE

For this analysis, SPI Research created an example PSO, with

fundamentals similar to many organizations in the PS Maturity Model™

2012 Benchmark study. The following is just an example, but shows the

potential financial benefits from embarking on a PS improvement

initiatives.

For this example, SPI Research assumed the following:

∆ Number of PS employees: 130

∆ Number of Billable PS employees: 100

∆ Annual PS Billings: $24.5mm

∆ Billable utilization: 68.0%

∆ Average hourly bill rate: $180

While there are literally hundreds of potential improvements that PSOs

can make, SPI Research focused on a few key performance areas to

improve profit margins. Small improvements can yield significant

results. For instance, one goal might be to reduce new hire recruiting

and ramping time from 120 to 50 days.

Table 2: Translate Key Initiatives into the Financial Plan

Key Initiative Success Metrics Assumptions Financial

Employee Growth and Development

• Reduce recruiting and ramping time from 120 to 50 days

• 70 more potential billable days

• $180/hour bill rate • 68% utilization • 10 new employees

annually

$685,440

Improve Operations

• Implement new cloud-based PSA

• Improve utilization 2% (from 68% to 70%)

• 2,000 billable hours /year potential

• 100 billable employees • $180/hour average

billable rate

$720,000

Service Packaging

• 20% of projects sold as packages

• Improve project profit margins 30 to 40%

• Total revenue of $25M • $5M sold as packages

$500,000

Total $1,895,440


In this example the organization aligned recruiting with the sales and

project pipeline to more efficiently find the right employees in addition

to creating and maintaining an extensive database of candidates, to

reduce the time to recruit. Once onboard the PSO focused on effective



training and mentoring so new hires come up-to-speed in billable roles

faster. The upshot of this exercise results in 70 more billable days

annually. With 10 new employees this could add up to almost $700,000

in additional revenue annually (Table 2).

Likewise, if the PSO desires to improve operations it might consider the

implementation of a new Professional Services Automation (PSA)

solution. In this particular example SPI Research has shown a minimal

increase in billable utilization due to the implementation of PSA.

Normally, SPI Research sees a 5-8% increase in billable utilization when

PSOs implement PSA. Regardless, the net result of this conservative

estimate is over $700,000 in additional annual revenue.

And finally, one area very much in the spotlight right now is service

packaging, which helps PSOs more efficiently and effectively develop,

sell and execute services. This metric focuses on service margins, and as

shown in this example, the increases can be significant in terms of

overall financial benefits.

The purpose of this table is to demonstrate that in the PSO’s annual

business plan there are both operational and financial implications that

must be considered. A PSO’s annual business plan is not just a financial

plan; it is a plan that will help move the organization forward.

CONCLUSIONS

The end of the year can be very exciting for PSOs. It is time to reflect

back on the past year’s successes, as well as its failures, and visualize a

new clean canvas for the upcoming year. Done right, business planning

can be very enlightening and exhilarating. It is a chance to evaluate

future possibilities and to work together to eliminate issues which

dragged down performance.

In all organizations there are individuals who want to move forward

aggressively, as well as others who believe minor tweaks to the status

quo will suffice. Every team member has a point-of-view, and it is

important that everyone's point is heard, discussed, debated and resolved.

Following the five steps provides PSOs with a much better chance of

moving forward successfully. It is critical the executive team take

advantage of information resources to gain a quantitative insight into

performance, as well as listening to the opinions of team members to

gain a qualitative insight. Now is the time to make it happen!


Service Performance Insight (SPI Research) is a global research, consulting and training organization dedicated to helping professional service organizations (PSOs) make quantum improvements in productivity and profit. In 2007, SPI developed the PS Maturity Model™ as a strategic planning and management framework. It is now the industry-leading performance improvement tool used by over 6,000 service and project-oriented organizations to chart their course to service excellence.

SPI provides a unique depth of operating experience combined with unsurpassed analytic capability. We not only diagnose areas for improvement but also provide the business value of change. We then work collaboratively with our clients to create new management processes to transform and ignite performance. Visit www.SPIresearch.com for more information on Service Performance Insight, LLC.

© 2012 Service Performance Insight Page 15

About Service Performance Insight

Jeanne Urich, Service Performance Insight Managing Director, is a renowned author, speaker and thought leader focused on the global service economy. She is a trusted advisor and transformative and operational change consultant to senior executives of leading services organizations, helping them navigate the journey from business-as-usual to business-as-exceptional.

Prior to co-founding Service Performance Insight she was a corporate officer and leader of the worldwide service organizations of Vignette, Blue Martini and Clarify, responsible for leading the growth of their professional services, education, account management and alliances organizations.

She is the co-author of the ground breaking Professional Service Maturity Model™ benchmark used by over 5,000 project-oriented organizations to diagnose and improve their performance. She is a featured speaker and author for major software solution providers and industry associations.

She has a Bachelor’s Degree (Magna Cum Laude and Phi Beta Kappa) in Math and Computer Science from Vanderbilt University. She is a contributing author of Tips from the Trenches: the Collective Wisdom of over 100 Professional Service Leaders. Contact Jeanne at [email protected] Phone (650) 342-4690.

R. David Hofferberth, PE, Service Performance Insight Managing Director, has over 25 years’ experience in information technology (IT) serving as an industry analyst, product director and consultant. Hofferberth’s research is focused on the services economy, and in particular, on white-collar productivity issues and the technologies that help people perform at their highest capacity.

Hofferberth’s background is extensive in services performance beginning in the early 1980s, where he conducted studies on white-collar productivity in the banking, technology, energy and construction sectors. In 1999 he introduced to the market the solution area now known as Professional Services Automation (PSA), when he published the seminal report: Professional Services Automation: Increasing Efficiencies and Profitability in Professional Services Organizations.

Prior to founding Service Performance Insight he was a Senior Director at Oracle and Aberdeen Group. Hofferberth earned an MBA from Duke University and a BS in Industrial Engineering from the University of Tennessee. He is also a licensed Professional Engineer (PE). Contact Dave at [email protected] Phone: (513) 759-5443.

Carey Bettencourt, Service Performance Insight Managing Director is a management consultant who specializes in improvement and transformation for project-driven professional service organizations. She is an experienced change management leader, expert in helping clients develop high performing teams that deliver increased utilization, profit and customer satisfaction. Carey also helps PS organizations identify, clarify, and create integrated communication, marketing, and product offerings that drive market differentiation and increased sales.

Carey has over 20 years domestic and international experience with leading software companies. She was a corporate officer and the senior vice president of the customer solutions organization at Accruent, the top-ranked professional services organization for three consecutive years according to the SPI Research Maturity benchmark. Carey was also a vice president at software firms ChannelPoint and Vroom Technologies responsible for professional services, education, support, strategic alliances, and hosting services. She previously held consulting practice, business development, and strategic alliance leadership roles at Oracle and J.D. Edwards.

Carey earned a Bachelor of Arts in Economics from UC Berkeley and an MBA from Pepperdine University. Contact [email protected]




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