SAN DIEGO and SANTA CLARA, Calif., May 5, 2009 – The Association for Services Management International (AFSMI), the Service & Support Professionals Association (SSPA) and the Technology Professional Services Association (TPSA) today announced the winners and finalists of the Spring 2009 Technology Services Recognized Innovator program at the Technology Services World conference in Silicon Valley.
In a keynote awards ceremony today, Spring 2009 Recognized Innovator "Back to Basics" Awards were presented to:
Innovation in Collaboration
Winner: Citrix Online
Finalist: Attensity
Innovation in Infrastructure
Winner: ISOdx
Finalist: Citrix Online
Innovation in Revenue Generation
Winner: nGenera
Finalist: RightNow
Winners and finalists were selected by a panel of judges, including industry experts, AFSMI/SSPA/TPSA members and Vice President of Technology Research John Ragsdale.
"Like all areas of the economy, the service and support technology community has been impacted by the recession, requiring a focus on 'back to basics' in the areas of collaboration, infrastructure and revenue," said Ragsdale. "These Recognized Innovators have proven leadership in leveraging innovative technology to lower operating expenses and increase service revenues, and it is our honor to recognize them."
The Spring 2009 Recognized Innovator Awards were evaluated in three categories:
Innovation in Collaboration. A promise of Web 2.0 was enabling collaboration across the enterprise, and among community experts, customers and partners. After two years of unprecedented spending on Web 2.0, companies are now looking for the business value. This award honors companies that have demonstrated how embracing collaboration has boosted productivity for service and support, including actual savings to the bottom line.
Innovation in Infrastructure. The underpinnings of service and support have greatly evolved in the last decade, with new deployment options (SaaS), better integration (SOAP, XML APIs) and less expensive ownership (open source). Often seen as a challenge by companies trying to absorb the new technology, this next-generation infrastructure also offers companies immense cost savings potential. This category recognizes companies in which infrastructure improvements are being leveraged to cut operating expenses or improve employee productivity, including actual savings to the bottom line.
Innovation in Revenue Generation. Service and support has made a clear shift from cost center to profit center since the tech crash of 2001, and services are now the revenue engine for more companies. This shift has required a complete overhaul to people, process and technology, and there remains much work to be done. The winner and finalist in this category demonstrated how their technology or services are being leveraged to boost service and support revenues.
Fall 2009 Recognized Innovator Awards program details, including milestone dates and the application, will be published soon at www.technologyservicesworld.com.
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