November 20th, 2020

Three Signs that Suggest It is Time for a Portfolio Review

As we have discussed in the first two blogs in our series, a solutions portfolio is the embodiment of a company’s where to play and how to act strategies that involves cross-business initiatives and investments. Because a portfolio is dynamic and multifaceted, companies often overlook key indicators that tell them to focus their attention on … Continue reading “Three Signs that Suggest It is Time for a Portfolio Review”

October 29th, 2020

Defining the Role of Portfolio Manager

In the last blog in this series, we introduced three challenges companies face that are often symptomatic of poor solutions’ portfolio management. In this blog, we want to delve into the first challenge in more detail – a striking majority of organizations lack a dedicated resource who is responsible for owning the portfolio for the … Continue reading “Defining the Role of Portfolio Manager”

October 20th, 2020

Maximizing the Value of The Solutions Portfolio

What is a portfolio and why is it important? The definition of the word “portfolio” varies greatly based on context, but for this blog series, the word portfolio will not refer to a suite of technology offerings, a financial portfolio, or a static snapshot of a company’s products and services.  Rather, we will use portfolio … Continue reading “Maximizing the Value of The Solutions Portfolio”

November 4th, 2019

The Looming Transformation: TSW 19 Takeaways

I just returned from another great TSW conference focused on the long transformations that many companies are currently undergoing.  In the below post, I share a few of the key themes from the conference and insights surrounding what much of the TSIA membership base is going through. We can agree with these key themes and … Continue reading “The Looming Transformation: TSW 19 Takeaways”

November 13th, 2018

Top 9 Challenges Faced by PS Organizations

A story that has grown increasingly familiar – a product company, caught in the commoditization cycle, seeks a more attractive business model built around Professional Services. Embedded advisory services rose in popularity following the widely-publicized service transformation of IBM in the 90’s and Xerox in the early 2000s.  Now they have are a staple in … Continue reading “Top 9 Challenges Faced by PS Organizations”

October 23rd, 2018

Legitimizing Your Ability to Raise Your Prices

Every company wants to be able to charge more for their products and services. Today, with access to information at everyone’s fingertips, it has become more apparent that some organizations are able to charge more for the exact same product.  This is evident when comparing pricing for generic vs. brand name groceries, pharmaceuticals, etc. But … Continue reading “Legitimizing Your Ability to Raise Your Prices”

October 4th, 2018

Common Portfolio Challenges for PS Organizations

Too often, companies misdiagnose or have a hard time identifying the root causes of their biggest challenges, therefore their efforts to address these symptoms are either ineffective or too involved.  After more than 20 years spent working with some of the world’s largest and most complex PS firms, we find that many organizational symptoms are … Continue reading “Common Portfolio Challenges for PS Organizations”

July 26th, 2018

Renewable Differentiation

Commoditization of products and services is occurring more quickly today than ever before, and nobody is feeling the pressure more than businesses that generate the majority of their revenue by selling into other organizations, otherwise known as Business to Business (B2B) firms. Commoditization occurs when products and services become indistinguishable from, or inferior to, the … Continue reading “Renewable Differentiation”

April 1st, 2017

Leading with Ideas – Generating Demand with Ideas

This blog is part of a series on Leading with Ideas.  To read the first blog in the series, click here . In the last post, we mentioned that Ideas align with the way real decisions are made – instead of working against the process.  Any purchase decision has these three sequential components: 1) Whether to Act … Continue reading “Leading with Ideas – Generating Demand with Ideas”

March 1st, 2017

Leading with Ideas – The Starting Point for True Intimacy

This is the first blog in a series on the topic of Leading with Ideas. At the heart of True IntimacySM is being a valued advisor to your clients on important opportunities and challenges to their business. Often conversations that could or should be about these opportunities and challenges are really about how to better … Continue reading “Leading with Ideas – The Starting Point for True Intimacy”