We Need to Stay Relevant to Avoid Commoditization

By MAXfocus Guest Blog 1

On a recent visit to the LogicNow Edinburgh office, I stopped off in Newark. My international overnight flight to Scotland left from the renovated terminal, and the timing meant that I had an opportunity to grab dinner beforehand. Finding a new Italian “meatball place,” I sat down for my dinner for one.  

At the bar, and at each seat in the restaurant, was an iPad. On each one there was a clever graphic indicating that you could “Click below to order food,” as well as an option to tell the system what flight you were on to get updates on the flight status directly at your seat. I ordered some dinner, and, quickly, a friendly server brought me my meatballs. It seemed efficient enough, and I had several refills on my drink before heading off to my plane.

Different Perspectives

Someone on our product marketing team had a similar experience in Newark, but loathed it. She hated the disconnection from humans, disliked the change in customer service, and made a point to send me an article that also highlighted the negative experience.

Interestingly, I had just read an article in the U.K.’s Guardian that discussed the replacement of probation officers with electronic kiosks.

(For my fellow Americans, the probation service is similar to parole officers, working with those found guilty of crimes in the United Kingdom to help supervise them in the community. I had to look it up, too.)

Here we have two instances of the replacement of people with electronic systems, with a common theme. In the bar, this system is clearly intended to speed up the delivery of service while eliminating some of the human dependency. In the probation service, the system proposed has the same intended benefit, with the intention of reducing human costs while increasing speed.

There is, however, a significant difference. While both require customer service, only one requires advanced thinking to deliver the solution. Much like the interaction Matt Damon’s character has with the robotic parole officer in the movie “Elysium,” electronic systems struggle with subtlety and creative thinking. Balking at edge cases and gray areas. Experts in the U.K. probation service are warning of exactly this kind of problem to come in the proposals to use kiosks in the delivery of the probation service.    

How is this relevant in IT services, you might ask? 

The Importance of Advanced Services

There is a constant discussion and concern about managed services being commoditized. IT providers are concerned that low-touch, self-service systems will replace them in the delivery process. While it’s my personal opinion that this isn’t the case, the best defense against any perception of being a commodity is advanced services, focused on business needs.

Business consulting, focused on business process improvement using technology, is significantly harder to replace effectively with automation than services that are rote or routine. Engaging customers in forward-thinking discussions around their business growth plans, versus discussions of their workstation upgrade needs, is not only a best practice of a Perpetually Valuable MSP, but is a distinct higher-level service that is not easy to automate. These engagements and relationships command higher profit levels, higher retention and stronger engagement.

Avoiding politics, it seems that the use of kiosks for the management of public safety is significantly more difficult and prone to serious failure than the collection of coffee or meatball orders. But where this analogy connects most strongly with our own situation is that different users may elect to have different levels of customer service, with some electing for self-service and others for personalized service. However, the need to engage with strong consulting services remains a constant. For this reason, remaining relevant to customers is the smart business and the smart service.  

Dave Sobel, Director of Partner Community at MAXfocus, is responsible for fostering the growth and success of MAXFocus Partners. As Director of Partner Community, he helps promote collaboration, education and innovation among MAXfocus Partners and among the industry as a whole, ensures they have access to business, technology and market resources, and are utilizing the MAX Platform to achieve positive growth, enhance their offerings and become best-in-class solution providers. Guest blogs such as this one are published monthly and are part of MSPmentor’s annual platinum sponsorship.