WoW! You missed the best one in seven years
By: Claudia J. Betzner

Wow! The 2003 SIA/AFSMI Executive Summit was the best conference we have had in at least seven years. How do I measure this—by attendance, level of participation, the agenda, and percent of C-Level Executives. Here is what the attendees had to say: They said “Networking and Partnerships” were the reasons they came and what they accomplished; 99.9% of the attendees said this was Much Better than any previous years conference; The Summit Panels on Monday and Tuesday were the best sessions—Monday was the Top Industry Executives Summit Panel, and on Tuesday the SIA Board Panel on “OEM’s Thrust into Independent Service and their practices;” then we had consumers tell us why, how and when they choose their service provider. The major Consumers of Service were very high level executives in Major Corporations, who are responsible for making decisions on Millions of dollars in service revenue. Best speakers included: Ron Katz, Eric Rocco, Don Blumberg, Bill Steenburgh, Ed French and Bob Terrio.

Most also wanted the next conference for 2004 back in Las Vegas and with AFSMI again. It seems the added exposure to “new top level executives” within AFSMI created increased networking and business opportunities for our members.

Those completing the survey also told us they partnered with at least two other members throughout the year and the value of those partnerships was an average of $100,000.

A special Thank you to our Sponsors, Anco, Northrop Grumman and NovaMed for providing sponsorships to the association for special events and prizes. Ira Lapides of RPI and Carole Greene of Maintech were the big door prize winners at the conclusion.

SIA held a Board meeting at the end of the conference and some of the action items which came from the breakout group sessions included the establishment of two committees: One to review legal events, Develop a Consumers Bill of Rights from a legal perspective, develop a past historical archive of legal actions for easy access on the web.

Another was to look at “How to Market ISO’s to the world,” provide a bullet of benefits of ISO’s and add 3 pages to the SIA website our members can utilize. Page one would be this Bullets of Benefits, page two Laws pertaining to ISO’s and page three would be Customer testimonials. Our members could download this info for their own use. The IT and the Medical Board has ongoing action items and updates of the committees on their monthly conference calls. Another thing that came out of the Board meeting was going forward with Regional Executive Roundtables in conjunction with the SIA Board meetings, where SIA members are invited and other industry leaders. The first of these will be held in Boston the first week of June. Each session will have a facilitator with industry and leadership topics of interest such as HIPPA, IT & Medical Service Convergence, and the Economic climate. The Executive Roundtables are free to the invited members and guests. This gives our members a forum with the Board and an added benefit. The September 10 & 11 meeting will be in Seattle, WA. December will be in the Washington, D.C. area.

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New Sponsor & New Members

CSI Computer Specialists, Inc. becomes Silver Sponsor
CSI Computer Specialists, Inc. (CSI) is a premier provider of third-party maintenance and engineering services with an extensive record of delivering superior services on a national basis to a broad assortment of commercial and government clients for approximately 13 years. CSI engineers support an extensive variety of computer hardware ranging from the mainframe to the desktop.
CSI is a privately held corporation headquartered in Gaithersburg, Maryland. The company employs approximately 175 employees and is currently providing maintenance services to over 400 companies and agencies. CSI presently operates field support offices in a dozen states covering every region of the country. In addition to offering hardware maintenance expertise, CSI makes available complementary services including equipment sales, network engineering, infrastructure management, training and disaster / recovery assistance with hot site recovery centers

New Members This year:
NetEagle Consulting
Tom Flynn, V.P.
Springboro, OH
937 901 6311
MedEquip Biomedical
Michael Lipson, V.P.
Miami, FL
305 470 8013
Parco Wireless
David T. Aldrich, Sr. V.P.
Portland ,ME
207 791 2731
Siemens Business Srvs.
Peter Manni, V.P. Nat’l Support Srvs.
Canton, MA
781 830 2251
Great Eastern Technology
Brad Porter, President
Woburn, MA
781 937 0300 (IT Service)
First Source, Inc.
Jim Goldner, President
Charlotte, NC (Medical Trng.)
704 845 3049

BIOCORDIS FRANCE
Guy Christian, President
Etiolles, France (Med Service)
33 1 60 75 69 09

AFSMI’s annual world Summit is being held in Reno, Nevada in October. This is their annual conference and they have a large exposition with their event which is geared toward education and training topics in the Service Industry. SIA encourages you to attend this event. Please go to the SIA website www.servicenetwork.org and click on the hotlink to register. AFSMI is a partner of SIA’s and our members get the AFSMI member discount. Also, we encourage you to join the AFSMI, as a member of SIA you get a discount. If you are interested please contact headquarters.

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2003 SIA Conference Wrap and Prep for 2004

Some of the highlights of the conference recap by the Board from the participants and surveys included:

Hold the meeting with AFSMI again but make the majority of the second day with them as well since the networking is much better by the second day. Therefore, SIA will hold it’s SIA only portion earlier on Sunday from 3:00 P.M. until 6:00 P.M. just before the welcome reception.

The Golf Tournament will move to an 9:00A.M. tee time instead of a noon or later on Sunday.
The Breakouts for the Medical Group and IT Group will be at least two hours on Tuesday afternoon. The breakouts this year were very pro-active with the participants which resulted in action items and committees to solve specific issues within the group. This is the format we will be using for the 2004 event.

Another suggestion was to increase the real life experiences from speakers including their greatest challenges throughout the year and whizbangs out of the box ways they overcame the challenges.

Finally, we will be holding the conference back in Las Vegas and have some proposals we would like your input on:

How would you like to go to Venice in 2004 without leaving the U.S? We have active proposals from The Venetian and the Mirage for the 2004 conference—both for March 28, 29, and 30 of 2004. Which would you prefer and what about the dates. Do the dates work for you. Let me hear from you on this.

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Letter from the President…..John Walker

Two months have passed since our annual meeting in Las Vegas, but the buzz associated with this meeting has not died down or passed away. The positive feedback and comments have been overwhelmingly positive. During this conference, more so than in any prior year, I believe that each attendee was afforded a greater opportunity to “Know their Competitors/Partners” and learn from them. Marketing 101 calls this “positioning” and boils it down to a few simple ideas. What strengths and weaknesses does your service organization have versus the strengths and weaknesses of your competition or partner ? Failure to fully understand this generally leads to failure, or at best, mediocrity. In addition to this, understanding your strengths and those of the competition can also result in new opportunities and partnerships. For those who were unable to attend this year’s conference, I would recommend that you contact a member who did attend and hear first hand what their impressions were and why they are already planning to attend next years conference.

What else lies in the future ? As announced at the conference your Board of Directors is working at putting in place a Web based customer satisfaction survey in concert with ServicePartners, a division of the Gasparovic Group, Inc. Inclusive to this will be the presentation of an award by ServicePartners at our next conference for the company identified via this survey as a Service Industry leader. Additional information related to this is provided elsewhere within this newsletter and will be addressed in future newsletters.

Also during this years conference, a new Board of Directors was elected. Some you may know and others may be new to you. As this Board represents you and the Industry, I would ask that you make your desires known to these representatives by communicating with them often. Please see the article within this newsletter that identifies each of these volunteers. For specific contact information, please log into the Service Industry web site and go to the members’ only area where all applicable contact information can be found.

In closing I would like to thank each of you for your support of the Association, it’s efforts and your continued membership. I would also suggest that you consider contacting others within the Service Industry, who may not be current members and letting them hear directly from you about why they should be members too.

Sincerely

John Walker
Board President
Service Industry Association.

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SIA Board of Directors confirmed

John Walker, President TFE Technology Holdings LLC—President, SIA
Henry P. Semmelhack is President, CEO and Chairman of the Board of Barrister Global Services Network, Inc. Secretary Treasurer SIA
Randy Parks, V.P. Operations TFE Technology Holdings LLC(IT Board Exec. V.P.)
Malcolm Ridgway,PhD., Sr. Vice President Masterplan (Medical Service Board Exec. V.P.)
Dave DeGeorgi, President EAD Systems (IT Service Board SIG CoOrdinator & Benefits)
Steve Schwarz, President & CEO Acceletronics, Inc. (Medical Service Board Membership V.P.)
John Rinas, Director Service Delivery Northrop Grumman IT CIS (IT Board V P Membership)
DOUGLAS E. STEPHENS, CBET – FOUNDER (Medical Board Special Interest Group CoOrdinator)
Jon Scott, President & CEO, Microserv (IT Board Secretary) 
James A. Graham, President & CEO Kinetic Biomedical Corp. (Medical Board Secretary)

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Legal Update…………….Details of the Lexmark Case

Ron Katz, General Counsel for SIA briefed the association on a predatory case at the annual conference. It involves one company, Lexmark embedding a chip (called Killer Chip in the industry) in its printer, which locks out all other manufacturers or aftermarket products, thereby monopolizing the aftermarket products on their printers. It is an important case in our industry since other manufacturers could attempt to go that route locking out Independents for service on a variety of high technology equipment including IT, Medical and Business Products. The case Lexmark v. Static Control Components has received attention from many associations including the Automotive Aftermarket Industry Association and Automotive Parts Rebuilders Association. The aftermarket automotive association sees clearly this could affect on board diagnostics and involve the clean air act.

Static Control, an aftermarket provider re-engineered a chip which would allow other products and parts to work on the Lexmark printers. Lexmark then filed a lawsuit which has received an initial positive ruling that stopped Static Control from making this chip. Many briefs have been filed in support of Static Control. It is still not clear if this issue will go to the higher level courts, whereby SIA and other aftermarket associations could get involved. Lexmark perverted the meaning of “The Digital Millennium Copyright Act” and quoted it in its arguments. In this case, application of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act, the very act, which you will recall included our bill allowing an independent to turn on a computer which runs diagnostics into Random Access Memory, in the manner advocated by plaintiff would cause widespread disruption and adversely affect businesses in many industries outside the toner cartridge industry. It would be desirable for the Court to understand the scope and extent that an adverse decree against the Defendant on the Digital Millennium Copyright Act issue will have on industries outside the toner cartridge industry so that the Court could properly assess whether Congress, in enacting 17 U.S.C. Section 1201, intended to permit manufacturers to prevent repair and reuse of goods after sale of those goods or to prevent a work protected under the Act from being accessed for any reason other than the illegal copying or use of the work. A part of the meaning of the Digital Millennium Copyright Act was intended to protect manufacturers like Lexmark from limiting competition for their products. We promised you at the conference to keep you up to date on this case, there has been no legal action or decisions by the courts on this case since the conference. We will keep you posted on this case.

Blue Ribbon Committee could provide Bridge in Legal Disputes
Your SIA Board of Directors is also discussing the formation of a Blue Ribbon Committee which would intercede on the part of it’s members in disputes with Manufacturers. Here the Association would mediate between the service provider and the Manufacturer when there are concerns. The Service Provider could also be a Manufactuer. This would provide a bridge between the two and downplay any need for future legal actions. We believe this is a much more productive use of the association. Complaint procedures, code of ethics and A re-focus of our mission will all be topics of discussion at the next Board meeting.

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SIA announces New Member Benefits

A Customer Satisfaction Survey your Customers can take—

SIA recognizes that the key to success in technology markets is to understand and deliver service! Service is not only the first word in our name, it is what we do! The identification and measurement of this elusive component is the subject of many books and articles, and it is the mystical ingredient that determines a device’s success or failure in the marketplace.

We observe the results of those companies that decide internally, often with scientific precision, the “satisfaction” of their customers. These companies generally set internal metrics to measure a plethora of parameters, including response time, telephone hold time, etc. and often attempt to apply “science” to the “soft side of service” such as “courtesy” and “customer care”.

The error is that, as in our personal relationships, the measurement must be taken from the perspective of the other party to the relationship. Your spouse is the one to ask whether or not you are a great communicator, or dedicated teacher. Your “internal” measurements of these characteristics may not coincide with the perceptions of your spouse.

This phenomenon is at the core of many organizations’ inability to deliver good service – they are so busy reading their meters that they forget to ask the recipient if they are currently satisfied with the results!

SIA is developing a tool with ServicePartners, a division of The Gasparovic Group, Inc. to provide a research program to help its members establish a continuous customer quality measurement program. This program will provide members with the ability to discretely measure their customer’s perceptions as well as provide insight into the responses customers have across the industry. The program operates via the worldwide web and provides full reporting via a web browser and password protection. We will provide more information regarding this exciting program in the near future!

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A Valuable New Resource for SIA Members

SIA has just arranged a members-only subscription rate to a great resource, Services Revenue Magazine. Published bimonthly, Services Revenue captures the experiences of service leaders who contribute incremental revenue and margin to their organizations.

Those who have read Services Revenue articles have found them to be very useful because they directly apply to timely business challenges. They are the genuine experiences of your peers. Here are a couple of examples: - "What is a Fair Split between a Vendor and a Service Provider?" is a study on the dilemma of managing work and compensation between
vendors and their channel partners or service providers. Perspectives on this case are provided by Randy Hudson of StorageTek, Bruce Jones of ADIC and Sheila Kelley of Enterasys Networks.-

"Should You Outsource Services Selling?" is another study on outsourcing inside sales which impacts maintenance contract sales. Perspectives on this case are provided by Barbara Bakich of Legato Systems, Diane Brundage of Rainmaker Systems and John Masterson of
ServiceSource.The normal subscription rate for Services Revenue is $119 per year (PDF edition), but SIA members may subscribe for only $69. Start reading Services Revenue at https://www.csmhub.com/form.asp. Mention that you are a member of SIA to receive your special rate.

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Service Industry Association

518 San Andres Drive
Solana Beach, CA 92075

Phone: 619 221 9200
Fax:858 720 8201
Email: cbetzner@aol.com

The Network for High Technology Service Promoting Customer Choices
___________________
Www.
servicenetwork.
org

Sponsors & Board

Sponsors
Masterplan
Malcolm Ridgway,Sr.V.P.
Bruce Cree, President
Maintech
Frank D’Alessio, Pres.
Carole Greene, Sr.V.P. Mktng & Sales
Northrop Grumman
Hugh Taylor, Pres. IT CIS
John Rinas, Exec. Dir. Serv Del
TFE Technology Holdings LLC
John Walker C.E.O. & Pres.
Acceletronics
Steve Schwarz, Pres. & CEO
The Thomas Group
Paul Thomas, Pres. & CEO
RadParts
Dimitro “Dee” Romanyzsyn, Pres.
Stephens International
Doug Stephens, Founder & Pres.
Barrister Global Services
Hank Semmelhack, Chairman
Rollouts, Inc.
Stephen Johnson, V.P.
D.F.Blumberg Associates
Don Blumberg, President
CSI Computer Specialists, Inc.
Bill Pershin, President
EAD Systems
Dave DeGiorgi, President

Board of Directors:
President: John Walker, Pres.
TFE Technology Holdings LLC
Sec-Treas:Hank Semmelhack,Chr
Barrister Global Srvs
Gen’lCounsel:Ron Katz, Principal
Manatt, Phelps & Phillips LLP
Exec.Dir. Claudia J. Betzner

IT Service Group
EX V.P. Randy Parks, V.P Ops
TFE Technology Holdings LLC
Sec. Jon Scott, Sr. V.P.
Halifax Corporation (formerly MicroServ)
V.P. Benefits & S.I.G. Dave DeGiorgi, Pres. EAD Sys.
V.P. Membership
John Rinas, Dir. Serv. Del.
Northrop Grumman IT CIS

Medical Service Group
Exec.V.P. Dr. Malcolm Ridgway, Sr. V.P. Masterplan
V.P. Membership Steve Schwarz, President Acceletronics
V.P. Benefits & S.I.G: Doug Stephens, Pres. Founder Stephens Int’l
Sec. Jim Graham, Pres. Kinetic Biomedical Corporation
V.P. Ray Zambuto, President CEO
Technology in Medicine
Advisor to Board: Paul Thomas, President & CEO
The Thomas Group