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Portfolio Ownership
So who is responsible for managing this information and making sure that the portfolio improves quarter over quarter? In most PS organizations, four key functions are being managed: Services Sales, Services Delivery, Services Marketing, and Services Engineering (the engineering of customer solutions). Relating to this functional structure, two groups need to be intimately involved and responsible for managing the solution portfolio.
Services Marketing
Services Marketing has primary ownership of portfolio revenues. In other words, Services Marketing must be responsible for driving target solutions into the customer base and acquiring as much revenue as possible. Referring back to Figure 5, Services Marketing should be looked upon to drive solutions from the bottom to the top, as shown in Figure 6.
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Figure 6 Services Marketing and the S-map.
If solutions are not seeing momentum in the marketplace, Services Marketing must be held responsible. This group has joint responsibility for solution margins. Solution margins have a price component and a cost component. Possessing differentiated solutions that command top dollar is the responsibility of Services Marketing. They own (in conjunction with the local delivery teams that bid the deals) the price component of margin.
Services Engineering
Services Engineering has primary responsibility for portfolio maturity. Compiling solution IP (intellectual property) is the primary charter of this group. Making sure that each of the 22 solution components is captured and available is why Services Engineering exists. Even for the "sales-oriented" solution components like datasheets, Service Engineering should be the taskmaster that owns the successful accumulation of this valuable information.
Services Engineering has joint responsibility for solution margins alongside Services Marketing. Services Engineering owns the cost component of solution margins. Ensuring that field delivery organizations are adequately trained and equipped to successfully deliver solutions is within the charter of Services Engineering. By meeting this responsibility, Services Engineering can help keep implementation costs and risks to a minimum, thus improving solution margins. In summary, Services Engineering is responsible for moving solutions from left to right on the solution portfolio graph as documented in Figure 7.
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Figure 7 Services Engineering and the S-map.