We recently sat down with Barry Libert, CEO of Shared Insights, a provider of community education, management, and services, and co-author of “We Are Smarter Than Me,” a new book on how communities are changing the face of business, to talk about the unique way in which the book was written and why its message is important to marketers today.

The midsize business segment of the IT industry is growing faster than any other segment, but Avaya’s share of the market declined from 2002 to 2004. In response, the company created a Midsize Business Focus team to assess the right solutions for the midsize market, the right focus on the sales channel, and the proper organizational structure to support long-term sales success.

As customers—especially younger ones—come to expect rich and personalized online experiences in their leisure hours, they will expect it of their services and solutions providers as well. Though many of the tools for creating personalized online experiences are crude and expertise in deploying some of them are limited, marketers who don’t personalize their marketing will miss out on an opportunity to reach customers more directly—and with lower costs—than more traditional marketing vehicles offer.

Fueled by growth in the outsourcing industry, Infosys had hit the $2 billion mark by March 2006—a remarkable feat by any companys standards. But Infosys had no intention of resting on its laurels. Rather, the company launched a global branding campaign built around the idea of winning in the “flat world.” The goal was to build a reputation as a trusted transformation partner that can help businesses compete in a global market rather than be seen as simply another offshore services provider.’

Most people agree that global organisations should present consistent core values through their global brand but also provide an umbrella under which a degree of localisation can be adopted. However, maximising local effectiveness whilst leveraging scale and ensuring consistency is a difficult balancing act to get right. Add to this the complex and fragmented nature of the European market, and the balancing act gets even harder! Read on for some suggestions that might make achieving balance a little easier.

Despite all the controversy swirling around Second Life these days, marketers are discovering that it can potentially add value to a business in ways that traditional marketing tools cannot. Second Life and other emerging social networking tools are still primitive, but they are worthy of consideration because they presage—even if they dont necessarily define—a new way of interacting with customers.’

A companys initial contact with a prospective customer leaves little margin for error. The first conversation is the most critical and least forgiving point of the entire sales process. Within the first 20 seconds you must simultaneously establish relevancy and credibility—or you will be dismissed as just more marketing noise in the relentless barrage of sellers looking for attention.’

Bob Baginski, a 25-year veteran of professional services businesses and ITSMAs new senior vice president of member engagement, recently provided insight into how to establish oneself as a marketing leader.’

In May 2005, the senior vice president of Services at Microsoft laid down a new mandate: an immediate halt of random and excessive communications to Services field personnel. Not only did the companys existing communications lack relevancy to the field, but there was such a high volume that most of the recipients simply ignored what was coming their way from corporate headquarters in Redmond, WA. How did Microsoft transform its communications with the Services field? Read on to learn more…’

Generally accepted to mean meeting our needs today without compromising the quality of life of future generations, sustainability is without doubt a big issue that all of us must address. But what role can marketing play in achieving sustainability? And to what extent can we influence this enormous subject area?

ITSMA research has shown that “differentiating the company or its offerings” is a perennial challenge for services and solutions marketers. ITSMA’s Julie Schwartz shares some insight into why this is such a tough area for services marketers and how they might do it differently.

We recently sat down with 18, former executive editor of CIO magazine and ITSMA’s new associate director of research and thought leadership, to discuss the four CIO “archetypes” and what these archetypes mean for technology marketers.

In early 2004, Xerox recognized that although its sales teams were confident about how to sell Xerox equipment, they hadn’t found an effective way to talk about and sell the company’s consulting and outsourcing expertise. In addition, marketing was underused, viewed simply as a source for collateral and sales tools. Aware that it needed to make changes, Xerox decided to pilot Account-Based Marketing (ABM).

Were all familiar with the reasons that differentiation has become so important in the technology, communications, and professional services sectors: a maturing market, a plethora of providers, converging technologies, an ever-increasing amount of readily available information … the list could go on and on. But what are the real issues people face when entering the realms of differentiation? And how are these issues compounded when you look at the regional model?’

Buyers today are aggressive. At the same time, companies are increasingly vying for the same business, and converging technologies have eliminated competitive restrictions based on place or time. Deals are bigger, opportunities are fewer, and the sales cycle is longer and more complex. The sales force is struggling to adapt, responding by engaging in irrational behavior such as drastically lowering prices or giving away services. This article explains how having a negotiation strategy can help.

During this years European Marketing Forum, “Delivering Value: Marketing in Action,” Paul Newton, finance and planning executive for IBM Global Services in North East Europe, joined ITSMA’s 16 in one of the plenary sessions to explore how marketers can raise their game in the sometimes daunting area of communicating with finance departments. According to Newton, effective communication, focus, and measurable delivery are essential elements of the new marketing mix.’

Julie Schwartz, senior vice president of thought leadership and research at ITSMA, recently presented the findings from our 2007 study of how customers choose solutions providers, sharing how the vendor selection criteria have changed over the past few years and what providers can do to win more business.

The weather was beautiful, the view of San Francisco was stunning, and the level of participation from the attendees of ITSMAs recent Marketing Leadership Forum was perhaps the best we’ve ever seen. Titled “Accelerating the Solutions Business,” the Forum provided an in-depth look at the innovative ways that companies today are developing, marketing, and selling solutions.’

With the growing importance of Asia in the global economic marketplace, Accenture knew that it needed to grow its presence in the region—particularly in China. The companys decision to hold its 2006 Global Convergence Forum (GCF) in Beijing marked Accenture’s strategic move into the Chinese marketplace. This article explores everything that needed to happen for Accenture to pull it off.’

In late 2005, Avaya uncovered a large opportunity. Extensive market research showed that customer demand for hosted IP communication solutions was growing, and the company seized the opportunity by building and launching three new “Avaya On Demand” solutions in just nine months.

“Online communities and social networks arent democracies,” said Rob Key, CEO of Converseon, at the Authentic Communications conference last week in New York City. “They’re oligarchies. And marketers can’t just steamroll their way in.” This article contains tips for avoiding the “steamroller” approach to marketing and improving the authenticity of your communications.’

Paul Rand, president and CEO of word-of-mouth marketing agency Zócalo Group, recently sat down with us to discuss the difference between “buzz” and sustainable word of mouth (WOM), the five influencer groups marketers need to pay attention to, and the biggest mistake companies make when trying to generate WOM.

Humans are naturally drawn to social interaction, collaboration, and communication. Today advances in technology and the emergence of the Internet have made it easier to form many different types of communities on a global scale—some with startling results. Lets take a closer look at customer communities and explore some of their characteristics, market trends, how they emerge, and lastly, how they evolve over time.’

Clayton Christensen, Harvard Business School professor, co-founder of Innosight LLC, and author of “The Innovators Dilemma”, “The Innovator’s Solution”, and “Seeing What’s Next”, recently provided insight into what marketers can learn about segmentation from studying why consumers “hire” milkshakes.’

Traditional partnering in the technology space has often focused on the use of partners to extend market reach—using partners in a “sell-through” model. But customers are demanding ever more sophisticated solutions that deliver business results rather than merely solve technology issues. Striking and developing “sell-with” partnerships is not without its challenges, and at an ITSMA Roundtable in Paris last month, a number of European members got together to explore in greater detail best practices for creating successful partnerships.