| Innovative Ideas, Rapid Results |
In today's demanding economic climate, the only measure of success is tangible results. Strategic thinking is important, but successful execution is essential.
THINKstrategies has a unique history of success quickly turning strategic thinking into successful execution. Here are some examples. |
Establishing InterOPS as the Innovation Leader in the MSP Market
Jeff Kaplan joined InterOPS Management Solutions in February, 2001, when the company was still operating in 'stealth' mode with only a handful of initial clients.
Within 90 days, Kaplan had refined the company's value propositions and corporate positioning, put together its marketing collateral and public website, and briefed all the leading industry analysts and trade publications about the company's unique services.
Kaplan recognized that InterOPS' competitors were failing to meet the needs of their clients. Kaplan was instrumental in packaging InterOPS' management services to be recognized as the most flexible in the industry. He also crafted InterOPS' industry-leading ROI-based SLA, that guaranteed clients measurable cost-savings, performance improvements, and response time standards.
As a result of Kaplan's creative approach, InterOPS went from an unknown upstart to an industry recognized innovation leader in just 5 months.
"Jeff played a pivotal role in InterOPS quickly emerging as an important leader in the MSP market," according to Ed Mallen, the company's CEO during Kaplan's tenure at InterOPS. "We couldn't have gained our market recognition and client traction without his industry knowledge, contacts, and skills."
Click here to learn about the myths and realities of today's managed services market.
Or, click here if you are interested in the implications of recent partnership agreements between major outsourcers and specialized xSPs. |
Making INS the Consulting Leader in the IT Industry
Jeff Kaplan joined International Network Services (INS) when it was still a young, pre-IPO company known for the specialized skills of its network engineers who were often called 'router jocks'.
Recognizing that INS was facing increasing competition, Kaplan set off to elevate the company's image by initiating an aggressive 'thought leadership' program that dramatically repositioned the company. INS' network engineers were given additional training to enhance their IT management consulting skills. A creative combination of web-based surveys, seminars, and whitepapers accentuated the company's expertise and experience value.
Kaplan's efforts helped to expand INS' service capabilities, market penetration, and industry reputation. In addition to increasing the number of clients it served, INS achieved higher levels of new business from existing clients because of the quality of its services.
In 1996, Kaplan also helped INS launch the industry's first management subscription service, EnterprisePRO. The network performance monitoring and measurement services became the model of many of today's management service provider (MSP) services.
In 1999, Yankee Group and Upside Magazine named INS the best IT consulting company in the industry, above Andersen Consulting, EDS, IBM, and other better known companies.
These accolades and INS' rapid success ultimately led to the company being acquired by Lucent Technologies for an unprecedented twelve times revenues in 1999.
"Jeff was critical to INS' success in becoming the largest independent network solutions company in the industry," according to John Drew, the company's CEO during Kaplan's tenure at INS. "He raised our visibility for our IPO and enhanced our long-term value proposition that ultimately lead to us becoming an important part of Lucent Technologies."
Click here to read Jeff's NetworkWorld commentary on the efforts of Avaya, SBC and other IT/telecom vendors to expand their network professional service capabilities by acquiring independent consultancies.
Click here to read Jeff's views in the Mass High Tech Journal about how struggling technology companies can become leading solutions providers.
|
|