If you want to boil down how the losers in the B2C wars of the last two decades got beat, it wasn't the product-it was the way they interacted with their customers. That's what digital transformation is supposed to be about.
But most B2B companies, the old ones AND the new ones, are struggling to truly innovate their operating models. Leading companies in high-tech, industrial, medical device, and other B2B tech markets are hesitating to take the steps necessary to change how they build and deliver their solutions. They are carrying too much baggage-high labor costs, slow time to customer value, under-responsive sales and services-into a future that just won't stand for it. That's true even though the technologies are available to enable the changes NOW.
Digital Hesitation examines why most B2B companies are failing to reach the full potential of their digital transformation efforts. It also examines, in detail, the specific actions they need to take on the eight toughest challenges we see at the TSIA. Digital Hesitation is written from the perspectives of a dozen experts who interact and advise the world's top technology companies every day.
From high-level issues like influencing the board to fully commit to transformation, to specific topics like the next generation of sales and services operating models, Digital Hesitation is the pragmatist's guide to managing a technology-centric B2B company through its next five years of development. Thomas Lah is the executive director and executive VP of the Technology & Services Industry Association (TSIA). He leads TSIA's executive research team and works with technology companies worldwide on topics such as X-as-a-service (XaaS) financial models, evolving customer engagement models, and the changing value propositions of technology solutions. Lah is also the host of TSIA's podcast, TECHtonic: Trends in Technology and Services, where he interviews industry thought leaders on tactics to optimize technology business models. Lah is a frequent speaker and best-selling author. Digital Hesitation is the fourth book he has co-authored with J.B. Wood based on TSIA research. Lah also wrote Bridging the Services Chasm: Aligning Services Strategy to Maximize Product Success, Building Professional Services: The Sirens' Song, and Mastering Professional Services.J.B. Wood is president and CEO of the Technology & Services Industry Association (TSIA). TSIA is one of the world's leading research organizations, advising B2B technology companies on strategies to increase growth and profitability through the optimization of their services, sales, product, and channel operations. He is a frequent industry speaker and author of the best-selling books Technology-as-a-Service Playbook: How to Grow a Profitable Subscription Business, B4B: How Technology and Big Data Are Reinventing the Customer-Supplier Relationship, Consumption Economics: The New Rules of Tech, and Complexity Avalanche: Overcoming the Threat to Technology Adoption. He has also appeared in leading publications, such as Fortune, The New York Times, and The Wall Street Journal.
