vs. Marketo · 2011–14
HubSpot
Agencies sell and run it for clients
- What it did
- Agency partners and their referrals were 44% of customers and 34% of revenue (2014)
- Marketo
- Direct sales first, supplemented by distributors, agencies and resellers
Implementation Services
By Dave Whittemore · Updated · 2 company case studies
What are Implementation Services?
The organized delivery work that makes a purchased system usable in a customer's operation. It can include data migration, configuration, training, staged rollout, workflow redesign and correction after launch. The vendor, a partner or the customer may perform the work, but the record must identify who is responsible.
How Implementation Services work
A sound implementation process closes the gap between selection and sustained use. Reusable methods can reduce failed rollouts and shorten time to value, while poorly controlled customization can increase cost and delay adoption.
How companies won with Implementation Services
From the win chains in Strategy Canon case studies: what the winner did, and what its rival did at the same step.
vs. Revel Systems · 2014–23
Toast
On-site service sold neighborhood by neighborhood
- What it did
- Staff hired from restaurants; Gordon Food Service supplied about a quarter of 2015 bookings
- Revel Systems
- Cheaper offshore support that many customers hated (Bessemer, Dec 2015)
The question to ask of a company
What work made the system usable in the customer's operation, who performed it, and what demonstrates productive use after launch?
Who names it
| Author | What they call it / where it appears |
|---|---|
| Strategy Canon + | Implementation and adoption — earlier editorial label |
Note. Selection, a proof of concept or easy setup alone is insufficient. Switching Costs concern what a customer would lose by leaving later. Professional Services requires a sold services line with a return to the product business. Forward-Deployed Engineering additionally requires engineers in customer operations and a reusable return to the core product.