In the modern tech world, it’s not enough to simply build and sell a product; companies must support what they sell with advice, training and setup. The booming technology field has created a huge demand for these services; however, the service market is shifting from just supporting products to supporting the customer.

“From my perspective, running a services business from inside a product company is a little different. First and foremost, my charter is to ensure our customers get the most value from our products,” said Jim Livingston (pictured), vice president and general manager of strategic services at tech company Avaya Inc.

Livingston spoke with Dave Vellante (@dvellante) and Stu Miniman (@stu), co-hosts of theCUBE, SiliconANGLE’s mobile livestreaming studio, during the Veritas Vision conference in Las Vegas. They talked about providing service, engaging the customer and training service people to keep up with technology. (* Disclosure below.)

Developing a plan for outcome-based services

One of the most important things for service organizations is to recalibrate around outcomes, according to Livingston. First, that requires engaging with the customer earlier in a product’s lifecycle. Then, the service provider must discover what the customer’s objectives and desired outcomes might be.

There’s also the matter of technologies that surround the product, like the cloud. Understanding these adjacent systems from a service perspective reduces the complexity that a customer has to wade through, Livingston pointed out. Because of this, the earlier service providers can align to the customer, the better. The best way to start a digital journey is with a guide, he added.

Trained people are a major part of this journey. “What we’ve really tried to focus on is to develop the skills [for systems] that are closest in relation to us, so we can apply those skills and the expertise of our engineering and consulting teams to ultimately align to the customer’s objectives,” Livingston said.

The spread of cloud technologies is a major driver for services and consulting. Beyond the bare challenge of going to the cloud, now information technology groups must manage where all their data is, how it moves and its security. “IT charters have become more complex. This is a big opportunity for us to come in and assist them,” Livingston concluded.

Watch the complete video interview below, and be sure to check out more of SiliconANGLE’s and theCUBE’s coverage of Veritas Vision 2017. (* Disclosure: TheCUBE is a paid media partner for Veritas Vision 2017. Neither Veritas Technologies LLC nor other sponsors have editorial control over content on theCUBE or SiliconANGLE.)

Photo: SiliconANGLE